Mark Matthews Fundraiser: Winners Announced

 LOL

 Yup... imagine what could be for the US riding scene if that wasn't the case... and if the scene didn't implode in the late 90s. Either way, its all too common for people to stop perusing their dreams in higher risk sports because of the cost of injuries. My oldest bro had to give up on his passion from only two trips to the hospital. The ambulance rides alone were around $7,000 combined.

 Eliot needs to talk to Obama.

 chances are those people are loaded with money, but the people without money have a harder time getting the treatments they need

 @maxram7 nailed it! Look at the cocksucker david rockefeller with his latest of 6 hearts...

 Blindman- despite the fact that 1/3rd of all Americans have less than a grand saved for retirement, and that hundreds of thousands more people are in crushing debt, all mostly due to medical costs, you bring up an awesome point. Never mind, no problem here.... move along. I'm happy to see that money is being raised to keep Mark outta this clusterf*ck of a scam.

 @BlindMan77 - People come from the USA to Portugal to get their teeth done, Portuguese people travel to Cuba to fix their eyes, people travel from all around the world to China so they can get organ transplants, or to Brasil to get new boobs... Your argument is invalid.

 @blindman77 Not to be a dick... but on evidence base the UK has the best healthcare system in the world. You guys need to stop seeing Obama as a socialist hippie and leaving people at the side of the road with heart attacks because they don't have insurance.

 @blindman, funny 'cause I know United States of Americans who fly to other countries to have medical work done because it's (at least) just as good and much, much cheaper.

 oh, wait....your username...nevermind.

 I'm about $130,000 in debt from hospital bill, partially from diabetes and partially mountain bikes/motocross. And that's not even for anything major, just a bunch of little bullshit visits and one ambulance ride. It's a joke. Good luck, Matt.

 Blindman is right - there is excellent health care available in the US but its up to you to pay for insurance unlike Canada and maybe the UK where its already taken from us in taxes. A lot of people without coverage are just irresponsible with their spending, straight up. This is not MM's case though.

 As much as I appreciate Canada's health care system, a person visiting Canada without the appropriate purchased insurance would be in the same boat as Mark when he was visiting the US for Rampage. From what I understand, Canada's system covers Canadians.

While our health care system is not for profit, people without coverage (i.e. non residents) still get substantial bills for treatment here.

 People also travel from the USA to Mexico for procedure's because it's cheaper. I never said the USA health care was the cheapest, I said it was the best, which it is! Also, Obama is a socialist hippie! The founding premise of the United States is opportunity, which has made it the most prosperous nation on the planet in a relatively short time. By putting the power of the people in their own hands, with hard work and making responsible decision's you can achieve anything you desire. Instead of a figure head family that sucks up a bunch of money to support their lifestyles while screwing the working man. Unfortunately Obama wants to be like the second example with cradle to grave programs. Anyways, time to hit the trails in Bend, Oregon, I can't decide if I should jump on my Knolly Chilcotin, or my new Kona Process 111, gosh I love capitalism! lol

 it will be the second best healthcare and costeffective system with President Obama adapting the swiss healthcare model. Still a long way off...give him a lot of credit. He is already saving millions of American lives with his program...and its not opportunity that the US is founded on but compassion, egality, pursuit of happiness and rule of law. You write opportunity but actually mean your own individualistic opportunism. And you dont love capitalism - you enjoy supply side driven consumerism because your ability to accrue debt is not impaired...by a huge medical bill...

 Lol, when people settled the west, they left for the opportunity to create a life, their were no promises! Many died attempting to create their new life. In 1775 Patrick Henry said in a speech, Give Liberty, or Give Death! He didn't say give me compassion or give death. Actually, I do love capitalism, I'm self employed and I have to prove myself everyday! If I don't work, I don't make money, I pay for my health care out of my own pocket, as I do not wish to rely on others, I think they call that self responsibility. I lost my ass during the fall of the economy in 2008, I started a business in 2009 with $200.00, which was all the money I had. I got rid of Cable TV, had no internet, sold my mountain bike, Got a pay as you go cell phone, and delivered Pizza's part time so I could eat. With-in 2 years I was making over six figures and my business continues to grow. That's the American Dream, and frankly it's the human dream. To wake up each day and choose how they live, not have it dictated by others. Seriously, Name me one person who deep down inside doesn't want to control of their own life? Also, who said anything about debt? Cash is king.

