December 09, 2013

Colin Powell: Damn, I Love Single-Payer So So Much
— Ace

Yeah whatever.

They will continue to call this guy a "Republican" forever, because that increases his cachet. Even though he's obviously a progressive Democrat.

Former Secretary of State and longtime Republican Colin Powell...

There ya go. Right from the jump.

... is calling for a universal health care solution in the U.S.

“We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care,” he said Thursday at a Seattle fundraiser for prostate cancer. “(Let’s show) the rest of the world what our democratic system is all about and how we take care of all of our citizens."

Powell took the opportunity to share some of his own experiences and to publicly call for a health care solution similar to those in Canada, Japan and other countries that have a universal, single-payer system.

...

“I am not an expert in health care, or Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, or however you choose to describe it, but I do know this: I have benefited from that kind of universal health care in my 55 years of public life,” Powell said. “And I don’t see why we can’t do what Europe is doing, what Canada is doing, what Korea is doing, what all these other places are doing.”

I really don't think that progressives and socialists like Colin Powell understand an important fact: The military doesn't provide troops with health care. Powell didn't use that word, but it gets thrown around a lot, and he's certainly talking about providing.

The military pays troops, partly with money, partly with health insurance.

No one the left seems to understand this crucial point. People aren't being "provided" something, gratis. It is payment in lieu of wages.

The Government Is A Good Provider: The word "provide," it occurs to me, is most often used in relation to a father providing for his children, or a husband providing for his life. Or even God providing for his believers.

It's a very paternalistic word, suggestive of a Benevolent Protector giving people stuff.

It doesn't belong in this debate. Employers don't provide workers with paychecks; they pay them money to work.

Posted by: Ace at 03:08 PM | Comments (227)
Post contains 384 words, total size 3 kb.

1 Colon Bowel can blow...

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 09, 2013 03:09 PM (5oAy6)

2 No one the left seems to understand this crucial point. People aren't being "provided" something, gratis. It is payment in lieu of wages.


You can take this back all the way to WWII when employers first started doing this as a perk to attract employees.

Posted by: EC at December 09, 2013 03:09 PM (doBIb)

3 It's been so long since we've had a real free market a lot of people have forgotten what one is. Powell has no idea where his pension and healthcare come from. And a retired general is NOT treated like the regular grunts.

Posted by: Jack at December 09, 2013 03:11 PM (gWHwW)

4 Isn't there some way we can divorce Colin Powell.

Posted by: Fourth Horseman RN now you MD under obummercare at December 09, 2013 03:12 PM (KuZ6A)

5 In fairness, hasn't Powell had government provided healthcare his entire adult life?

Posted by: toby928© at December 09, 2013 03:12 PM (QupBk)

6 WARNING: Colin Powell is an African American so any criticism will be deemed the equivalent of arguing for the re-institution of slavery.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at December 09, 2013 03:12 PM (8ZskC)

7 A lifelong government employee sounds exactly like you'd expect a lifelong government employee to sound.

Posted by: Gristle Encased Head at December 09, 2013 03:13 PM (+lsX1)

8 We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care There was a time when this might have been true, maybe, barely. Thanks to Barry and the Democrats, that time is past.

Posted by: toby928© at December 09, 2013 03:13 PM (QupBk)

9 We are all provided "health care", in that doctors have to treat everyone. This is providing "health insurance" to everyone.

Posted by: Jay in Ames at December 09, 2013 03:13 PM (bzb6V)

10 So Powell wants all Americans to go to the V.A? People will love that.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 09, 2013 03:14 PM (P6QsQ)

11 Colin Powell can fuck himself with a rusty tractor before I give two shits about his opinion on anything. He has long since given up any credibility he ever possessed.

Posted by: D-Lamp at December 09, 2013 03:14 PM (bb5+k)

12 It seems as if those like Powell ,Mclame and others would get the hint and just go over to the Dems.

Posted by: Fourth Horseman RN now your MD under obummercare at December 09, 2013 03:14 PM (KuZ6A)

13 I remember in my youth when you couldn't walk the streets without treading coughing urchins underfoot.

Posted by: toby928© at December 09, 2013 03:14 PM (QupBk)

14 "quality health care" You Keep Using These Words, I Do Not They It Mean What You Think theyMean.

Posted by: The Hickster at December 09, 2013 03:14 PM (TI3xG)

15 Schwarzkopf dies and we are stuck with this turnip.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 09, 2013 03:14 PM (5oAy6)

16 Any of you ever been hospitalized at the VA? Would you recommend it to a friend?

Posted by: grammie winger at December 09, 2013 03:15 PM (P6QsQ)

17 Oh and Colin, we DON'T have to pay for it if we break it. Why? Because fuck you, that's why.

Posted by: D-Lamp at December 09, 2013 03:16 PM (bb5+k)

18 “We are a wealthy enough country..."

How many trillions in debt are we again?

Posted by: SangreTheBold at December 09, 2013 03:16 PM (7+dlv)

19 If Stormin' Norman had had government provided healthcare he'd be alive today. Wait ...

Posted by: toby928© at December 09, 2013 03:16 PM (QupBk)

20 God I miss Schwarzkopf.

Posted by: Fourth Horseman RN now your MD under obummercare at December 09, 2013 03:16 PM (KuZ6A)

21 @11 - SO much easier to be a Vichy Republican.

Posted by: Chuck Da Gall at December 09, 2013 03:16 PM (SCB1g)

22 Remember when "Colon" Powell started the Iraq war  ? 

Posted by: The Jackhole at December 09, 2013 03:17 PM (nTgAI)

23 Powell can call himself a Republican all day long if he wants to, and no-one can stop him, but my question for him is "exactly where do you fully support a stated Republican party platform and disagree completely with the Democrats?"

Posted by: major major major major at December 09, 2013 03:17 PM (X9vO1)

24 #20 lol

Posted by: Fourth Horseman RN now your MD under obummercare at December 09, 2013 03:17 PM (KuZ6A)

25 This man is so dumb that he got fooled by that dumb ebil George Bush. Now that's dumb.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 09, 2013 03:18 PM (P6QsQ)

26

I hate that term...'Single Payer'.

 

It sounds so innocent.

 

It's Government Controlled Healthcare, dammit.

And there is nothing innocent about it.

Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 03:18 PM (+SY5G)

27
Colin Powell, America's first Affirmative Action general grade Officer, and we're damn proud of his greatest accomplishment of hiding his democrat credentials for decades. 

-Debbie Wassermanly Schultz

Posted by: Doctor Fish at December 09, 2013 03:19 PM (pJF+c)

28

 

"No one the left seems to understand this crucial point. People aren't being "provided" something, gratis. It is payment in lieu of wages."

 

This ^ drives me insane !!!!!!!!!!!!! Fuck, why don't people get this ? I have this argument all the time.

Posted by: The Jackhole at December 09, 2013 03:19 PM (nTgAI)

29 How many of us would ever have predicted, 10 or 12 years ago, that we would someday utter the words "Ckuf you Colin Powell!"?

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at December 09, 2013 03:19 PM (DmNpO)

30 "“We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care,” he said Thursday at a Seattle fundraiser for prostate cancer. “(Let’s show) the rest of the world what our democratic system is all about and how we take care of all of our citizens.""


Maybe the reason we became so wealthy is that we've never had the government ready to borrow money to take care of every boo-boo in life. The second part of his sentence not only doesn't follow logically from the first part, implementing the second part may be part and parcel of undermining the first part. Stick to thinking about military matters, Colin.

Besides, since I read that US life expectancy is higher than any country in the world, once you remove people who die in car accidents and homicides, I'm fucking done debating these pricks on the facts, unless they can show me how single-payer will magically resuscitate car crash or homicide victims. The single-payer 'argument' is the biggest load of bullshit every spewed on American soil.

Posted by: Sudden Clarity Clarence at December 09, 2013 03:20 PM (2tjte)

31 Ace.... you are incorrect about Military Health Care... Is not pay... its not part of compensation.... Its basic Maintenance of equipment.... because of you are not healthy you cannot fight. They will FORCE you to go to the Dentist.... they FORCE you to get shots... Its not until you retired that it is 'compensation'...

Posted by: Romeo13.. at December 09, 2013 03:21 PM (lZBBB)

32 The trouble with the modern republican party is there are so many democrats in it. PS. Google Chrome really doesn't like your style sheet.

