2006 State of the Union Address

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Yeah! No Child Left Behind has been grossly underfunded! Good job Kaine... and slashing student loans as well. Good points!

Ah, yes, must be the libertarian response.

[SFL Cat]

Well, they say his star was rising in the Democratic Party....maybe not so much after tonight.

[Easy Mac]

This guys SOTU rundown here.

(since i vote democrat, read at your own risk, its also, unedited, so there are spelling mistakes, but i think its readable)

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

Well, they say his star was rising....maybe not so much after tonight.

His left eyebrow is playing the part of the star.

[vtbub]

He makes Al Gore sound like Bill Clinton.

[biological warrior]

I dont know about the inadequate body armor part. When I went to OEF we got em, and EVERYONE who crosses the Line has a kevlar vest.

[miked]

Originally Posted by biological warrior

The President was on the offensive tonite. He was firing on all cylinders. He really emphasized that we are a Nation at War (mostly forgotten by many americans) and we need to win:
Before history is written down in books, it is written in courage. Like Americans before us, we will show that courage and we will finish well. We will lead freedom’s advance. We will compete and excel in the global economy. We will renew the defining moral commitments of this land. And so we move forward – optimistic about our country, faithful to its cause, and confident of victories to come. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.

Yes, right from a Michael Douglas movie. I don't know why you are the speech's nuts so much, it's just a speech and most of what he promises (like so many others) will go unfulfilled. In 8 years, we'll be hearing another state of the union promising affordable prescription drugs for elderly, medicare reform, social security reform, and all the other stuff.

A few years ago he promised to increase the NIH budget by a nice sum. The new budget, adjusted for inflation and the money earmarked for bioterrorism research, is actually quite a nice reduction. Blah.

[vtbub]

Memo to Gov. Kaine. This is being seen outside of Virginia.

[SackAttack]

I think the eyebrow is the sane part of him trying to escape.

[Celeval]

Would there perhaps be a better way?

There's a better way.</ObligatoryWestWingMoment>

[ISiddiqui]

They should have put Governor Warner or Senator Obama up there... but at least Kaine is making some good points... unfortunetly his charisma is just not there

[Easy Mac]

Do ya smell what Kaine is cookin!

[ISiddiqui]

Religious language in there... trying not to turn off the religious right?

[SackAttack]

If the Democrats sweep this guy under the rug, would that be the Kaine Mutiny?

[SFL Cat]

It don't smell too good, whatever it is.

[Schmidty]

What are you guys talking about? This guy's great!!!!

I put my daughter down for the night with the TV on in the background, and she fell asleep in .27 seconds. I need to record this.

[SFL Cat]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Religious language in there... trying not to turn off the religious right?

He had a Pat Robertson moment.

[biological warrior]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

They should have put Governor Warner or Senator Obama up there... but at least Kaine is making some good points... unfortunetly his charisma is just not there

Definately. He may have had good points but I was lost in the uneveness of his eyebrows.

[Easy Mac]

Scrubs is on!!!!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

Scrubs is on!!!!

It's a repeat.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I'd completely disagree with that from the things I've seen.

You in medicine?

As for what EF said, it's mostly truly. You got doctors working insane hours, on little sleep with patients who can be ungrateful for services, and regular joes like us who think we know what should be done, instead of letting professionals do it. Medicine is not a "safe-proof" practice.

[biological warrior]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

You in medicine?

As for what EF said, it's mostly truly. You got doctors working insane hours, on little sleep with patients who can be ungrateful for services. Medicine is not a "safe-proof" practice.

Nurses have it worse than doctors too. God Bless the aging nursing population. Seldom do I see a 20 something nurse. I see alot of older 40 something nurses worn down by the abuse and work overload they have to put up with.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by biological warrior

Nurses have it worse than doctors too. God Bless the aging nursing population. Seldom do I see a 20 something nurse. I see alot of older 40 something nurses worn down by the abuse and work overload they have to put up with.

