looner2 said:

Trendal, stay on topic please. Again no one was comparing U.S to Canada. Paradigm was speaking about reducing programs and becoming more self reliant not bashing U.S healthcare. If you can't stay on topic then maybe a 1-day ban is in order. This is your only warning.

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Take a look at the thread again, looner...Post #4833717

Paradigm said:

We Americans rely much less on government programs than you Canadians.  I'd say we're much more used to holding our own.

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trendal said:

I think it'd do you guys some good to learn a little more self-reliance.

That coming from an American? (no offense to the rest of you)

Yeah because I enjoy making my own casts when I break a leg. And that surgery I performed in my kitchen is healing up nicely already!

The USA has, I'm sure, all the same services as citizens in Canada do - with the only difference being that more of yours are privatized while more of ours are public.

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Shdwstr said:

Thats true... you pay less tax, get less service. over 70% of your population lives in poverty.

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trendal said:

Did I say anything about health care?

No. I brought it up to use as an example, as it is easily the most widely known example.

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Quote:

but my bet is that you guys have quite a few public services which would better be left to the private sector.

Care to name any?

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Paradigm said:

Shdwstr said:

Thats true... you pay less tax, get less service. over 70% of your population lives in poverty.

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Where do you get this ridiculous figure?

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Shdwstr said:

Actually I think it was more like 72 or 73%.
If I get REALLY bored tonite I'll look it up for you.
Your welcome to prove it wrong 

Shdwstr

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Paradigm said:

I was just making a guess based upon the fact that you guys tend to have more public services than us.

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trendal said:

Paradigm said:

I was just making a guess based upon the fact that you guys tend to have more public services than us.

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How is that a fact?

I doubt we have more than a couple public services other than healthcare that you don't have in the US.

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Ancalagon said:

Shdwstr said:

Actually I think it was more like 72 or 73%.
If I get REALLY bored tonite I'll look it up for you.
Your welcome to prove it wrong 

Shdwstr

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Bullshit?

    * There were 37.0 million people in poverty (12.7 percent) in 2004, up from 35.9 million (12.5 percent) in 2003.

    * There were 7.9 million families in poverty in 2004, up from 7.6 million in 2003. The poverty rate for families remained unchanged at 10.2 percent. The poverty rate and the number in poverty showed no change for the different type of families.

    * As defined by the Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2004 was an income of $19,307; for a family of three, $15,067; for a family of two, $12,334; and for unrelated individuals, $9,645.

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Yes... I agree... that link is bullsit - Published by your government

I have the original and full pdf version of this drivel? but yours will suffice!

Lets see?
?Real median household income remained unchanged between 2003 and 2004 at $44,389, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.?
Very interesting? the average family income is $44,389.
?As defined by the Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2004 was an income of $19,307; for a family of three, $15,067; for a family of two, $12,334; and for unrelated individuals, $9,645.?
I want to meet the family of 4 making $20,000 a year who don?t consider themselves poor. After all, an average family makes $44,000. So if you made $19,308, you weren?t included in those statistics. Hell, my kid makes close to $10 grand a year on his Paper Route! Also, where were these stats compiled from?
?For counties of 250,000 or more people in 2004, median household income ranged from $88,133 in Fairfax County, Va., to $24,778 in Hidalgo County, Texas. For cities of similar size, median household incomes ranged from $71,765 in San Jose, Calif., to $24,031 in Miami, Fla.?
?Among counties with 250,000 or more people in 2004, poverty rates ranged from 2.6 percent in Johnson, Kan., to 43.6 percent in Hidalgo, Texas. Among places of a similar size, the poverty rates ranged from 7.4 percent for Anchorage, Alaska, to 33.6 percent for Detroit.?
From counties only with over 250,000 people, any less and they are excluded from the stats.
Better look on some state county maps a see how many counties there are with less than 250,000 pop.
The reason they are not included? Because sparsely populated areas have a much lower income base, that would seriously affect those Government Statistics of yours.

Ummm, was your post proving me right or wrong? I can?t tell 

Shdwstr said:

BTW... that 72-73% was from an article done by a IRS agent who had the entire country stats at his disposal, not some inflated government census document.
I do have to apologize though. Only because I can't find the link. Not because your comments are of any consequence at all.

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