Posted by: Speak before Read at December 09, 2013 03:21 PM (uQmjJ)

33 The only thing I want from Powell's pie hole is an explanation of what he was doing hanging out with the JEF and Rodham when the Benghazi bodies came back and they were still using the stupid video as an excuse.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2013 03:21 PM (ZWVy7)

34 Rule #1: Don't EVER assume Military people translate well into Civilian Political Roles. Rule #2: See rule #1

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:21 PM (nzKvP)

35 Officer, I was not offering to pay that prostitute for a Concinnati Bowtie. I was offering to provide for her.

Posted by: wooga at December 09, 2013 03:21 PM (TXmih)

36

I just got home from visiting my brother at the V.A. Hospital.  He had a total knee replacement.   He was on the waiting list for about six months.  I'll bet you a dollar that Colin Powell would not agree to wait six months if he needed a knee replacement.   

 

And oh, by the way, our servicemen and women provided great service to this country, unlike many who are clamoring for their gummint healthcare. Powell is mistaken if he thinks military medicine is "socialized" healthcare.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 03:22 PM (N/Sup)

37

And they keep saying this affects "One Sixth of the Economy".

 

While the healthcare industry itself may be one-sixth of the economy...

Destroying our healthcare system affects way more than 'one-sixth' of the economy.

 

Every segment of the economy will feel the hurt.

They're taking a huge chunk out of people's income...that will affect everything else.

 

People will have less money for food, clothing and housing.

Less money for entertainment, too.

 

The ripple effect will be felt by all.

 

Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 03:23 PM (+SY5G)

38 I'm curious what the Moron Horde (military edition) thinks of the medical care that they receive from the VA system.

What I have heard is that it is not a paragon of efficiency and cutting edge care.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2013 03:23 PM (oJ5Fd)

39 Wonder what Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. would have to say to Colon Bowel?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at December 09, 2013 03:23 PM (5oAy6)

40 "The United States military is so powerful that we ought to be able to ensure that no solider is ever killed in battle".


Same fucking non-logic, applied to war. Does that make sense to anyone who isn't a Leftist zombie?

Posted by: Sudden Clarity Clarence at December 09, 2013 03:23 PM (2tjte)

41 longtime Republican Colin Powell...

Not long enough, apparently.

Posted by: t-bird at December 09, 2013 03:24 PM (3skKE)

42 Denying that the government "provides" health care and instead saying that the government "compensates" Soldiers with health care in exchange for their service is implying that we don't all work for and serve the benevolent and all powerful government.  What do you think this is?  The 18th century?

Posted by: RLTW at December 09, 2013 03:24 PM (VdfCT)

43 I was going to post this but Ace beat me. Who cares what Colin Powell has to say? He should switch parties to dem. Ace, do you know that TFG cherry picked intelligence about Syria? Do you want me to send you the story?

Posted by: Carol at December 09, 2013 03:24 PM (z4WKX)

44 This seems appropriate here:


http://cnn.it/1f2Jg1j


Yeah.   Tell me again how great it is to have the Feds in charge of health care. 

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD, you taunty bitch. at December 09, 2013 03:24 PM (Gk3SS)

45 Every time I hear the military health care system cited as some sort of model, my mind just spins out of control. So all we have to do to make socialized medicine work is: 1) Have a citizenry that is way younger, required to exercise, has their behavior being monitored constantly by an NCO, is heavily male and, of course, is working to get the benefit. 2) Set up a huge array of hurdles to them actually getting care beyond a disinterested medic. 3) Get them used to getting cared for by personnel who are only working in that system until they get their med school paid off. Oh heck, that's all? Sign me up! FYI, dare I suggest to Gen (Ret) Powell that he might have enjoyed better access to care in that socialized system than us lower enlisted got? I don't mean that as some sort of populist BS, or to imply that as a fire team leader I deserved the same treatment as him. But I doubt that he ever came to work with a fever and was told he could only go to the aid station after he ran five miles.

Posted by: Joe at December 09, 2013 03:24 PM (arYBc)

46 I am sick and tired of people talking about "European" health care. There is no such thing. Every country in Europe has a different system and you can bet there are VERY few Euros who would want a universal system run out of Brussels. The only people who would want that are crazed Euro-commissars and a smattering of FSA Greeks who think it would be financed by the Germans. You know what? If you really want a "European" system, how about turning health care policy over to the states?

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at December 09, 2013 03:24 PM (dfYL9)

47 Collin looking for a sweet appointment to some sweet government advisory board? One with a fat expense account to study some serious complicated problem requiring experts from many fields of study?

Posted by: Damn Cat has strewn, strone, fligged socs [i]everywhere[/i] at December 09, 2013 03:24 PM (uQmjJ)

48 I am 100% on board with Colon if he is saying that the American people who are "gifted" Military Style single payer(a lie but I digress) are in fact subject to military regulation and discipline...

can I let Colon in on a little secret?

General not even your subordinate soldiers got the healthcare you were "provided" sir...

it was a "perk."

Now go get scoped Colon.

Posted by: sven at December 09, 2013 03:25 PM (9jfyN)

49

"He was on the waiting list for about six months."


Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 07:22 PM (N/Sup)


I recently waited for 16 weeks for arthroscopic knee surgery, and considered the wait period short for the VA system. 

Posted by: Doctor Fish at December 09, 2013 03:26 PM (pJF+c)

50 Powell is mistaken if he thinks military medicine is "socialized" healthcare. Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 07:22 PM (N/Sup) I am not even sure what Powell is taking about when he says " Military Health Care". Military "Health Care" is very focused: Can this Sailor, Soldier, Marine fight tomorrow and for the next 1 year of his deployment? If that same same Sailor, Soldier, or Marine dies of anything because do a missed diagnosis 2 years later, well C'est la vie. And that is not a criticism, but a statement of fact and an related to what the mission of the Military is.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:27 PM (nzKvP)

51 Japan does not have "single payer". Other than Canada and the UK, most developed countries do NOT have "single payer". His premise is all fucked up.

Powell, as always, is a fucking idiot. It's clear he only called himself a Republican to get ahead in his military career.


Posted by: Randall Hoven at December 09, 2013 03:27 PM (Z68nE)

52
He sure seems like a capital "R" Republican to me.

Its obvious he isn't a lower case "r" republican.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at December 09, 2013 03:28 PM (MaP11)

53 He'th tho thexy.

Posted by: Melitha Hawith-Pewwy at December 09, 2013 03:28 PM (wAQA5)

54 Fine. So every American will have to pass regular fitness tests to qualify for Colin's ideal health insurance, right? Just like the military?

Posted by: grammie winger at December 09, 2013 03:28 PM (P6QsQ)

55 "41 Denying that the government "provides" health care and instead saying that the government "compensates"Soldiers with health care in exchange for their service is implying that we don't all work for and serve the benevolent and all powerful government. What do you think this is? The 18th century?

Posted by: RLTW at December 09, 2013 07:24 PM (VdfCT)"



If we really do all work for and serve the benevolent and all powerful government, I guess this is all those thousands of centuries before the 18th came around and the idea of the individual having rights hasn't been invented yet.


Unless you assume that history started in the 18th century, it is unavoidable to come to the conclusion that "progressivism" is actually regressive with regard to the relationship between the individual and the state. I know this is common knowledge here, but I think it always bears repeating.


If Obama had been around in the time of Descartes, his response would have been "You didn't think that". That's how retarded Obama's comment was in the context of Western history and society.

Posted by: Sudden Clarity Clarence at December 09, 2013 03:29 PM (2tjte)

56 7 We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care There was a time when this might have been true, maybe, barely. Thanks to Barry and the Democrats, that time is past. Posted by: toby928© at December 09, 2013 07:13 PM (QupBk) As I keep saying, the impending economic collapse may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, since it will be abundantly clear that we cannot afford national health care.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2013 03:29 PM (sdi6R)

57

“I am not an expert in health care, or Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, or however you choose to describe it, but...

 

 

This country would be a much better place if anyone  in a position of political power  who ever prefaced an idiotic comment  like that   stopped right there and went no further.   Just shut up when you get to the word "but".

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 03:30 PM (N/Sup)

58 Fine. So every American will have to pass regular fitness tests to qualify for Colin's ideal health insurance, right? Just like the military? Posted by: grammie winger at December 09, 2013 07:28 PM (P6QsQ) Yes, but if they fail 3 tests in 4 years, we just separate them from life and shoot them

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:30 PM (nzKvP)

59 ...and thmart.

