Comments on: Rundown 11/10

By: Richard Cole

Richard Cole — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:51:07 +0000

Somehow the discussion of the “Avoided deforestation” came across as having reached a conclusion that the idea was intrinsically “bad” and that “those evil corporations” were trying to get away with something wrong before the investigation started.

To me, the biggest problem is that the indigenous peoples get displaced. That should be easy enough to fix: If the “carbon” is in the trees let those people use the fruits and provide them with other materials to build their homes.

Of course, if the discussion of the rest of the rules was accurate, someone could buy a tract of forest, clear cut it, sell the trees for lumber or paper, plant new trees and have a “carbon credit” perfectly acceptable to the European regulators. The dichotomy makes no sense.

By: Peter Baldo

Peter Baldo — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:55:54 +0000

Insurance companies provide a service by paying most of the cost of an operation or other medical procedure.
However, their biggest service is driving down the price of that operation or procedure. I am amazed that the total price paid by my insurer and me for stuff done to me is around 25% of the hospital’s sticker price. Either the hospital is overcharging by 4 times, or the insurance company is driving a very hard bargain.
On the subject of abortion, a health plan that didn’t actually pay for the procedure, but bargained for a good price and availability for their members, would still be providing a valuable service. I think that’s one way out of the current healthcare/abortion dilemma that will satisfy nobody but might work.

By: Sue Fiala

Sue Fiala — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:04:15 +0000

Re: Health Care & Abortion:

It is never brought up that no matter what side of the abortion issue one takes, abortions have and will always be sought.

What language will this bill contain when it comes to repairing botched illegally obtained abortions?

By: Dave Coyne

Dave Coyne — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:59:51 +0000

With all the controversy over abortion in the health care legislation, I wondered how much an abortion actually costs. So I googled it.

See http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_an_abortion_and_birth_control_pills_cost

An abortion costs between $40 and $500. The morning after pill is the cheapest, and the cost goes up as the pregnancy progresses.

Here’s the kicker: Planned Parenthood charges based on income, so it can actually be free.

It would be a shame to derail health care reform over an issue that appears to have little practical significance.

By: thomas swartzwelder DO

thomas swartzwelder DO — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:58:59 +0000

Regarding abortion and health care reform:
1. pregnancy is not a disease.
2. President Obama promised in is speech before the joint legislature that no tax dollars would be spent on abortion. We will certainly hold him to his word.

By: Tom Goodwin

Tom Goodwin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:21:51 +0000

50,000 acres… sounds big, doesn’t it? I just did the math: it’s right about 78 square miles. So 3 huge multinationals bought a tract of forest 7.8 X 10 miles. Pretty puny payment for the doings of GM, Chevron and American Electric Power it would appear. It would seem they’d have to buy about half of Canada to be absolved of their sins.