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TheKentuckian

(25,023 posts)

38. This is why folks are dubious of government efforts like this

Fri Jan 25, 2013, 09:57 PM

Jan 2013

We can't do anything for the people without making a system of control of individual behavior and windfall profits for rich folks.

If all we have to offer is double talk, control, profits for "stakeholders", playing to comfortable suburbanites, and tax cuts then the party is dying on the vine but a little less rapidly than the fascist theocrat batshit gang across the aisle.

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Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul [View all] Live and Learn Jan 2013 OP

Will heavy drinkers and the extremely obese have similar penalties? Mutiny In Heaven Jan 2013 #1

That was my first thought too. Seems a very slippery slope to me. Live and Learn Jan 2013 #3

If not, they should. AngryOldDem Jan 2013 #7

How about when they start charging big premiums for something you do? Live and Learn Jan 2013 #8

If they are going to single out one group of people, then others should be fair game as well. AngryOldDem Jan 2013 #9

My father (a smoker) beat you as far as costs are concerned. Live and Learn Jan 2013 #10

I could be wrong, but I didn't read AOD's post as Mutiny In Heaven Jan 2013 #11

Guess I am just against all of them. People will Live and Learn Jan 2013 #12

Thank you! AngryOldDem Jan 2013 #31

My grandfather died of lung cancer at age 60 madville Jan 2013 #15

That is true. But so does obesity, so does Mutiny In Heaven Jan 2013 #19

WTF? How am I responsible for that, exactly? AngryOldDem Jan 2013 #32

It seems pricing people out of a means of quitting Mojorabbit Jan 2013 #26

I totally agree. AngryOldDem Jan 2013 #33

Actually, a lot of plans DO cover quitting programs nobodyspecial Jan 2013 #34

But will it matter if they raise the prices so high that the smokers can't afford those policies? Mojorabbit Jan 2013 #39

I think they should charge poor people more because they are the 'sickest' segment of society, HiPointDem Jan 2013 #40

A 5'9 350 lb. man who smokes drops dead..... RagAss Jan 2013 #30

You know how they get those numbers? If you have a smoking history & die of any disease HiPointDem Jan 2013 #41

You're absolutely right about the idiocy of what gets called Mariana Jan 2013 #55

Buh bye smoker voters Fumesucker Jan 2013 #2

Wouldn't that depend upon who put initiated the the penalty? Live and Learn Jan 2013 #4

You are expecting sophistication from American voters? Fumesucker Jan 2013 #5

I'd agree with you but they came through the last 2 presidential elections Live and Learn Jan 2013 #6

the Dems did that all on their own TorchTheWitch Jan 2013 #54

Smokers are an ever decreasing proportion of the population Freddie Stubbs Jan 2013 #14

Still well beyond the margin of victory in the last election Fumesucker Jan 2013 #16

Smokers tend to be less educated, more poor Freddie Stubbs Jan 2013 #17

Oh, I wouldn't worry about that Fumesucker Jan 2013 #18

You mean like this guy? kenny blankenship Jan 2013 #21

He actually signed the bill into law Freddie Stubbs Jan 2013 #24

Less educated and more poor? Lot of rich people smoke. The president IS one of them. DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav Jan 2013 #35

I said, 'tend to,' which is a statistical tendency unmitigated by the fact that some rich people HiPointDem Jan 2013 #45

. green for victory Jan 2013 #46

yes; 67% of american men smoked circa 1950 -- today only 23%. For women, the 60s was the peak, HiPointDem Jan 2013 #42

more Doctors smoked then but they made house calls green for victory Jan 2013 #50

Is that anything really new? madville Jan 2013 #13

and why should i have to pay higher rates for children with autism or adults with depression or HiPointDem Jan 2013 #47

Meanwhile the French continue to smoke like chimneys, drink all day, eat butter in everything kenny blankenship Jan 2013 #20

The Japanese are heavy smokers too Mutiny In Heaven Jan 2013 #22

Maybe access to care as a right is far more important than whether a country smokes kenny blankenship Jan 2013 #28

Bingo. And they aren't going to stop with the smokers. Next will be the obese, then the drinkers, DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav Jan 2013 #36

nailed +320 million/8 billion green for victory Jan 2013 #51

THANK YOU! The absolute class-marked nature of this bullshit can also be demonstrated HiPointDem Jan 2013 #44

and the japanese binge frequently and wind up face down in the gutter or barfing on the trains HiPointDem Jan 2013 #48

The Japanese have cut down a LOT on smoking recently Art_from_Ark Jan 2013 #52

ditto the japanese. HiPointDem Jan 2013 #43

Have you priced individual insurance as a smoker lately? Recursion Jan 2013 #23

In this thread: Reactionary smokers point their fingers at fat people. nt EastKYLiberal Jan 2013 #25

They should smoke themselves thin then Capt. Obvious Jan 2013 #27

What about people whose ass drags across the floor? RagAss Jan 2013 #29

Well, they aren't to blame ohheckyeah Jan 2013 #37

This is why folks are dubious of government efforts like this TheKentuckian Jan 2013 #38

"playing to comfortable suburbanites" = indeed. HiPointDem Jan 2013 #49

If it's a "pre-existing condition" riverwalker Jan 2013 #53