Bush to announce troop cuts in Iraq

[gbergman]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070911/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq

Later this week he will anounce a cut of 30,000 in Iraq by next summer.

[cheeses_h_rice]

Gee, the same number of troops added during the surge...what a coincidence.

:rolleyes:

[SABRSox]

Also, the same number of troops whose tour reaches the 15 month maximum next summer.

[gbergman]

The article further states that by March they will have a plan on the best way to bring our troop presence below the 130,000 mark

[cheeses_h_rice]

Did the article also state that we're not doing shit in Iraq until Shrub leaves office?

[maurice]

Typical W Orwellian BS. Jacking up the number of troops and then inevitably reducing it = "troop cut." Jacking up the budget deficit and then slightly reducing it = "deficit cut." Allowing time-limited tax cuts to expire = "tax increase."

[Spider_Pig]

If you don't like the way it is just don't be a trooper. :shrug:

I don't know.

[CaptainBallz]

hi-larious....

[Spider_Pig]

This is a serious discussion buddy.

[maurice]

For all you draft-aged youngsters out there, the reason he's cutting back is because he has no choice. The troop surge was unsustainable, because there aren't enough "troopers," as SP put it. In the (hopefully unlikely because it's insane) event that we fight a ground war in Iran, where do you think the additional troopers will come from?

[CaptainBallz]

This is a serious discussion buddy.

didn't you get hit by a bus yesterday??

[SABRSox]

For all you draft-aged youngsters out there, the reason he's cutting back is because he has no choice. The troop surge was unsustainable, because there aren't enough "troopers," as SP put it. In the (hopefully unlikely because it's insane) event that we fight a ground war in Iran, where do you think the additional troopers will come from?
Not from Switzerland, where I'll be emigrating to.

[Pick a name, Buddy]

I'll help you pack! :cool:

[SABRSox]

I'll help you pack! :cool:
Wanna pay for my plane ticket? Swissair only. None of that Air France bullshit.

[Pick a name, Buddy]

Ah, things are kinda tight with the housing market being what it is. I will have to pass.

[StockdaleforVeep]

Not from Switzerland, where I'll be emigrating to.

Hope you make enough for the large cost of living and bein a loner since the nation is notorious for not being friendly to outsiders

[SABRSox]

Hope you make enough for the large cost of living and bein a loner since the nation is notorious for not being friendly to outsiders
Oh, I know. The Swiss are the biggest assholes in the world. Rudest motherfuckers I ever met.

[Pick a name, Buddy]

But they know how to run a hotel!

HEAVEN is when
The police are English
The cooks are French
The mechanics are German
The lovers are Italian
Everything is organized by Swiss

And there are absolutely NO Belgium drivers

HELL is when
The police are German
The cooks are English
The mechanics are French
The lovers Swiss
The drivers are Belgium
and everything is organized by Italians

[gbergman]

If something involves the english and french then no thank you. Have you heard of dental floss England? How about washing your ass for once frenchies

[StockdaleforVeep]

Oh, I know. The Swiss are the biggest assholes in the world. Rudest motherfuckers I ever met.

Its the experience i been told from people who moved to live there

Next biggest complaint was prices

[SABRSox]

Eh... the prices are like that everywhere in Europe, but that's the trade-off for national health care and other government programs we don't have here.

[StockdaleforVeep]

Eh... the prices are like that everywhere in Europe, but that's the trade-off for national health care and other government programs we don't have here.

Glad im not gettin fleeced on a loaf of bread here

1 dollar=yum

[SABRSox]

Look at it from their point of view:

2 Euro= Bread and Health Care

[StockdaleforVeep]

Look at it from their point of view:

2 Euro= Bread and Health Care

and for 2-3 dollars a week(cant find my stub) i can cover myself and feed myself very well.

Besides euros suck, get some deutschmarks

[SABRSox]

I find that hard to believe, Stockdale. I was paying $30 a month when I was working for Dreamworks, the last time I had health insurance.

Anyway, the average worker in this country pays 1/5 of his paycheck for health care. I think the Europeans have figured things out in terms of health care.

[StockdaleforVeep]

I find that hard to believe, Stockdale. I was paying $30 a month when I was working for Dreamworks, the last time I had health insurance.

Anyway, the average worker in this country pays 1/5 of his paycheck for health care. I think the Europeans have figured things out in terms of health care.

I pay about 13-14 dollars a week

Thats for vision, dental and health. I forget the itemized deductions of each

If yer gonna hijack this to healthcare, best move threads

:armchairmod:

[Prope]

I've wanted to go to Switzerland for awhile now.

