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Submit your OVERTIME question now for Bill and his roundtable guests, and selected questions will be answered on the HBO.com website, immediately following the Friday premiere of Real Time on 8/7/09.
Please be aware that concise, single-topic questions have the best chance of being selected.
Refresh the Bill Maher homepage right before midnight if you do not see the "Watch Overtime" video link.
Please note: Video is optimized for use with Windows Media Player. Mac users will need Flip4Mac to view the stream.
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Posts:
20
Registered:
6/19/09
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(209 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 5:03 PM
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Experts state that derivative investments in the financial industry that have no economic value except to generate billions of dollars of commissions and increase in CEO salaries are illegal. Such existing derivatives according to the U.S.O.C.C. are for about $200 trillion. I would estimate the assets they represent are worth probably less than 5% of that amount. What do you think should be done about this?
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138
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3/13/09
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(208 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:42 PM
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Thank you for the opportunity to have a rational exchange of initially differing ideas!
I wish it weren't such a rarity...
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4
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8/7/09
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(207 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:42 PM
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Ignorance is not a generation thing.
It is person to person.
Even if your parent was "dumb", does that make you "dumb"?
There are plenty of senior citizens who are not dumb.
Do you think that Richard Dawkins is "dumb"?
There are plenty of dumb old people and there are plenty of dumb young people.
Like wise smart people.
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Posts:
35
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10/3/08
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(206 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:37 PM
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How should Dale and Leilani Neumann be punished for praying while their daughter died instead of seeking a doctor who could have easily treated her diabetes? How can we as a society punish stupid, is it the same as dealing with crazy?
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1
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8/7/09
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(205 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:33 PM
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Bill, do you and the panelists agree with Paul Krugman's statement today that the anger and disorder displayed at some of the healthcare townhalls (incuding the one in Tampa last night, which was totally out of control) is directed at the President himself and who he is, not at the substance and facts (which are often incorrect, misinterpreted, or not able to be discussed)? Krugman's quote:
"That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that?s behind the ?birther? movement, which denies Mr. Obama?s citizenship." If true, it's very scary!
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Posts:
7
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2/23/08
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(204 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:31 PM
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Janet Napolitano was Governer of AZ and did NOTHING for keeping illegals out of AZ at all, as she fought the Sheriff over everything he WAS doing to keep this from happening (which he is still the only one that seems to be trying to do that.) Now she is head of Homeland security ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? She did nothing to help with our Unemployment rate which keeps getting higher each day. My husband has been off of work since April 2008. WHEN is something going to be done for the JOBS of the American people instead of outsourcing, and letting the illegals continue to cross over the borders? IF she can't do that as a Governor, how the hell is she going to keep terrorist out of our Country??? Our government seems to want to HELP everyone else in other countries but conveniently forgets those that have worked hard, our vets who fought for the right to live a good life, and are losing everything due to our Government not seeming to really care as long as the congressmen, represtatives and all their crownies have a job (all over paid I might add), while the rest of us are fighting and holding on by a thread to keep our homes, with no jobs in sight, illegals coming across and working and paying NO taxes, buying homes because the value is bottomed out, and getting side jobs every day by standing in front of "their" DES office "HOME DEPOT"....COME ON I'll sell you a clue for $100 buck!!!!
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Posts:
7
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2/29/08
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(203 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:30 PM
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The GOP is justifying many of its arguments against healthcare reform by using statistics provided by the Lewin Group, which it describes as "an independent research firm." The Lewin Group is actually part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary accused by the American Medical Association of helping insurers skew data to shift medical expenses to consumers.
Why do you think that the mainstream media and Congress have not admonished you for this deception?
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4
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8/7/09
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(202 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:29 PM
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"I would argue that healthcare proper (developing and administering preventative techniques and treatments to patients) does work in a capitalist structure.
Why shouldn't health care professionals make profits for services rendered, and products developed and utilized?
It is INSURANCE COMPANIES that are the problem. They will always be in the business of maximizing the bottom line for the shareholders- as it is their mandate to do.
Hence we denied claims, denied coverage, and the added expense of executive and shareholder compensation.
Personally, I want my health care providers well compensated. It increases the probability that they will be talented."
Yes, I agree with that. I should have been more clear.
I think that health care providers are the real heroes, and should
be making the big money. You are correct, the insurance companies are
the ones being greedy. I was actually combining too many arguments into one post. The pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies are the problem. If drugs were cheaper (cost not quality), health care providers didn't have such huge insurance obligations, and health insurance were all cheaper, it would help.
Thank you for correcting me.
--
Edited by obviousb at 08/07/2009 1:30 PM PDT
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Posts:
6
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7/23/09
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(201 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:22 PM
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Since the yahoo's & inbred's are taking over town hall meetings, do you think it's time to usher in a new form of Q&A with public officals? Perhaps taking it online? (as sad as that would be)
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Posts:
1
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1/11/08
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(200 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:19 PM
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After reading your blog on the Huffington Post today, I was reminded of a few quotes from Freud: "The masses are asses" and "Religion is a pack of lies fed to a stupid public." Clearly our education system is by-and-large failing us. Any ideas about how to get the American Public up to a modicum of intelligence so as to be relevant to our democracy?
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8
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2/6/08
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(199 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:17 PM
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Why hasn't anyone challenged the conservatives in Congress to give up their single-payer (I don't like this term either) government-paid health insurance and enroll in a private provider's plan if their single-payer plans are so terrible?
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Posts:
1
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8/7/09
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(198 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:16 PM
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Betsy McCaughey stated outright lies about P425 of the healthcare bill on Fred Thompson's show a few weeks ago. She invited everyone to go and verify that all social security recipients would be required to go to mandatory pro death counseling sessions once every 5 years.
P425 requires that Advanced Care Planning sessions include information about how to insure that a person's wishes are honored for items such as living wills and dnr statements and requires that contact information for resources such as hospice and legal services be included, but there is no mandate for counseling. In fact, the significant piece is that Medicare will only pay for this type of counseling once every five years. People can seek it as often as they need to, but payments for it are limited to once every five years.
In the meantime, McCaughey's lies have translated into near hysteria about counseling seniors to forego health treatment and pursue death. Why is there no attempt by the Obama administration (or from anyone with any common sense) to shoot down these sensational lies? Democrats and Republicans should shoot down these lies before they turn into widespread misinformation that could result in killing the reforms we need.
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Posts:
8
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2/6/08
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(197 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:13 PM
Rate this post:
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Has anyone noticed this pattern?
1. Republicans elected
2. Republicans screw up EVERYTHING over course of several years
3. Republicans voted out of office
4. Democrats elected
5. Democrats given short period of time to fix EVERYTHING
6. Democrats too afraid to take bold steps to fix things
7. Democrats voted out of office
8. Republicans elected...
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31
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2/23/08
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(196 of 629)
Has anyone else had trouble viewing overtime?
Aug 7, 2009 4:12 PM
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I've tried many times to watch it. I've also tried after the original broadcast the next day. Last time, it took so long just to see the first two or three sentences uttered that I gave up. The video keeps freezing.
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Posts:
1
Registered:
8/7/09
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(195 of 629)
Re: Submit Questions for Overtime - 8/7/09
Aug 7, 2009 4:07 PM
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If the US had a single payer health care system, would'nt it be much harder for patients like Micheal Jackon to obtain drug presciptions from multiple doctors?
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