GernBlansten

The only way to achieve lower health insurance costs is to get more people into the system, especially the healthy young ones. I can only think of two ways to do this. Mandate everyone has insurance (the Republican option), or adopt a government run, public funded, socialized medicine system like Canada. Those who don't elect to purchase insurance are freeloaders. They know they will be covered by the rest of us when they show up at the emergency room.

Seems the unconstitutional provision could easily be remedied by just relabeling. Call it a mandatory federal tax to cover the uninsured freeloaders, then allow an exemption to that tax if you can prove you have private insurance. No requirement to buy private health insurance. But if you have health insurance, you are exempt. Nothing unconstitutional about passing a tax. And it accomplishes the goal to make the freeloaders pay. We are paying for their health-care anyways. Might as well make them pony up something.

I would like to see a system of checks and balances that requires the President and Congress to go on the record, that before they pour American blood on the soil of a foriegn country, that they establish a clear and present danger, a clear and definable objective, and a clear and measurable exit strategy. Anything less and they cannot deploy the troops. Had Bush had those controls, we wouldn't be in the mess that Obama inherited. Too many good Americans died. We must honor them and their sacrifices, by never allowing this to happen again.

Yup. We should just abolish the congress and go with media polls eh? The public overwhelmingly supports repealing DADT. The public overwhelmingly supports gay marriage. The public overwhelmingly supports medical marijuana. The public overwhelmingly supports repealing DADT. The public overwhelmingly supports the public option. ...Depending on your source. Mine are from The Nation.

So, you got nothing Vol.

Vol, where are you getting this majority stat? FoxNews poll? Care to share your reference? Or are you just spouting off again?

We should have a constitutional amendment to require an exit plan and clearly defined metric for victory before engaging our military.

I saw a study that showed cell phone use during driving impaired the driver more than alcohol. Dang crackberries.

How do you measure victory in Afghanistan? Russians couldn't figure it out. Perhaps killing all Afghan males might be considered a win. Other than that, what determines victory? How would an additional 20,000 or 100,000 troops make any difference except for providing more targets?

Extremely liberal? Please try to give examples. Much to my disappointment, Obama has just been a two year extension to the GWB presidency, without new endless wars. I guess we should be grateful for that.

I'm pretty libertarian too. Keep the big bad government out of lives. If you are an adult and want to shoot drain cleaner in your veins, go ahead. The gene pool needs a little more chlorine.

The only way to protect all involved is to not collect money until popcorn is delivered. Worst case is the family collects money but doesn't turn in the orders. The pack then has zero idea of who to deliver to.

So the pack still has the popcorn, the family has the money? How did the family collect the money without having the corn? I know when I bought corn from the little cubbie who came to my door, I ordered it, when he showed up a few weeks later with the corn, I gave him the coin. He gave me the corn. If they collected the money on the order but never delivered, thats between them and the family.

Denver Area Council, its below zero F overnight. Not sure how they police the distribution of the patches at the shop, probably just scouts honor. In our unit, we have a tradition that you only get the patch once, then every night below zero, you get a small star to put on the patch to create a constellation. Some have the big dipper, some are shooting for Orion.

pchadbo, I wish I had come across Kudu when I was a doe eyed scouter like you, just getting started. Didn't read his stuff until I'd already been trained by my council and indoctrinated into my troop culture (and not the Kudu way either!). I could have been a crusader! Oh well, my last few years with my troop I tried to implement some of his ideals. The boys liked it.

Can't you two take this offline and debate it privately? Your sniping at each other has nothing to do with this topic or the rest of us forum members. In an attempt to pull this thread back onto the rails, I think most people have a predefined view on issues, even when they don't know all the facts. Our own biases and experiences filter our initial position on a given topic. It happens to all of us. Then we look to news outlets that justify those opinions and discount outlets that challenge them. The problem now is we have news outlets that satisfy those needs and don't offer a reasonable challenge. Echo chamber media. This solidifies our positions and builds barriers to inputs from other sources.

This is my 3rd season staffing. Did three years with my troop as a participant. It's my favorite trip. Got down to 6 below last year and we got 18 inches of freshies that night.

Here in the foothills of Colorado, just a dusting of snow. We are still under an open fire ban. We need some of that NY snow! Ski areas are doing OK though. Gonna staff OKPIK in January, we better get some snow or its gonna be a real cold night!

Sad situation and our worst nightmare. This isn't however a training issue. Woodbadge isn't going to solve this. G2SS rules aren't going to solve this. Nothing is going to solve this. You take kids into the wilds, things happen. Sometimes bad things happen. Best thing BSA could do is compile these horror stories into a must read by every adult who takes kids into the wilds. We learn best from the mistakes of our peers.

Here's why you have no credibility Vol. "Once again, the healthcare bill was written and passed by democrats without republican input. " But its been proven they offered ammendments that they then voted against. Your comment wasn't based in reality. "Obama never discussed his agenda." In your very next post you go into detail his agenda he discussed during the campaign. See the contradiction there? You can have your own opinions, you just can't have your own facts. You have a problem. We are trying to help you. Its the scout way.

I get all my news from Glenn Beck, Hannity and Micheal Savage. Then for a slice of reality and cleanse the palate, I try to find a re-run of the Twilight Zone.

Vol, you have zero credibility. You say in one post Obama passed socialized healthcare. I asked you if Romney's plan for Massachusetts, which Obama's plan was based on, was socialized healthcare. You won't answer. You say his agenda was hidden, yet in his campaign, he promised healthcare reform. He promised to let the tax cuts expire. He promised to get out of Iraq. Sounds like an agenda to me. Must you spread lies to make your point?

Why avoid my question?

Why won't you answer my question?

So the plan Dole pushed in the 90s and the plan Romney signed in Mass are socialized medicine?