Dave's cuts are going be deep and they will hurt

[FellatioNelson]

I've been hearing this all day on the radio. I can't take the suspense any longer. They are going to affect the lives of 'every one of us'

I feel like a person wincing and clenching my teeth in anticipation of the big fuck-off needle the school nurse is wielding, and I'm next in the queue....

Come on then, what's it going to be?

I'm very jealous i wish I could send mine out to work often and still get paid by our council tax, unfortunately her DH isn't getting the electrical anymore as that is obviously a private business but he has of course his £30k to fall back on, unlike every other spark in the area.

I don't know anyone selfish enough to think that they should only pay for the services they need.

I'm more than happy that my taxes pay for services to provide for everyone in need. It's one of the things I love most about the UK, that we care for those who cannot care for themselves.

Who are all these people who don't want public services? You mix in very odd circles Mamatomany.

I think I must have misread your earlier post, because I cannot imagine that you are suggesting people with a disabled child should only have more children if they are guaranteed to be healthy? I sincerely hope I've misunderstood you there, because frankly I feel like I want to puke.

WB interestingIy thought the same when I read that the suggestion that somebody who cannot cope and provide for the child they already have without having to resort to campaigning to get the poor child nappies should have more children, because that would improve the quality of her life no end wouldn't it

I agree with wubbly I feel incredibly proud of paying my taxes that can then be used by the state to educate children, pay doctors , etc.

PrettyBird's stupid comment set this line of conversation off which frankly ridiculous.

As for the society and our contribution to it, I doubt anyone would mind paying for public services if they actually worked and the police came when you called them, the NHS waiting lists weren't so painfully long etc etc.

My public services do work, I was burgled the police caught him and then because I was a woman living on my own they helped me settle back in and feel safe.

I teach in an outstanding school, my dd's school is not so good, so we are working hard to improve it. Not paying tax won't help that.

So envious and selfish mamatomany? You're not painting a very pretty picture of yourself here.

Well we all have different experiences katycarr and the police who visited my mother who lives on her own and had something stolen basically told her it was her own fault for having something nice on display when they finally turned up.

I think most people look at those less fortunate than themselves and think 'there but for the grace of God...'

I really do hope you and your family continue to live a blessd life Mamatomany and will never need to rely on the state to help you out.

Yes mine work too. ds2 was attacked and the youths were caught and prosecuted. dd gets the health care she needs and I don't have to worry about a bill for thousands of pounds for the time spent in ICU.

It's not perfect but it could be a lot worse. And by the sounds of it is likely to get worse.

Mamatomany, I was referred to a cancer specialist within 2 weeks of seeing my GP. That was a labour policy, one the tories will not guarantee.

The NHS saved my life, or I cling to that hope anyway.

I'd like to thank you for the contribution you have made to my care, even though it is so obviously begrudged.

Well surprisingly mamatomany the police are human so you will get unpleasant poicemen and good ones. I would not wish to tar them with the same brush.

As I said above when I experience public services that are not up to standard I would try and do something to make them better. My dd's school is not up to standard we become governors. I have had to for years pay for private healthcare as the NHS could not help me, so I campaigned locally and nationally for better services. Never once have I thougt I am not getting what I want so I will pull up the ladder so everyone else can't be helped.

To be honest mamatomany I think you are trolling.

Or offer your services mamtomany. You could help out your local police by becoming a Special Constable. Or is that a bit too community minded for you?

Far too community minded thank you very much I'd rather just shoot any fucker that breaks into my house if I'm honest.
At the moment I'd like to dig a moat, fill it with crocs and then put an electric fence around me and mine.
Maybe I'm not having a good day

Mamatomany, perhaps you could try reading a history book, or even search the internet, for information about what happened when there were only private fire services. If you could afford fire insurance, you got a plaque to stick on your house so your company knew it was OK to save you (although fuck knows what happened if they couldn't see it for the smoke).

Thing is, fire doesn't read. So a fire in an uninsured house could spread to an insured one. And from the insured to the uninsured. And lots of people died because the only help was a chain of neighbours with buckets of water.

Still, if it means Mamatomany pays fewer taxes, perhaps she'd be happy to risk her own life, those of her family, and everyone else's?

Mamatomany is clearly having a bad day and something is very wrong so I think we should lay off. I hope you feel better soon.

Mamatomany Id love the name of your moat builder as I'd much rather pay less tax and take care of my own security.

The house burglary rate in Texas is unsurprisingly low as homeowners are free to shoot intruders.

Saint Obama is rectifying that at a cost of thirty TRILLION dollars.

He'll be a one term wonder.

Alouiseg, funny how no-one ever tots up the cost of poor health provision and of the extortionate amount of money wasted in the private medical system.

Many US doctors will admit there are perverse incentives to over-treat people who are covered, to order more diagnostics than are necessary, to carry out more investigations than are necessary and basically to get as much money out of the insurance company as possible. All of which is bad for the patient.

Then you have to assign an economic cost to the avoidable deaths - all those people who could have been alive, contributing to society and paying taxes. Then assign an economic cost to avoidable ill-health and disability.

Then look at the pharmaceutical companies and look at how much they are able to charge for their drugs, and how much advertising they use to convince patients to ask for drug X not drug Y even though drug X might be better for them. Or to convince people they need drugs when they don't - even inventing new 'conditions' such as female sexual dysfunction.

The current US health system is terrible in terms of suffering and terrible in terms of economics. No other health system is perfect, of course, but the richest and most powerful nation on the planet should be at the top of the OECD and Commonwealth tables, not at the bottom.

(Although Obama's bill is a pigs ear, it's true, thanks to lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry and vested interests who have managed to convince ordinary people providing decent healthcare is somehow an attack on them.)