Michael Moore

[jaswilson]

He's kept going despite all the shit thrown at his reputation and work. - If anyone goes public on what they really think and do, they get shot at over and over by every sellout going. He's done it and kept going.

Anyone seen 'Sicko'?

[WantDaChronic]

sicko was an eye opener, i really feel sorry for americans with their health care system

[Al B. Fuct]

The only ppl who dis Mike Moore are right wing nutbags. Reasonable folks can't take issue with Moore's facts nor presentation- everything the man claims in his films is well researched and accurate, particularly in Fahrenheit 9/11.

 

Beats me how any normal person-on-any-American-street could side with the powers that Moore takes on in his films. I guess there's African-Americans who are Republican voters and also "Howard's Battlers"... it's a great political trick getting ppl to vote against their own interests, but there you go. I guess they're called 'aspirational voters,' eh?

 

Sicko is only an eye-opener for ppl who haven't lived in the USA, as I did for 30-odd years. I'm well and truly familiar with having to pony up either cash, a credit card or an insurance policy when being treated in a US hospital... or being shipped off to the nearest 'public' hospital, which still bills you but gets much of its funding from the govt.

 

Sicko should be a GREAT BIG warning to Aussies. If Howard gets his 'user pays' arrangement entrenched by slashing funding to public hospitals to make them look incompetent and overloaded compared to private hospitals and implementing private health insurance in a country with an existing national health system as well as decimating Medicare, you too can have all the benefits of the American health system... Real Aussies should be demanding Howard put his $17bn surplus into healthcare and asking why he only funds things at election time.

[Nooby]

"If Howard gets his 'user pays' arrangement entrenched by slashing funding to public hospitals to make them look incompetent and overloaded compared to private hospitals and implementing private health insurance in a country with an existing national health system as well as decimating Medicare, you too can have all the benefits of the American health system... Real Aussies should be demanding Howard put his $17bn surplus into healthcare and asking why he only funds things at election time."

 

C'mon Al, you're smarter than that. You dont really think that swapping PM's will CHANGE any of that do you? Our countries agenda is not driven by our 'elected' representatives, but rather, as in the U.S. it is being directed by forces behind the scenes, for their own benefit. Swapping governments will not change anything and 'elections' are perpetuated to give the masses the illusion of control and choice. GST was not Howard's idea neither was privatising telstra, i.r. reforms etc etc. ;-)

[Al B. Fuct]

Nooby, I am a firm believer in public pressure, even in the face of shadowy corporate pressures. The corporations can't do anything that govt doesn't allow them to do. When govt allows corporations to do things that the public won't tolerate, the govt is voted out. Howard and his business bootlickers are going to get thrown out of office for WorkChoices, absolutely no doubt in my mind. Had HoWARd not gotten control of the House AND the Senate, he'd have not gotten away with WC or Welfare-To-Work, but those are going to bite him badly. Hubris is always a bad thing- and HoWARd fell prey.

 

Yeah, I actually do think that a change of PM will change the playing field. I don't think Labor will change the rules back to those we had when there were 'closed shops' but that is probably a good thing. However, there's going to be some fairness put back in the system. How much fairness we get depends on how much we push KRudd for. Warm up those printers and buy some stamps!

[Nooby]

I hope you're tight, but the cynic in me says 'meh, probably not'. Yeah i dont like Howard's chances in the next election but that's par for the course. Governments seem to change when people get sick of them and not when a 'better' one comes a long. But then after a federal change we tend to swap the state governments as well 'to keep it all balanced up'. Up here ATM Beattie is carrying on in a way that would make Hitler or Stalin proud (though I dont think he's had anyone 'disappeared' yet) which tells me he knows his days are numbered.

 

And the dance goes on....... ;-)

 

(Lets get Ron Paul over here, he can have my vote any day.)