Convoy? ..Convoy!

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Bro i don't know anyone who would want to be on government healthcare. Not saying there aren't but again we are products of our experiences. I witnessed the struggles my grandfather had dealing with the VA before he died of cancer. Also having lived in a government institution for 4 years I was a first hand witness to the waste and inefficiency. Private industry will always offer better services than government.
Almost everybody in Canada is happy with single payer healthcare, ditto for all other developed countries, it's a third rail, no politician dare touch it. Single payer government healthcare is 3 to 5 times more efficient than private US healthcare, the quality is just as good and everybody is covered. Makes it harder for pandemic to sneak up on ya too.

If you've been to prison, then you must be blessed with a good job that gives you healthcare. If you are unemployed or marginally employed like in a gig economy, then you are shit out of luck. Makes running a business much easier and cheaper too, a lot less headaches for yourself and staff! Try it you'll love it, most people do, which is why once you get it, no politician dare take it away. I know insurance companies will hurt, but, well, boo hoo, thousands will also be thrown out of work because of vastly improved efficiency, only a small fraction of the people are required to administer it, one of the reasons it's at least 3 times more cost effective than private insurance. We still have private insurance, but it's for icing on the cake, things the government doesn't cover.

The brown folks would get some though, so I guess it's a non starter with republicans, even though they fuck themselves over it, same thing with education too.
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
I'm sure it is. She paid for it her whole life. Imagine if the government and actually collected your social security/medicare tax and invested it. Just like a giant pension fund. Imagine how great it would be then. Instead they have squandered it.
It's actually a better deal than that. My dad was a blue collar worker who never made much but managed to stay employed and pay his obligations. My mom stayed at home to raise four boys. He was union and through the union gained healthcare benefits for the six of us. They never had much in the way of savings except the home they bought and stayed in for something like fifty years. With a fully paid off home and careful spending, Medicare made it possible for them to retire, live a good but not fat life and make ends meet. Mom has had enormous health care bills lately that together amount to more than my dad ever put into the program. That is the foundation of Social Security. It's not a bank. It's a promise made that people who work hard all their lives will not become destitute because of a financial disaster (Great Recession, Great Depression, late 70's inflation, etc.) or swindlers like most investment advisers are.

My parents were frugal. The idea of an allowance is foreign to me. I started working at the age of 12 delivering newspapers. There is no way they would have squandered their money. They simply didn't have much. Nor do most in today's society.

So, no, Medicare isn't free. After paying for housing and food in an assisted living facility her largest monthly bill is to Medicare. Still, it's a good deal. It's funded by today's workers for those who made it possible for them to thrive. It's a social program that for the most part means elderly don't die in poverty.

If you want to prove me wrong, then do more than just spout off. Show me how a guy making less than median income after the age of 30 and almost nothing before then can raise a good sized family in reasonable conditions, then afford to pay their own medical bills or private insurance after age 65. Do the math or cite some valid articles on the subject.
 
Last edited:

I'm negan

Active Member
Almost everybody in Canada is happy with single payer healthcare, ditto for all other developed countries, it's a third rail, no politician dare touch it. Single payer government healthcare is 3 to 5 times more efficient than private US healthcare, the quality is just as good and everybody is covered. Makes it harder for pandemic to sneak up on ya too.

If you've been to prison, then you must be blessed with a good job that gives you healthcare. If you are unemployed or marginally employed like in a gig economy, then you are shit out of luck. Makes running a business much easier and cheaper too, a lot less headaches for yourself and staff! Try it you'll love it, most people do, which is why once you get it, no politician dare take it away. I know insurance companies will hurt, but, well, boo hoo, thousands will also be thrown out of work because of vastly improved efficiency, only a small fraction of the people are required to administer it, one of the reasons it's at least 3 times more cost effective than private insurance. We still have private insurance, but it's for icing on the cake, things the government doesn't cover.

The brown folks would get some though, so I guess it's a non starter with republicans, even though they fuck themselves over it, same thing with education too.
Well hell i didn't know we were talking about Canada bro. There's still hope for Canada. I imagine that government is much smaller and less swampy in Canada. I read that the freedom protest raised more money than all the political parties in Canada combined. That's astounding to me. Billions get spent on political parties here. As a small government guy, im all for what you guys are doing up there.
 

