Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A small country like The Netherlands has a debt of over 346 billion Euro's!
This country has 16.5 mill people living there and fits 3 times Florida, so start preparing if Obama succeed's to have socialized health (s)care, and all of his other socialism plans.....
Per person the debt is 21,000 Euro...babies, toddlers, teenagers, babyboomers, elderly people ...all people of Holland incl...21,000.- per person debt...and this isn't the end!
In the end, the richer you are the poorer you will be and the poor will feel rich.
The equalization of Americans. It won't pay to get ahead because you will also be responsible to pay for others to get to the same level as you.
In the end, the richer you are the poorer you will be and the poor will feel rich.
The equalization of Americans. It won't pay to get ahead because you will also be responsible to pay for others to get to the same level as you.
Lol, you think the rich would let that happen
There will be 2 classes the rich and the poor. There will be no more middle class.
All the free trader whiners complaining about socialism you did this to yourselves. Send good paying jobs to Mexico or overseas and leave people with Walmart jobs what do you expect?
I agree with those who imply that it is less meaningful to measure the cost in monetary terms (many Americans are already indebted too by statistical monetary measures) than in qualitative terms.
I would just add that taking away the fruits of risk-taking is dangerous business.
Not necessarily related, but perhaps so, I believe it is fair to say that we are witnessing the end of American exceptionalism in human history, it has joined the long and dark mainstream.
I really don't get the case against socialized medicine. What most Americans seemingly don't understand is the fact that 72% of our healthcare is already "socialized," or paid by the government. They simply don't go far enough to cover people under a rational, logical plan. In a country with as much wealth as ours to allow 55 million people to be without it and many more to be on the brink of losing something so basic as health care is EMBARRASSING. When will our population stop listening to talking points derived by the Right Wing to undermine the Left politically? People, you need to do your own research and stop watching talking heads tell you what to believe. I, personally, am an educated, gun-owning, fiscally conservative realist who believes in socialized medicine and abortion. Half of that wouldn't fly with either the right or the left. Start thinking for YOURSELF!
P.S. OP, it's pretty transparent why you only mentioned one nation. And that's unfortunate that you have such an agenda. There are many more nations that provide the basic necessities such as healthcare. Aren't you embarrassed that Saudi Arabia provides more for its citizens than we do? The W.H.O has the U.S. ranked #36 in the world in healthcare. Isn't that embarrassing? It is for me.
The question isn't how much it will cost, the question is the effects - innovation will not be rewarded, productivety will not be rewarded, and a person will have less individual choice and personal freedoms.
Also, the question is - will the socialist policies in the homogenious cultures of Western Europe "work" (and I put "work" in quotes, as double digit unemployment rates are a norm there) in the incredibly culturaly and economically diverse environment of the U.S. The bankrupt state of California gives one example of what the result might be.
As some one said, there will always be rich, just like there will always be poor. The middle class will bear the burden and price of any ramped up socialist efforts - the result won't be less rich people, it will be less middle class people.
I think it will end up costing 50% of your wages in taxes... And that's just federal taxes...On top of that you will still have property and sales taxes collected by the state and cities..
Some people already pay almost 50% of their income in taxes and with the proposed tax increases will soon be paying more. How much are they expected to pay? Or are people who're paying zero taxes or 5% or 10% or 20% going to kick in more? What most Americans seem to want is to have a smorgasbord of entitlement programs, without having to pay for it themselves. It's something the "wealthy" are expected to provide out of some form of noblesse oblige.
The wealthy aren't an endless fount of funding, and there is a point at which public burdens become unduly burdensome. With money comes mobility. Wealthy people already invest outside the U.S. They have money in foreign banks and own real estate abroad. It isn't a very big leap at all to follow the money. And it's going out of America, not in.
Most of the really wealth got that way by inheriting or stealing the money from investors and very few by working for it. My piles would bleed it they had to pay more.
I, for one, would be far more entrepreneurial if I did not have to bet the farm and my family’s financial security to follow my ideas. Back my play with a universal floor on income and good health care and let me keep a decent amount of the profit and the government can have the rest.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