Can't disagree with that. Nursing is in such demand right now. The state of the medicaid/medicare is not helping doctors as well.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by biological warrior

Nurses have it worse than doctors too. God Bless the aging nursing population. Seldom do I see a 20 something nurse. I see alot of older 40 something nurses worn down by the abuse and work overload they have to put up with.

I absolutely agree with that. I'm blessed to be working with a GREAT nurse at my current clinic job, and it makes life so much easier. They bear a great deal of the burden of the healthcare system.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

The state of the medicaid/medicare is not helping doctors as well.

No kidding. With some of the cuts to reimbursements, I might have a tough choice to make in the near future.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

You in medicine?

That's completely unimportant. That's like asking if you are in the legal profession so that you can critcize it.

[Deattribution]

I hardly heard a word Kaine said... and it's funny because people were warning about his evil eyebrow over a week ago

America, prepare to be creeped out by "The Eyebrow."

Read on for more...including a photo!
Print This Story
Jan 19th, 2006: 15:07:47
Kaine is the flavor of the month due to his recent victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race. Of course, he achieved victory by saying, largely, that he doesn't agree with Democratic policies (namely on abortion and capital punishment), but that he'd ignore his supposedly deeply-held beliefs and govern like a Democrat.

In other words, no one knows what Kaine stands for, because he doesn't stand for anything. But he's the new Democratic governor in a red state, so the Democrats think he can be an example for them. More power to them.

When you watch Kaine's response, however, be aware that you absolutely will not be able to concentrate on what he is saying. Why? Because of this:


Check out his eyebrow. It has a mind of it's own, moving up and down as if Kaine can't control it. It's the creepiest thing you'll ever see.

And I'm sure that's the only interesting item that will emerge from this Democratic response. But at least it gives us a reason to watch the speech. Otherwise, I can't imagine wasting the time when I'm sure there will be an exciting re-run of the 2001 World Series of Poker airing on ESPN6 at the same time.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

No kidding. With some of the cuts to reimbursements, I might have a tough choice to make in the near future.

Isn't the quality of incoming students into med schools much lower due to "repressed" salaries (due to government programs, immigration, and high insurance costs), threat of lawsuits, skyrocketing costs of med schools, insurance costs, and high workload? I'm concern about our situation in 10-20 years.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

That's completely unimportant. That's like asking if you are in the legal profession so that you can critcize it.

Of course it is. We do not have the experience or understanding of being on the other side in such a highly-intense, and complex, field. Unless your a patient who receives a lot of treatment by doctors, medicine, hospitals, then your just going by what you hear.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Isn't the quality of incoming students into med schools much lower due to "repressed" salaries (due to government programs, immigration, and high insurance costs), threat of lawsuits, skyrocketing costs of med schools, insurance costs, and high workload? I'm concern about our situation in 10-20 years.

Medical School is still VERY competitive to get into (about 4% of applicants were accepted at the school where I work.) However, I think that work satisfaction is lower in the past 10-20 years. As far as the quality of students we accept (and residents) it fluctuates year to year. Some years, the school makes good choices, and some years you get a relatively weak class.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

That's completely unimportant. That's like asking if you are in the legal profession so that you can critcize it.

You weren't just doing that, you said "I'd completely disagree with that from the things I've seen."

So what are these things you've seen that would make you completety disagree with ef27 saying many of the lawsuits are frivolous? Just a few anecdotal examples? A family member or friend once had to sue for malpractice, and thus most or close to all lawsuits are not frivolous?

