Jim Ward, who left the CEO job at video game publisher LucasArts in early 2008, is now hoping to win a seat in Congress.
Ward, a Republican who currently works as a venture capitalist, is running to represent Arizona's 5th Congressional District. That seat is currently held by two-term Democrat Harry Mitchell. The district includes Scottsdale, Tempe and parts of Phoenix.
Ward outlines his philosophy on his campaign website:
I’m not a professional politician. I’m a businessman. And I don’t disagree that this country needs change. But, in my experience, there’s the right kind of change and the wrong kind of change. I believe what’s happening to this country represents the wrong kind of change...
Ward lists his political philosophy as conservative on Facebook. He has protested (see pic at left) against President Obama's healthcare plan.
Partially via: Kotaku
Comments
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
In other words, you listened to a talking head on TV and don't actually know much about health care.
Having a government plan is not going to take away anyone's freedom. The only reason this much energy is being dumped into the debate is a black democrat is pushing it forward.
Ok, so for small buisness.
Having minimal options, primarly between HMOs that can have double digit increases per year and still barely cover your employies, is bad for buisness. Small companies often forgo health care completely (which risks being able to keep employies) or expend huge resources keeping shitty plans.
Meanwhile they have to compete with companies right across the boarder (or europe) that can offer their employies unlimited healthcare with a smaller percentage of thier paycheck cut.
Hmmm.. crappy HMO and high payrole deduction, good healthcare and low payrole deduction. Which is better for buisness again?
And even if one does want to go with HMOs (which, unlike the government plan, DO have death panels that decide if they will cover your costs or not, and will not even insure you for existing conditions), the option will still be there. It is called captilalism, and the US health care system has been without it for too long. The HMOs could use some real competition for once.
Keep in mind, just because something is private does not mean it is a free market. In fact, as free markets mature they start functioning more and more like communist states. Power concentrates, choice goes down, and the companies essentially become mini governments.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Neeneko
I don't really think its as much as the ehalthcare stuff as taxaion if they get the brunt of it and it costs almsot as much as they make to stay even and put alil away for retirement what you save from lower healthcare costs is not going to offset what is lost through paying higher taxes.
At least thats how I see it ocne you boil it down.
If anyone thinks a single payer option where you only may buy insurance through the government approved monopoly is fesiable they are listening to too much talk radio... that and the whole kill grandma scare that was injected into the bill by a repurb ontop of which even miss impalin supported end of life conversations with doctors ...before she was against it...my lord.... this is what happens when you let the rulering class be so separated from general sosicty...
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Let's renegotiate them.
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http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Exactly. The big problem here is the person you're replying to listens to other talking heads that assume the only reason people could have a problem with a program that will bankrupt this nation is the guy who's pushing it happens to be black.
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Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Again. You're the richest country in the world why would a public healthcare system bankrupt you? My country can afford one and its really nice knowing that a student like my self with little income will get looked after if anything bad happens.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
A couple of reasons.
1) Because it would destroy an industry that pays for most health research, as well as an industry that helps provide to people who do work for a living.
2) Because our government, ESPECIALLY under Obama, hasn't achieved much on a budget yet.
3) Because if they were to do it through the means they're suggesting, it would do all of the following: Destroy competition, lead to rationed care, destroy about 1/5 of the tax flow, and, my favorite, invade American's privacy and rights to choose.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Actually universities pay for a good chunk of research, health insurance groups don't do shit, but rather have their own research to benefit their own means (Profits, research is essentially one big ad for them). But you've never realized that there is rationed care right now, and the insurance industry is providing it. Not that you would ever say that, because that would prove your argument false.
But hey, if it destroys the insurance industry, good. The majority of the country hated those bastards anyways. Do you know how much paperwork doctors have to do to actually get any work done? You have no idea.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
And where do the universities get the money for that research? The big, evil health care companies. As far as doctors hating the insurance industry, I haven't heard of any good hospitals actually liking Obamacare either. I seem to remember the Mayo Clinic basically telling Obama to stop using their hospital in reference to it.
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Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
The Mayo Clinic is a non-profit, they are condemning a profit based bill, put the two together you idiot. What next, stating Obama's physician is against his plan because it is socialist (When in reality he is for single payer). Oh wait, your side already did.
