Latest Haslem commercial

[Guest HvyMtl]

more of a preemptive strike to prevent McWherter running on his dad's laurels.

[Guest jth_3s]

Haslam has great connections. Im sure he can get Michael Bloomberg to help him decide firearms issues

[Garufa]

What's the discussion? You either vote Republican or Democrat. As usual.

[Guest jth_3s]

Ill probably vote for haslam just because I have no other real option. I might vote third party

[Garufa]

I might vote third party

Is Basil MarceauxDotCom running as an Independant?

[Guest jth_3s]

Is Basil MarceauxDotCom running as an Independant?

Ha Ha. He would be better than Haslam or Mcwhatshisname. I actually agreed with him on several things. He would definitly want to reduce government. Id love to get stopped by a cop and asked "where's your damn gun!" lol

[Louisb]

So what is the TRUTH behind his true 2nd Amendment leanings

[Oh Shoot]

So what is the TRUTH behind his true 2nd Amendment leanings

He belonged to Bloomberg's Mayors Against Guns, until it appeared politically expedient to leave it and run for gov a couple years ago or less.

He THEN got a NRA membership for life.

He was instrumental in blocking carry in Knoxville parks.

Anything else you really need to know?

- OS

[Guest HvyMtl]

Wow. The last Haslam commercial... how pandering is that? Has an African- American woman saying stuff like he surprised her by coming down to her office in her area (indicating he showed up in a black neighborhood) supporting her people (blacks) and ends the commercial with "the brother's real..."

How blind is that? Offensive. Sad.

[Louisb]

RINO ? ? ?

Write ins while they make us feel better, could swing the vote the wrong way.

NO, I don't like my choices

[Northface]

I will vote for Haslam, only because we need a Republican governor for the US congressional redistricting from the census. I will leave it up to Ron Ramsey, et al in the senate and house to keep him in line with their votes.

If not, then I prefer my RINO cooked medium rare!

[East_TN_Patriot]

Since Haslam is the topic, let me give my personal experience with him since I am in the Knoxville area. When the city was debating the CCW in parks ordinance, I sent an e-mail to every commissioner and Mayor Haslam. Of the entire group, only 2 commissioners responded as did Mayor Haslam. From that point onward, Haslam was the only one to continue to send me personal e-mails keeping me informed on the progress of the debate and ordinance voting. He was very respectful and honest about his stance on the issue, which is where he and I disagree. He supported keeping the ban on carry in city parks, and I obviously did not. I supplied a summary of about a dozen peer-reviewed studies on concealed carry and all but 1 showed that CCW holders are not a risk at all and actually deter crime. He took the approach of a left-winger in my opinion, basically saying that all the research is fine, but he just doesn't think that parks (and hence kids) and guns together are a good thing. No amount of logic would sway him. Again, I highly appreciated his candor and his effort in keeping me informed, but his politics on guns stinks. I think he smacks of Charlie Crist (and I can say that having been a Florida resident until a couple of years ago and having voted for that RINO political hack). I will vote for Haslam unless there is a viable alternative, but just as I did with Crist, I will do it while holding my nose.

[Guest HvyMtl]

now he has a health care themed commercial.

Block the Washington plan ( um. No. The Governor is in no position to block that at all, by law...) "Personal responsibility" (whenever a candidate does this, it means you pay more...) and "tort reform" - because, the ever increasing costs is directly due to lawyers, instead of other things, like expensive drugs, equipment, nickle and dimeing charges,etc. (Always blame the lawyers, not the real costs - like insurance companies that claim to cover you then dont, their huge profit margins, drug companies huge profit margins, etc.)

no original thought listed in this commercial.

[StPatrick]

Heavy, health insurance companies generally run between 2-4% margins; their returns are easily searchable. They don't increase or decrease costs, they just insure against them based on probability and the nature of their risk pool. When payout goes up, so do insurance costs.

[Backon4]

The number one reason hospitals and doctors are so expensive is because of uninsured people who do not pay, illegals and poor people are that majority. Because ER's can not turn away a patient they make up for the ones who don't pay by inflating the cost of those who do. That in turn gets passed on to the insurance companies who then pass it on to consumers in the form of higher premiums, higher copays, higher deductibles, and this new idea of coinsurance. All of these are a way for the health insurance companies to pass on costs to the consumers. As for operating on margins of 3-4%, when you take inflated salaries of the top 100 employees of each insurance companies the numbers jump to 25-30%. The top 100 people at humana make over 13 billion dollars. Now I have no problem with people making good money but when it comes to people making a profit by letting people die I have an issue. If the government would simply remove the rewards for these companies and allow fair market competition, prices would go down and care would go up.

Sorry for the rant but just wanted to throw my .02 in.

[I_Like_Pie]

Everyone here wondering here - is he is pandering to democrats?

Does your head asplode with the fact that there exists Conservative Democrats and Liberal Republicans....Especially with the E.TN block of voters?

[StPatrick]

The number one reason hospitals and doctors are so expensive is because of uninsured people who do not pay, illegals and poor people are that majority. Because ER's can not turn away a patient they make up for the ones who don't pay by inflating the cost of those who do. That in turn gets passed on to the insurance companies who then pass it on to consumers in the form of higher premiums, higher copays, higher deductibles, and this new idea of coinsurance. All of these are a way for the health insurance companies to pass on costs to the consumers. As for operating on margins of 3-4%, when you take inflated salaries of the top 100 employees of each insurance companies the numbers jump to 25-30%. The top 100 people at humana make over 13 billion dollars. Now I have no problem with people making good money but when it comes to people making a profit by letting people die I have an issue. If the government would simply remove the rewards for these companies and allow fair market competition, prices would go down and care would go up.

Sorry for the rant but just wanted to throw my .02 in.

That was a pretty well thought-out and measured "rant"; in the future, remember that rants feature arguments from authority, appeals to emotion, and generally should have some kind of conspiracy theory thrown in.

There's no doubt that shareholders should investigate, and change as needed, the compensation for execs if proven out of line. If the numbers you quoted are correct, a restructuring of executive pay and benefits would definitely make Humana a more competetive provider compared to others, providing instant shareholder value; the rapid restructuring of other companies' compensation that would invevitably follow would reduce rates across the board. Note that I'm not holding my breath on this scenario playing out.

Edited October 7, 2010 by StPatrick