[sterlingice]

Some random thoughts as I just finished the replay on C-SPAN:
* Seemed very devoid of specific content- usually there's some specific plan to kick off the year. Is he that worried about his lack of clout right now? I've noticed that when Presidents don't lay out specifics, they don't follow through at all.
* Nearly half of the speech was about "the war on terror". I used to beg for SotU speeches that spent half the time on foreign policy but this was just ridiculous. Guess you play to your strong points.
* I notice the illegal wiretapping got the exciting nickname of "terrorist surveillance program"
* I like the first part of his domestic speech- we really do need some reform in social security, medicare, medicaid. I also would like to see medical liability reform. I'm a little worried about the lack of specifics (see above), but hopefully he can get these done. And hopefully better than the perscription plan.
* He said "nucular"
* Him talking about ending the oil addiction just seemed like Michael Jackson talking about child care reform or something
* Kaine was just not a good choice for rebuttal
* The C-SPAN callers, um, suck

SI

[sterlingice]

Ok, put up a poll (since I couldn't add one here)

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=46782

SI

[MrBigglesworth]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

* I like the first part of his domestic speech- we really do need some reform in social security, medicare, medicaid. I also would like to see medical liability reform. I'm a little worried about the lack of specifics (see above), but hopefully he can get these done. And hopefully better than the perscription plan.

What 'reform' do you think needs to be done? I think some things need to be changed, but not the things Bush wants to do...

[sterlingice]

Social Security needs the age pushed back, commesurate with how people are living longer. And not gradually moved back in 25 years to 68. I mean in the next 5 years and 70 or even 72-75. And that's even with my parents about to hit that age.

Medicaid and Medicare. Man, that's such a mess I don't know where to start. And that's coming from someone who *likes* the idea of Canada or Scandanavian-style socialized medicine.

Lastly, medical liability needs to be scaled back for individual doctors. For corporations, that's a bit fuzzier of a topic. And pharmaceutical companies, fuzzier still.

SI

[Vegas Vic]

I was a bit shocked to see him do a 180 and embrace an energy policy espoused by Al Gore and John Kerry. Didn't Bush campaign on the idea that this would cripple our economy and cost jobs?

[wade moore]

For those of you laughing out how Tim Kaine talks....

You should have heard the other option for us...

[Drake]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Social Security needs the age pushed back, commesurate with how people are living longer. And not gradually moved back in 25 years to 68. I mean in the next 5 years and 70 or even 72-75. And that's even with my parents about to hit that age.

According to my latest retirement analysis, I'm not going to have enough money to retire even at 72-75. They could push it back to 90 for all I care.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by wade moore

For those of you laughing out how Tim Kaine talks....

You should have heard the other option for us...

Yeah, except Bin Laden couldn't get a visa.




(Joke. It's a joke. )

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Social Security needs the age pushed back, commesurate with how people are living longer. And not gradually moved back in 25 years to 68. I mean in the next 5 years and 70 or even 72-75. And that's even with my parents about to hit that age.

Medicaid and Medicare. Man, that's such a mess I don't know where to start. And that's coming from someone who *likes* the idea of Canada or Scandanavian-style socialized medicine.

Lastly, medical liability needs to be scaled back for individual doctors. For corporations, that's a bit fuzzier of a topic. And pharmaceutical companies, fuzzier still.

SI

One idea that interests me is something they have set-up in Sweden in terms of malpractice lawsuits. Instead of going through the courts with a jury of common people, go to a special system that consists of a jury of medically-trained experts. No caps on the rewards, but I think it would be interesting concept.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Social Security needs the age pushed back, commesurate with how people are living longer. And not gradually moved back in 25 years to 68. I mean in the next 5 years and 70 or even 72-75. And that's even with my parents about to hit that age.

This seems so obviously true to me, as well. Even pushing back the retirement age 1 year would radically alter the financial outlook for social security, but it's an option that nobody is willing to consider.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

One idea that interests me is something they have set-up in Sweden in terms of malpractice lawsuits. Instead of going through the courts with a jury of common people, go to a special system that consists of a jury of medically-trained experts. No caps on the rewards, but I think it would be interesting concept.

This had been discussed before on the board. I like the idea--not only because qualified experts are at the heart of the system, but also because it has potential for cutting costs without a drop-off in victim's compensation. Some estimate that while settlements will be lower, victims actually net out the same or better, since legal expenses never come into the equation.

