Paul Harvey says.. WE'RE #8! WE'RE #8!

[underpants]

I just heard Paul Harvey tell me that the UN (who he thinks is "influenced" on this sort of thing) has reported that the best place to live is.............Norway. The US is #8.

Mr.Harvey said that "the oil rich country of Norway, where people wait in line for HOURS to get medical attention, where they have NO medical care for children or the elderly, has been determined by the UN to be the best place to live"

I found this:

Oil-rich Norway, with its generous welfare state, topped the UN Development Program's human development index, based on such criteria as life expectancy, education and income.

Iceland was No. 2, followed by Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Japan and the United States.


The five countries with the lowest scores were Guinea-Bissau in 173rd place, Burkina Faso 174, Mali 175, Sierra Leone 176, and Niger 177. The report was unable to rank 17 countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, because there was insufficient data.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1163112610090&call_pageid=970599119419

[undeterred]

1. He's an idiot, listened to by other idiots.

[WI_DEM]

21. my grandfather used to listen to him all the time, especially liked

his "the rest of the story" stories...and that idiot grandfather of mine was a strong union man who voted Democratic in every single election until he died.

[warrens]

2. No health care for kids and elderly?

When are they going to send that horse-fucking asshole to the glue factory?

[underpants]

5. Seriously

I laughed. WE are the only ones who don't have health care for the children and the elderly. That's OUR claim to fame.

This followed a heart warming story about a blind Walmart employee who got sick days from co-workers because she didn't have any.

[liberal N proud]

3. Paul Harvey is a hard line conservative of old - Gud Day!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. He lied

surprise, surprise

Norway’s social security and health service
Norway has extensive health services and a well-developed social safety net. All those who are resident in Norway have a right to economic assistance and other forms of community support during illness, old age or unemployment. About 35 per cent of the state’s budget is spent on the Norwegian health and social welfare system. Two laws – the National Insurance Act and the Social Care Act – are the statutory mainstays of Norwegians’ social rights.

http://odin.dep.no/odin/english/norway/social/032005-990494/dok-bn.html

[indepat]

7. 'pukes have made sure we are no Norway: bet +35% of our budget is spent on

welfare for large corporations and our most affluent should anyone would care to run the numbers. :shrug:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

13. 1%

Summary

The two largest welfare programs for the poor, AFDC and food stamps, each take up only 1 percent of the combined government budgets. Attempts to expand the definition of "welfare" to make this figure larger will inevitably include popular middle class programs like Medicaid and student loans.

One of the most popular myths is that welfare is a serious drag on the economy. Actually, it barely registers on the radar screen. The most vilified form of welfare is Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which allegedly gives poor mothers a financial incentive to avoid work and have babies. Yet in 1992, AFDC formed only 1 percent of the combined federal and state budgets. Food stamps also took up 1 percent. Both programs cost $24.9 billion each, comprising 1 percent each of the combined federal, state and local budget of $2,487 billion. (1)

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-runawaywelfare.htm

[underpants]

17. 2.5% of the FY22007 HHS budget of $697,928,000

http://www.hhs.gov/budget/07budget/overview.html

or about $17,448,200 for TANF

Just the HHS budget

[Jim Warren]

24. dirty little secrets and lies

and assholes like paul harvey and many like him perpetrate it.

You here shit like "we spent so much on the war on poverty and it was a failure" which it was........ not for the reasons they give, but simply because we never spent enough.

[TahitiNut]

25. The height of GOP hypocrisy regarding Food Stamps ...

... is that they were hugely in favor of the Food Stamp program when their agribusiness constituency saw it as a way of supplementing demand for agricultural products.

That was back in the ol' days when business favored assisting THEIR consumers ... instead of these days when business dips it's beak DIRECTLY into the Treasury, bypassing the "middleman" consumer.

They're eliminating one of the "overheads" of business - satisfying the customer. More and more, their "free market" offers absolutely NO CHOICE of suppliers for high priority services like telephone, cable TV, airlines, and even RETAIL OUTLETS in areas completely monopolized by China*Mart.

Telephone companies no longer even have a physical office open to their customers, where a human being can deal face-to-face with a human being!

[Coventina]

6. The only bad thing about Norway is their whaling operation.

Why they have a stupid take on that I don't know.

They've come a long way since Viking days, must be their one holdover.

[John Q. Citizen]

8. No healthcare = Longer life expectancy? Paul, what's the rest of the story?

[underpants]

12. Yeah

As I said in a post above I was laughing-that makes no sense at all

No health care= greater life expectancy (Paul didn't tell his listeners what the criteria were)

Okay so IF they didn't have health care, instituted health care, for the young and old or for anyone really the only other nation (of the "developed" ones) that doesn't have that is US!!!

Oh and we wait in lines just as long as anyone else.

[central scrutinizer]

9. 50,000,000 without insurance = short lines for medical care

get a clue, you stupid old fuck

[ps1074]

10. BREAKING - State ownership of petrolium resources in Norway

78% taxes on oil profits.

These norwegian radical socialists...

[BootinUp]

11. Bill MAher had an excellent rant on this subject

Well worth a quick search if you haven't seen it. I don't have the link handy, but it was within the last couple weeks and I think it was from his show.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

16. this one?

http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/20061027.html

And finally, New Rule: America must stop bragging that it's the greatest country on earth and start acting like it. Now, I know — I know this is uncomfortable for the faith-over-facts crowd, but the greatness of a country can, to a large degree, be measured. Here are some numbers: Infant mortality rate, America ranks 48th in the world; overall health, 72nd; freedom of the press, 44; literacy, 55th. Do you realize there are 12-year-old kids in this country who can't spell the name of the teacher they're having sex with?

[BootinUp]

18. Thats the one. ;)

[Jim Warren]

14. He is a lier

Why listen to that shit? He is not an old time conservative, he is an old time side-show man who gets his bread buttered by perpetrating nostalgia and the apple pie USA#1 myth.

I could take too long to recite positive personal experiences with Norway's health care system as an adjunct professor exchange program I was in some years ago and I can also tell you things have only improved in that regard since then as well.

[AspenRose]

15. How in the world can you stand to listen to Paul Harvey?

:puke:

[underpants]

19. His smooth dulcet tones

:bounce:

I had it on. Harry Shearer was on Glenn Beck completely bagging on Lorne Michaels. It was very funny. Harry has a book called "Not enough Indians" out.

[LynnTheDem]

20. And babies are left to freeze to death on Norway's ice floes.

:eyes:

Rightwingnuts; too MFing stupid for words.

[Homer Wells]

22. I HAVE waited for Hours (literally) at

Emergency Rooms several times during my life. Same at VA Clinics and other places medical.

It has always disgusted me that the cost of medical treatment here in the good ol' USA is almost too expensive for the poor to afford.

I know many who would love to have Socialized medicine.

As for the very well-to-do, they would not have to step into that system, as they have the wherewithal to go to their own medical professionals, and receive private care.

That whole argument they throw out is totally BOGUS!!

:grr: :wtf:

[Arugula Latte]

23. Isn't it about time for that a-hole to pack it in and retire?

:eyes:

[underpants]

26. A theory

I heard this from the local RW nut on that radio station -he is beyond simply "uninformed"- we have gone at it several times on several issues they keep letting me on the air.

Anyway his theory is that they have every word and every syllable that Harvey has ever breathed into a microphone and now they just cut and paste his radio show together.

This is by far the most intuitive thing I have ever heard this guy say.

[Arugula Latte]

27. So he'll go on forever? Noooooooo!

:o