Hospitals=/=Doctors. Not that a social conservative like you would know what anything means.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
What? That really doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't a non-profit organization support a for-profit bill if they actually thought it was going to help people?
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
He's black and a Democrat. Since he's black, you can't disagree with him without being racist, and since he's a democrat, he obviously can't be wrong.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Option, healthcare option, government healthcare OPTION.
Sorry to say, but you are being unjustifiably paranoid here. The fact is that people still have to pay for this option (in fact pay a hell lot less), and there would still be competition, so it isn't socialist and in reality is a corporatist actions (Which is the opposite of socialist). How does it not help small business, and how does it take away your economic freedom? I don't know about you, but I'm sure the majority of businesses would rather chose an option that is cheaper and economically proven to be more effective than the insurance industry.
Sorry to tell you this, but you've been eating up this fake outrage that has been dished out by the people who made America the 37th in healthcare instead of the 1st. Have you even read the draft legislation? Or are you just going to make an excuse that it is 1000 pages long like everyone else did when they didn't read it (Like the republican leader did)?
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Listen, get a degree in economics (like me) and learn something. You might also want to learn about what Socialism is all about- and it's planned economy ruled by the government.
Then, I challenge you to sleep on patio furniture cushions on other people's floors, pull routine all-nighters at work, all to pursue a goal/dream that isn't guaranteed to work. Why don't you try running a friggin company and understand the nature of where the hell money comes from and all the fees, taxes, etc that come with it?
Come back to me after you get some real experience in these matters before you talk down to me, child.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Do you want some cheese with your whine?
Hard work and sacrifice does not buy you sympathy when you actively campaign against the health and well-being of your fellow citizens.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
if that's how you're going to talk to people, i wouldn't want to go near you with a 10 foot pole.
much less accept any of your facts without proper citation of your sources.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
The thing that frustrates me is that the people generating the fake outrage really do not care one way or the other about the actual topic. It is like the old pot propeganda... the people pushing it didn't believe it and do not care, but they DO see a way to advance their own careers. That is what we are seeing here... people gaining power by scaring people into following them. And that is what I see this guy doing.... picking a hot topic and using it to gain office. I doubt he believes what he is saying.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Really how dare our country try to insure every citizen has some form of healthcare available to them! That's just SICK!
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
The supposed un insured american doesnt exist as it is, people too poor for healthcare still get it thru medicare/medicaid (or some other way). What is wrong with the way it is now? Reform that.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
I have a cousin who has roughly 2-3 months to live. So in a cliche fashion, as happens alot with people with no way to pay their medical bills, they held a spaghetti dinner fund raiser. It was sort of a moot gesture though, really there is no way they were going to raise a fraction of what they needed. But hey, maybe they will raise enough to pay for part of her funeral. THAT is what is wrong with the way things are now.
So the next time you try to say that everyone is insured pay attention to the fund raisers mentioned in the newspaper, or those metal pails with peoples' picture on them by the register at gas stations. You can try to say that uninsured people don't exist? What a foolish statement.
-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Step 1: Go online.
Step 2: look for charities in the area, organizations in the area, etc, that will help pay part of a treatment or procedure.
In nearly every state, there is an organization dedicated to helping fund nearly all procedures, helping find doctors to perform them, etc. Sometimes it's a strange government program, sometimes it is charitable non-profit. If it's cancer, call livestrong and ask if they can hook you up with some help.
There's a woman I met the other day who lost her job. She has two lists with her; where she can get free care, and where she can get free food for her and her children. Rather than languish at home (which, for her, is a van), do you know what she spends the rest of the time doing? Looking for a job, odd jobs, anything to bring in some money.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Unless that is you have a job, then most of those charities will turn their noses up at you. So I assume that you think if someone needs healthcare that they should quit their job then correct?
But the point remains that it is foolish that you think that people such as myself, and other very non-wealthy people would be against a program that would benefit us. Give me one good reason just WHY someone would be against something that helps them? I mean I can understand why you would be against such a program, because you are obviously some rich, right-wing, stuck-up, yuppie. So it is only logical that you would be against it.
