I work with the ex-CFO of blue cross/blue shield. i talk to him frequently about business, finance and his experience with them. i talk to him quite often about this very debate and discussion. i consider him to me more informed than most. and i hear very little rhetoric about health care/costs that is supported by honest facts from any side.

its about choosing the least worse choice. there are no good choices. there is a dream and there is fiscal reality. there are arguments for and against and the greatest difference between them is peoples willingness to totally ignore the other side of the argument.

to address your remark above… yes, i think big corporations can do better. the simple fact is that corporations have incentives to do better. obviously you can pick out examples that support your point… be my guest. i can reply with 100X the examples to show how government is grossly inefficient and incompetent for each example you produce.

When government fails (as they will), they will simply keep taking more of YOUR money to shore up the system. Government has no incentive to cut costs, work better, be more efficient as an private company does. With government, you have no hope of competition which creates efficiency. All you have is a giant vacuum that sucks money from your pockets, operated by a group of assholes that just tried to sneak in a purchase of new gulf stream jets for their “official use” in a military budget bill.

one can’t argue that the health care system we have is perfect.

however…

one can’t honestly argue that there is a perfect health care system either.

does it need changed? sure.

Should government be the one to step in and take control of your health? Should they be creating a new multi trillion dollar bureaucracy in a recession, on the back of trillions of dollars in deficit spending? i personally don’t think so.

Anon…..

60-75 Days Of Riding Covering Over 3,000 Miles From Coast to Coast!

$1500 Misc & Overage
$6000 Food & Lodging
$500 Bike Repair Fund - Tires, Inner Tubes, Other Repairs

I am hoping to raise  $60,000 which 30,000 will be donated to ALZ.org for alzheimer research
and the remainder will go towards offsetting trip expenses of $8,000.  and $22,000 to pay off all personal debts, 2 credit cards & personal loan.

2. Never give up.
Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.
There’s an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be.
Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.” My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”

5. Focus on what you want to have happen.
Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”

6. Take things a day at a time.
No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward.
Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide.
Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

9. Measure everything of significance.
I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing.
When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around.
In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair.
Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks. You’ll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems.
You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.” There’s also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: “A wise man keeps his own counsel.”

15. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There’s always a reason to smile.
Find it. After all, you’re really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time!”

Analysts have pointed to Amazon as a rare bright spot in this year’s holiday shopping season due to its scale and flexibility, as retailers try to outdo each other with deep discounts to lure consumers during a recession.

Online sales were also helped by winter storms that hit large sections of the United States on the last major shopping weekend before Christmas.

In a release titled “Amazon.com’s 14th holiday season is best ever,” the company said more than 6.3 million items were ordered on its site worldwide for the peak shopping day of December 15, amounting to 72.9 items ordered per second. On its peak day, it shipped more than 5.6 million units.

However, the company gave no financial details regarding the sales, such as how its margins fared with the discounts seen across the retail sector.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt said Amazon’s day of peak orders represented a 17 percent rise from a year ago, while its peak shipments represented an increase of 44 percent. He rates the share a “buy” with a $61 price target.

Amazon shipped merchandise to more than 210 countries, and said it shipped more than 99 percent of orders on time for holiday deadlines.

Amazon shares rose 3.6 percent to $53.31.

(Reporting by Michele Gershberg; Editing by Derek Caney and Steve Orlofsky)