“He is clearly saying that he does not want doctors making decisions about patient care because they are only interested in profit.”

As if the denizens of the “non-profit” world are not subject to the corrosive effects of greed …

… like the scientist who presents his findings in a way that will maximize his opportunity to obtain further funding, by reinforcing the preconceptions and agendas of the Powers that Be.

… like the academic that goes along with the Party Line, in order to improve the likelihood he will be granted tenure.

… like the activist — or politician — or President — who doesn’t let a crisis go to waste; instead, they mix fear and envy to keep the contributions coming … or stay in office.

This goes beyond medicine … as an engineer who designs equipment for our warfighters, I do seek to bring my employer — and myself — an honest profit … not by Any Means Necessary, but by providing the most cost-effective solutions in my field. My desire for profit does NOT, despite the implications of this President, lead me to do less than my best in that regard … for I know that the lives of both our warriors and the innocents they encounter can depend upon the effectiveness (including cost — for a system too expensive to deploy where it’s needed is worse than no system at all) of my work.

The underlying assumption of Mr. Obama’s statement above … that the “non-profit” are inherently more moral and trustworthy than those who publicly declare that the pursuit of legitimate profit is their objective … is a piece of the conventional wisdom of the last century, that belongs in the dustbin of this one.

In most socialized medicine systems, the government subsidizes most or all of physician training. Why? Because there is no way you can convince top notch people to spend the years and the dollars to become an MD if all they can make is the average plumber’s salary. Lower the bar and you lower the quality of the applicants and diminish the value of the profession. No way around it.

Doctors are hard-working people. If you think that we are greedy people like lawers and dirty politicians, please do not come to see us. Do not contibute any money to our million- dollar mansion.

There will be a nation wide shortage of doctors and nurses if this bill passed. I will be gone for sure. Both of my parents are doctors and that is how I got into this field. However, I just told my son not studying medicine. The long training and student loan are not worth it.

Democrats protect the AIG execs who make a whole lot more than that.

And instead of all this class envy carping, why don’t you spend another 12 years in school, pay the malpractice premiums and show us all how to do it for free?

Two kids graduate high school, one decides to become a plumber, the other wants to be a doctor.

The plumber makes an average of $25,000 the first five years, gets licensed, then makes an average of $50K for the following five years. At the end of ten years the plumber has earned $375,000

He’ll make an average of $60K per year after that until retirement.

The doctor ends up $100,000 in debt before he starts.

So, how many years before the doctor making $120,000 per year breaks even with the plumber making $60K per year?

and, let’s not forget, the doctor is also “giving up” a good part of his or her twenties to become a doctor.

BTW – it’s no coincidence that George Orwell’s ideas about personal freedom and state authority developed when he was a British colonial administrator in Burma. We are headed towards an Orwellian world and every day brings new evidence of it.