 Well that's very nice but this isn't 1775. Pretty much every first world country has socialised healthcare. But one.

 BlindMan- I guess its a good thing you were in perfect health that whole time or else your business would have never started up and you'd still be fending off calls from debt collectors. You're one of the lucky ones who didn't need to rely on anyone else because you never had any medical issues that forced you to do so. You're truly in the minority here so your experience through life only applies to the smallest margin of the entire US population and its pathetic to try to make us care about you or to justify your senseless ramblings. This is about providing a safety net in case the unavoidable happens and even if the medical issue was avoidable, it shouldn't be something that completely ruins you financially for the rest of your life... all in the name of increasing the obscenely wealthy's net worth. Yeah times were different back in the ol' west but that's a completely useless and honestly, idiotic point to make in regards to a broken system such as our archaic healthcare system thanks to Republicans/Nixon.

 I guess that's why Canadians come across the boarder for Heath care procedures so that they don't have to wait a fricken year to get surgery. That's socialized health care for you.

 @BlindMan - In 2013, World Health Organization ranked USA health system nº 37 in the world, behind countries like Singapore, Colombia or Marrocos... Being part of United Nations, I think the WHO ranking is pretty reliable!

 I think this got off track. I said the quality of care in the USA was the best in the world, which is true,when many wealthy people need life saving procedures they come to the states, because they have access to the best doctors and care. I did not say that the system itself was the most efficient or did not have issue's! And yes, quality care in the USA is expensive. Socialized medicine is expensive as well, but it is being paid for on the backs of others, why others contribute little to the overall cost. The problem with Heath services is that most people have no idea what they are paying for, or have the ability to shop for health services and compare prices like they do with every other purchase they make. Pre-tax health savings accounts combined with catastrophic higher premium insurance plans would be a huge step in the right direction.

 ^ Again you're wrong in that. In countries with socialized healthcare, they do have the option to shop around and purchase better plans that allow them to have priority over those that don't. As for the US having the best overall quality of care in the world, you'd be wrong on that point as well (about 10 minutes of searching the internet will prove this) but even if you were, whats the point of having the best healthcare if a majority of people cannot afford it? We attract the best in the medical field because we have some of the best universities and we pay them to come here through grants and scholarships... which the universities subsidize through tax breaks and grants given to them by the government... aka TAX DOLLARS.

You may be shocked to know this but for those who default on their medical bills, that's also payed by TAX DOLLARS. That's right, medical companies and for-profit hospitals that already make billions a year in profits, make the American people foot the bill for those that cannot afford it. As for socialized healthcare being more expensive than privatized, that's an absolute crock of shit spoon-fed to you by those who benefit the most from such a crap system (aka the GOP and I wouldn't doubt if many Democrats were in the pocket as well).

The problem with health services is that there's minimal oversight and no accountability so they can charge whatever the hell they want... turning an essential service into a for-profit business is one of the biggest mistakes ever made.

 People who want a socialized lifestyle should just pack their bags and move to countries that offer that.
Take the VA, or the United Staes post Office, their less efficient, less productive, and have lower quality of service than
their competition which are privately held companies! It's the Liberal way, blame everyone else for your problems, and if we just spent more money on something, it would solve everything! What a bunch of crap! Baltimore city spends the 3rd highest amount per student in the country at over 12K per student a year, yet they have one of the worst graduation rates, and highest crime rates in the country. Maybe if 50% of the population who essentially pay zero dollars in federal taxes would contribute their fair share, we could have discussion, unfortunately small businesses are the one's who are taking it up the ass with Obama Care. Anyways' i'm done with this discussion, if you want cradle to grave programs that keep people in poverty and stifle the economy, Vote for Hillary, or better yet, socialist Elizabeth Warren, sounds like she might throw her hat into the ring. Time to RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 ^ And there we go. Once all the points are proven wrong, the person moves on to ridiculous comparisons and mindless ranting to try to muddy the debate. Well done, you have just displayed the GOP's way to the rest of the world. Enjoy, other countries. This is the crap rational people have to deal with in the U.S.

