About ninety per cent of the time after Harry Reid says anything, I always hear kazoo music followed by a rim shot.
As with the above statement, he seems to utter some of the most absurd statements concerning the economy and governance. The mind is quickly shunted to digesting his remarks as very poor comedy.
He is a pitiful creature who projects absolutely no leadership presence or common sense.
It will be nice when he heads out to pasture next year.

The truth about Health Care in America is that it is very good and most, the majority of people who shop carefully for Insurance get it at a good price and are happy. So to change the whole system the dems have to tell one lie after another to fool people into believing we should throw the whole system out and start over.

If individuals could take a tax deduction in the amount of their health care policy or some portion of it and others could get subsidized, how simple would that be. People with pre-existing conditions could get a bigger tax credit or subsidy, it would solve alot of problems. First it would encourage people to buy their own insurance, so moving jobs is a non-issue. Buy across state borders, and tort reform would help tons. Let's do the easy things and see how it works. Then we can stop lying.

No, you can make this stuff up - by using misleading statistics and reporting percentages, not dollars.

And I guess if you repeat a lie often enough someone might believe it.

From the comment thread at the link above:

UnitedHealth's netearnings in 2007?

$4.5 BILLION

UnitedHealth's return on shareholder's equity in 2007?

22.4%

UnitedHealth's gross revenues in 2007?

$75 Billion.

Yes, when you have annual revenues of $75 Billion the margin is smaller - that's true of many of the giant corporations.

But $4.5 Billion is a huge profit nonetheless.

And using the profit margin percentage and not reporting the profit in dollars is how the insurance company shills are playing you for suckers.

And BILLIONS for this health insurer and BILLIONS for that health insurer equals BILLIONS AND BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars in profits.

Billions upon billions - that's a huge profit.

Compare the profits in dollar terms instead of percentages, and then tell me that $4.5 BILLION in profit for 2007 isn't obscene.

Vic

So it's far better to give billions upon billions to the government, to provide a crappy level of care for all, right?

Whatever - but if you want to talk profits - talk dollars, not profit margins.

One health insurance company - one year - $4.5 BILLION in profits.

"It is uninformed, moronic demagoguery such as this that passes for debate in the world's greatest deliberative body. The dumbing down of the healthcare polemic has had many low points..."

To which, thanks to HughS, you can now add discussing profits without mentioning the dollar amounts!

Uninformed demagoguery indeed.

Vic

Victory is Ours wrote:

And I guess if you repeat a lie often enough someone might believe it.

Does the concept of "projection" mean anything to this person?

Perhaps he has a perception problem, since he links to a thread in which his claims have been completely discredited--not the type of thing a smart person would call attention to.

Vic
If you were really concerned about obscene profits (which you are not) you would be attacking the Wall Street investment firms and hedge funds that contributed record amounts to Obama, during a recession. (All the while recording what in your definition were obscene profits.)

Nope, your just another demagogue. Help yourself to some more rope....

"No, you can make this stuff up - by using misleading statistics and reporting percentages, not dollars."

VIC you are so full of crap it's pathetic. If all comparisons are based on the same formula, it's apples and apples.

So take your freaking bullshit and park it over at Daily Kos.

Apples to apples? Cherry pick your parameters and you can make statistics say whatever you want.

Compare dollars to dollars, since nobody spends "percentages" - and you'll find that $4.5Billion in profits for one year alone - and that's obscene.

Feel free to compare dollars to dollars. Let's pick a company with a similar percentage profit - how about Hershey's at 6.1%

They both earned about 6% profit in 2007.

Hershey's 6% Profit in 2007 - $559 Million

UnitedHealth's 6% profit in 2007 - $4.5 Billion

UnitedHealth's profits were almost 800% higher than Hershey's -- but their profit margins were the same.

And you say you're comparing apples to apples?

Demagoguery indeed.

Vic