Bill Clintons Obesity Comments

[explcdt8]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet....mit/index.html


I'm not doubting that obesity is a problem, but I have a problem with him saying that this will collapse the country.


I mean: Its not the social security nightmare
Its not illegal immigration
Its not the healthcare insurance issue
Its not the 1 trillion dollar War in Iraq
Its not the fact that we can't handle natural disasters
because FEMA itself is one
Its this. I would like to know what crystal ball he is using.

Plus, I don't really see how this can happen, even if ABSOLUTELY NOTHING changes, which is highly unlikely, extensive PT should be able to get most fatbodies into shape for military service if we need it.

[schrute]

Seriously BILL CLINTON is preaching about obesity! Here's a solution, how about if the President of the United States doesn't have the world's most highly publicized Big Mac fetish.

Is it just me or is western civilization crumbling down around my ears?

[Tater]

Bill Clinton and the Communist News Network. Now there's a team for ya.:eek:

[resqr1]

The only thing Bill ever worried about collapsing was Monica...to her knees.:eek::eek::eek:

[cashton]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet....mit/index.html


I'm not doubting that obesity is a problem, but I have a problem with him saying that this will collapse the country.


I mean: Its not the social security nightmare
Its not illegal immigration
Its not the healthcare insurance issue
Its not the 1 trillion dollar War in Iraq
Its not the fact that we can't handle natural disasters
because FEMA itself is one
Its this. I would like to know what crystal ball he is using.

Plus, I don't really see how this can happen, even if ABSOLUTELY NOTHING changes, which is highly unlikely, extensive PT should be able to get most fatbodies into shape for military service if we need it.

I think that it could be a huge contributing factor though. I mean the things that you listed at the moment are absolutely more pressing issues now, but what about in 10 or 15 years when all the little fat kids are the ones that are up and coming and eventually going to be the ones that run the country? PT in school is pretty much a joke these days and school sports don't seem to have the same appeal. Anymore if it isn't on TV or in a video games, kids are not interested. Maybe a two year mandatory military service would be a kick start. It would get people in shape for atleast a few years of their life. I can't say too much though. According to the doctors chart I am obese myself since they don't take muscle mass in to account.

[kels]

You got to remember, his Missus is pushin her universal health care thing again.
Just another bit of free publicity for them.

[MDEMT280]

Obesity WILL collapse America.

I mean, it's a basic principle of strucutural engineering. Put enough weight on ANYTHING and it will collapse. Heck, you think that sinkholes just randomly open up in the roads? No! I guarantee you a fat person drove over that spot just seconds before! :D

But seriously, it is an issue. We just have a culture that encourages lardassery. So many people are praising the Nintendo Wii for actually having people ACTIVE while playing video games. Here's a better idea... instead of sitting in your living room (sorry, STANDING in your living room) playing baseball on the Wii... go outside and... PLAY BASEBALL.

Am I one to talk? I don't know. I've lost a decent amount of weight, but I'm still a big boy. I've been big all my life. Why? I ate crap. Chips, fries, pizza, doughnuts, all the stuff that tasted good. Vegetables didn't hit my stomach unless they were in Chinese food, covered in sauce. And no, I didn't go out and play. Video games were awesome, and required a lot less effort.

And now, I regret EVERY F'ING DOUGHNUT and EVERY OTHER PIECE OF JUNK I've ever eaten, because I see how much my poor choices have held me back in life. I can tell you with 100% certainty, because she admitted it to me, at least one person refused to even go on a date with me because I was fat. Had I kept my weight down, played sports, etc., I would have most assuredly pursued the Marine Corps PLC program in college -- that is, if I were even IN college, because if I were fit, I probably would have enlisted instead.

I'm making changes, but it's going to be a hard road. Fortunately, I haven't had any major medical issues as a complication of my obesity. Since I've lost 30 pounds, however, my total cholesterol went down about 60 points, my triglycerides (that's, like, FAT in your blood) went down about 100, and when I had my blood pressure checked the other morning, at rest, it was 102/70.

I am very fortunate that I had the brains to say, "Hey, this is bad," and I could actually do something about it. On the ambulance, I frequently see people who have hit that point of no return. In black hole parlance, they've crossed the event horizon. They're 400, 500, 600 pounds. They couldn't go for a walk if they WANTED to. Even if they had surgery, or just had a severely restrictive diet, their bodies would be in such shambles that they'd probably suffer from arthritis, diabetes, etc. for the rest of their lives.

With our without weight loss, there will still be issues to deal with once you're that big: More visits to the doctor, which adds more of a burden to an already taxed hospital system. Difficulty getting health insurance due to preexisting conditions, which increases the financial burden on the patient, or if they have Medicare/Medicaid, on the taxpayer. Increased reliance on family as caregivers, which means lost productivity for them and their employers, as well as emotional and possibly physical stress.

Is obesity the absolute worstthing facing this country? No. Is obesity the worst healthcare crisis facing this country? I would say so.

[explcdt8]

I agree, I think he was talking more about a collapse of the healthcare system more than anything, and secretly plugging Hiillary's healthcare reform plan at the same time.


Although I do think with all the attention on the issue, people will soon start to get the idea.

[cashton]

I agree, I think he was talking more about a collapse of the healthcare system more than anything, and secretly plugging Hiillary's healthcare reform plan at the same time.


Although I do think with all the attention on the issue, people will soon start to get the idea.

It still is that too. Smoking, drinking and obesity are a scourge on the health system in our country and all of it is preventable. How many billions of dollars are spent treating people with heart and liver disease because people make a conscious decision to do the things they do. It is no wonder it costs so much to insure my family because I have to pay for all the heart attacks and cancer treatments that are self inflicted illnesses.