 One last thing, I don't understand the lefts distaste for privatized health care, and why they feel the government can do a better job? Health savings accounts in my opinion would be the best solution! Young people in general are way healthier and less likely to have health issue's than older people, it's an undisputed fact. So with a health savings accounts from the first day you start working you would have pre-tax dollars going into a interest performing Health Savings account. You combine that with catastrophic insurance with higher deductibles, say 5K person. That way when you go to the doctors for a check up, you pay the doctor directly form your health savings account instead of the doctor dealing with the insurance company, this one step alone would reduce health care cost. Combine that with a private system where doctors are competing for your business, and pricing would reduce again. You would also get doctors offering the patient more value for their dollar as they are earning your business. This would also add a level of transparency as people would want to know more about their health, as they are spending their own dollars from their health savings account. If you have a big emergency where the cost would be more than 5K, that's when your insurance would kick in, and the individual would be on the hook for no more than 5K. Best of all, what you don't use from your heath savings account, you get to keep, instead of being profit for insurance companies, or going into the pockets of politicians.

 Actually, I just sent a reply with a common sense conservative approach. Unfortunately Liberals will never get it, because their more concerned with control and telling people how to live than having real world solutions. I was moving on from the discussion because I own a business and have to work. I don't get to play on the computer with someone else's dime.

 @BlindMan77, that's a very fitting name for you, considering how you can't see how townes made a complete & total stupidiotard outta you.

Also since doctors in the US make a shit ton of $, it sucks a lot of the doctors right out of other, better countries. They leave & go to the US where they can make a fortune treating the toppa the pop.

Your speculative retort almost kinda sounds sorta nice on paper (compared to the other retard shit you wrote before) but the bottom line is health care is an essential service, no one should be denied essential treatment & optional private care should also be available. Same with education. That's the way it is here & when it comes to taxes, all I can say is things that are known to be detrimental to health should be taxed like nothing else. Ciggies, junk food, booze, drugs (recreationals) etc. should be taxed heavy. In Canada we should be taxing that shit waaaaay harder (recreational drugs excluded since we're as sub par as the US [because of the the US] in that dept.) just like vehicles above a certain price point should be taxed hard. Houses above a certain price point should be taxed hard. THE RICH SHOULD BE TAXED FVCKING HARD SON!!!! Your country takes HARD EARNED tax dollars & doles it out to the rich for nothing & now you've got us doing it too ya dumb fvcking a*shole! >:-(

 freeride-forever- Funny thing is that the wealthy don't pay their fare share in taxes due to having extremely good accountants and offshore bank accounts, after everything is said and done. You wouldn't believe what counts for tax deductions. One of the bigger points of the GOP (the estate tax) only applies to handing down over $10 million dollars down to the next generation but many people who consider themselves conservative are falsely lead to believe it applies to any property, mainly including farmers. That means you can give up to $10 million without any taxes.

Also one of the staples of the GOP is that the rich pay more than their fair share of taxes since they contribute to the highest percentage of overall taxes collected. That's a crock of shit because to be truly fair, it needs to be on the percentage of income that's going to taxes instead of the actual amount... its usually twisted towards federal income taxes, of which only accounts for about 28% of all taxes collected. The rest is state tax which everyone pays and even with federal taxes, when talking about the "poor" who pay less, actually includes anyone who is single and makes less than 50k a year. So when they want to increase taxes, the GOP wants to lay more burdens on the middle class... which doesn't make their "war" against the poorest any less deplorable.