Seeing as I can see the side of people whom this would not benefit, why can't you see the other side of it? For people without any sort of healthcare to support your side and deny themselves health care would be like "pulling the plug on grandma".
-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
What's wrong with the current situation is, that your description of it is just not true. Frankly, given the amount of reporting on that topic, I'll even go so far as to call your comment a deliberate lie.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
It's as crazy as the idea that everyone should get an education. The rich can send their kids to schools which have high fees, so why should they have to pay their taxes which help pay for education for everyone, when they're not getting anything out of the taxes that they pay?
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
"It's as crazy as the idea that everyone should get an education. The rich can send their kids to schools which have high fees, so why should they have to pay their taxes which help pay for education for everyone, when they're not getting anything out of the taxes that they pay?"
Because society is a coopertive endeavor.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Maybe we should implement a voucher program so public schools actually have competition and are forced to provide decent educations to get their money. It would fix a whole lot of problems and woudl be fair to those people who already pay for private schooling and are also forced to pay for public school, too.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Unfortunately, that comes with the danger of punishing students and actual good teachers... If the school fails overall, then EVERYONE who is part of the school would loose the benefit of the funding; this would include the few teachers part of said school that do apply themselves to do all they can to teach, and the students that work hard to be better educated than their peers...
Though i do think some new incentive is needed to help fix the problem of neglectful teachers in public schools... perhaps giving each individual teacher a low default wage and a additional income based on how their students do on a set of tests at the end of the school year; test ofcourse would be run/graded by the state and not the teachers themselves (kinda like the SAT's or Regents exams). Unless the teachers enjoy low pay, they will work their asses off to teach those kids so that they can get a nice payday at the end of the school year... this way the only teachers that are punished are those that are not teaching as well as they could.
not sure myself... i have the fortune to have a pretty good public school district, that had relatively few teacher/student problems... though i do think i recall hearing that the teachers at my old school district tended to be paid better than teachers in other parts of the country... that might have helped give our teachers incentive to do well and keep their jobs as they might think that they would not get similar pay at other schools, especially if they look outside the county
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
We do risk having a few good teachers lose their jobs, but I think that's a small downside to actually putting the bad schools in the spotlight and forcing them to either change or go under. Right now, the schools can just sit back and say they need more government money without ever having to worry much about whether they're serving their students.
I believe the government (maybe it was just a few states...) has tried something like your test idea in the past. If I remember correctly, they found out that teachers were finding ways to help their students cheat in order to get more money. You'd have to make sure that the teacher didn't have a way of doing that.
I actually live in a pretty decent school district, too. Of course, one of the reasons it's so great might be that it lets kids retake tests multiple times and tries to get the worst students sent off to neighboring districts... Anyway, one of the big reasons the private schools in my hometown work is that the teachers get crappy pay. It's not fair to them, fo course, but the only teachers who will take that pay over the wages that the public school offers are the ones who are really dedicated. We routinely have better numbers of kids who can read at their grade level, and my class's average ACT score was in the mid-20s. We weren't even a rich person school; we had plenty of kids whose fathers farmed or worked in the factories in the area. Just having that teacher dedication pushed our scores way higher than the public school despite them having much nicer facilities and better-paid teachers.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Yeah man, we should just abolish public schools and volunteer fire fighters, people who send their kids to private school and whose houses DON'T burn down don't get anything out of it.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
If it was only financed by the people who were under the government policy, I'd have no problem with it. However, EVERYONE that pays taxes will have to pay for a system that our own government says can't be paid for, to insure only one-third of the uninsured in this country. Your straw hat = fail.
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Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
I know this is probably a gross simplification but if Australia, where I live, can afford a pretty good public health care system why can't the U.S.A. I mean your the biggest economy in the world it can't be that hard right? I mean where the fuck has all the money gone?
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
The reason why America can't afford a government health care system is that our population is about ten times that of countries with arguably effective ones, while having much lower income tax rates. That means more people to insure with less money to insure them. In America, more people want lower taxes vs. government run health care, because the government can't do what it's supposed to do in the first place. I don't feel comfortable giving an organization that will give two of the largest auto manufacturers billions of dollars and STILL make them go thru bankruptcy, effectively wasting that money.
