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Congressman Weiner: "You Don't Know What Socialism Means!"
I never said statistics don't matter, social liberals have to realize that there is such a thing as "statistical sleight of hand", you shouldn't immediately trust numbers coming from the mouth of a politician or the bureaucrats he's quoting. The low Medicare overhead myth is a clear example of that:
- The overhead percentage is the administrative cost compared to total costs, so a lower overhead doesn't mean less costs, it means less compared to the total costs. When Medicare's costs are out of control, overhead will shrink making Medicare look good to anyone dumb enough to only look at that particular statistic and conjure the image of Medicare as a model of efficiency.
- Medicare serves the elderly, they have higher expenditures because they need greater levels of medical care, thus making overhead costs smaller compared to greater total costs in percentage terms.
- Medicare has very high levels of fraud and abuse, something like $70 billion every year! They don't waste any money trying to stop it, because they don't care if needless procedures are being done or if people are stealing money, it's not their money! Private insurers, on the other hand, actively waste money to fight fraud and abuse, which adds to the overhead and reduces total costs, increasing the overhead percentage in relation to these smaller costs!
- Private insurers pay state health insurance premium taxes and all sorts of business taxes, Medicare doesn't.
P.S.: Peroxide, please spare me your misdirected hatred of Bill O'Reilly, I couldn't care less what the hell he said about Amsterdam, reply when you have something pertinent to say.
Congressman Weiner: "You Don't Know What Socialism Means!"
This congressman is either being deluded by fake numbers or being plain dishonest (not very unlikely for a politician), I wanna' bash the anchorman's head for buying into his overhead bullshit and not doing his homework. Medicare's overhead is smaller in overall *percentage* terms because it wastes a lot more money, that makes the overhead costs smaller in comparison to the total costs which are enormous: They are servicing the elderly!
Not to mention what is wasted on high levels of fraud and abuse, that's not being counted as overhead for Medicare's numbers. Private insurers, on the other hand, waste money fighting against fraud and abuse, and that counts as overhead! Private insurances also have to pay state health insurance taxes of 2-4%, which, you guessed it, counts as overhead, and Medicare doesn't.
It's all bureaucrats fooling around with statistical hedonics. If you compare on a per-person basis, Medicare wastes 25% on overhead, dramatically less efficient than private insurance.
Congressman Weiner: "You Don't Know What Socialism Means!"
EDD, you're right and I was wrong. Sorry for the name calling. Thanks again for educating me. I'd like to repost my original posts without the name calling.
Congressman Weiner: "You Don't Know What Socialism Means!"
@EDD
How about reading the entire post or arguing any of the points before immaturely powertripping on someone for not worshipping your little hero?
Congressman Weiner: "You Don't Know What Socialism Means!"
I never said statistics don't matter, social liberals have to realize that there is such a thing as "statistical sleight of hand", you shouldn't immediately trust numbers coming from the mouth of a politician or the bureaucrats he's quoting. The low Medicare overhead myth is a clear example of that:
- The overhead percentage is the administrative cost compared to total costs, so a lower overhead doesn't mean less costs, it means less compared to the total costs. When Medicare's costs are out of control, overhead will shrink making Medicare look good to anyone dumb enough to only look at that particular statistic and conjure the image of Medicare as a model of efficiency.
- Medicare serves the elderly, they have higher expenditures because they need greater levels of medical care, thus making overhead costs smaller compared to greater total costs in percentage terms.
- Medicare has very high levels of fraud and abuse, something like $70 billion every year! They don't waste any money trying to stop it, because they don't care if needless procedures are being done or if people are stealing money, it's not their money! Private insurers, on the other hand, actively waste money to fight fraud and abuse, which adds to the overhead and reduces total costs, increasing the overhead percentage in relation to these smaller costs!
- Private insurers pay state health insurance premium taxes and all sorts of business taxes, Medicare doesn't.
P.S.: I'd like to ask all social liberals with downvoting power not to downvote this post purely based on the fact that I'm not sucking up to congressman Small Weiner.
P.P.S.: Peroxide, please spare me your misdirected hatred of Bill O'Reilly, I couldn't care less what the hell he said about Amsterdam, reply when you have something pertinent to say.
<><> (Blog Entry by blankfist)
You guys should talk about human rights then, it would be very interventionist to consider all humans entitled to the protection of the US Constitution.
I'm guessing Rand Paul considers the prisoners in Guantanamo as prisoners of war. If that's the case, the Constitution does not apply to them, it's not meant to restrict government against war enemies.
Tea Party Patriots laugh at Lost Daughter And Grandchild
The Tea Party movement is trying to do the right thing and has its heart in the right place, too bad it's being done by Americans: People who aren't capable of revolting intelligently anymore after years of being dumbed down by public education.
Congressman Weiner: "You Don't Know What Socialism Means!"
This congressman is a deluded imbecile, I wanna' bash the anchorman's head for buying into his overhead bullshit and not doing his homework. Medicare's overhead is smaller in overall *percentage* terms because it wastes a lot more money, that makes the overhead costs smaller in comparison to the total costs which are enormous: They are servicing the elderly!
Not to mention what is wasted on high levels of fraud and abuse, that's not being counted as overhead for Medicare's numbers. Private insurers, on the other hand, waste money fighting against fraud and abuse, and that counts as overhead! Private insurances also have to pay state health insurance taxes of 2-4%, which, you guessed it, counts as overhead, and Medicare doesn't.
It's all bureaucrats fooling around with statistical hedonics. If you compare on a per-person basis, Medicare wastes 25% on overhead, dramatically less efficient than private insurance.
<><> (Blog Entry by blankfist)
blankfist, you're nuts. He's not a warmonger, he's very aware of the military industrial complex and only acknowledges that the federal government's top priority should be national defense. It used to be the only reason we actually needed a federal government.
Foreign terrorists don't deserve the protection of our Constitution because they're not american citizens, they're prisoners, it doesn't apply to them. Doesn't that make any sense to you?
Like his father, he realizes that US military interventionism was the reason 9/11 happened. Ron Paul was also in favor of going into Afghanistan (and voted likewise). The problem is that it turned into occupation, instead of the military just going after Al Qaeda and those responsible for the attacks.
Skydiving with a Peregrine Falcon
Bird's thoughts the whole time:
Stop falling you idiot!
Father Separated From Child By Train Door
When I was only 5, the train... ah, never mind. This never happened to me.
Hong Kong - Stacked like lab animals!
Location, location, location.
Boxer doesn't think he can get knocked out
It actually is harder to knock out a boxer. Unless he's an idiot.
Obama on Palin's Rating of his Presidency
>> ^KnivesOut:
And if those two things don't happen, will you kill yourself? Put your money where your mouth is, so to speak?
That's harsh. If you live in the US, I'm hoping you don't kill yourself.
O'Reilly: Is Obama The Devil?
^ Maybe if some people forgot about right and left for a minute, they'd realize the mess Obama is doing.