Posted by: Melitha Hawith-Pewwy at December 09, 2013 03:30 PM (wAQA5)

60 Ace, I sent you an email with the url to the Washington Times article about Syria & TFG cherry picking intelligence. If you want it, it will be in your mail. Carol

Posted by: Carol at December 09, 2013 03:31 PM (z4WKX)

61 COMPASSION!!! NHS starves 1,165 to death http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/381450/NHS-starves-1-165-to-death

Posted by: --- at December 09, 2013 03:31 PM (MMC8r)

62 "No one the left seems to understand this crucial point. People aren't being "provided" something, gratis. It is payment in lieu of wages."

Exactly!
And Unions have bargained for this sweet, fully-paid health insurance benefit for decades, and will squeal like babies when their employer deigns to consider having them actually contribute a % toward this benefit like the rest of us non-unions stiffs have to.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 09, 2013 03:31 PM (JRmiD)

63 I used to lock myself in my room every night when Government got home drunk yet again and then cry myself to sleep as he beat mom.

Posted by: mugiwara at December 09, 2013 03:32 PM (hpYnL)

64 he is a democrat and not all that sophisticated and dare I say not all that smart either he is the lefts useful idiot

Posted by: thunderb at December 09, 2013 03:32 PM (zOTsN)

65

Don't brits buy health care insurance to make sure they do not have to settle for the basic veterinary care they'd get relying totally on NHS?

 

 

Posted by: Ook? at December 09, 2013 03:32 PM (FBkKA)

66 62 mugiwara at December 09, 2013 07:32 PM (hpYnL)


JULIA YOU BITCH YOU FUCKED UP MY WEBSITE and er LEGACY!

//Daddy Ogabebucks

Posted by: sven at December 09, 2013 03:32 PM (9jfyN)

67 MORE COMPASSION!!! Thousands dying of thirst on NHS: Watchdog forced to issue guidelines on giving patients water http://tinyurl.com/lxh8bvx

Posted by: --- at December 09, 2013 03:32 PM (MMC8r)

68 Once you're around O-6 or so you're starting to become responsible for significant budgets'n shit right?  Bit'o math involved, right?

Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/s] at December 09, 2013 03:33 PM (UVadJ)

69 Veterinarians do not starve their patients.

Posted by: grammie winger at December 09, 2013 03:33 PM (P6QsQ)

70 Ahh the glory of military "healthcare". I had an abscess tooth, which cracked, under the gum, causing a large pus filled mass to form on my gum. I went to dental to make an appointment to take care of it. I was told come back next week to make an appointment. Next week, was told the same thing. After 3 months (yes, months) of having this mass on my gum, doing this song and dance, I went to my chief and lifted my lip and said "This ain't right." He jerked back in horror, and agreed, went with me down to dental, and shock of shocks, there was an appointment the very next day available. Medical treatment was along similar lines, if you didn't have blood shooting out three feet from your body they didn't give a damn.

Posted by: nnptcgrad at December 09, 2013 03:33 PM (Opyrm)

71 >>“We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care,”

Ugh!
A] People already have had "access" to quality care. This is just a euphemism for free/subsidized care, not unlike vagina warriors who demand "access" to free abortions and the pill.

B]Who's this "we," Kemosabee?

Posted by: Lizzy at December 09, 2013 03:33 PM (JRmiD)

72 CANADIAN COMPASSION!!!! Bed shortage could force Regina patients to distant towns http://tinyurl.com/qgzju6y

Posted by: --- at December 09, 2013 03:34 PM (MMC8r)

73 Bit'o math involved, right?

Posted by: Purp at December 09, 2013 07:33 PM (UVadJ)

Apparently not.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2013 03:34 PM (oJ5Fd)

74 67 Purp at December 09, 2013 07:33 PM (UVadJ)

Command track guys usually do some time in the S-3 and or S-8 crunching(in theory) budgets....

there's nothing to say really...basically Colon had a lot of good staffers a lot like Uncle Eric Shinseki....

higher math eludes them and by higher math I mean double digit addition and subtraction.

Posted by: sven at December 09, 2013 03:35 PM (9jfyN)

75 36 And they keep saying this affects "One Sixth of the Economy". While the healthcare industry itself may be one-sixth of the economy... Destroying our healthcare system affects way more than 'one-sixth' of the economy. Every segment of the economy will feel the hurt. They're taking a huge chunk out of people's income...that will affect everything else. People will have less money for food, clothing and housing. Less money for entertainment, too. The ripple effect will be felt by all. Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 07:23 PM (+SY5G) Yep. This is the Broken Window Fallacy on steroids.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2013 03:35 PM (sdi6R)

76 So, they're trotting out Gen. Colin "McClellan" Powell. They must think they're in real trouble.

Posted by: VADM(Red) Cuthbert Collingwood (Mentioned in Despatches) at December 09, 2013 03:35 PM (O7OxF)

77 I'm ok with everyone getting the same kind of universal health care that Colin Powell got. As long as they do exactly what Colin Powell did to get it. Just imagine what we could do with an Army of 313 million. Onward!!

Posted by: Sean Bannion at December 09, 2013 03:35 PM (MXEFY)

78 I would posit that the Left understand the distinction quite well. Maybe the dumbass rank and file don't, but the movers and shakers sure do.

Posted by: [/i][/b]KG at December 09, 2013 03:35 PM (IPz9m)

79 "“I am not an expert in health care, or Obamacare,.....
or warfare.  I am an armchair general and only got promoted because of 'diversity'.  I lack the cojoones and vision and execution of a Schwarzkopf"

Posted by: jb at December 09, 2013 03:35 PM (bd5BN)

80 Shouldn't we be privatizing the military by now.

Posted by: redenzo at December 09, 2013 03:36 PM (SV01K)

81 "No one the left seems to understand this crucial point. People aren't being "provided" something, gratis. It is payment in lieu of wages."

This ^ drives me insane !!!!!!!!!!!!! Fuck, why don't people get this ?I have this argument all the time. Posted by: The Jackhole at December 09, 2013 07:19 PM (nTgAI)


I haven't had a raise in 3 years and, in fact, am now making a bit less due to various tax and fee increases.   However, I consider that misleading because the boss has sucked up every single one of the rate increases for our health insurance.  So, guess what?  I consider that I have actually gotten raises, I just haven't seen them. 

Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD, you taunty bitch. at December 09, 2013 03:36 PM (Gk3SS)

82 Powell gets to flap his yap and get an ego-handjob from the MSM, then has to do absolutely fucking zip about any of the things he complains about.

Posted by: --- at December 09, 2013 03:37 PM (MMC8r)

83 69 nnptcgrad at December 09, 2013 07:33 PM (Opyrm)

Military medical psychology is entirely geared to "mission capability" if you can go they triage you way down...

I have few complaints about the care I have gotten, but it has been a combination of luck and my lifelong acceptance of the German model bedside manner involved.

Posted by: sven at December 09, 2013 03:37 PM (9jfyN)

84

Remember, Colon Powell has always been for Income Redistribution.

Always.

 

And by force, if necessary.

 

So it's no surprise that he likes this.

 

He is the very essence of a Banana Republican.

Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 03:37 PM (+SY5G)

85 Governmental health care just means you have to pay two or three times (or more) for care, to make sure you've bribed the right people.

Posted by: nnptcgrad at December 09, 2013 03:37 PM (Opyrm)

86 Me love you long time, GI.

Posted by: Single-Payer at December 09, 2013 03:37 PM (QupBk)

87 I've been hearing this drivel for years.  Powell, like all political GOs, promptly forgot once he moved to EAR (Echelons Above Reality) what the day-to-day health care is like in the military.

Back when I was in college I had a fraternity brother that had a strong hippie streak in him: he was a big fan of Moonbeam Brown, and thought universal healthcare "just like the military has" would be the tits.

I had injured my knee and being a military dependent was using the Columbus AFB hospital for follow-up care.  Unfortunately for me, I had no car and CAFB was 30 miles away.  I talked my fraternity brother into giving me a ride over there for my followup appointment, luring him in with the promise that he'd "get to see socialized medicine in action."  All that had to be done for my appointment was a quick check to see how my knee was healing...no X-rays/MRI, just the orthopedic surgeon looking at range of motion, etc and to fill two prescriptions (one for pain meds, one for anti-inflammatory). 

