A Ranchers View on Obama!

[Artist Formally Known As]

YOU'VE
GOT TO LOVE THIS RANCHER'S OUTLOOK & COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO LIFE
......

While suturing
up a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher, whose hand had been
caught in the gate while working his cattle, the doctor struck up a
conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to
Obama, and his being our president.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Obama is just a Post
Turtle."

Now not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked,

What's a "Post
Turtle?"

The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road and
you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a
post turtle."

The old
rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to
explain. "You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong
up there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, he sure as
heck ain't goin' anywhere, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass
put him up there in the first place."

[InU]

The only thing they're missing are the blue T-shirts.





A teacher asked her 6th grade class how many of them were Obama fans.








Not really knowing what an Obama fan is, but wanting to be liked by the teacher, all the kids raised their hands except for Little Johnny ..







The teacher asked Little Johnny why he has decided to be different... again.







Little Johnny said, "Because I'm not an Obama fan."







The teacher asked, "Why aren't you a fan of Obama?"







Johnny said, "Because I'm a Republican."







The teacher asked him why he's a Republican.







Little Johnny answered, "Well, my Mom's a Republican and my Dad's a Republican, so I'm a Republican."







Annoyed by this answer, the teacher asked, "If your mom was a moron and your dad was an idiot, what would that make you?"







With a big smile, Little Johnny replied, "That would make me an Obama fan."

[Shiner]

My goodness! I hope that rancher's hand is OK so he can still hold it out at his local NRCS office!

[propshaft]

What kind of asshole would put a turtle on a post? Is that how people in ranch country amuse themselves?

[Artist Formally Known As]

Originally Posted by propshaft

What kind of asshole would put a turtle on a post? Is that how people in ranch country amuse themselves?

Evidently a bunch of assholes did the same thing in DC! All those assholes are laughing at us too.

[Monsterball]

If you vote for that ass clown again......what does that make you?........

[Guest120312]

Yes, McCain and Palin would have been so much better. I can't wait to vote for a Mormon, personally. They have such a firm grasp on reality.

[Artist Formally Known As]

Originally Posted by MilfAmy

Yes, McCain and Palin would have been so much better. I can't wait to vote for a Mormon, personally. They have such a firm grasp on reality.

Uh ya they would not spent as much of our tax dollars..... Oh ya and this guy has completely ignored the constitution. Lets just call this asshole a dictator. The economy and gas prices are so improved as well.

I am not gonna vote based on the guys religion, but his view on staying out of my life. Businesses are not gonna grow as long as Obama care is out there.

[airplane]

Artist, I think you need to read and think more.

[Artist Formally Known As]

Originally Posted by airplane

Artist, I think you need to read and think more.

It doesn't take a lot of brains to realize that more government does not help us any.

Unemployment numbers are not accurate right now. When people run out of their unemployment benefits they quit filling. When the quit filling, because they are not getting any money, then they quit counting them as unemployed. When in reality they are still unemployed just have no reason to file for unemployment anymore.

If a business has less than 50 employees he doesn't have to provide insurance for his employees. So small businesses are not hiring to avoid the government mandate.

So I have read and put thought into my reasoning. Government is not the solution it is the problem.

[F-Sharp]

Artist, your "reasoning" is SEVERELY flawed. Is it safe to say that you support American businesses not providing health care to its workers? And in doing so, support adding more to the 50 million already uninsured folks in this country who drain our tax dollars to pay for their medical coverage?

http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/...l-spending.pdf

I don't know what the numbers are now, but expenditures for the uninsured ran $125 billion in 2004, with a large percentage of that cost being paid by the Federal government. To put a little perspective on that number, that's $378 per year needed by every man, woman and child in America to cover those costs. CBS estimates the reality of those costs amount to $1000 per year per family in insurance premiums.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-204_162-5045280.html

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...iddentax_N.htm

As far as I am concerned, health coverage should be made MANDATORY by anyone employing American workers. Think about the kind of small businesses that can not or do not provide health insurance for their employees. Those businesses are already most likely paying their employees minimum wage. Not enough to live on, and certainly not enough to afford a doctor when that employee gets sick. No mandate simply perpetuates the problem and makes it worse, not better, and no amount of minimum wage jobs is going to help our economy.

FYI: Small business are not hiring because they can't compete with overseas labor. We've sent 3 million jobs overseas in the last 12 years, and I hate to break it to you, but those jobs are not coming back. The mandate, if and when it becomes effective is not until 2014, and most of those jobs were lost well before Obama ever came in to office, and WELL before the healthcare mandate was even an idea so that argument just doesn't hold water. In fact, we've gained 800,000 jobs since he's been in office. This is a net gain even when you include the 1.2 million lost his first year due to the recession.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobs_cr...idential_terms

You want to bring real jobs back to America? Tax the shit out of overseas profits for any corporation sending our jobs away, and pass legislation preventing people like Romney and Bain Capital from doing so. If we can spend $20 billion a year on oil subsidies, and $2.6 trillion in tax breaks for the rich, we sure as shit can come up with a solution to insuring American workers and bringing the cost of healthcare down. Is Obamacare the answer? Probably not. As far as I am concerned, until we have a public option, the cost of healthcare will continue to rise.

