“The position” – are we talking about the President or the doctor? If the latter, then we’re talking about a kind of person.
Chill, dude. No-one is accusing you of that. 
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Insurance CEO, doctor, nurse, health insurance claim adjustor, seller of medical equipment, line foreman in a pharma factory, perhaps even the hospital staff at the facility’s information desk. Some will stick around (or try to), but if (for example) they receive their pay by commission or by bonus (and these days even hospital maintenance workers may be eligible for a small bonus) then the position will probably have to be staffed by a new person (one who responds to incentives not dependent on profit). Out with the old workers, in with the new.
I take your point about a new kind of person.
It would be a massive, massive change to our system. And only one of many.
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So, I presume he’s trying to explain in simple terms to simple people that plans prior to introduction of obamacare will be grandfathered. But, the plans loose their grandfathered status if significant changes are made to them, which many would find obvious, but might not be to simple or uneducated people.
So, it’s not that he lied, it’s just that he simplified something. And besides, the affordable care act has to be hundreds of pages long, obviously not every detail had been communicated in speeches or even could be.
And lastly, not sure when the speech you are referring to was made, but I suspect it was done prior to introduction of the affordable care act, hence he couldn’t have known with certainty how the final bill will look.
Hi back again.
I got everything in the family members in the US, from doctors to airline mechanics. Most live in Northern states, Eastern states. The ones worse off as I said before are the wife of a Vietnam vet who became sick due to his exposure there to well, the war. When he was disabled and in treatment she got in a near fatal collison on her way to the hospital. That was my first exposure to the medical system there, as early translator for our family. My uncle and cousin, doctors in Buffalo, do not have nice things to say. Dear uncle Bob, who owns several properties in several countries, a factory and tries his best not to pay taxes, is also against socialization of the insurance… but flies to the old country when dental care is needed and generally speaking won´t go to the hospital unless they take him in an ambulance. Heck, my brother is treating him long distance for some foot thinghie. He buys his medicines in the old country. So he could contribute and use the local system in Michigan but nope.
Of course, the problem as you know is that we Americans are a simple and uneducated people who struggle to understand basic English, even when written in our usual way using dark crayon on bits of discarded cardboard.
We only hope that people like yourself, beings who gaze down from on high upon our undeserving attempts to avoid eye contact with people of your quality, can bring yourselves to keep us from the great damage you could do with a mere flick of the wrist, or just the slight beginnings of a contemptuous smile.
Do us a favor, please, and find a way to loose your condescension.
No. It’s actually that he lied. Watch the video. Note the words used were “keep your doctor - period” and “keep your healthcare plan - period.”
It’s the same category of lie that GHW Bush made to the American public at the Republican National Convention in 1988, “Read my lips - no new taxes.” Bush broke that promise a mere two years later, in 1990 when he agreed to sign legislation that raised taxes.
If you use words like “period” and “read my lips,” you don’t go back on them, ever. If you know that you don’t understand what’s in the bill, that it’s not possible to understand what’s in the bill - or if, as happened in Obama’s case, he was splitting hairs between legislating an end to specific plans or specific plan types and actual provisions in the law that would preclude any grandfathering - then you do not use words like “period.” Period.
We give our politicians lots of leeway with regard to puffery in the US, but we tend to hold them to account when they are incautious in their language. The way things work in the US, Obama lied to the American people, unfortunately.
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Well, I hope they’re doing ok.
I still don’t understand why you seem to think Americans live lives of quiet desperation, though. I find it as disturbing as it is inaccurate, but it’s your opinion, your lens. Everybody’s got one.
Well I have had really bad impressions in recent travels. NY and DC mostly. Plus what my classmates, same age people tell me, people who have been working in the US for as long as I have been in Taiwan or longer in education related fields, both high school and college level. It is not a very glossy outlook. But most of them are down South.
Lo and behold I am writing today about the guy´s original FB post. Seems the government in Taiwan is happy for the thumbs up and good publicity. They are using it along with the UN´s 2020 goals. Anything that has the words “viral” makes their heart go boom boom. I am trying to be as “diplomatic” as possible. Which means this will be a very brief piece. Wished there were more pictures.
Aha. No wonder.
Yeah, those are going to be unhappy folks. Underpayed, overworked, and on the front lines of the culture wars if you’re a HS teacher. Busy concocting and bulletproofing the BS that makes the work of HS teachers so difficult if you’re teaching at a college.
Quiet desperation indeed. Now I get it.
They are teaching kids. That a US native has to drive 4 hours a day to work because he cannot afford to live in the same area as the school, tells me there is a bit of discrepancy. The culture wars are far from their minds, just happy they have a blackboard to write on. In fact, that has not been mentioned. What comes up a lot is how they cannot get sick and how expensive it is to get sick.
Sigh.
half of them have gone back to the ol country. That says a lot. They´ve rather be teaching without blackboard.
The actual architect of Obamacare openly admitted that it was passed on the basis of intentional lies and deception. That’s how arrogant these people are.
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I’ve never understood why people in the Northeast tolerate commutes like that. I would have moved years ago, or found a place to live that’s nearby. You can say they “have” to commute 4 hours, but there is no such law. Plenty of choice available in the US.
Also, they commute 4 hours and can’t afford healthcare under their health insurance? Again, no wonder. That’s beyond quiet desperation and well into chewing on Misters Smith and Wesson territory.
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Yep.
It’s also why the next comprehensive change to US healthcare is going to need a lot of groundwork first, enough to support a careful, sober examination of the bill before it’s voted on. And that will require less divisiveness overall as a necessary condition.
That is Georgia, dear.
Oh and this is a single guy, MA in special education, etc. Options? Sure, switch jobs, less money.
Ok, then if they can’t find a house closer to their work in Georgia, that’s not good. There are 50 states to choose from, after all. A four hour commute in Georgia is ridiculous. Making $5/hour more to commute 4 hours in Georgia may not make sense if your commute is reduced to 15 minutes by living in Arkansas.
I suspect most of the problem is in somebody’s head, not in the US per se.
North Dallas is still great. Nice new cities are rising up. Lots of businesses open up there because no state income tax, land is big and cheap in many places and easy to commute, gas is cheap in Texas. I’m sure there are many places like this all around the US. Not as glamorous as established major cities, but very nice place to buy a house and start a family and find jobs.
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You tell him. He spent months looking for an apartment in teh area that would not take half his pay. I was also shocked but most of his alos native US friends, not all teachers, agreed the area was prized out his budget. A single person has to pay a lot of taxes and insurance , this person´s most exotic activity is hiking.
I love Texas, but if you’re not a native it can be an acquired taste. No state income tax doesn’t hurt, and it’s my home address in the US. North Dallas is beautiful. I lived in Plano in 1982-1983, and loved it.
I wouldn’t live in most of these places unless I was making beyond 6 figures. Land is usually really expensive and small. Take years to buy a tiny house or apartment. Rent is expensive and most likely have to have roommates. Like my sister works in Hollywood. Great job at major casting company. But still has to commute and have 4 roommates. She makes way beyond most people her age but the cost of living eats up most of it. California also has a lot of taxes. I rather make 4-50k in north Texas than 100k in LA area for real. But her job is a bit different as she can’t really go to other cities and work on movies. But for most, there are great options in the US. Salary may not be as high, but it ends up much better relative to the cost of living.
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I lived in Plano as well for a while. The cities around it have flourish as well. They even have in and out burger now. And a really good school district.
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