When we left the hospital 8 hours later, I asked him if he still thought we should have socialized medicine for the entire country.

 His response was, "Fuck No."

Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 03:38 PM (LUkGY)

88 76 Sean Bannion at December 09, 2013 07:35 PM (MXEFY)

Uh sir not to quibble but that 313 million man army is being mobilized for Taskforce Lipton Smasher and is aimed at us....

Posted by: sven at December 09, 2013 03:38 PM (9jfyN)

89 "Provide."  As in "providence".  As in "divine providence".  As in won't the higher power care for me?

Posted by: CarlB at December 09, 2013 03:39 PM (oef2I)

90 Northern Plains Indians are the perfect example of free health care and benefits provided by a paternalistic federal government. It's been a disaster, a complete failure, unless your goal is the infantalization of a population.

Posted by: Thunderb at December 09, 2013 03:39 PM (zOTsN)

91 "We are a wealthy enough country ..." How can anybody believe that, when we borrow/print around 40 cents for every dollar we spend? We're the brokest country in history.

Posted by: gp at December 09, 2013 03:39 PM (mk9aG)

92 Colon Blowell is a Republican like Charlie Crist is a Republican.
 
I bet South Korea and Japan wish that the old, exceptional US was back in business seeing as how China is making them mighty uncomfortable right about now.
 
But no, Colon Blow wants us to be just another welfare state. Once upon a time, other countries aspired to emulate our system. No longer. Our economic freedom index has fallen so far since 2000 that we went from #2 to #19 in the world.

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 09, 2013 03:39 PM (wNF3N)

93 “We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care,” Memorandum for the Chairman: Every one of our fellow citizens had access to quality health care until October 1, 2013.

Posted by: That pesky guy on the staff who always has the facts. at December 09, 2013 03:40 PM (O7OxF)

94 How the fuck can you be a Republican if you agree with the Democrats on every issue?

Posted by: Dan at December 09, 2013 03:40 PM (gR5OX)

95 Powell's "You break you buy" theory of foreign conflict has been proven to be an utter failure.

Henceforth all foreign conflicts should be executed under the "Rubble don't make trouble" doctrine.  Supplemented by the "Only cockroaches survive nuclear rubble" corollary.

Posted by: Baron Von Ottomatic at December 09, 2013 03:40 PM (kUgpq)

96 “We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care,” *ahem*

Posted by: 17 trillion in debt + under (or non) funded liabilities at December 09, 2013 03:40 PM (ZyqBH)

97 Powell.  Powell.  Is that the guy who road my coat-tails on Iraq???

Posted by: General Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf at December 09, 2013 03:40 PM (Pr6hk)

98 Just imagine what we could do with an Army of 313 million.

Onward!!

Posted by: Sean Bannion at December 09, 2013 07:35 PM (MXEFY)

Can I stay in your tank when these new recruits go to the range?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2013 03:41 PM (oJ5Fd)

99 93 Dan at December 09, 2013 07:40 PM (gR5OX)

Easy silly!  Invoke Reagan and say, "the power of Ron repels you...the power of Ron repels you!"

//Juan McQueeg esq

Posted by: sven at December 09, 2013 03:41 PM (9jfyN)

100 Powell advised against invading Baghdad in the First Iraq War. That is all.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at December 09, 2013 03:41 PM (fH4cN)

101 There are always presents under the tree because Santa puts them there while we are sleeping.

Posted by: eman at December 09, 2013 03:41 PM (n6NK7)

102
I have been hospitalized at the VA.

I would recommend it to an enemy.

Posted by: Lies are the best guys at December 09, 2013 03:41 PM (rCS6C)

103 " How can anybody believe that, when we borrow/print around 40 cents for every dollar we spend? We're the brokest country in history.

Posted by: gp at December 09, 2013 07:39 PM (mk9aG)"


And by the time the bill comes due, we'll be so pussified that even our vaunted military won't be able to help. I won't go to war with China to renege on Leftist debts. Fuck that shit.

Posted by: Sudden Clarity Clarence at December 09, 2013 03:42 PM (2tjte)

104 "How the fuck can you be a Republican if you agree with the Democrats on every issue?"

I know, right, yet here I am your 2008 Republican nominee for President.

Posted by: John McCain at December 09, 2013 03:42 PM (kUgpq)

105 No tailgating at the Super Bowl? Holy Shit, that's not going to sell.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 03:42 PM (0FSuD)

106 My daughter just came home from work, she is a manager at a Macys. She was complaining her "associates" don't come to work and don't care because unemployment pays so well and it is hard to even hire people because why should they work when they can get everything free. She was ranting and raving and I said: "So I see you are becoming a conservative now" and she said yes. She get's it now. Life and a Brain will do that to ya? I am proud of her

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:42 PM (nzKvP)

107 We are a wealthy enough country that if we all clap our hands really really fast and just believe hard enough, damn it, that Tinkerbell will live.  Come on, people!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 03:42 PM (N/Sup)

108

I haven't had a raise in 3 years and, in fact, am now making a bit less due to various tax and fee increases. However, I consider that misleading because the boss has sucked up every single one of the rate increases for our health insurance. So, guess what? I consider that I have actually gotten raises, I just haven't seen them.

THIS

 

Employer still hasn't let us know what or if we have insurance on Jan. 1.  Starting to get a little panicky.

Posted by: Infidel at December 09, 2013 03:42 PM (6bvBO)

109 >>"We are a wealthy enough country ..." How can anybody believe that, when we borrow/print around 40 cents for every dollar we spend? We're the brokest country in history.

It sure seems that Obamacare was designed to make the "rich" citizens subsidize the poor by having to pay much higher premiums, which is why a lot of the premium increases that have been reported can not be explained away by claims that this increase is to pay for additional HHS-mandated items.
So I took Powell's "we" as the collective, not necessarily the state.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 09, 2013 03:42 PM (JRmiD)

110 Brit of any means at all pay out of pocket for private docs. Canadians come here. Powell is a moron

Posted by: Thunderb at December 09, 2013 03:43 PM (zOTsN)

111 "He is the very essence of a Banana Republican."

Thats good. Ok if I steal that line?

Posted by: GMB Bucket (Thats pronounced Boukay dammit!) at December 09, 2013 03:43 PM (nkPV9)

112 I am proud of her

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 07:42 PM (nzKvP)

 

***

 

Hey, good for you (and her)  NGU.  I think some of our adult kids are starting to come around also.  Heck, one of my grandkids is named Reagan.  Not Regan, but Reagan!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 03:43 PM (N/Sup)

113 Doctors are now "primary care providers" ... it's infiltrating everything.

Posted by: AAA at December 09, 2013 03:43 PM (fG412)

114 >>Northern Plains Indians are the perfect example of free health care and benefits provided by a paternalistic federal government. It's been a disaster, a complete failure, unless your goal is the infantalization of a population. That is precisely what the goal of any totalitarian state is.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 09, 2013 03:44 PM (g1DWB)

115 Well I might as well say something nice about Military Medicine. I was in Portsmouth Medical Center down in VA for 4 days and just got back. great facility.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:44 PM (nzKvP)

116 "Single payer" = "Someone else is a-payer"

Posted by: Phinn at December 09, 2013 03:44 PM (KOGmz)

117 5 WARNING: Colin Powell is an African American so any criticism will be deemed the equivalent of arguing for the re-institution of slavery. Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at December 09, 2013 07:12 PM (8ZskC That you "Tingle legs"?

Posted by: Barry, Chom leader at December 09, 2013 03:44 PM (0FSuD)

118 Doctors are now "primary care providers" ... it's infiltrating everything. Posted by: AAA at December 09, 2013 07:43 PM (fG412) DOCs are called providers in the Military, well at least in the Navy we are

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:45 PM (nzKvP)

119 How the fuck can you be a Republican if you agree with the Democrats on every issue?

Posted by: Dan at December 09, 2013 07:40 PM (gR5OX)

 

*****

 

 

Bipartisanship?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 03:45 PM (N/Sup)

120 >>>The military pays troops, partly with money, partly with health insurance.

No they legitimately provide it. Here's what I mean.