When it comes down to it, the less well off pay much much more of their overall income in terms of percentage when it comes to state tax and to be honest, even though the wealthy do pay more in federal taxes, it doesn't f*cking matter because they can easily afford and avoid it. The whole economic system is set up to allow those with money to exponentially increase their wealth. Its a rigged system.

 Freeride forever, now thats a fitting name, since it sounds like thats how you want to live your life. Medical care is essential, however, why does it need to be socialized? What I proposed does not disparage against anyone. And as you mentioned people who smoke, eat junk food, and do drugs would be more adversely affected, because they are paying for their care out of their own health savings account. Why should you, Scott, or me pay for the bad choices of others? For the most part people who take better care of themselves would benefit as they would have less health issues, therefore they would get to keep more of their own money. Also, Freerider taxing the shit out of the rich is a stupid f*cktard idea, all you are doing is taking money out of the economy to create some sort of government job which is a net loss to the economy, as it takes the tax bill of many citizens to pay for just one government job. Scott-Townes, you make some valid points, I think we should have a graduated federal flat tax based on income, their should be no loop wholes or deductions, this way everyone pays what they are supposed to, and everyone is a part of the process. As far as the estate tax, I don't understand it. You make money that you pay taxes on, and then when you die and leave to your family, the money is taxed again, how does that make sense? plus a lot of those dollars were invested, so they paid income and capitol gains tax on that money. Obviously some of the money wasn't hit with income tax as it was probably part of some IRA or 401K retirement plan, but they still paid capitol gains tax on earnings. Also, not all states have a state income tax, so in those states individuals not paying federal taxes are not paying any state taxes as well, and the funny thing is, blue states with really high state income taxes seem to be doing the worst economically. However, to say just tax the rich people more because they can afford it is ridiculous, it's pure and simple financial discrimination, and frankly it's theft. Thats like someone conning to your door and saying Scott, your going to pay me double than everyone else just because, and if you don't like it your going to jail. Makes zero sense. And yes, the system is designed for persons to grow their wealth! Most millionaires are self made, not to say they didn't have help from others along the way, just that they started businesses and worked their asses off, thats how most people in USA have become wealthy. Finally, free-rider your ridiculous, no one is just doling money out the rich, it's a baseless point.

 hilarious

 I always enjoy it too, but then wonder if they used the cloth to wipe the seat before or after they wiped the edge of the bowl with it.

 Webster needs to add "Ass Gasket" to the dictionary ASAP

 I wouldn't get comfortable with it, pretty soon its going to be privatised to US companies thanks to Mr Cameron.

 It's not though is it. All of this privatisation bullshit is just scare mongering! Yes - several hospitals have been privatised but these are some of the worst in the country in terms of waiting times and have since lost millions upon millions of pounds. So tell me please what kind of a company would want to go into a market that receives nationwide hatred and would find itself loosing money almost instantly.

 @haallinson it is though isn't it? Every Consevative MP pre last general election sat on a private healthcare board (and although I don't have figures for newly elected ones I'll bet that will still be the case). Every service NHS England provides has to compete with a private company to renew, and the decision often lies with the MP local to the area (who is now almost invariably conservative). Less than a quarter of these renewals have been retained by the NHS in the past 5 years, and the rest will be scrutinised in the coming 5. He's removed all the foundations, expect the killer blow in the next year.

 haha it was not fun. i'll dig up the video and post it this week.

 Dont know if that's towards us or the conservatives in your country, but we love you too!

 Don't worry, it isn't aimed at you. It's aimed at the Conservative (or Tory) Party that now has free reign over Britain for the next five years in spite of only a quarter of us voting for them.

It's a party that attracts middle class people who want to pay less tax to support the poor, sick and elderly. Their headline policy is to scrap the Human Rights Act.

They also privatise the crap out of everything, namely our NHS and postal service in the last government.

So, titaniumtit's words pretty much sum up the sentiment in Britain since last Friday.

 not true, ireland

 then i am sorry - could not spot the irish

 aliens too, or only citizens?