Huh? What is he doing?

Any body read about this? Is this true?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-praises-israels-socialized-health-care-sys

No to ObamaCare, but Israel's mandate is working, Romney says.


JERUSALEM — Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney offered praise for the Israeli health care system today — a medical plan that has been socialized since its founding in 1948.

Romney, who championed the Massachusetts health care mandate, but is an opponent of the federal mandate passed by President Barack Obama, marveled at how little Israel spends on health care relative to the United States.

"When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you're a pretty healthy nation," Romney told donors at a fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, speaking of a health care system that is compulsory for Israelis and funded by the government. "We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs."

He's a politician. How do you tell when he's lying? Clue: is his mouth moving?

Hurting the hell out of the conservative movement..

What's the population of Israel? Is there a special situation in Israel, that doesn't apply to the United States? Are there periodic influxes of population to Israel from regions having little or no standard medical care?

You do realize this is a lib website you are reading, right?
Here's what he said without all the lib spin in between.

Quote"When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you're a pretty healthy nation," "We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs."

That sounds more like a politician blowing smoke up their ass.
He knows quite well we subsidize Israel in both military and domestic policies, there is no way Israel would exist without our financial support.

Quote from: Solar on July 31, 2012, 06:25:12 AM
You do realize this is a lib website you are reading, right?
Here's what he said without all the lib spin in between.

That sounds more like a politician blowing smoke up their ass.
He knows quite well we subsidize Israel in both military and domestic policies, there is no way Israel would exist without our financial support.

Interestingly enough, part of the agreement for Israeli aid from the United States is that imports from the US exceed the aid they receive. In short, that aid is really a round about way of paying off domestic supporters of either party.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/U.S._Assistance_to_Israel1.html

Quote from: mdgiles on July 31, 2012, 06:38:02 AM
Interestingly enough, part of the agreement for Israeli aid from the United States is that imports from the US exceed the aid they receive. In short, that aid is really a round about way of paying off domestic supporters of either party.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/U.S._Assistance_to_Israel1.html

On paper that looks great, but reality is another monster.
"Loan guarantees are not considered foreign aid so the $7.9 billion in guarantees have been excluded from this table"
Israel has never had to repay one single loan.

Quote from: Solar on July 31, 2012, 07:01:00 AM
On paper that looks great, but reality is another monster.
"Loan guarantees are not considered foreign aid so the $7.9 billion in guarantees have been excluded from this table"
Israel has never had to repay one single loan.

"U.S. economic grants to Israel ended in 1959. U.S. aid to Israel from then until 1985 consisted largely of loans, which Israel repaid, and surplus commodities, which Israel bought."
"Israel's economic aid changed from the Commodity Import Program (CIP), which provides funds to foreign nations for the purchase of U.S. commodities, to a direct cash transfer in 1979. In return, Israel provided the Agency for International Development with assurances that the dollar level of Israel's non-defense imports from the U.S. would exceed the level of economic assistance granted Israel in any given year.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
IOW, Israel sends whatever non military aid right back to the US.
The Israeli budget for the Fiscal 2012 is here as a PDF.
http://www.financeisrael.mof.gov.il/FinanceIsrael/Pages/En/News/20101220.aspx
It's about 365,billion NIS, since I'm not sure of the currency it's in, I can make no comparison as to what portion is US aid.

Quote from: mdgiles on July 31, 2012, 07:19:45 AM
"U.S. economic grants to Israel ended in 1959. U.S. aid to Israel from then until 1985 consisted largely of loans, which Israel repaid, and surplus commodities, which Israel bought."
"Israel's economic aid changed from the Commodity Import Program (CIP), which provides funds to foreign nations for the purchase of U.S. commodities, to a direct cash transfer in 1979. In return, Israel provided the Agency for International Development with assurances that the dollar level of Israel's non-defense imports from the U.S. would exceed the level of economic assistance granted Israel in any given year.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/foreign_aid.html
IOW, Israel sends whatever non military aid right back to the US.
The Israeli budget for the Fiscal 2012 is here as a PDF.
http://www.financeisrael.mof.gov.il/FinanceIsrael/Pages/En/News/20101220.aspx
It's about 365,billion NIS, since I'm not sure of the currency it's in, I can make no comparison as to what portion is US aid.

Truth is, Israel would not exist without our support, support I have no problem with.