1. If you can't work. They still have to pay you. So they provide medical care so you can keep working. Seriously, at one point during a severe fever of mine this involved prescription strength Motrin, AND acetaminophen be taken to control an infection RATHER THAN TAKE ME OFF THE DUTY ROSTER AND GIVE ME BEDREST. 

2. If you need care you are instructed which facility to go to, and which practitioner to see. Patient choice? Second Opinion? BWAHAHAHA!

3. Your course of treatment is mandated. You WILL do it or you WILL face disciplinary proceedings.

4. In the event those decisions *hurt* you, you have no right to recover *any* damages incidental to that. You have no rights.

5. Things your doctor finds out about you, which might not be immediately apparent, can be used as grounds to discharge (fire) you if it makes you medically unfit for service.

So let's review, your care is focused on getting you back into service as soon as possible, not your long term health; You get no choice in practitioner or care. You have no rights to sue for malpractice. Your medical data may be used by your employer as grounds for termination.

OTHER THAN THAT sure it's a great system.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose Laughing Maniacally While Throwing Matches. at December 09, 2013 03:46 PM (0q2P7)

121 91 Colon Blowell is a Republican like Charlie Crist is a Republican. You are closer than you think. Powell IS a Republican ... an Old School - we can do Gub'Mint better Republican. He fits right in with McCain, Ryan, Romney, and company.

Posted by: ScoggDog at December 09, 2013 03:46 PM (6/+vz)

122

110 "He is the very essence of a Banana Republican."

 

Thats good. Ok if I steal that line?

 

 

I can't take credit for it...I read it somewhere.

 

So steal away!

Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 03:46 PM (+SY5G)

123 Yes, every Republican I have talked has voted for TFG -- twice.

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 09, 2013 03:46 PM (wNF3N)

124 Next he'll be spouting critical race theory shit...wait for it.

Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/s] at December 09, 2013 03:46 PM (UVadJ)

125 Powell is a moron Posted by: Thunderb at December 09, 2013 07:43 PM (zOTsN) To the barrel for that insult!

Posted by: AOSHQ Moron Poleese at December 09, 2013 03:47 PM (0FSuD)

126 Another example of the theft of the language by the progs, more or less willingly uncontested by the entire Republican party.


I refer to both the adjective "Republican" being applied to another premier example of AA (e.g. Powell) and the term "provided" linked to job related medical care!

Posted by: Hrothgar at December 09, 2013 03:47 PM (XdnQT)

127
Factoid:  More people follow Grumpy Cat on Facebook than have signed up for ObamaCare. 

Posted by: Doctor Fish at December 09, 2013 03:47 PM (pJF+c)

128 And to think I once wanted him to run for President. That was a bullet dodged.

Posted by: Darth Randall at December 09, 2013 03:48 PM (Zswg6)

129 Had been said several times here but can't be repeated enough. We are not the wealthiest nation, we are the brokest nation.

Posted by: traye at December 09, 2013 03:48 PM (U5U6a)

130 Can I stay in your tank when these new recruits go to the range? You got bourbon, I have 3 inches of laminate armor. Seems fair.

Posted by: Sean Bannion at December 09, 2013 03:49 PM (yz6yg)

131 Primary Care Manager is the name given to our "healthcare providers" in the USAF.  Your PCM may be a doctor, a nurse practitioner or a PA.  Pretty soon, it will be an A1C with a copy of the PDR. 

Posted by: no good deed at December 09, 2013 03:49 PM (HsJeN)

132 Northern Plains Indians are the perfect example of free health care and benefits provided by a paternalistic federal government. It's been a disaster, a complete failure, unless your goal is the infantalization of a population.

Note how the US Government did it. First it drove them from their cities to replace them with a more malleable population. Then it set up the reservation-system.

In the US over the 1950s and the 1960s, there was a big move toward encouraging the more dysfunctional ethnic groups to move into "segregated" neighbourhoods; and a secondary move to limit policing of the aforementioned ethnic group. This, inevitably, led to a "crime" wave. Whites, seeing no way of appealing to Coleman Young et al. for protection, simply ran for it.

More recently, we have Section 8; to encourage those groups to move into segregated towns, which certain academics are terming "sundown towns".

To quote from ID4, from metropolis to city to town to village: "we're being exterminated".

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at December 09, 2013 03:50 PM (Nsoq9)

133 Yeah Colon cause the VA does such a bang up job with its medical care for the military. What an ass clown? Just STFU and enjoy your taxpayer provided benefits.

Posted by: YaHump at December 09, 2013 03:50 PM (Zpygp)

134 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 07:44 PM (nzKvP)

To be fair, I don't fault the personnel (except the shitbags that don't care about their job, but everyone has one or two of those).  The system, however, forces them to do the best they can with limited personnel and resources, forcing really crappy backlogs...which is exactly what would/will happen under single payer.

OK, I do fault the dentist in San Diego that left a chip of molar in when he took out my wisdom teeth back in '98.  The damn thing worked its way out last week.

Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 03:50 PM (LUkGY)

135

Release the McGuffinator!!!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 03:50 PM (N/Sup)

136 28How many of us would ever have predicted, 10 or 12 years ago, that we would someday utter the words "Ckuf you Colin Powell!"?

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at December 09, 2013 07:19 PM (DmNpO)

 

And much more recently..."Ckuf you Paul Ryan!"

Posted by: Red Shirt at December 09, 2013 03:50 PM (FIDMq)

137 And another thing (God help me, this Powell comment pisses me off) ... THE US ARMY DOESN'T PROVIDE A DAMNED THING !!! It's not self-sufficient. No military is !!! It's a group of highly trained, highly armed government employees. It doesn't PROVIDE anything - because it doesn't MAKE anything. It exists because Gub'Mint takes money from some - by force - and distributes it to others. Pure and simple.

Posted by: ScoggDog at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (6/+vz)

138 Do some research about his connection with My Lai in VN and Scooter Libby/Valarie Plame. He should have zero credibility with any conservative, or anyone with any honor.

Posted by: ExSnipe at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (57ubW)

139 I would be okay with Single Payer as an alternative to say Obamacare. I would of course prefer an actual functioning free market before that though. Also, I would go into Single Payer with my eyes open - it has flaws and drawbacks, and will not achieve any kind of "European" cost savings in the USA. I have lived under Single Payer and it can be done semi-decently (bet we would do it poorly, though) and is not the end of the world. But it could have really bad effects on innovation and also it has major drawbacks. If we were to go to Single Payer, I would like the states to try it out first and maybe keep it done in states. Why does everything have to be Federal?

Posted by: sexypig at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (dZQh7)

140 Primary Care Manager is the name given to our "healthcare providers" in the USAF. Your PCM may be a doctor, a nurse practitioner or a PA. Pretty soon, it will be an A1C with a copy of the PDR. Posted by: no good deed at December 09, 2013 07:49 PM (HsJeN) Stop bitching and moaning, the USAF have the biggest wide screen TVs in the waiting rooms!

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (nzKvP)

141 When I think of Colon Powell, I automatically flash on that HMS Pinafore riff...about "the very model of a Modern Major General".

Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (+SY5G)

142 [And yes, the native Cherokee, at least, [i]were approaching a civilisation; before Andrew Jackson put an end to it.]

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (Nsoq9)

143 Bad form on my part He is an idiot, a buffoon, a dolt, a dullard, a paltroon, a dweeb and a type of weasel

Posted by: Thunderb at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (zOTsN)

144 126 >> Factoid: More people follow Grumpy Cat on Facebook than have signed up for ObamaCare.
 
Factoid: More people have sniffed my beer and refried bean farts and declared them an aromatic ambrosia than have signed up in Oregon for 404Care.

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 09, 2013 03:51 PM (wNF3N)

145 OK, I do fault the dentist in San Diego that left a chip of molar in when he took out my wisdom teeth back in '98. The damn thing worked its way out last week. Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 07:50 PM (LUkGY) I've only worked at Miramar on the West Coast so it wasn't me!

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:52 PM (nzKvP)

146 And yes, the native Cherokee, at least, were approaching a civilisation; before Andrew Jackson put an end to it. Not just approaching. They were successful christian farmers and plantation owners. Their lands were too valuable to left in the hands of 'savages'.

Posted by: toby928© at December 09, 2013 03:53 PM (QupBk)

147 He's still riding Stormin' Norman's coat tails.  In the end Colon Blow can't carry his water.

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at December 09, 2013 03:53 PM (l0lja)

148 " "Colon" Powell " I am so stealing that ! w00t !

