Energy Independence - a not so modest proposal <OT>

It's not free but most countries spend less than half what we spend and they get much better results.

If I doubled my gas budget it would still be a hell of a lot less than the $650 a month I spend for just my share of the medical costs the fire department supplies. You have bought into the lies told by those who are getting rich on our system. The countries with national health care spend less than half of what we spend and they get better results.

When they can make a car as reliable as a Camry or Honda I'll buy American.

You forgot to say in my opinion, since what you believe is not born out by the facts. The US has the finest medical care in the world. One reason is there are far more life saving drugs available in the US than anywhere else in the world. Do a search of the limited number, of so called 'free' drugs, available in Canada, for example

mike

If that is the case I would not buy an SUV if I were you. Please explain how you know what others 'need.' ;)

Sure, that's why the people in those countries who can afford it come HERE for medical care.

Jeff DeWitt

exactly.. pulling a motor out to work on it, think its got a bad cam, but, 190,000 miles on a Mitsubishi isnt TOO bad.. my old 350 Chevy ate a set of heads every 10,000 miles when I had it, finally got smart and got rid of it.. --Shiva--

Every 10,000 miles? Like so many other stories, I wonder about the details left out sometimes...

exactly.. pulling a motor out to work on it, think its got a bad

head split between center 2 cylinders, between the valves.. a set of rebuilt heads put on, and about 15 months later, same.. ditto the THIRD,. and BTW, was BOTH sides, not just one.. It didnt like heads.,. and i BOUGHT it with this problem.. when I traded it off, it was on #4 but I didnt bother, was tired of buying new heads. the guy I traded it to slapped a complete engine in and had no problems.

--Shiva--

No kidding. I'm no fan of Chebby motors but they aren't THAT bad, it sounds like there was another problem that was never fixed... and even Toyota makes lemons.

Jeff DeWitt

Jeff Rice wrote:

Bzzzzzzzt... While some of the outrageous costs of health insurance is due to the proliferation of prescription drugs, the major part is due to the artificially inflated costs to the paying consumer to make up for those who do not have, (or will not get), health insurance.

A perfect example of providers vs. takers...

JT

Alex Magdaleno wrote:

my rebuild guy said there was a run of 'something wrong' heads, just my luck to keep getting them.. we tried 3 different casting numbers and it didnt help.. couple of years later there was another revision and the problem quit.. this WAS over 30 years back.. NEVER could get over 10 mpg with the POS either. the 352 Ford PU I had I recarbed and rejetted, did get 19 out of it

--Shiva--

Research the Bertram / Hill bill, for the one of the major reasons why your medical bills are where they are in the US. ;)

mike

Can't prove it by me. Every manufacture, foreign or domestic, is building great stuff today. They have warranties from 50K / five years, up to 100K / ten years, rather than the 1,000 mile / thirty day warranties back in the day.

One needs to do the proper preventive maintenance, if they keep a car a long time. I have four old cars, a 1941 to 1983, all domestics with from 120K to

300K on the clocks. They all have the original drive train. The one with 300K is a 71 Pinto.

Any car you can buy today is far better than what was available 36 to 66 years ago. I haven't had a bad car in over twenty years. They are make some that are not up to snuff on occasion. The two cars, of the over seventy I have owned, that were problematic were a 1951 Chevy and a 1986 Honda ;)

mike

What I believe is always born out by facts. Here's something on how much we spend

As for results-- Many believe the US has the best health care in the world, but look at more JAMA stats!!! Of 13 countries the US rankings are terrible. (Countries in order of their average ranking - Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Finland, Netherlands, U.K., Denmark, Belgium, US, and Germany.)

US ranking's are as follows:

13th (last) in low-birth weights 13th - neonatal mortality 11th - post neonatal mortality 13th - life lost excluding external causes 11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females 12th for males 10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females 12th for males 10th for life expectancy at 40 for females 9th for males 7th for life expectancy at 65 for females 7th for males 10th for age adjusted mortality.

Very few do that. We are talking about overall results and our ratings are poor.

Here's something on how much we spend

As for results-- Many believe the US has the best health care in the world, but look at more JAMA stats!!! Of 13 countries the US rankings are terrible. (Countries in order of their average ranking - Japan, Sweden, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Finland, Netherlands, U.K., Denmark, Belgium, US, and Germany.)

US ranking's are as follows:

13th (last) in low-birth weights 13th - neonatal mortality 11th - post neonatal mortality 13th - life lost excluding external causes 11th for life expectancy at 1 year for females 12th for males 10th for life expectancy at 15 years for females 12th for males 10th for life expectancy at 40 for females 9th for males 7th for life expectancy at 65 for females 7th for males 10th for age adjusted mortality.