Bipolar Disorder Support Group

just a little factoid about chinese healthcare totally unrelated...you think our system is bad in dealing wtih mental illness? In china majority of pop cant afford medication, so doctors schedule 10-30 min "brainsurgies" where they poke around to "heal" the mentally ill...60 percent fail rate of leaving the patient worse of or completely incapacitated. Kind of like the lobotomy age of Dr Freeman in america...they might be technologically and economically more advanced in some ways, but their systems and regimes are ancient.

Sarbear.....
The chineese have overan and flooded our market with their shit.
The american economy is getting jammed up because of it.
The American dollar was a powerhouse because things were made here.
Now it slowly is becoming nothing more than an American peso.
Unless things stop a crash out is unavoidable and will occur.
It is simple math!
Down the yellow brick road into a ditch we will go.
Unavoidable without change.

I'm not smart enough to know much about who pulls what string and what economic brainstorm will save us from ourselves...

BUT...

Here in Western New York, there are two cities, one a former juggernaut, one a former economic force.

Buffalo NY was a top three city at the turn of the century- they had the Worlds Fair, lots of stuff going on. Their natural resource, the Niagra River, was deep and wide enough to facilitate Great Lakes shipping of steel, auto engines, and rubber products through to the early eighties. Good paying jobs were the norm, so much so the area started attracting Major League sports teams, one of which left a while ago (Braves) one of which is cohabitating with Toronto (the Bills) and another that needed salvation by a regional billionaire. Now, the place is barely a major city, the manufacturing jobs are all but gone (GM still employs some) and a drive down the 190 is depressing as hell. Looks like Newark. Outsourcing... the American way. Pumps up the bottom line and looks good on the balance sheet, driving the Dow higher.

Rochester is the other town- once the home of Xerox, (moved to Stanford over taxes) still the home of a dying Kodak and a crippled Bausch and Lomb. As recently as the early nineties, it was a thriving community. Jobs were available if you did your time in college, the community was upbeat and manufacturing still paid the middle class a nice wage. Now, Xerox has little going on in their once huge manufacturing center in Webster, Kodak is dropping buildings like flies (demolition) and Bausch has a major manufacturing concern in Mexico. I'm educated (some) skilled and experienced and I can not get a sniff- I worked at Xerox for twelve years- nada. Don't mean sh*t.

NY taxes played a role in this, and I agree labor is too expensive, too much entitlement within the unions. But, my house isn't worth shit and I have no work.

Sure, those that run money through the markets still see bright patches, from my vantage point, here in WNY, things ain't so bright. Anyone want a 2000 sq foot colonial on 1.25 acres of nice, landscaped, suburban property?

Kaliber, I bet the top 50% pay that much, but let's look at it another way- what ACTUAL percentage of income leaves the upper class' wallet in comparison to what is left of the middle class? I honestly don't know, but the poor, those on disability and the elderly have to be pulling the lower 50%'s average way down.

It's not the gov't job to do anything for us except give us an opportunity to succeed.

Remember this is the land of opportunity, not the land of the free hand out.

Medicare, Healthcare, Social Security, Welfare, and similar programs could be fixed if the politicians would work together, but neither side will budge on "their" programs.

Obama is all talk...he has no REAL plan.

I know I don't want a hand out. I just want the equal chance that those who get to escape the rules do. I'd like to see a few more jobs stick around too. No legislation will make that happen, but I think the way things are going, the middle class will dissappear.

My Dad worked for the State of New York DOT as an engineer. Made ok money, but nothing like he would of in the private sector. His medical benefits are killer, his pension is beyond belief. That's a helluva tax burden, and one end of the spectrum. My ex works for a fortune 500 company (as did I before I tried the self employed route) and her benefits are disappearing. She spends her days looking over her shoulder as the downsizing reaper constantly patrols the halls. Her benefits are shrinking, and a back surgery she had forced a huge dip into her 401k. Call this the middle. Another friend has a two year degree and some admin experience, needs to support her kids after the hubby stepped out. She cannot find a job with benefits. Her teenage daughters are lucky enough the hubby can get them on his benefits, but the co-pays are nuts.

I couldn't get help from my benefits when I needed in-patient treatment... I had to fight for a month to get seven days of help and had to pay out of pocket for a few more... after paying in for ten years.

I am not an Obama 'fan'... but I have heard real ideas. Hillary has given us the impression his ability to communicate is equivalent to no substance. He is an interesting figure. I dunno, but I am listening. He said electing McCain was akin to a third term for GWB. If nothing else, he has wit!