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at December 09, 2013 03:54 PM (gUoN4)

149 We need to ignore Powell.

Posted by: Evi. L. Bloggerlady at December 09, 2013 03:54 PM (4kTo2)

150

>>Its not until you retired that it is 'compensation'...

.

.

.It ain't compensation because I pay over $500 bucks a year to be covered by Tricare as a retiree.  Oh and I have to pay every single time I go to the Doc or get a prescription because I am out of network. 

Posted by: Registered Voter at December 09, 2013 03:54 PM (AiKJm)

151

Something tells me that Colin Powell's experiance with govt. provided healthcare may not be the norm.  For some reason I just do not see a guy with that many stars driving himself to the VA and waiting in line with the rest.

 

Of course I maybe wrong.

Posted by: AndrewsDad at December 09, 2013 03:55 PM (C2//T)

152 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 07:52 PM (nzKvP)



NGU - are you one of those ebil dentists that yanks the wisdom teeth out of the young kids before they deploy to the sandbox?  

Posted by: grammie (cuz mama is way way old) winger at December 09, 2013 03:55 PM (P6QsQ)

153 138 I would be okay with Single Payer as an alternative to say Obamacare. Well ... I'm OK with whatever you do in your home - but to Hell if I'm going to join in. And that's the point. Fuck any such system where I'm REQUIRED to participate. Single Payer is such a system. But if you want to join some kind of Medical Co-Op ... knock yourself out.

Posted by: ScoggDog at December 09, 2013 03:55 PM (6/+vz)

154

The Provider... The Provider...

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/104383/treasure-cove#tab=related

Posted by: Trey and Matt at December 09, 2013 03:55 PM (Pr6hk)

155 He's still riding Stormin' Norman's coat tails. In the end Colon Blow can't carry his water. Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at December 09, 2013 07:53 PM (l0lja) And it was Powell who advise President Bush to end the War after what 90 hours? Should have driven right to Baghdad and ended it the first time. Fucken waste

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:55 PM (nzKvP)

156

Besides being O's "Bro", what's Colon been doing for the past 20 years?   

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn at December 09, 2013 03:56 PM (l0lja)

157 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 07:52 PM (nzKvP)

It was some LCDR at Balboa.

Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 03:56 PM (LUkGY)

158 Paul Ryan? Just got a call from a fund raiser for him, I live 1,000 miles from his district. I told the fucker if he ever called me again, during dinner at 7:30, I would not be happy. Fuck off.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 03:56 PM (0FSuD)

159 IIRC there is concierge type medical care at the pentagon for general officers. He hasn't had "normal" military medical care in decades

Posted by: Thunderb at December 09, 2013 03:57 PM (zOTsN)

160 NGU - are you one of those ebil dentists that yanks the wisdom teeth out of the young kids before they deploy to the sandbox? Posted by: grammie (cuz mama is way way old) winger at December 09, 2013 07:55 PM (P6QsQ) No I am a General Dentist. The Oral Surgeons do that. I am the one that sends them over

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:57 PM (nzKvP)

161 Factoid: More people have sniffed my beer and refried bean farts and declared them an aromatic ambrosia than have signed up in Oregon for 404Care.

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 09, 2013 07:51 PM (wNF3N)

 

*****

 

 

Six?

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 09, 2013 03:57 PM (N/Sup)

162 155 Besides being O's "Bro", what's Colon been doing for the past 20 years? Double dipping Federal Pensions. One from the military and one from the State Department. Any more questions, of and some idiots hire him to speak.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 03:57 PM (0FSuD)

163 Apropos of nothing, the Hunger Games sequel sucks ass. At least the first one had novelty in it's ridiculous premise and stilted dialogue.

Posted by: toby928© at December 09, 2013 03:57 PM (QupBk)

164 I suspect the serious leftists would just love to combine "organic" (ie lots of manual labor in the form of weeding and so on)  with  Government run health care and send everyone who fails to pass a fitness test to the collective organic farms for 'fitness training'  

Posted by: palerider at December 09, 2013 03:58 PM (dkExz)

165 It was some LCDR at Balboa. Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 07:56 PM (LUkGY) Drove by it on the way to the Zoo. Looks like a nice facility.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:58 PM (nzKvP)

166 Did Powell go to Canada when he had treatment for prostate cancer? Yeah, didn't think so. You first, Colin.

Posted by: Chester White at December 09, 2013 03:58 PM (dLF+N)

167 That I've experienced military health care is why I oppose national health care so strongly. On the one hand the Air Force hospitals were amazingly good. Usually. On the other hand, if you had an issue, you had no alternatives. In order to get my husband taken care of we had to work the system to see a civilian doctor when we were some place more than 300 miles from the nearest base (okay, maybe 200 miles, but there aren't that many places in the US that qualifies as "too far away".) AFTER he had those cat scans in hand he was able to walk into the military hospital and see a neurosurgeon, who was awesome. BEFORE that, however, he saw several military doctors who refused to pass him upward... give him some pain meds and muscle relaxants and call it good. This is the *exact* same kind of story as you'll hear about the British system. "Oh, your husband can't have that problem, he's not fat... no test for you!" Our messy civilian health market may have problems, but you're never subject to the same level of restriction. You can go see someone else... pay for a test if you must... You're not stuck.

Posted by: Synova at December 09, 2013 03:58 PM (XKEoF)

168 I'm sure old Colon blow doesn't consider, that as a former general, he gets to the front of the line for health services...  There ain't nothing fair about the military, and it's by design. 

The man makes McClellan look like a genius.

Posted by: George S. Patton at December 09, 2013 03:59 PM (Pr6hk)

169 Hey Didn't he slip into some honey pot from Eastern Europe while he was sec state? Yea fuck off Colin

Posted by: Thunderb at December 09, 2013 03:59 PM (zOTsN)

170 It was some LCDR at Balboa. Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 07:56 PM (LUkGY) I can't knock LCDRs just yet since I still am one for another month or 2.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 03:59 PM (nzKvP)

171 OK, I'll axe. WTF is a LCDR?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 04:01 PM (0FSuD)

172 Lt Commander?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 04:01 PM (0FSuD)

173 Lieutenant Commander ~= light colonel in the Army

Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/s] at December 09, 2013 04:01 PM (UVadJ)

174 I am not an expert in health care, or Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, or however you choose to describe it, No, but you are a filthy statist turncoat... you creep.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars [/i] [/b] [/s] at December 09, 2013 04:02 PM (bZKG0)

175 Lieutenant Commander ~= light colonel in the Army Posted by: Purp at December 09, 2013 08:01 PM (UVadJ) No, LCDR= Major Full CDR = LT Colonel CAPT. = Full Bird

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 04:03 PM (nzKvP)

176 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 09, 2013 07:58 PM (nzKvP)

As far as I know, it is.  That was only my second time over there.  The first time was to pick up some DT "A" School chicks for a night out on the town.

Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 04:03 PM (LUkGY)

177 #148 and #149 hit it on the head.  Sorry but being one of Ace's morons I think means I don't have to read the other 146 posts.....I'm a moron, sue me. ;o)

Ok, I have "one-payer" at least that is what I think of it. It's called tricare prime, and yep, right around $500 a year, plus the 23+ years of service I did, meaning a blank check payable to the American people up to and including my life if it came down to that. 4 times in the oasis of the middle-east and a couple other "exotic" places I earned it. and boy did I.

We have what almost always seems to be the bottom of the barrel in so called doctors.  If you have an ailment or illness it behooves you to do your own research after being "issued" med's.  If you don't you really do risk od'ing on something that the doctor seemed to think would take care of symptoms rather than the actual cause of said symptoms.

oh, and the point of this rant: colon bowel is an asshole. and a Republican he is most certainly NOT.

Posted by: RealMc at December 09, 2013 04:03 PM (Sm4jY)

178 Ok, don't see him in the recent comments, so won't be sucking up. Dang ace has been on a roll lately. There's a lot to be said for thoughtful snark as opposed to the throwaway stuff I'm prone to fart out.

Posted by: Meremortal, scarred up at December 09, 2013 04:04 PM (1Y+hH)

179 I am the very model of a Modern Major General... I'm Know nothing of Politics, healthcare or minerals. I'll tell you what to think or you'll go to courtmartial. I am the very model of a Modern Major General...

