Auto Bailout.......

[Guitartists]

My DH makes $13 an hour

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
Wages have not increased for 15 years. Jobs are going overseas thanks to the corporations and their greed. All the while food, fuel, and housing prices have soared. People are forced to use credit so they and their children can eat.

People get chest pains and they think, oh god, my insurance company will penalize me $200.00 dollars if I am not admitted to the hospital. So they stay home and pray. And yes, in some states you CAN be turned away from emergency room treatment if you do not have a way to pay.

Why not have healthcare for everyone…..because emergency treatment is a last resort that we all have to pay for in the end. Try having a heart attack between jobs. Why should I only have health insurance if have a job? HELLO!

There are no BAD people here. They are trapped in a market that perpetrates convoluted schemes, and their objective is profits before people. Everyone wants to own their own home. Don’t you?!

I just crack up at how some people work against their own best interests. The myths have so clearly be set in our minds that we are conquered and divided. We do not help each other anymore. In this country, we have become so selfish and blind about our own needs that we do not see the real source of these problems. We only see the results, and then we blame the victim.

 

[Guitartists]

He doesn't work for one of the big 3.... but he's in the auto-industry... works for a manufacturer that works for GM and others. They go under.... so does his company. The oldtimers there make big bucks because their wages are protected... but every new worker getting hired there is making $9 an hour. My DH was lucky enough to be there before the last pay rate drop. But $13 an hour isn't a huge difference. And he took a cut on his medical... our coverage isn't that great and copays are usually more than we can afford.

 

[annmarie]

I just read that there are 1.6 million jobs in this country directly tied to the auto industry. I don't know what the answer is, but I can't imagine what the loss of 1.6 million jobs would do to our already pathetic economy.
I notice there's a lot of debate about labor unions going on, for what it's worth, I think this country has some of the weakest most pathetic unions in the industrialized world. I think we're all being robbed blind by the exectives and CEO's of these corporations and then beating up on the janitors for making too much money or having too secure a retirement.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
HELLO! There is a system in place already..it is called MEDICARE. It only uses 3% of its budget and not 30% like the insurance companys.

I am so sick of people "thinking" that they do not have the power to do anything. Geeze! Hey bubie....They are afraid that we ALL might wake up at the same time a realize that.

YIKES! We might have to actually stand up and fight for our rights....what a concept!

 

[HennysMom]

Ladyhawke1 Wages have not increased for 15 years. Jobs are going overseas thanks to the corporations and their greed. All the while food, fuel, and housing prices have soared. People are forced to use credit so they and their children can eat.

Okay - yes, people can be forced to use credit at times - I'll agree with that, but again, there are other methods/means. Food banks, churches, organizations. No one forced anyone to go to a predatory lender, sorry. There ARE other ways.
People get chest pains and they think, oh god, my insurance company will penalize me $200.00 dollars if I am not admitted to the hospital. So they stay home and pray. And yes, in some states you CAN be turned away from emergency room treatment if you do not have a way to pay.

what states? Every hospital I've ever been in has a sign that reads "You cannot be turned away for not having the ability to pay...". People dont go because they dont want the bill - I understand that, but you CAN go for treatment. How much is your life worth to you is the bottom line. I get that its expensive, I'm on here vetching even with insurance how much it costs. I've never heard of being turned away from any ER for treatment, its against the law in every state.

Why not have healthcare for everyone…..because emergency treatment is a last resort that we all have to pay for in the end. Try having a heart attack between jobs. Why should I only have health insurance if have a job? HELLO!

we do if you think about it - its called Medicaid and state run programs. Problem is that the gov't cant run them properly - so what makes people think that a mandatory national healthcare system can be run any differently?

There are no BAD people here. They are trapped in a market that perpetrates convoluted schemes, and their objective is profits before people. Everyone wants to own their own home. Don’t you?!

I didnt say there were - perhaps you need to re-read what I wrote and think about it. They aren "trapped in a market" no one forced them to sign into contracts and houses they could not afford, period! I own my home, I qualified for XX amount, I didnt go to the top of my amount nor over that amount, I went into it knowing what I could afford with both eyes open. Why? Because you have to! Its too easy and its a cop out to say "oh the bank lent me the money and they knew I couldnt afford it, but they pre-approved me for it" Sorry - you know what you can afford, bottom line. I shouldnt have to bail you out because you suddenly decide that that ARM you purchased your house on 4 years ago you can no longer afford when all the terms were in writing explained to you in detail - in every detail, right down to what the interest rates could go up each and every year.

I just crack up at how some people work against their own best interests. The myths have so clearly be set in our minds that we are conquered and divided. We do not help each other anymore. In this country, we have become so selfish and blind about our own needs that we do not see the real source of these problems. We only see the results, and then we blame the victim.

Again - its not about helping each other - I asked the question earlier - who is helping those of us that ARE paying our bills on time? That are not late? That didnt get sub-prime mortgages, ARMS, etc? What do WE get for paying our bills on time and not declaring bankruptcy - regardless of the reason that those that may - are?

Give me those answers and we'll discuss it more indepth if you'd like, until then - I stand behind what I say because its absolutely the truth.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
Darlin' MEDICARE was turned over to private companies to administer. Remember those profits we were talking about. That wasscally fox guarding the chicken house again.

 

[HennysMom]

Nope - only a PORTION of Medicare was turned over....

Medicare is still a gov't run program...

darlin

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
I agree 100% with everything except your last statement. The
insurance companies are free market entities. I'm not saying that
to defend the insurance companies. I would be willing to support
govenrment mandates and/or proper regulation on the insurance
companies.

We are going off topic here and will get this post shut down. The
discussion here is the auto industry, not the healthcare industry.
I realize I am as guilty as anyone since I drew some comparisons
between the two, however these are two completely different subjects.

Uh oh…that darn big brother again. Let’s see healthcare…auto industry……..how many billions of dollars does the auto industry spend on its employees and isn’t that one of the reasons it is going bankrupt. Why not have Universal healthcare…WHAT A CONCEPT!

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
I agree with most of that. What I see as the failure of the three American
car companies problem is their failure to diversify their product lines.
We are creating the American equivalent of Airbus by bailing them out.
Heck, why not just make them government run?

I'm all for drilling and developing alternate energies to stabilize prices
and increase our energy independence. Even with that fuel prices and
populations will still continue to rise. A child can see Ford Expeditions
driven by soccer moms is not a sustainable, or intellegent concept.

I drive a Dodge Sprinter for work, made by Mercedes. It gets 22 mpg
and completely outperforms any Ford van I've had. Even the Europeans
have figured it out. Ford sells an almost identicle van but it's not
available in the U.S. Hmmmm...

I agree to a point. People driving suvs for status symbols is one thing. Suvs can be very useful and needed. Imagine hauling 6 people and their sports equipment in a Camry. Imagine pulling that trailer loaded with 2 chords of green firewood with a Prius. I definitely would have a hard time without my pickup. I drive it less than 20 miles a month but the camry won't get that firewood from the woodlot across the street to my yard or haul a load of materials. When junk was paying my truck usually grossed 10,000 or better and got alot more use. My truck is a heck of alot cheaper to repair than the foreign vehicles as well.

Imagine in a few more years buying draft horses to pull them.