[Artist Formally Known As]

You know the only reason we have employers that provide insurance today is because during the depression they would not allow them to raise wages. Instead they let them add benefits. I would rather have a higher wage and let me chose who I get my insurance with. Let me be able to buy insurance in other states and make it more competitive. F you do realize that if a company has less than 50 employees he does not have to provide health insurance and instead the burden is on the employee and if he can't afford it the government will fine the employee. Small businesses are not hiring overseas workers either. That would not make much sense at all.

To bring business back to the USA get rid of the world banking system. Place higher taxes on companies exporting to the USA.

[F-Sharp]

Originally Posted by Artist Formally Known As

You know the only reason we have employers that provide insurance today is because during the depression they would not allow them to raise wages. Instead they let them add benefits. I would rather have a higher wage and let me chose who I get my insurance with. Let me be able to buy insurance in other states and make it more competitive.

I think we'd all be better off if people started forming opinions based on reality and what can be done, rather than impossible hypothetical rationalizations. Would I be for an increase in my salary to afford health insurance for me and my family? I suppose that would be fine, but do I believe it would bring costs down? No way in hell. Larger companies are able to insure their employees for much less than any single person can. The reason for that is because they are buying in bulk...the more people, the better the rate. This is fairly common knowledge, and is the root purpose of the insurance exchanges in the healthcare bill. Without these pools of buyers, the cost would, and will be SIGNIFICANTLY more.

Tell me Artist, what kind of a health insurance policy can someone making minimum wage afford today? The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Full time, that's $15,080 a year, or $1256 a month. Figure 15% in taxes and that equals about $1068. My mortgage alone is more than that! The truth is that with an average premium of $183 on a policy that has a $3000 yearly deductible is more than half this country living at or below poverty level can afford.

http://news.ehealthinsurance.com/pr/...ce-218305.aspx

Hence, without a mandate, you're just making the problem worse, not better. The simple fact is the cost of healthcare is either going to be the government's problem (ie. you and me as taxpayers), or shifted to the employer's and individual's burden (ie. Obamacare). So take your pick, so long as it's not some fairy tale of a plan where every person is allocated additional income to buy, or not buy health insurance at their choosing. Fact is we've already tried the "incentive" approach though plans like the Health Coverage Tax Credit, and the mess has still gotten worse. By the way, this so-called "burden" is not such a burden as you and other's are trying to make it out to be. Even now, 35% and as of 2014, 50% of eligible employer-paid premiums can be applied as a tax credit under the Health Care Tax Credit for Small Businesses plan.

Originally Posted by Artist Formally Known As

F you do realize that if a company has less than 50 employees he does not have to provide health insurance and instead the burden is on the employee and if he can't afford it the government will fine the employee.

Not exactly. If a business does not provide insurance and if at least one employee receives federal insurance subsidies in the exchange, the business will pay $2,000 per employee (minus the first 30). Example: a business with 50 employees, two of whom are subsidized, would pay $40,000 = $2,000 x (50 – 30).

To qualify for subsidies, an employee must meet two criteria. First, his or her household income must be less than 400% of the federal poverty level ($89,400 for a family of four in 2011). Second, the employee’s portion of the insurance premium must exceed 9.5% of household income. ($8493 if you're at the 400% level).

Sorry, but I am still no buying the "small businesses are not hiring because of Obamacare" argument. Besides the thought of small business not hiring based on a law that may or may not become effective two years from now, it's nothing but Koch brother's propaganda and Republican sound bytes to make you think repealing Obamacare is the answer. It's not. If that's not enough for you, the statistics don't show it either. In the last 33 months, small businesses have added 2.6 million jobs to our economy. A number that is outpacing the same time frame while recovering from the the 2001 recession.

Let me simplify that for the slow kids at the back of the room. Under Obama, small business has added 2.6 million jobs in the last 33 months. This is in contrast to the same time frame, 33 months after the 2001 recession under Bush, only 1.8 million jobs were added and subsequently lost and then some ( a serious understatement) by the end of his second term. Does anyone here honestly think Romney can outpace Bush or Obama on job creation during his first hypothetical 33 months in office? If so, please make me a large monetary wager.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...-than-we-think

They must not be too worried about healthcare for their employees after all.

[Artist Formally Known As]

Vomit!

[nuglet]

a bit off the original thread subject, but I would like to get a health plan for a lady I know.. anyone here have REAL insurance cost info and company recs? I have no idea where to start, but it's something I sincerely have an interest in.