Posted by: Gen. Colonoscopy Powell at December 09, 2013 04:04 PM (lZBBB)

180 93 How the fuck can you be a Republican if you agree with the Democrats on every issue? Posted by: Dan at December 09, 2013 07:40 PM

If you follow some of the threads in the daytime here, there are GOP operatives and shills who try to tell us that agreeing with Democrats is the only way Republicans can win elections, and winning elections is the way the GOP can somehow save us

They did NOT appreciate DrewM's "kick them in the balls" comment

Posted by: kbdabear at December 09, 2013 04:04 PM (aTXUx)

181 @174 I knew that. Sorry I couldn't figure out LCDR until I did. Ha Ha.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 04:05 PM (0FSuD)

182 Somehow I doubt Colin and his family are getting treated at his local V.A. hospital or hospice.

Posted by: [/i]andycanuck[/b] at December 09, 2013 04:06 PM (vjQ/G)

183 The VA backlog and wait times are now a decades old problem, as any Bing search will provide plenty of articles describing it.
 
Hey, isn't that a single payer system?

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 09, 2013 04:06 PM (wNF3N)

184 Btw, Sy Hersh's latest piece, suggest a former Iraqi chemical weapon's specialist, now with the Nusra Front, Ziyad something or other, was active in the area where the chemical weapons were used last summer,

Posted by: jeffrey pelt at December 09, 2013 04:07 PM (Jsiw/)

185 CP was not a Major General, he was a GENERAL (4 Stars)

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 04:07 PM (0FSuD)

186 Only loyal republicans know that to get healthcare from the govt, one must change his outmoded perspective or die, wingnuts.

Posted by: Fritz at December 09, 2013 04:08 PM (TKFmG)

187

178 I am the very model of a Modern Major General...

 

I'm Know nothing of Politics, healthcare or minerals.

 

I'll tell you what to think or you'll go to courtmartial.

 

I am the very model of a Modern Major General...

 

 

Ha! There it is.

Thanks, Romeo...glad to know I'm not the only one who flashes on that, when I think of Colon Blow.

Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 04:08 PM (+SY5G)

188 Does the fact that DiT's Cowboys are on tonight vs ncj's team whose name somehow escapes me mean there will be a Monday Night Elbow Thread?

Posted by: kbdabear at December 09, 2013 04:09 PM (aTXUx)

189 I just cut loose a post on the Hersh thing that I had in draft all day

Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/s] at December 09, 2013 04:09 PM (UVadJ)

190 One other thing to consider about the implications of going to "VA-style" health care for the whole country: just run a search for "HIV VA hospital."  While you do run across instances of the same type of negligence in private practice/hospitals, it's never on the same scale.

Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 04:09 PM (LUkGY)

191 What pisses me off most is that most of the problems with medical care and insurance were caused by the govt (both state and fed). Adding more is not the answer!11!

Posted by: The Hickster at December 09, 2013 04:09 PM (TI3xG)

192 Synova, I'm dealing with that right now.  It's the waiting that sucks.  My referrals have to be approved by my PCM.  Then, sent to the Tricare office on base who sends it to Humana.  Humana approves the referral and sends it back to the Tricare office who then sends me notification of approval.  Then, I can make a doctor appointment because most offices won't schedule an appointment without the authorization from the insurance.  The past three times I've had stuff go through the Tricare office on base, they assured me the approval would be processed in three days.  Each time, I had to call to make sure the Tricare people had submitted the referral because I had heard nothing after the three day time period had elapsed. 

Posted by: no good deed at December 09, 2013 04:09 PM (HsJeN)

193 Nip Sip...that's from Gilbert and Sulivan's HMS Pinafore.

Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 04:10 PM (+SY5G)

194 Yeah, what about that? Cowboys or Bears? Dallas, except for the cheerleaders, sucks. Da Bears? Fuck Chicago. Can they both lose, or do we root for Cowboys so Barry will be pissed. Who wants to bet they have a satellite feed on AF One so he can watch the game?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 04:11 PM (0FSuD)

195 So General, we have 400k plus vets waiting for their super-dee-dooper healthcare benefits they were promised.  Vets die waiting for their benefits asshole.  It is all about giving his boyfriend in the WH some boost as the general populace wakes up to this shit sandwich. Sorry General you get no respect.

I don't know about you but when I think about quality healthcare the first thing I think about is Korea.  Asshole.


Posted by: Cheri at December 09, 2013 04:11 PM (4NxKJ)

196 192 Nip Sip...that's from Gilbert and Sulivan's HMS Pinafore. Posted by: wheatie at December 09, 2013 08:10 PM (+SY5G) Oh, Never Mind. Moron slips out of room.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 09, 2013 04:12 PM (0FSuD)

197 fuckin' communist

Posted by: Peaches at December 09, 2013 04:13 PM (8lmkt)

198 "If you have an ailment or illness it behooves you to do your own research after being "issued" med's." Do this in any system! Docs can make errors or be dumb just like anyone else.

Posted by: sexypig at December 09, 2013 04:14 PM (dZQh7)

199 Nood

Posted by: Country Singer at December 09, 2013 04:14 PM (LUkGY)

200
Powell stabbed Ambassador Bolton in the back during the GWB administration.  He's shown his true Dem loyalties. 

I've always heard that Powell was in the chain of command when the Mai Lai Massacre occurred and that was why he never ran for office.  Whatever his reason, I hope he stays far far away from elected office. 

Posted by: TheaterG33k at December 09, 2013 04:14 PM (SFPh5)

201 I've posted this before - I work at a VA medical center.  At the facility level we do love our vets and try our best but it is the bloated bureaucracy that creates havoc and unnecessary pain and sometimes death.  Another problem is lack of consistency.  You can go to some VA medical centers and be treated great and others like a number.  

Posted by: Cheri at December 09, 2013 04:22 PM (4NxKJ)

202

The military does provide health care to active duty troops and their families.  I was a Medical Laboratory Specialist assigned to an Army hospital in Germany when I was in; we certainly provided health care.

Posted by: malclave at December 09, 2013 04:24 PM (OCRaO)

203
And to think I once wanted him to run for President. That was a bullet dodged.

Posted by: Darth Randall at December 09, 2013 07:48 PM (Zswg6)









No kidding.

Remember the 2000 election season? The GOP nomination was Powell's for the taking if he'd have just reached out and grabbed it. But that fucking coward pussed out, because his racist wife was convinced that some white man would try to shoot him if he tried to become the first black President. Powell admitted as much in several interviews at the time.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at December 09, 2013 04:28 PM (TIIx5)

204 I'm sorry, Colin who?

Posted by: yujin at December 09, 2013 04:31 PM (uNd+K)

205 Doesn't he know that he isn't supposed to call it Obamacare?

Posted by: AJ4coco at December 09, 2013 04:35 PM (aNrWI)

206

I wish one interviewer would ask Colin Powell a simple question.......Why aren't you a Democrat?

Posted by: Reggie1971 at December 09, 2013 04:38 PM (S11Oq)

207 I wish he could just shut his damn chitlins hole.

Posted by: Ringo Phonebone at December 09, 2013 05:18 PM (pnwfX)

208 "37 I'm curious what the Moron Horde (military edition) thinks of the medical care that they receive from the VA system. What I have heard is that it is not a paragon of efficiency and cutting edge care." Depends on where you go, VAs that are affiliated with university or other teaching hospitals generally have access to all the latest bells and whistles the teaching hospitals do, and the attending physicians are generally attendings at both. The VA in East Sasquatch, though, probably not so much. "44 2) Set up a huge array of hurdles to them actually getting care beyond a disinterested medic. 3) Get them used to getting cared for by personnel who are only working in that system until they get their med school paid off. " You have hurdles, talk to the 1SG; if you have organic medics and not doing your own sick call before the TMC opens, your unit is the thing that is broken. As an aside, the problem with medics is rarely disinterest, but trying to get them time to do medic training so they can do more. The 1SG that won't let you go to sick call probably has them doing something like busting track or doing PMCS on the CO CDR's HMMWV - but what do I know, I only worked in the system 30 years to get my med school paid off. "62 Medical treatment was along similar lines, if you didn't have blood shooting out three feet from your body they didn't give a damn." Another country heard from. The military is great at taking care of seriously broken people, preventive medicine, and special populations. Where it is not so good is the routine stuff because being any type of medical puke in the military is like being at the Little Big Horn and not wearing feathers. You have 100+ Muldoons showing up on sick call for one doc, one PA, and a couple of medics to sort out and you can have your care fast or good, but not both, so fast tends to go out the window. So yeah, your boo-boo you haven't mentioned until now because, mirabile dictu, you have to go to the field, is going to take a back seat to the guy with the spurting blood. I could fill volumes with the problems, but lack of caring isn't one (there are always exceptions), instead it all boils down to bean counters - if you think any of us were (or still are) "providers" enjoy constantly being second guessed whether you need the MRI I ordered, or can't get you the Mysterymycin (tm) because it is more expensive than Endital, there is still room on the 13th floor for you.