QuoteSince 1992, the U.S. has offered Israel an additional $2 billion annually in loan guarantees. Congressional researchers have disclosed that between 1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to grants and that this was the understanding from the beginning. Indeed, all past U.S. loans to Israel have eventually been forgiven by Congress,

http://www.wrmea.org/special-topics/9748-us-aid-to-israel.html

Quote from: dk4210 on July 31, 2012, 03:10:20 AM
Huh? What is he doing?

Any body read about this? Is this true?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-praises-israels-socialized-health-care-sys

No to ObamaCare, but Israel's mandate is working, Romney says.


JERUSALEM — Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney offered praise for the Israeli health care system today — a medical plan that has been socialized since its founding in 1948.

Romney, who championed the Massachusetts health care mandate, but is an opponent of the federal mandate passed by President Barack Obama, marveled at how little Israel spends on health care relative to the United States.

"When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you're a pretty healthy nation," Romney told donors at a fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, speaking of a health care system that is compulsory for Israelis and funded by the government. "We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs."

I don't know if Romney actually said all this or not, but if he said "Paid for by the government," does he not understand where the government gets its money?  The government, any government, does not produce one penny.  All money collected and spent by any government is money confiscated from their hard-working citizens.  I don't know about the number of welfare cases in Israel, but I know it is out of hand here and that 49% are grifters who contribute nothing and collect huge sums for food and shelter and for phoney disability claims,  sums coming from those who do try to work and support their own families.

Checked your link:
http://www.wrmea.org/special-topics/9748-us-aid-to-israel.html
Read the "about us", and noted this

QuoteIn general, AET supports Middle East solutions which it judges to be consistent with the charter of the United Nations, international law, the Geneva Conventions, and traditional American support for human rights, self-determination, and fair play.

Perhaps I'm just being suspicious, but I'd take any reports by anyone who supports the UN with a grain of salt. Considering the UN's well know pro-Pelastinian/anti-israeli bias.

Quote from: mdgiles on July 31, 2012, 08:42:05 AM
Checked your link:
http://www.wrmea.org/special-topics/9748-us-aid-to-israel.html
Read the "about us", and noted this Perhaps I'm just being suspicious, but I'd take any reports by anyone who supports the UN with a grain of salt. Considering the UN's well know pro-Pelastinian/anti-israeli bias.

I have no doubt the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
I do however, remember many times where we forgave loans to Israel for one reason or another and the justification was questionable.
But it reality, we have an said that we would always support Israel, apparently Washington feels we are getting a good deal?

Quote from: Solar on July 31, 2012, 08:51:48 AM
I have no doubt the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
I do however, remember many times where we forgave loans to Israel for one reason or another and the justification was questionable.
But it reality, we have an said that we would always support Israel, apparently Washington feels we are getting a good deal?

Yeah and the Government, through Job Corps in Oklahoma, thinks it's a good deal to spend $76,000 per person.  I laugh at that statement!  Openly!

I'd always thought of Mitt Romney as your generic politician.  Which may seem like a throwaway observation, until you consider the fact that this guy could actually be elected president of the United States.  Yet there is nothing remarkable about him; he is quite literally the picture you would see in the dictionary definition of "politician".  There's absolutely nothing about him that would justify supporting the man, or wanting the man to dictate our nation's future.  What about Mitt Romney is special?

Now I'm no psychologist, but whenever I peer into his eyes, I see the workings of a sociopath.  Every emotion he exhibits seems fake, every sign of empathy rehearsed.

This doesn't even have anything to do with his political ideology.  He just seems totally lacking in empathy.

Quote from: dk4210 on July 31, 2012, 03:10:20 AM
Huh? What is he doing?

Any body read about this? Is this true?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-praises-israels-socialized-health-care-sys

No to ObamaCare, but Israel's mandate is working, Romney says.


JERUSALEM — Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney offered praise for the Israeli health care system today — a medical plan that has been socialized since its founding in 1948.

Romney, who championed the Massachusetts health care mandate, but is an opponent of the federal mandate passed by President Barack Obama, marveled at how little Israel spends on health care relative to the United States.

"When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you're a pretty healthy nation," Romney told donors at a fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, speaking of a health care system that is compulsory for Israelis and funded by the government. "We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs."

He simply credited them with keeping costs down...