[Pick a name, Buddy]

I find that hard to believe, Stockdale. I was paying $30 a month when I was working for Dreamworks, the last time I had health insurance.

Anyway, the average worker in this country pays 1/5 of his paycheck for health care. I think the Europeans have figured things out in terms of health care.

20%??? Show your work! I pay 2.2% for my wife and myself. And that is the highest I have ever paid.

Anyone else want to show us theirs?

[samram]

I think I pay about 3.9% for med and dental. Vision is comped.

[soxwon]

Did you know 25% of people who Dont have HealthCare make Over $50,000
a year.
They simply dont think they need it, usually younger people.
This is a fact, its been repeated on radio, even in the Census report that was just released.

[Pick a name, Buddy]

That is an inconvenient truth

[SABRSox]

Did you know 25% of people who Dont have HealthCare make Over $50,000
a year.
They simply dont think they need it, usually younger people.
This is a fact, its been repeated on radio, even in the Census report that was just released.
That comes from this report: Employee Benefits Research Institute, "Special Report," April 1991, p. 10.

Maybe the Cato Institute wants some more relevant numbers.

[Erik The Red]

20%??? Show your work! I pay 2.2% for my wife and myself. And that is the highest I have ever paid.

Anyone else want to show us theirs?

I pay 1.9%. SABR, where the hell are you getting your numbers?

[SABRSox]

Ah... I was mistaken. It was a 20% increase in the cost of health care, not 20% total. My mistake.

[Pick a name, Buddy]

So much for inconvenient truths....

Key Findings from the New Census Data (8/29/06)

* The number of people without health insurance was 46.6 million in 2005, compared to 45.3 million in 2004, and 41.2 million in 2001 (see table below).

* The percentage of Americans without insurance rose to 15.9 percent in 2005, higher than the 15.6 percent level in 2004 and much higher than the 14.9 percent level in 2001.

* The percentage of Americans who are uninsured rose largely because the percentage of people with employer-sponsored coverage continued to decline, as it has in the past several years.

* The percentage of children under 18 who are uninsured rose from 10.8 percent in 2004 to 11.2 percent in 2005, while the number of uninsured children climbed from 7.9 million in 2004 to 8.3 million in 2005, an increase of 360,000.

* Lack of insurance is much more common among people with low incomes. Some 24.4 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were uninsured in 2005, almost triple the rate of 8.5 percent among people with incomes over $75,000.

* African-Americans (19.6 percent uninsured) and Hispanics (32.7 percent) were much more likely to be uninsured than white, non-Hispanic people (11.3 percent).

* The percentage of native-born citizens who were uninsured rose in 2005, while the percentage of non-citizen immigrants who lacked coverage was unchanged. Nonetheless, non-citizen immigrants were far more likely to be uninsured (43.6 percent uninsured) than native-born citizens (13.4 percent). The principal reason so many immigrants lack insurance is that they are less likely to be offered health insurance by their employers.[1]

* Insurance coverage declined in the South and the West in 2005, while remaining steady in the Northeast and Midwest. Unfortunately, the South and the West already had poorer health insurance coverage than the other two regions in earlier years, so this further widened the gap between regions.

* Significant changes in the percentage of people who are uninsured occurred in a number of states. Comparing the 2004-5 period with the 2003-4 period, the percentage of people who are uninsured increased significantly in eight states (Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah and Vermont), while it declined significantly in three states (Idaho, Iowa and New York).

* In 31 states, the percentage of residents who are uninsured was significantly higher in the 2004-2005 period than in 2000-2001, before the current economic recovery began. The 31 states with significant increases were Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.[2]

* While Hurricane Katrina had severe consequences for a large number of its victims in the Gulf region, it should not have a significant effect on the number or percentage of people who are uninsured, as measured by the Census Bureau. In the March 2006 Current Population Survey, the Bureau asked whether people had any health insurance coverage in calendar year 2005. An uninsured person is defined as a person who had no coverage at all in 2005. Thus, a person who had health insurance from January thru August 2005 — before Katrina hit — but became uninsured after that would be counted as insured in 2005.

[gbergman]

National healthcare sure Sabr. Do you want around 50 percent of your paycheck taxed?

[StockdaleforVeep]

National healthcare sure Sabr. Do you want around 50 percent of your paycheck taxed?
[Sabr} France and europe is so much better than this country, i cant wait to go there and get free services from the doctor[sabr]

[Deuce]

Oh, I know. The Swiss are the biggest assholes in the world. Rudest motherfuckers I ever met.

i2XTuc6i1Uo

[maurice]

"He's sick of the Swiss," Etc.

:rolling: