Let voters in this forum to continually rank their top 10 favorite ideas.   Give each idea that's ranked in a top 10 a point value for it's rank.  10 point, 9 points, 8 points, etc.  This will show which ideas are truly seen as the best and most urgent of the bunch.

In California We have Medi-Cal with SSI and My insurance provider is IEHP a Government HMO(Riverside and San Bernardino Counties), MediCare is as far as I'm concerned something that needs reform, They should look at IEHP and Medi-Cal as to how to reform MediCare, Plus combine all the other Government programs into one allencompassing Medi-Cal like Program and add in IEHP functionality too.

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WE THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE,

ELECTED A PRESIDENT

FOR THE PEOPLE.

 

I'm a Veteran that uses the VA Health Care System for my health care needs.

I have used the VA services in Florida and currently in South Carolina and have found the people and services to be very good.

 

Some of our goals is to fix the health care system, build trust and confidence in our government, revive our economy and provide education to all.

One way to accomplish this is to thank all Veterans, no matter if they enlisted, were drafted, served in combat, non combat, have service connected or none service connected medical and dental conditions.

At any time, a member of the elite group, that defended our country, could have, or have, put in harms way.

Many veterans depend on the VA, please consider the following changes to the VA.

1. Increase funding.

2. Restore free eye glasses and other benefits that have been remove. Perhaps eye surgery would reduce the expense of replacing glasses constantly.

3. Add dental care, (prevention is the best road to good health care), dental problems lead to many more serious medical conditions and greatly reduces the quality of life.

4. Reduce co-pays.

5. Many Veterans live on small incomes and are classified as none employable because of physical and mental disabilities. Raise the income amount limit that is used to determine disability amounts for service and non-service pensions to a realistic livable amount, more Veterans can then be qualified for this benefit.

6. Quickly refinance Veterans, home, home improvement, car and student loans at no expense to the Veterans, with limited paper work and at an interest rate of 1 or 2 percent.

7. Restore education benefits to all Veterans with no time limits. Allow Veterans to use the benefits to payoff existing student loans and use this benefit for the Veterans, wifes, children and grand children.

8. Increase burial benefits.

9. Transform the VA into the most technically advanced modern system in the world. The system could then be a model for others.

10. Talk to Veterans and all levels of staff.

Once again you have front loaded the voting results by allowing voting directly from the list of most popular entries.  The results being so biased against later entries that the resulting rankings are completely unreliable as an indicator of which topics are actually most important to participants much less to the American public.  To achieve a more accurate vote, up or down voting on the lists should not be allowed.  Voting should be only on questions randomly selected from all entries, a minimum number of votes should be cast (perhaps 100) before an entry is placed on the most popular list, and rankings should be on the percentage of up/down votes.  Hopefully you will be able to emplement changes such as these and produce a more representative picture of America's concerns.  Other than that, what you've been doing is really super, thanks!

Many posts are being categorized by the posters inappropriately. I suspect they figure they will get more exposure by cross posting, but when I click on Education I am not interested in wading through posts on everything.

The best would be if every item starts off cross posted and then drops out of categories in which most users negate that category. Posters would not have to do the extra step and people like me who are motivated to eliminate the inappropriate items would do the work.

 The voting system is joke.  Many people are not well informed about many candidates and may just vote for them because they've seen alot of politcial signs and billboards with their name on it.  When we go to the voting booth, all we see is a name and a party.  Sure alot of people may pay attention to the Presidential election and be well informed.  But what about all the judges and other positions.  There is nothing there to even make an informed decision.  The technology is now cheap and advanced enough to have touch screen compures that could launch commercials and provide a candidates qualifications and positions on a number of issues right at the booth.  Let's provide all Americans with enough information at the voting booth, so they can make informed decisions about what they are voting for.

My suggestion does not address any one issue as much as it is about how I hope you, President-Elect Obama, choose to address the people.

I voted for you, Pres-Elect, because you inspired me.  You inspired me to work for change at a time when I couldn't figure out what to do to make a difference.  You said call - we did, many for the first time and introduced you to our fellow citizens.  You said canvass, we did until the wee hours, too.  What I fear is that in this turbulent time, we will all become so bedazzled by bailouts and foreign wars that we will stop talking about what WE, the PEOPLE, need to do in our own chairs to make a difference.  While it is apparent that government will play a role in reenergizing our economy and securing our borders, I know that you have to play a vital role in turning the cogs of such a large, complex institution.  But sir, I am still awaiting your instruction, not just the stimulus!  What should WE be doing.  I feel like we should be hearing things like:

 - Change Your Personal Monetary Policy, become wealth managers instead of debt managers, save more than you spend

- Learn to be content with less as we recover our markets; You could buy that 5000 sq. ft. home on the cheap right now or you could save the extra $2000/mo in order to increase wealth.  Won't consumer confidence grow as the consumer themselves become more solvent

- Volunteer in your community: help your neighbors during this tough time.  If your neighbors are suffering, the community is suffering.  Etc...

We need to hear these things from YOU, Mr. President-Elect.  We need your administration to call cadence for those of us who can march while you are helping those not yet in position.  Keep us busy with things we can grapple with so I don't have to hear my neighbor complaining about things they don't fully understand - like banking, the economy and foreign policy.  

Please don't forget about us.  We are ready!!!

Thank you and I look forward to being of service to my country, again!

Dear President Obama:

 

Congressman John Conyers has reintroduce HR 676, his single-payer healthcare bill in the 111th Congress.

 

Former Sen. Tom Daschle, your nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, once called for "a government-run insurance program modeled after Medicare" in testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions as part of the solution to our healthcare crisis.

 

This is fine, if it means “Medicare for All.”  The problem is not to pressure big insurance companies to make health care “affordable.”  The problem is to provide the American people with an alterative to the monopoly they currently have, and abuse.

 

In August of 2005, The National Coalition on Health Care found in a fiscal analysis of health care reform that "the single payer model would reduce costs by over $1.1 trillion over the next decade while providing comprehensive benefits to all Americans." Single-payer is the only reform proposal that can claim cost savings and comprehensive health care for all.

 

Some argue that HR 676 is "not politically feasible," but that's a chicken's protest, not an acceptable position. We elect our government officials to serve the public interest, and the public overwhelmingly supports a national health care plan.

 

HR 676 would help control costs by emphasizing prevention and universal access to basic care instead of reliance on emergency room care--the most costly and least efficient method of healthcare delivery. We can't afford not to adopt HR 676.

 

HR 676 would improve healthcare outcomes and eliminate racial, geographic and other disparities which currently plague our nation.

 

All the other advanced democracies adopted national healthcare, none have seriously considered eliminating these systems, and all enjoy better healthcare results than we do including: longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality rates, fewer work-days lost to illness, and many other measures of health and wellness.

  

I urge you to reject policies that are friendly to for-profit health care corporations, which put private profits over public health and will not and cannot solve our healthcare crisis.

 

William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.

1) The government should buy about 1.5 million cars from US Automakers (instead of handing them cash). 2) The government should buy 500,000 homes from mortgage/banks (instead of handing them cash). 3) Set up a program to give the two items above to Veterans returning from our two wars (instead of handing them cash).

 I am a 69 year old man living on the rapidly diminishing income from my retirement savings. I get social security and qualify for medicare. I take reasonable care of myself and I had confidence that I would be able to get some affordable emergency health care if I needed it.

Yesterday I went to see the dentist and learned that I must immediately have laser and bone graft surgery. It is going to cost several thousand dollars in the next couple of months - and nothing is covered by my insurance. A quarter of my disposable income for the year is gone! We need not just health care but also dental care!!