Dorkington

All I know is, the subsidies aren't cutting it for a great many people in many places. I have some friends who simply cannot afford insurance still, while others, in other states, got really good deals. The mandate, good in theory, only works if we can get everyone into the system. Unfortunately we can't get everyone into the system the way things are. My personal insurance, through my company, hasn't changed a whole lot for me personally. Some of my coworkers' plans got changed though.

Our dependence on contractors doesn't help. There are some government services that work just fine. There are others that don't.

Dixon.

IIRC, the super initial proposals involved some sort of expansion of medicare to all, no? In fact, I think it was conservatives way back when (late '80s? early 90s?) who came up with the idea of the mandate instead of a single payer system. Theoretically it was to lower prices, since lots of healthy people would be buying insurance. But the reality is, people can't afford the prices because on the other end, services and products are entirely too expensive. The original goal for Obama was universal healthcare, but it quickly became apparent that he wouldn't get the support needed, and the result is this mandate mess. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Health_Care_Act has been pushed a few times, but has quickly been thrown out, because people are so scared of "government takeover". Personally I think the government is exactly for these sorts of services. Defense and emergency services, infrastructure, basic education, basic healthcare.

I've spent time in Canada and the UK, and have good friends in both. They've spent time over here, and also have many good American friends. I don't have first hand experience myself, but what they describe lines up with all the "graphs and charts" as being better than our current solution. They call the doctor, set an appointment, usually a week or two out for non emergency appointments. Which, lines up exactly with what I deal with. Never have I heard from actual people who use these systems that they have to bribe doctors in order to get an appointment within six months. Regarding healthcare costs... This is a good read, from Time: http://livingwithmcl.../BitterPill.pdf Also, I should state, that I support a universal *base*, whether that's single payer, or a national healthcare system, either works. But if rich people want to buy super fancy healthcare/insurance, they should be free to do that as well. A universal system of some sort is the best way to make sure the lower and middle classes have access to proper preventative healthcare. It's not necessarily the best for rich people, that much is obvious. Regarding the other rants, I'm not sure where you got all the assumptions about me. But please stop putting opinions into my mouth (or fingers, in this case, heh).

No President is ever really on vacation. That goes for Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, etc. The definition of vacation is much different for the POTUS than it is for the rest of us. That being said, I would like to see "vacations" come out of their private income, going forward (Obama, and any future president).

But... but... EJ is the worst QB of all time!

That's way too logical. Don't you know Bills fans don't support depth?

Why would we trade two first rounders? I thought we were supposed to draft a first round QB every year until one becomes a probowl/superbowl all star hall of fame world series champion the first season they play?

Nope. I was watching a rookie QB play in a rookie OC system.

I liked the way Manuel played for 7 out of the 10 games he played. Was he perfect in all of those games? Hell no. But I liked what I saw.

Ahahahaha

Round up of TBD's QB opinions Vick > Geno > EJ > Vick

Geno beat us once last year... so does that mean we're 0-2 vs the Jets this upcoming season?

The responses basically covered all my thoughts when I saw this thread title. We're still the laughing stock of football (if not professional sports as a whole), so let's calm that talk right down.

Is Frank the Tank gone?? (Edit: No he isn't... was confused by the FB visit)

That's a fitting snag for the Jets to be caught up in.

He was 8th in the league in TDs by a TE in 2012. 10th in 2011. People cite 2013's results of only 2 TDs as the norm for him, but I think he more lines up with the 2011/2012 stats. Personally I think he's a top half talent at TE. Is he great? Nope. Certainly a solid starting TE, though.

We won the offseason a couple years ago when we signed Mario. We totally won the Superbowl that year, right?

I wonder how many games this year's Bills 1st round pick will get before he's labeled a bust. I think CJ was labeled a bust in year two... Dareus was either first or second year, I forget. EJ, well, everyone hates him after what, 10 games? I'm guessing this year's 1st round pick will have 4 games to be a pro-bowl talent before fans torch his house.

I'm not an expert, but there's no one in the draft that I've seen that is clearly better than EJ.

"7-9 Might Happen!"

I'm in, as long as he's affordable. I still want to take either a big WR, or an athletic TE with one of the first two picks in the draft, though.

As a liberal, I continue to find this "solution" disappointing. It still baffles me that we don't have some sort of universal solution.