Egberto Willies - As I See It: Recent Comments

Comment on Consumer Reports Supports #hcr MUST READ #p2 #politcs

KateinCo — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:15:12 GMT

Hi-I follow you on twitter. First, I'm so sorry your wife has lupus.

I am a person who does not have insurance-and even if I could afford it I would still prefer not to - except for hospitalization/catastrophic type coverage. Even that is out-of-reach the way things stand.
I use a doctor who does not accept insurance, and pay straight up for his services. In my opinion both insurance companies and government programs drive up medical costs. Both insurance and medicaid (imo) encourage abuse...unnecessary trips to the doctor or ER, for starters. Even medicare covers things that blow my mind...like viagra, (sorry, I don't think it's medically necessary, like insulin or heart medication). Then there is fraud and waste-no matter if private insurance or government funded. I know from personal experience that it costs less to pay providers directly. When my husband went to urgent care for his asthma, they knocked off 40% when he said he was paying out of pocket.

I believe the existence of "includes everything" medical insurance and medicaid drive up costs. I believe more people could afford the expense of preventative care if not for negotiated prices enjoyed by insurance/medicaid/medicare, the wait providers have for their paltry reimbursements, the crazy quilt claim system that costs providers a lot of overhead.

The best to you and your family.

Comment on What the Recovery Act did #p1 #politics

Carol Ryan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:45:37 GMT

What I want to know is what can we as Obama's supporters do to combat this extremely negative "tea party" as well as ultra right wing GOP publicity, aimed at turning the public against him. I may be wrong, but I just think it's a bunch of racists terrified because he is President. And they really, really are scaring people. And for a different reason, they scare the hell out of me.

Comment on Obama's Handling Of Terrorist Trials: Another Criticism Fails #p2 #politics

My Take — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:05:01 GMT

I was not trying to make a point. The point is those are Bush's numbers that went unquestioned. The GOP proves it is about Obama and not National Security. They are unpatriotic hypocrits.

Comment on Obama's Handling Of Terrorist Trials: Another Criticism Fails #p2 #politics

Laurence Schell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:51:49 GMT

What's missing in your article is anything that proves all 319 convictions came from civilian rather than military courts. The quoted material from the Bush administration leaves out this important fact. Thus, you really haven't proven your point.

Comment on Debunking Canadian health care myths #p2 #hcr #politics

CrazyComposer — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:29:45 GMT

As a Canadian living in Canada - one who has spent many summers visiting relatives in NY - I agree completely, and would add that there are many ways in which our health care system could be reformed, but at least everyone has access, which has to be one of the most important components - otherwise, why bother? If you are going to consciously exclude a portion of your society - the WEAKEST portion - those who need help the most - if you are going to deny these people access to health care you must look in the mirror and ask yourself this question: What does America stand for? Is it truly the land of the 'free' the home of the 'brave'? Is it truly the land portrayed by Lady Liberty, 'give us your huddled masses ...' or is it something more akin to the ramblings of former congressman Tom Tancredo, waxing poetically about the lack of a civics test in contemporary elections.

Well, America, there should be a civics test before you can vote; not a test to see what you know about white-centric issues, no, a very simple question: Explain Section 1 of the 14th Amendment - the Equal Protections Clause. Explain how there seem to now be, in the minds of T-Baggers and birthers and those who scream hysterically about the perils of 'government controlled health care' a diverse caste of American citizenry. Do this or shut up already. Your own constitution, which you hold up as though it were Holy Writ, has pointed you out to be the Hood-wearing cranks that guys like Tomcredo need to get back to DC. Thank God for Tomcredo - Tom, whose credo is: God bless America, and please, do something about all these other folks that are messing up our Red, WHITE, & Blue. Now it will be Red, White, & Blue, with the burning crosses on the hillside (next to the burning black churches throughout the South).

But I digressed ... sorry. Hope you didn't mind my mental-eruption all over your page. Great blog!

Peter - aka @crazycomposer on Twitter.

Comment on Terrorists Attacks Under Clinton, Bush & Obama (A handy graph!) YOU MUST RETWEET #p2 #politics

Egberto — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:48:03 GMT

Your points are well taken. I try to make it clear that I believe both parties want what is good for the country security wise and both make mistakes. That the GOP try to take the mantra of being better for the country than Democrats is why the stats. Ultimately more Americans have died under Republicans by terrorism. That is fact. That said it is simply bad luck that that is the case and not some inherent deficiencies in any party.

That number alone should give Republicans pause from attacking Obama on that point. And Obama or Democrats should never assume that they could fight terrorism best as it only takes one nuclear incident to even the playing field.

Now I do believe Obama's conciliatory policy to the world will ultimately pay dividends long term if continued. Look, it is hard to hurt someone you consider a friend or not inform someone of possibly being hurt if they are your friend.

Thanks for commenting.

Comment on Terrorists Attacks Under Clinton, Bush & Obama (A handy graph!) YOU MUST RETWEET #p2 #politics

the dog won — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:36:58 GMT

i absolutely love your willingness to communicate. i really appreciate that you want dialogue. i do, however, have to address some issues i have with the graphs at hand.
a)obama has been in office just a year and bush was in office 8yrs.
b)bush had the NYC tragedy that claimed thousands domestically.
c)clinton had the mastermind of 9/11 in his sights and failed to act decisively thus, leaving the mess for later.
d) the 2nd amendment comment is inappropriate in this instance due to the fact that explosives were used and not guns and they were acting as criminals who would have access to anything anyway.
these are just a few things to chew on.

Comment on New media help conservatives get their anti-Obama message out #p2 #politics

Judi — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:33:58 GMT

You have hit it on the head, as usual. Would it be wrong for us to take a page from the Republican play book?

Comment on New Civilian Deaths Roil Afghans #p2 #politics

Just A Guy — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:29:47 GMT

They do not protest the Taliban because they are afraid of them, and thus why we are their in the first place, because they do not fight for them-selfs.

They protest NATO & the US because they know we will not strike against civilians. Afghans are distressed, that is understandable.

When their are casualties it is normally accidental, or the people who get in the cross-hair that harbor the Taliban / Terrorist.

Do you know the restraint drilled into our soldiers heads that they are required to use in a situation where their life is at stake? My friend in the US Army is not allowed to aim for the head, and must wait until he has been shot at to react to the situation. They literally have to walk into a trap before they are allowed to do anything.

The Taliban dose not care about human life, they are willing to strap a bomb to them-selfs and take out as many people as possible for 72 virgins that a twisted version of Islam says they will receive for doing it. They take broken people, and warp them into Psychopaths willing to strap high explosives to their crotch and have their privates be the first thing to explode before killing a group of people.

If my country drafted me into this war, I would gladly do my part. Removing a large group of highly motivated thugs bent on nuking my homeland should be a solid reason for anybody, plus saving the lives of Afgan people who would otherwise fall victim to the Taliban directly, and or indirectly.

Comment on Obama’s “light skin” & dialect made first plausible black candidate. No apology from Reid needed #p2 #politics

Joan F — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:30:16 GMT

I agree with your comments, talked this over with my black SO and he had the same take on the incident. He also isn't offended by the word negro. I wonder if this is a generational thing, we are both in our 70s.

Was surprised at Doug Wilder's comments that we have gotten past the judgment of people because of skin color and manner of speaking. It's clearly not true if you listen to people. Certainly a lot of people have gotten more accepting but there is a hard core of prejudice which still exists. Elections are generally won by pretty small margins, it doesn't take a lot of people to make a difference.