I am so hopeful that the United States will have health care reform. I have lived many years fearful of not having insurance. Because of many episodes of cancer and an accident I am not insurable. I have been joyful to finally believe I would have insurance.

It is about time our country got on the ball with healthcare reform. It is also frightening that insurance companies dictate medical decisions and not my doctor. If there is death panels it would be the health insurance companies making medical decisions that a person�s doctor should make. Now it is one vote to determine if I live or die.

It is time for political reform, insurance companies shouldn�t be telling our representatives what to do. We should, that�s our job, these representatives work for us.

I agree, Diana. I live with untreated diabetes. No insurance. My kidneys are affected and I have early neuropathy in my feet.

My husband is self-employed and on a blood thinner. We pay out of pocket for medical costs now and it is horrible how we have to make life-and-death decisions based on the costs.

We rushed my son to the ER for an asthma attack and owe $$$. My daughter's medical treatment is covered now by Medicare as she is a disabled adult. The medication alone costs $68,000. No that is not a typo. She receives this infusion every single week at the cost of $68,000.

I feel bad that it costs the government so much to keep her well. But what is the worth of a human life?

BTW, what are your thoughts about the ethical questions regarding health care reform?

The bottom line is that I would much rather see my taxes - taxes that we will pay and pay and pay regardless of who is in office - go for actually caring for the citizens of the country rather than lining the pockets of politicians. I sincerely doubt that those that pay for their own health care will see that amount in raised taxes - I am sure any rise in the taxes I pay will not be equal to the monthly insurance bill I am currently paying - which by the way does not cover the whole deal despite its hefty price tag.

That is terrible and I certainly feel for your family. Part of these problems is what drug companies charge for these medications; 68,000 a week? That is ridiculous! I keep hearing that the drug companies have to recover the cost of research. I know a few doctors personally and I know what kind of money these Pharmaceutical companies use to court doctors, flying first class to events, expensive gifts. I hate it when I have to wait in line at the doctor while the doctors see the pharmaceutical company salesmen. Then they convince doctors that generics are not anywhere as good as the real deal, in fact they pay doctors to say this kind of stuff.

Thank you for your kind opinions. And it's true, Diana, I didn't consider that part of the problem involves the drug companies and what they charge.

I also read research about some natural foods that provide some benefits but instead of encouraging people to eat them, the companies make synthetic derivatives in order to sell them.

I'm sad that profit has to be one of the driving forces in medical care.

IMO the human life is worth more than what our Congress is spending on water... I think it is sad that people have to even question the value of human life based on "productivity." It sickens me, actually.

Diana, Yes this is what it is about, real people who are no longer under the dictatorship of insurance companies when they need it most. Getting rid of pre-existing conditions was absolutely needed! I really do not care what anyone else says, I am so proud that many stood up for what it is right! I am a proud of Obama for having the guts to go against insurance companies. No one before- Republican or Democrat was able to. If people say, it isn't perfect they are right, it isn't, but someone at least started the ball rolling.

I couldn't agree more. I learned something interesting a short while ago. I was having a conversation with a doctor. He told me that because of all the class action garbage there is NO new antibiotics in front of the FDA for approval. NOTHING to take over for the antibiotics that are now resistant. That is scary stuff.

It is interesting. It is a well-known fact it takes four years for the results of a president to become apparent. So, for four years we wouldn't see a lot of difference because of previous administrations. We start to see the economy improve. We finally were seeing the important changes beginning to take place. People are so use to instant gratification, they decide to go back to republicans. Their playing the same deep pocket, the rich get richer fiddle they always have. All of a sudden the economy starts taking a dump because the hope is lost with the majority of the power starved, money starved republicans in the majority. I am sure the tides will turn, especially if the human race has any intelligence what-so-ever.

No matter what Obama does it isn't right, war/no war doesn't make a difference, whatever he did would of been wrong. In actuality what he did was very right. War was driven during the Bush administration by greed. How much stock did the Bush family have in companies that produced military goods. They also are heavily invested in oil.

I received an interesting phone call when staying at my sister-in-laws house, I was taking care there place while they went on a cruise. She has oil fields in a couple different southern states. The phone call was some guy that excitedly said Bushes pipeline is going to go through! Come to find out it is the very pipeline going through the state I live in. When I returned home I found out that even the minimum standards of materials were reduced to reduce the cost. Sure enough the pipeline goes straight down to her oil wells in the south.

We won't see true science for energy storage until the oil hungry politicians are gone. How many plans for power storage were bought by big oil, and hidden away forever? We have the technology to create clean efficient energy, storage is the major problem. I hope the USA citizens come to their senses before the next major election.

Diana, I love documentaries. Came across one that was interesting about the subject of oil and it sparked my interest to watch other documentaries (of opposing views) on oil. Just thought I would share it in case you were interested. It is rather a radical view of it all but there are some very interesting aspects of the subject in the documentary. It is called, Collapse (with Michael Ruppert).

Sounds very interesting, I love documentaries as well. I will look this up. Was it on television or DVD?

It was on Netflix, I know there is a dvd as well. If you watch it let me know what you think of it. I actually enjoyed it.

I am in the process of watching the documentary now. It is going to take awhile to digest it. It is quite powerful, and frightening. No matter what we use we are still using more oil to produce it, like ethanol, nuclear energy, even wind.

"We have have become so disconnected with the earth" was a profound statement.

"It's math, it's science, it's simple...." I think it is time to take the blinders off of humanity.

The information on Iraq was an eye opener. I doubt if anyone would believe me if I repeated it here. They would have to watch the documentary.

7 gallons of oil in each tire, not including the oil used to make just about every other part of a vehicle. The oil it cost to make a car, transport all the parts to make the car, then the oil to transport the car to where ever it is going to be sold.

Oil is in everything we use toothbrushes, capsules we take, EVERYTHING is connected to oil. "Gas....it connects just about everyone on this planet, from plastics, from your toothbrush to tires. Transportation. Electricity. Heating. Literally everything".

Oil in the Arctic, drilling on ice (the ice floats on water), "you can't drill a hole on Tuesday and expect it to be there on Thursday." Oil companies are cheering the melting of the polar icecaps?

Holy creepers GoodMorningSunshine I don't know if I will be able to fall asleep for weeks. I will get back to you. It won't be real soon I am out of town as of tomorrow. I will have my trusty laptop but it isn't terribly powerful. Think about the oil that went into making all of my computers I have. I feel like a hypocrite, no I am a hypocrite.

Oil powers the machines to plant, harvest, truck to supermarkets, plastic bags made of oil to bag it. I have a long ways to go to see all of this. I'll comment later. It is unreal, everyone should view it. Collapse

It is a very powerful documentary. I am glad you watched it and to get your feed back. The time for alternative energy is now and for dependance on oil to cease if we can. But after watching the documentary, I do not see how.