Posted by: Mohammed Xavier O'Malley at December 09, 2013 05:21 PM (uN4Ye)

209 Aren't 90% of Repubs RINOs?

Posted by: Titanium at December 09, 2013 05:23 PM (IgOQg)

210 20 year navy vet here. Under a single payer healthcare system, I look forward to waiting in line with illegal immigrants and undeserving lazy bums for my medical care. It's not like I ever did anything to deserve the benefit of quality healthcare that others don't equally deserve, orÂ… something. In fact, why not open all the on-base medical clinics and commissary stores to those of lower income levels. It's only fair that those who have been to war and stood five thousand fucking mid-watches at sea to share-and-share alike. Right? (Not.) I remember in 1981 being paid as an E-1, after taxes, less than $100 a week (it was like $192 every two weeks.) So, the promise of "free healthcare for life" if you stayed 20 years was something used to compensate for the low pay. There was no overtime. Ever. I still have a calendar from when I was stationed on the USS Tarawa (LHA-1) wherein I noted each duty day and each day I spent at sea (at sea is 24 hours on the ship, obviously), plus the normal week. This was a one-year period when the ship was NOT deployed. At the end of the year (1/95 to 1/96), I added the hours I was aboard the ship vs. the time I spent at home (or on "liberty.") There are 168 hours in a week. Most people work 40 hours a week. For this one year, the hours were about the opposite of a typical civilian. I spent about 40 hours at home for every 128 hours I was working aboard ship. I probably made about $45,000 (including sea pay, base pay, etc) that year. In April 96 the ship deployed overseas for six months, so the days I spent at home from 96 to 97 would be far fewer than the year prior.

Posted by: Andy in FL at December 09, 2013 05:38 PM (nf/Xx)

211 In the BizJournal article, the term "single payer" was nowhere inside quotation marks. There is no indication that that is what Powell actually said. The reporter simply seemed to equate "universal coverage" with "single payer". They are not at all the same.

As much as I love to slam Colin, I think this is a case of fucked up reporting. Reporters can't seem to quote quotes. They love to paraphrase instead of simply quoting actual words in the sequence they were spoken.

Posted by: Randall Hoven at December 09, 2013 05:49 PM (Z68nE)

212 @209 "128 hours I was working aboard ship" should be "aboard ship." Obviously I didn't work every single hour I was on the ship.

Posted by: Andy in FL at December 09, 2013 05:51 PM (nf/Xx)

213 Interestingly, The U.S. system he condemns has a 150+ percent greater survival rate for prostate cancer than say, the U.K.

Posted by: Ben(the original) at December 09, 2013 05:54 PM (X8vFJ)

214

“We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care,” he said Thursday


Yeah, about that...we're NOT a wealth country.  We're insolvent.   Idiot.





Posted by: lily at December 09, 2013 05:59 PM (dXCcK)

215

" I have benefited from that kind of universal health care in my 55 years of public life,” Powell said"


I grew up as a military dependent and experience that awesome government heathcare system myself.  As a dependent, it wasn't as good as it was for the active-duty military member, trust me.  So, we I grew up and married a military guy, I made sure I  always had my own job that provided private healthcare insurance so I wouldn't be stuck with the base hospital. 


I should say - most of the nurses and doctors I met at the base hospital were good - but they System?  OMG.  Awful.  And maddening.  And full of stupid rules and systems.  Yikes!  (so bad that I was determined not to be subjected to it!)

Posted by: lily at December 09, 2013 06:05 PM (dXCcK)

216 Late to the party, but said it here before. Military health care is not the sort of care that I would want to unleash on the rest of the US. Examples of poor care by long term incompetents abound. Or you can just get killed in a man-caused disaster, because they won't even weed out obvious terrorists. Think DMV for your health care, all respect given to those who deserve it in .mil healthcare (e.g., those who are not incompetents or petty tyrant assholes), however.

Posted by: flounder at December 09, 2013 06:19 PM (Kkt/i)

217 Such a perfect Republican.

Posted by: Frum Brooks Gergen McCain at December 09, 2013 06:29 PM (dvRYt)

Posted by: Trayvon McGuffin at December 09, 2013 07:32 PM (473jB)

219 Sorry, who knew you could post just by hitting "enter"?

I just wanted to note that Powell could have had the GOP nomination for the asking in 1996, and would have been a strong contender for it in 2000 if he had started as early as W did.

Just as a cautionary note.

Posted by: Trayvon McGuffin at December 09, 2013 07:35 PM (473jB)

220 They will continue to call this guy a "Republican" forever, because that increases his cachet. What it does is damage the Republican brand, just like what every other Republican "moderate" has done.

Posted by: Blacque Jacques Shellacque at December 09, 2013 07:47 PM (PAC/c)

221 COLON BOWEL doesn't even know how to pronounce his damned name -- why listen to him on anything else? Charlie Rose once asked him why he pronounces his name "Colon" instead of "Colin," and he smiled smarmily and said "journalists can't remember to get it right, so I just gave up on it."

What a tool.

Also, at some point in the last ten years, he admitted he's NEVER voted for a Republican for President. The jackass is a Jackass, plain and simple.

He also has a wicked reputation in the military for vicious infighting.

Posted by: Beverly at December 09, 2013 07:51 PM (sYpNe)

222 And we TAXPAYERS are doing ALL the "providing."

What toolheads.

Posted by: Beverly at December 09, 2013 07:51 PM (sYpNe)

223 Don't trust anyone whose life long employment has been on the public's dime. They are completely blind as to the source of their benefits and do not care who suffers to provide them "their due." If you are nurtured in a hierarchy of federal govt. your whole adult life, why wouldn't you come to the conclusion that big government is best.

Posted by: Buckeye Abroad at December 10, 2013 02:07 AM (BZwfq)

224 After WWII, the government saw the need to provide returning vets with two main benefits -- education and health care.  The feds took two very different approaches to paying for each.

On the health care side, it kept provision of medical services in house and built a system of VA hospitals and clinics.  A vet wanting paid health care had no choice but to use the VA system. That system is now a laughingstock that anyone with any options stays away from it.

On the education side, the the government simply made the funds available and it was up to the vet to decide what worked best for him.  He could use his GI Bill education benefit for education ranging from truck driving school to a Ph.D from Harvard.  The education providers responded accordingly, with an exponential growth of a huge variety of options, eventually creating a diverse system of higher education that is the envy of the world.

And Colin Powell is an ignorant ass.

Posted by: Whadever at December 10, 2013 06:46 AM (Xv7f/)

225 "I am not an expert in health care, or Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, or however you choose to describe it, but I do know this:

I JUST CANT STFU"

Posted by: Zombie Commie Walter Cronkite at December 10, 2013 07:12 PM (oNqbW)

226 "Don't trust anyone whose life long employment has been on the public's dime. They are completely blind as to the source of their benefits and do not care who suffers to provide them "their due." If you are nurtured in a hierarchy of federal govt. your whole adult life, why wouldn't you come to the conclusion that big government is best."

This is true.

BTW, this is also true of most academics.
Those 'smart' people who say stupid socialist things have spent their lives coddled in a bureaucratic hive. They cant help but think socialist thoughts.

Posted by: Zombie Commie Walter Cronkite at December 10, 2013 07:27 PM (oNqbW)

227 "They will continue to call this guy a "Republican" forever, because that increases his cachet.

What it does is damage the Republican brand, just like what every other Republican "moderate" has done."

That's WHY the media loves him so.

Transplant the brain of Alan Keyes into him and he'd become and unperson right quick.

Posted by: Zombie Commie Walter Cronkite at December 10, 2013 07:28 PM (oNqbW)

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