I'm negan

Active Member
That is the foundation of Social Security. It's not a bank. It's a promise made that people who work hard all their lives will not become destitute because of a financial disaster (Great Recession, Great Depression, late 70's inflation, etc.) or swindlers like most investment advisers are.
Sounds EXACTLY like the definition of a pension to me. Explain how it's different other than pension funds being responsibly invested until it's time to make payments and social security is spent while we borrow money from China to make individuals payments.
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
It's actually a better deal than that. My dad was a blue collar worker who never made much but managed to stay employed and pay his obligations. My mom stayed at home to raise four boys. He was union and through the union gained healthcare benefits for the six of us. They never had much in the way of savings except the home they bought and stayed in for something like fifty years. With a fully paid off home and careful spending, Medicare made it possible for them to retire, live a good but not fat life and make ends meet. Mom has had enormous health care bills lately that together amount to more than my dad ever put into the program. That is the foundation of Social Security. It's not a bank. It's a promise made that people who work hard all their lives will not become destitute because of a financial disaster (Great Recession, Great Depression, late 70's inflation, etc.) or swindlers like most investment advisers are.

My parents were frugal. The idea of an allowance is foreign to me. I started working at the age of 12 delivering newspapers. There is no way they would have squandered their money. They simply didn't have much. Nor do most in today's society.

So, no, Medicare isn't free. After paying for housing and food in an assisted living facility her larges monthly bill is to Medicare. Still, it's a good deal. It's funded by today's workers for those who made it possible for them to thrive. It's a social program that for the most part means elderly don't die in poverty.

If you want to prove me wrong, then do more than just spout off. Show me how a guy making less than median income after the age of 30 and almost nothing before then can raise a good sized family in reasonable conditions, then afford to pay their own medical bills or private insurance after age 65. Do the math or cite some valid articles on the subject.
I would have got a spanking if I asked for an allowance lol. Our allowance was food, clothes, and the cost to get us into any sport we wanted. And yes I started working as a labourer at 15 and made money earlier catching and cleaning smelt earlier than that. I also grew my first crop at 14-15 can’t remember exact year lol. I’ve known first hand of some devastating stories of friends in the states that lost everything due to a health crisis.
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Well hell i didn't know we were talking about Canada bro. There's still hope for Canada. I imagine that government is much smaller and less swampy in Canada. I read that the freedom protest raised more money than all the political parties in Canada combined. That's astounding to me. Billions get spent on political parties here. As a small government guy, im all for what you guys are doing up there.
dude, you just said government healthcare was awful.

You just said you want small government.

Then this. As a whole, Canadians pay a little more in taxes per person than in the US but they get more from their tax dollars than in the US. Canada doesn't have small government. They have better governance. That's what I want from my government.

I'm glad you are here. I've learned a lot from interactions on this site and I hope you do to. This is nothing like Facebook, where some freak show CEO sells your data to hucksters. I'm still not convinced you are not a troll but I hope you can see the contradictions in your own posts.
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Sounds EXACTLY like the definition of a pension to me. Explain how it's different other than pension funds being responsibly invested until it's time to make payments and social security is spent while we borrow money from China to make individuals payments.
Which pension fund are you talking about? Please be specific.

Regarding savings.

the median income of a wage earner is about $35,000 per year. That means half of all wage earners make less. How does a single parent who makes less than $35k/yr, raising two kids manage to save enough to retire at age 65?
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Next up Ottawa, I hope they are busting and detaining the ring leaders and have identified the hard cores. Canada's domestic terrorist watch list just got a big boost as idiots came out of the wood work and onto the streets.

I was kinda getting pumped for them to put up more of a fight! I wanted to hear them truncheons a crunch'n! :lol: When ya sit at the seat of power ya don't need to stand in the streets, the cops do the work for you. Speaking of cops, we will need to take a close look at the local cops who responded to this incident and how they went about it, there appeared to be sympathetic elements that need looking into.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trucker protests: Police clear protest at Ambassador bridge, make arrests
 

I'm negan

Active Member
dude, you just said government healthcare was awful.

You just said you want small government.

Then this. As a whole, Canadians pay a little more in taxes per person than in the US but they get more from their tax dollars than in the US. Canada doesn't have small government. They have better governance. That's what I want from my government.