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Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Don't forget that we also have a large amount of diversity spread out across an extremely large geographic area. What is needed on the coasts is not going to be what's needed in the midwest and vice-versa, and it's impractical to expect a nation-wide program to be fairly effective in all areas.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
The US federal government isn't exactly know for creating effective programs. All of our money went to a stimulus package we didn't read, and a good chunk of it has been poured into oft-abused Wellfare and Food Stamp programs for years now. We're too damn big to make things work very effectively on a country-wide scale.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Ask Obama where he's spent it all this year. We were in the red before summer started.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Actually, you were in the red before his administration started.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't clear: I was talking about in the red from a yearly budget perspective. We were already in the red, but nowhere near as far as we will be.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
If the house is on fire and someone runs in to save your child, that's no time to yell kidnapping.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
This is more of a house being on fire and some asshole deciding to throw as much gasoline as he can get his hands on into the fire.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
That's how you want to spin it, but all signs (except for today) that the economy is beginning to recover. Housing markets have stabilized (which was the source for all the problems), it's just a matter of time before things start shaping up.
This was a problem that was 8 years in the making (yes, I know you want to believe it was more) it's not going to be fixed in just 8 months.
And the stimulus has only been 30% allocated.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
There are very few signs of recovery for our economy. When couple with our U6 unemployment figure (16% plus), it doesn't look very good.
And it was far longer than 8 years in the making, whether you acknowledge it or not.
And a lot of the stimulus is going to pay the bills for local governments. Like most of California's local governments. Or Cleveland.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
I don't know where you're getting that the stimulus is going to paying bills for local governments. One of the stipulations in the stimulus bill is that it NOT be used to pay state debt. That's the big reason why Gov Sandford in South Carolina was going to refuse it (he eventually acquiesced).
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
So I suppose the government should do absolutely nothing as healthcare premiums go up like crazy and people die because they have no insurance or because they were denied. But hey, none of that matters because you don't want to pay more taxes and the free market dictates that profit is more important than people, right?
This is yet another reason why people suggest right-wing libertarians are a bunch of inhumane shits. Because their argument might as well be "Fuck the sick dying and poor". Thank god your type of social conservatism (And might as well say it, eugenics) is the minority here.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Hooray for socialism! Let's enable the lazy to leech off the hard workers even more! Businesses will definitely come to this country if they know they'll be taxed to death to pay for other people's problems.
If you want to fix the problems, fix the healthcare system instead of trying to stick a government bandage over it. You could start by finding a way to get people to stop sueing doctors for frivolous malpractice claims.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
"You could start by finding a way to get people to stop sueing doctors for frivolous malpractice claims."
In terms of waste in the health care industry, malpractice claims are a drop in the bucket.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
HAHAHA. Bullshit.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Here's some 'bullshit' for you:
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-causes-12-trillion-of-healthcare-was...
As I said, drop in the bucket. Now where's your facts, genius?
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Hooray for capitalism! Let the lazy leech off the hard workers by dangling a carrot in front of their nose.
-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Yeah, fuck the dying. You sound like you support eugenics there Baruch.
Forget how France has the greatest healthcare in the world (Despite actual additional options added on including government payed) when they don't have the luxurious ability to be fucked over by the bureaucracy of the health insurance industry.
You sounded a lot like Andrew Ryan there, I hope you remember what happened to him and the city of Rapture.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
You sounded a lot like Andrew Ryan there, I hope you remember what happened to him and the city of Rapture.
dude...i've so had that come to mind a few times, everyone bashes a socialistic idea, but fail to realize that in pure capitalism, they'd fry just as badly.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
So, what, you want to take one system that has problems and destroy it, to replace it with a system that has more problems?
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Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: Former LucasArts CEO Launches Bid for Seat in Congress
Okay, let's get something clear here: The way what country has the 'best' healthcare system is calculated is done so in a very bullshit manner. For example, they include in the information things like how many soldiers have died in combat. Well, France, being a nation of mediocre people with below average skill at soldiering, places nearly dead last in that list. Already, the equation is skewed in their favor.