[JakeLock]

It still is that too. Smoking, drinking and obesity are a scourge on the health system in our country and all of it is preventable. How many billions of dollars are spent treating people with heart and liver disease because people make a conscious decision to do the things they do. It is no wonder it costs so much to insure my family because I have to pay for all the heart attacks and cancer treatments that are self inflicted illnesses.

I drink, I smoke, and yeah I'm a little bit fat... But I'm still in decent shape. I can still run, thanks to two surgeries I have difficulties breathing, but I can still do what I need to do.

YOU don't pay for anyone but yourself. There is a reason why most companies require a physical.

Din't blame other people for your costs. Don't blame anyone else, even if that seems to be the American way. If in the future I get sick and it's due to my addictions so be it. You don't pay for my health care... I DO.

Insurance companies are a business, they are there to make money. But I guarantee you my father's illness could've bankrupted them if he hadn't died. At the time of his death the med bills were reaching the 1 million dollar mark.

YOU didn't pay a dime into his treatment. HE did, my mother did, my city did. Not you. YOU ONLY PAID FOR YOURSELF.

Get off your horse.

And to anyone that thinks I'm a jerk right now, you're right, I am. There's a reason my mom and my dad paid into health benefits for 30 years. It paid for my fathers sickness, a sickness that still haunts me to this very day. But, noone other than my parents and their insurance company paid for his treatment. Call me an *******, but this is the way it is. Period.

[1depd]

Jake--The way insurance works is the healthy pay for treatment the sick need. Granted your father, his job, and your mother paid into the system, but I'll bet if you look at how much they actually paid in it is far less than the cost of treatment they received. The insurance company doesn't just write that off. It is shifted to the premiums of all of the other people insured with the same company.

The only way the insurance company can stay in business is if their receipts from premiums are more than the cost of services. If they were going to charge one person more than the expected amount of medical treatment consumed the cost insurance would be too much for most to afford. Most on this board, probably you included, have paid more into the system than you have consumed. That excess went to pay for your father's treatment.

Thanks to a medical condition my wife has also used more than she has paid into the system. I know I could not have afforded her treatment if I did not have insurance and I will not be even for another three or four years, just for her surgery, not including follow-up appointments and ongoing medication requirements.

[Cat_Doc]

You can't drive a Greyhound bus on Volkswagen tires for too long before something goes out, but obesity will not be the predominate cause for the collapse of our nation.

If we voters allow it, our collapse will be based upon degradation of self reliance (thinking the government needs to take care of us), moral and ethical decay, failure to prepare and respond to national defense issues and ostrich-like-head-in-the-sand conduct by the silent majority who smirk at the outlandish attempts at socialism but won't step up to the plate.

[cashton]

I drink, I smoke, and yeah I'm a little bit fat... But I'm still in decent shape. I can still run, thanks to two surgeries I have difficulties breathing, but I can still do what I need to do.

YOU don't pay for anyone but yourself. There is a reason why most companies require a physical.

Din't blame other people for your costs. Don't blame anyone else, even if that seems to be the American way. If in the future I get sick and it's due to my addictions so be it. You don't pay for my health care... I DO.

Insurance companies are a business, they are there to make money. But I guarantee you my father's illness could've bankrupted them if he hadn't died. At the time of his death the med bills were reaching the 1 million dollar mark.

YOU didn't pay a dime into his treatment. HE did, my mother did, my city did. Not you. YOU ONLY PAID FOR YOURSELF.

Get off your horse.

And to anyone that thinks I'm a jerk right now, you're right, I am. There's a reason my mom and my dad paid into health benefits for 30 years. It paid for my fathers sickness, a sickness that still haunts me to this very day. But, noone other than my parents and their insurance company paid for his treatment. Call me an *******, but this is the way it is. Period.

I pay my insurance and rarely ever go to the doctor except for my yearly check up. So were is my money going? It is paying for the fat *** alcoholic smokers that have heart attacks, bad backs and lung cancer. Don't tell me that my premiums aren't paying for other peoples illnesses because they ARE. Maybe not yours but if you lived in my state then I probably did help pay for your *** to get surgery.

If you get sick and your treatments cost more than the premiums you paid, where the hell do you thing the money comes from? Out of the money fairies ***? I hope you are not that dumb. I pay my car insurance too and never made a claim. Is that money sitting in an account somewhere waiting for me to crash my truck? No way. It got used to pay for the damage for someone else that hit a deer while driving home from work or something.

Get real.

[Taz_bb2]

You can't drive a Greyhound bus on Volkswagen tires for too long before something goes out, but obesity will not be the predominate cause for the collapse of our nation.

If we voters allow it, our collapse will be based upon degradation of self reliance (thinking the government needs to take care of us), moral and ethical decay, failure to prepare and respond to national defense issues and ostrich-like-head-in-the-sand conduct by the silent majority who smirk at the outlandish attempts at socialism but won't step up to the plate.

Damn...wish I could rep you!!

Now if Americans would just get behind the Libertarian movement, this country might just have a chance. Otherwise, we will continue to have overt assaults on Christianity, forced inequitable tolerance of other religions and cultures, a loss of self-preservation and self-pride in ourselves as individuals AND Americans.

The line between socialism and communism is very fine...separated by only one letter - I. Every American must be diligent in fighting the ineptitude prevalent in every facet of our culture. The last time socialism and communism ran rampant, over 149 million people lost their lives to the "greater good." We cannot allow history to repeat itself.