clean air? eh...just send mitt a check instead.

[WalterMitty]

how can anyone defend this man?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/12/07/romney_is_said_to_plan_limits_on_polluter_funds/

[Yates]

I do not know what his intentions are.

[Speed of Sound]

.............and he wants to run for president. *bangs head on keyboard*

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

keep digging yourself a whole Mitt so Reilly can kick your ass even more.

[WalterMitty]

keep digging yourself a whole Mitt so Reilly can kick your ass even more.

well, brtd, it only gets worse.

mitt romney is also pushing a bill that would *require* all individuals to purchase health insurance.

in mitt's country club world, the uninsured are that way because of choice.  he doesnt realize that most uninsured cant afford insurance.

[The Duke]

keep digging yourself a whole Mitt so Reilly can kick your ass even more.

well, brtd, it only gets worse.

mitt romney is also pushing a bill that would *require* all individuals to purchase health insurance.

in mitt's country club world, the uninsured are that way because of choice.  he doesnt realize that most uninsured cant afford insurance.

I support mandatory isnurance, but only if you're willing to subsidize insurance for the poor.  So he's half right, which puts him ahead of the Democrats who are all wrong.

[jimrtex]

mitt romney is also pushing a bill that would *require* all individuals to purchase health insurance.

in mitt's country club world, the uninsured are that way because of choice.  he doesnt realize that most uninsured cant afford insurance.

I support mandatory isnurance, but only if you're willing to subsidize insurance for the poor.  So he's half right, which puts him ahead of the Democrats who are all wrong.

Ordinary health care, doctor visits for flu, broken arms, etc. is cheap relative to the cost of health insurance which has to be priced to cover rare but immensely expensive events.   If an average person has a $100,000 incident once every 30 years, you're going to have to pay $3000 per year for health insurance.

Someone who sees that they usually have almost no doctor bills, is going to be reluctant to spend $3000 on insurance, that they can just as easily spend on a vacation, clothes, a nicer car or house.   When such a person does face a $100,000 bill, it gets paid by the government or by other people's insurance.  If you are a hospital and can't collect X% of your charges, you have a choice of cutting the pay of your staff by X% or billing X% extra to those who do pay.

Someone who doesn't have insurance is getting subsidized by those who do.  People without insurance may also not receive lower cost preventive care, and end up with higher bills because of it.

If someone truly can't afford health insurance, then they should be expected to turn all their assets and income over to the government, which will then pay anything they can't afford for basic necessities.   I think many people would then find that they can afford health insurance.

[Citizen James]

mitt romney is also pushing a bill that would *require* all individuals to purchase health insurance.

in mitt's country club world, the uninsured are that way because of choice.  he doesnt realize that most uninsured cant afford insurance.

I support mandatory isnurance, but only if you're willing to subsidize insurance for the poor.  So he's half right, which puts him ahead of the Democrats who are all wrong.

Ordinary health care, doctor visits for flu, broken arms, etc. is cheap relative to the cost of health insurance which has to be priced to cover rare but immensely expensive events.   If an average person has a $100,000 incident once every 30 years, you're going to have to pay $3000 per year for health insurance.

Someone who sees that they usually have almost no doctor bills, is going to be reluctant to spend $3000 on insurance, that they can just as easily spend on a vacation, clothes, a nicer car or house.   When such a person does face a $100,000 bill, it gets paid by the government or by other people's insurance.  If you are a hospital and can't collect X% of your charges, you have a choice of cutting the pay of your staff by X% or billing X% extra to those who do pay.

Someone who doesn't have insurance is getting subsidized by those who do.  People without insurance may also not receive lower cost preventive care, and end up with higher bills because of it.

If someone truly can't afford health insurance, then they should be expected to turn all their assets and income over to the government, which will then pay anything they can't afford for basic necessities.   I think many people would then find that they can afford health insurance.

Often that last bit is pretty much what happens to a lot of people.  They file for chapter 7 bankruptcy, all their worldly goods (save a few necessities) are turned over to the government and auctioned off to pay the bills.  A very stern punishment for those who commit the crime of being seriously ill.

The idea of having poluters pay for overages rather than required compliance has been a longterm libertarain idea, though $10 a ton seems absurdly cheap and is likely to do nothing whatsoever to encourage factories to decrease emmissions.

As for healthcare, I think subsidizing preventitive medicine would save many times over what it costs.  Medications for hypertension cost far less than emergency cardicac care.  Mamograms and lumpectomies (when the cancer is caught early) cost far less than treating a progressively worsening case of cancer which is allowed to spread.

Fiscially speaking we pay far more in increased fees to deal with those who need catastrophic care but are unable to pay, than we would if we had universal basic preventitive care.

Still, making those who can't afford it pay for it anyway seems like an impractical solution.

Now, which Mitt gets the Check?  Walter or Romney?

[Erc]

Makes perfect sense--if you make it $10/ton overall rather than just over a certain amount [well, maybe over some small amount so small businesses don't have to worry about it].

Businesses care about their profit margins--and if it costs more to pollute, they will reduce pollution.  If it doesn't reduce it much, raise the rates higher...

[jimrtex]

As for healthcare, I think subsidizing preventitive medicine would save many times over what it costs.  Medications for hypertension cost far less than emergency cardicac care.  Mamograms and lumpectomies (when the cancer is caught early) cost far less than treating a progressively worsening case of cancer which is allowed to spread.

Fiscially speaking we pay far more in increased fees to deal with those who need catastrophic care but are unable to pay, than we would if we had universal basic preventitive care.

Still, making those who can't afford it pay for it anyway seems like an impractical solution.

You are making the presumption that people without insurance are unable to pay or can not afford health insurance.

If this were true, you would see that nobody with income below what is needed to pay for basic shelter, food, and clothing would have health insurance; and those who had one cent more would start spending it on health insurance and after a gap of a few $1000, every one would have health insurance.

Clearly, Romney's proposal is not aimed at those who qualify for Medicaid, but rather at those who have some discretionary income, and choose not to spend it on health insurance.