I'm glad you are here. I've learned a lot from interactions on this site and I hope you do to. This is nothing like Facebook, where some freak show CEO sells your data to hucksters. I'm still not convinced you are not a troll but I hope you can see the contradictions in your own posts.
I don't see the contradiction at all. Public healthcare in Canada vs the US are 2 totally different discussions. You said yourself Canadians get a lot more out of their tax dollars. That's a product of small government. Which is exactly why I support small government. If you read my earlier posts I said my number one concern about public ANYTHING in the USA is the inefficiency and flat out irresponsibility of US government spending. If our government could behave responsibly and even take a lesson or two from the private sector I would be all for more programs.
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
I don't see the contradiction at all. Public healthcare in Canada vs the US are 2 totally different discussions. You said yourself Canadians get a lot more out of their tax dollars. That's a product of small government. Which is exactly why I support small government. If you read my earlier posts I said my number one concern about public ANYTHING in the USA is the inefficiency and flat out irresponsibility of US government spending. If our government could behave responsibly and even take a lesson or two from the private sector I would be all for more programs.
Canada does not have a small government.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Well hell i didn't know we were talking about Canada bro. There's still hope for Canada. I imagine that government is much smaller and less swampy in Canada. I read that the freedom protest raised more money than all the political parties in Canada combined. That's astounding to me. Billions get spent on political parties here. As a small government guy, im all for what you guys are doing up there.
Most of the money came from a few large foreign donations and was seized, you are on the Canadian convoy thread after all. Obviously those on the right in America hope to duplicate the feat and donated heavily to the "cause", it was a practice run. In Canada, it was more like the protests in Europe, but the trucker angle was disruptive, it's a typical modern civil war tactic. Burn the house down rather than share it, is the general idea, so some folks are just fear driven morons I guess. From what I've seen of them I can see why they are afraid of being replaced, both in the workplace and in the bedroom. :lol:
 

I'm negan

Active Member
Which pension fund are you talking about? Please be specific.

Regarding savings.

the median income of a wage earner is about $35,000 per year. That means half of all wage earners make less. How does a single parent who makes less than $35k/yr, raising two kids manage to save enough to retire at age 65?
98% of all statistics are made up. Can you cite your sources please. Because I make over 40k a year as unskilled general labor at a meatpacking plant and I'm a fucking convicted felon. But again i guess we're products of our experience. I'm not sure what you mean on "which" pension. All of them? Its exactly the same thing. You pay into it for a set time usually 30 years to get full benefits. After 30 years they write you a check every week until you die, when you die your spouse gets a check til she dies.
 

I'm negan

Active Member
Canada does not have a small government.
Maybe to Canadians lmao. Again your political parties raised less than 10 million last year. They're getting outfunded by the freedom convoy just because American conservatives are bored....

If Canada was a U.S state it would be the 4th biggest economy in the US. Second biggest Population. Your government is small by default. You're a small country.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Maybe to Canadians lmao. Again your political parties raised less than 10 million last year. They're getting outfunded by the freedom convoy just because American conservatives are bored....

If Canada was a U.S state it would be the 4th biggest economy in the US. Second biggest Population. Your government is small by default. You're a small country.
Foggy is American, I'm Canadian and we are a G7 country, among the wealthiest in the world with one of the highest quality of life scores in the world and standards of living. We too have a federal government and powers are similarly arranged between the federal and state/provincial governments. We have a parliamentary government with a unicameral assembly and powerless senate. We elect a dictatorship with a majority government and know who to blame when they fuck up. Canada is America's largest trading partner by far and we even share a power grid and sports leagues. Most Canadians live with in 100 miles of the US border.
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Maybe to Canadians lmao. Again your political parties raised less than 10 million last year. They're getting outfunded by the freedom convoy just because American conservatives are bored....

If Canada was a U.S state it would be the 4th biggest economy in the US. Second biggest Population. Your government is small by default. You're a small country.
Candadians pay in taxes about the same as we do in the US. The money is spent better, I guess you would call that more efficiently and I'm OK with that.

This is entirely in conflict with your earlier "I'm a libertarian and want small government, low taxes". Whatever you want to call the Canadian government, it is not small government, low taxes. It's a social democracy with very large social programs, their healthcare system being one.

If you are advocating the US migrate toward being a social democracy then we are in good agreement.
 

I'm negan

Active Member
Foggy is American, I'm Canadian and we are a G7 country, among the wealthiest in the world with one of the highest quality of life scores in the world and standards of living. We too have a federal government and powers are similarly arranged between the federal and state/provincial governments. We have a parliamentary government with a unicameral assembly and powerless senate. We elect a dictatorship with a majority government and know who to blame when they fuck up. Canada is America's largest trading partner by far and we even share a power grid and sports leagues. Most Canadians live with in 100 miles of the US border.
Yes im aware of all that. And its all still small compared to the entirety of the U.S. . I'm not trying to be offensive. I'm from Michigan we're practically neighbors. My point was basically we, the US, would have to in many ways become more like Canada in order for public healthy to work here. There are examples of it working here in individual states...again smaller government though.
 
Top