Your subject line is deceptive (big surprise). Give the facts. - nm

Oh, I'll do better than that. Here's - the link.

Ummm, did you happen to read the - article?

I read it, too, and one sentence stuck out like a sore thumb. - Nikki

This is state, not federal ~ sm - Anoni~

Actually, Medicare is jointly funded by State and Federal. (nm) - Nikki

What was so deceptive? She posted the title of the article - My my....a little sensitive are we?

Definitely not the OP's fault. It's the headline of the - article that got

So many assumptions. As it happens, all of them wrong. - But we have some lovely parting gifts.

Yes headlines are meant to do exactly what that one did - to the OP though

please dont steal your opponents - goutylicious

There are a lot of deceptive headlines posted - here on a daily basis

How refreshing :) - What a

Actually she is right on - - anony

What is the matter with your reading - comprehension

In all seriousness and absolute honesty, (sm) - Nikki

I've been almost afraid to see how the Republicans on this board will act if this bill passes. I expect them to pop their collective corks because it seems that they are the ones who are the most bitter, angry and provide the worst insults to anyone who doesn't agree with them.

I'm honestly not trying to insult or attack you. I truly see it this way, you truly see it the opposite way, and there doesn't seem to be any "wiggle room" between the two opinions.

I just wonder how an entire country of Americans can see things so differently.

A reply - half agree, half disagree with you - anon

I did not have time to read your entire post but - wanted to weigh in on the

Good post. I think you're probably right. (nm) - Nikki

Wonderful post! (sm) - Nikki

What you wrote, to me, seemed like an honest, heartfelt attempt to communicate. Thank you for that!

I'm going to try to respond paragraph by paragraph, with the same honesty you showed in your post.

If HRC does not pass, I personally won't be angry (well, maybe a little), but I will mostly be profoundly sad and disappointed. And, in all honesty, if I see gloating Republican posts that denigrate President Obama, I will think it grossly unfair since he is trying to HELP the average American citizen. He would have been able to help ME, and I need that help.

I used the word "bitter" because that was the first emotion that entered my mind. However, I don't understand how the words "bitter, angry, racist, neocon, nazi, etc." can be considered "scare tactics." Scared of WHAT, exactly? For what it's worth, we've been accused of having no morals, not believing in God, being socialists, etc. and a myriad of other personal insults that are worse. The word "bitter" was the first thing that came to mind, but I suppose the word "angry" would be a close second. (Reading down in your post, I see that you also feel the word "angry" is appropriate.)

I concede your point that both sides have been nasty. However, I see it more as a tiresome response to insults that have been thrown by Republicans to individual posters as far back as before the "Watcher" days on this board. I do see them (for the most part) being started by the conservative side, and the liberals are responding in kind. (I know this is an area where you and I will continue to disagree.) Maybe the poster above had it right about what we see when we read posts on this board. For the record, I don't think you're "stupid" or a "dimwit" or any of the other negative names you mentioned. As I said in the beginning of this post, I think your post was great, and your heartfelt sincerity and honesty shone through the entire post.

Surprisingly, my daughter and I usually agree concerning politics, but we have a tough time talking about it because she's afraid she's going to lose the benefits my son-in-law has through his work.  And they have GREAT benefits, including a low deductible and co-pay, and a separate "Visa" type card for $2,500 that they can use for non-prescription type items like thermometers, band-aids, etc. at the drugstore. We are still able to have friendly discussions, though, and I sincerely hope your mom comes around and will start to remember that you're her DAUGHTER and maybe the disdain that she reserves for other conservatives shouldn't be aimed toward you.

I think almost EVERYONE is mad at President Obama. The conservatives are angry because they don't want healthcare reform. If they did, they had plenty of time to provide it during the Bush administration. Instead, Bush chose to provide universal healthcare to the Iraqis. I really objected to that at the time he did it, feeling he should help out his own people first.

The progressives are angry with Obama because they feel the bill is substandard. I think these are mostly people whose first preference would have been single payor. (I fall into this category.)

The conservatives (in my opinion) simply don't want any kind of healthcare reform, and this is evidenced by the fact that they never even discussed it when they were in power. I personally believe the Republican party is for corporations and the richest of the rich, and they couldn't care less about the "little guy." Again, this is my personal opinion.  As far as Obama dividing us, I truly believe he wants to help the "little guy," and if both sides are angry with him, maybe he's doing something right!

As far as the President not doing anything to fix things, there is troop draw-down going on in Iraq as I write this. (I heard this on the news last night.) Just because we can go in, in a reckless way, doesn't mean we can leave in the same fashion. I believe he's doing the best he can, given all the problems he was left with, to help average Americans. He is certainly not afraid to put his presidency on the line to go with his conscience, and this is one of the reasons I like him.

I couldn't agree more with you, that all in all, we all want the same things, and my crappy insurance plan was very similar to your crappy insurance plan!  When I had to make the choice between my health insurance OR my RENT (my premium went up to more than $700 a month with similar deductibles and copayments to yours), I was forced to drop my health insurance. I'm not really sure how I feel about payment being mandated, but if one of the problems is that uninsured people use emergency rooms and incur those kinds of charges, why should everyone else continue to be forced to pay for that? I'm forced to pay for auto insurance, and I can't go 20 minutes while watching TV when I don't see an auto ad claiming they're the best. We don't see this with health insurance because they're robbing us blind and hold a monopoly in this country. The President's plan would provide for "children" being able to stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26 years old, and there seems to be a very generous income limit/premium limit ratio so that people CAN afford to have insurance and so that it's no longer a choice between rent/mortgage payments and health insurance.

I personally don't like the bill because I don't think it goes far enough. However, I'm willing to support it because at least it will become LAW. Laws can be amended, and this thing (I think) can be "tweaked" until it represents what most of us want.  At least, the foot is in the door.

I agree that you pay too much for too little, and if you use the calculation table (found elsewhere on this board -- I don't remember where right now), you'll be pleasantly surprised. I truly and honestly believe that, not because I'm a "good little robot" but because I truly in my gut believe it will help you -- a lot!

I agree with you that it's a sad, sad time in our history right now, but I also feel that things will get better. I also heard on TV last night that with tax credits for small businesses, that might free them up to give you a RAISE, instead of making a living harder and harder to do.

All I ask is that you give it an honest chance. If it stinks, I'll be the first person to vote against Obama, because the main reason I voted for him was his stand on healthcare reform.

I think I addressed everything in your post.

Again, thank you for such a wonderful post. I wish we could all have civil discussions with each other that include reasons for our positions and that we could replace hostility with an open mind -- on ALL sides.  With all the emotions listed between our two posts, maybe it's just plain old FEAR that is fueling this impending train wreck with each other. Maybe things aren't being detailed appropriately enough and just leave us with more questions than answers.

In any event, thank you for your post, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Great posts and discussions, anon and Nikki! - Really nice to see a civil

Thank you very much, and I agree with (sm) - Nikki

everything you wrote. I just hope that "anon" saw my reply to her fantastic post, since I was a little tardy in responding, and now the post is pretty far down on the board.

As far as insight, I think that's an important part of trying to understand each other, and, unfortunately, it is often missing on this board.

Again, thanks very much for your post.