Others have pointed out that mandating a system like this is probably unconstitutional--so perhaps the best that can be hoped for is to have a dual system (expert panel-litigation) in which potential litigants are strongly encouraged to go through this system first, before attempting redress via the legal system.

[MrBigglesworth]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Social Security needs the age pushed back, commesurate with how people are living longer. And not gradually moved back in 25 years to 68. I mean in the next 5 years and 70 or even 72-75. And that's even with my parents about to hit that age.

Having to work longer is great for some people, but there are a lot of people out there that have jobs that make it impossible to work into their seventies, manual labor jobs for example.

Taxes as a percent of GDP are 3 or 4 percent lower than they were during the economic boom of the '90's. If taxes were raised back to prior levels, Medicare, Medicaid, and SS could all be adequately funded.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by MrBigglesworth

Having to work longer is great for some people, but there are a lot of people out there that have jobs that make it impossible to work into their seventies, manual labor jobs for example.

Taxes as a percent of GDP are 3 or 4 percent lower than they were during the economic boom of the '90's. If taxes were raised back to prior levels, Medicare, Medicaid, and SS could all be adequately funded.

Raising taxes is just a short-term band-aid, not a long-term solution. A drastic reform both in all programs, as well as the budget, is the solution. As for Medicare, Medicaid, and SS, they could be adequately funded now, but what happens when more Boomers request the need for assistant from the Medicare, Medicaid, and SS at the highest peak of that usage. Medicare and Medicaid costs are only going to go up, and will go up high, with the Boomers getting on board (and add in the health problems they may occur, may not be pretty).

[MrBigglesworth]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Raising taxes is just a short-term band-aid, not a long-term solution. A drastic reform both in all programs, as well as the budget, is the solution. As for Medicare, Medicaid, and SS, they could be adequately funded now, but what happens when more Boomers request the need for assistant from the Medicare, Medicaid, and SS at the highest peak of that usage. Medicare and Medicaid costs are only going to go up, and will go up high, with the Boomers getting on board (and add in the health problems they may occur, may not be pretty).

Putting taxes at the level they were in the late '90's would fund the programs into the infinite horizon, according to CBO budget calculations. That's not to say that the programs couldn't use some tweaks, but it's not an insurmountable problem that would ruin life as we know it. The best thing to do for Medicare/Medicaid would be to go to a nationalized system. That would control costs overall and based on all the evidence would lead to better health outcomes.

[Galaxy]

Did Sheehan get released? Also, why did they allow her in? You have to know she would do something.

[SirFozzie]

BTW.. did anyone get a kick out of folks standing up and cheering after President Bush said.. "Last year, Congress did NOT pass my plan for Social Security reform.." (intending to shame them with a naughty naughty..

instead folks cheered that they had stopped him. sounded like some Repubs too

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

BTW.. did anyone get a kick out of folks standing up and cheering after President Bush said.. "Last year, Congress did NOT pass my plan for Social Security reform.." (intending to shame them with a naughty naughty..

instead folks cheered that they had stopped him. sounded like some Repubs too

I recall the same thing happening a couple SOTU's ago when Bush got an unintentional cheer when he said "The patriot act still hasn't been renewed..." or something along those lines...

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

BTW.. did anyone get a kick out of folks standing up and cheering after President Bush said.. "Last year, Congress did NOT pass my plan for Social Security reform.." (intending to shame them with a naughty naughty..

instead folks cheered that they had stopped him. sounded like some Repubs too

And there were some boos and hisses when he mentioned something about needing to renew or make permanent the Patriot Act. Unfortunately, not enough spines in that room to do the right thing and kick that piece of trash to the curb.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Did Sheehan get released? Also, why did they allow her in? You have to know she would do something.

Yeah, she got released:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11120353/

But Capitol Police will ask the U.S. attorney's office to drop the charges, NBC News’ Mike Viqueira reported Wednesday.

“We screwed up,” a top Capitol Police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said Sheehan didn't violate any rules or laws.