Live News From Spain As It Happens

Dirk said:
Saturday, December 8, 2012 @ 6:51 AM

FREE doesn't exist.
Someone has to pay the bill.

Typical socialism point of view from "the good old days".
With a small contribution they prevent abuses and save air if money .
Free gifts politics has to be paid by taxes, payed by people who works, keeps the economy turning ....

Dirk said:
Saturday, December 8, 2012 @ 6:52 AM

FREE doesn't exist.
Someone has to pay the bill.

Typical socialism point of view from "the good old days".
With a small contribution they prevent abuses and save a lot of money .
Free gifts politics has to be paid by taxes, payed by people who works, keeps the economy turning ....

Deegeew said:
Saturday, December 8, 2012 @ 9:52 AM

Healthcare for EU Citizens should be standard throughout the EU Community. It is time Brussels sorted issues like this out.

Jeff said:
Saturday, December 8, 2012 @ 9:56 AM

I agree with Dirk. Socialism removes all incentives for people to take responsibility for their own lives.

Just because a person saves money from tax paid income and then buys themself a nice but expensive house why should the Liberals/Socialists think they should be able to make them pay yet more tax.

Socialism is the politics of envy and leads to more dictatorships.

suejat said:
Saturday, December 8, 2012 @ 12:03 PM

Margaret Thatcher once said something about "socialists being very good at spending other peoples money". What happens when it runs out? The situation we find ourselves in now???

Finisterre said:
Saturday, December 8, 2012 @ 10:46 PM

The politics of envy is surely epitomised by the notion that Other People are getting something for free and that this is Wrong.

Healthcare should obviously be a basic right for all. You can't call yourself civilised and deny health treatment to a fellow human being just because of where they were born. Never mind socialism, it's a sign of just how embedded the greed-is-good capitalist viewpoint is that we are even arguing about this.

Non Political said:
Sunday, December 9, 2012 @ 7:23 AM

Well Dirk, cannot agree more about people working keeping the economy turning, however, as Spain has the highest unemployment in Europe, I guess your arguement means that a huge percentage of Spaniards, let alone fully legal residents, should be left to die on the streets without healthcare? I do hope you continue to have work here and pay your taxes as many of us do, otherwise you may well find yourself in the unfortunate position that many less fortunate people do. What are they supposed to do?

sally woodvine said:
Sunday, December 9, 2012 @ 11:03 PM

well i cant afford health care cant get work cant sell my house because no one wants it.... might as well be dead.

janet White said:
Monday, December 10, 2012 @ 12:38 PM

This is a problem well recognised in the UK and the NHS. Millions work and pay into the system but are now faced with immigrants who come here not having paid a sausage and taking advantage of free healthcare which is why we have a problem with health tourism. Our GP's have now been told they cannot turn anyone away who has been in the country for at least 24 hrs. We now have a situation where people who have lived here and paid in all their lives not being able to access their doctor for an appointment and hospitals full of free loading immigrants whilst our own cannot get access to hospital operations and treatment. Much of their treatment too is for diseases previously eradicated in the UK. I am all for helping people who come either to here or Spain but where do you draw the line. Our NHS is now creaking under the strain of trying to be an IHS (International Health Service) and may well collapse if something isn't done to ensure people pay in for a limited time before access, otherwise a health service once envied by the world will crumble and collapse. Social Services is a great thing if people contribute but you will always find an overload of people willing to take advantage of the "something for nothing" culture, hence the problem we have had from the Labour government's expansion of the benefits system so that now they are being reduced drastically and British people (poor) are suffering immeasuably along with the rest when many are disabled and sick. Socialist never works, it is the one step short of communism where poverty is viewed as the norm for the masses and just a few elite get the very best. It just doesn't work so Spain will only end up going the way of the UK. In the end the ones that do work end up paying huge taxes to support the rest and are outnumbered, especially during periods of high unemployment. Now middle class working families in the UK are becoming as poor as the rest as we are carrying millions of immigrants and unemployed. A completely unbalanced economy !

janet White said:
Monday, December 10, 2012 @ 12:49 PM

This is a problem well recognised in the UK and the NHS. Millions work and pay into the system but are now faced with immigrants who come here not having paid a sausage and who are taking advantage of free healthcare which is why we have a problem with health tourism. Our GP's have now been told they cannot turn anyone away who has been in the country for at least 24 hrs. We now have a situation where people who have lived here and paid in all their lives not being able to access their doctor for an appointment and hospitals full of free loading immigrants whilst our own cannot get access to hospital operations and treatment. Much of their treatment too is for diseases previously eradicated in the UK which are expensive to treat. I am all for helping people who come either to here or Spain but where do you draw the line. Our NHS is now creaking under the strain of trying to be an IHS (International Health Service) and may well collapse if something isn't done to ensure people pay in for a limited time before access, otherwise a health service once envied by the world will crumble and collapse. Social Services is a great thing if people contribute but you will always find an overload of people willing to take advantage of the "something for nothing" culture, hence the problem we have had from the Labour government's expansion of the benefits system so that now they are being reduced drastically and the majority of people (poor, sick and disabled) are suffering immeasurably along with the rest. Socialism never works, it is the one step short of communism where poverty is viewed by their government as the norm for the masses and just a few elite rich people get the very best. It just doesn't work so Spain will only end up going the way of the UK. In the end the ones that do work end up paying huge taxes to support the rest and are outnumbered, especially during periods of high unemployment so end up leaving and taking their money elsewhere which is what is happening in the UK. Now middle class working families in the UK are becoming as poor as the rest as we are carrying millions of immigrants and unemployed and Social Services is getting ready to collapse too due to lack of funds to cope. A completely unbalanced economy ! In the end someone has to pay and you can't blame people who want to strive to flourish for themselves and their families going elsewhere where they are not taken for a ride by people who as I say want "something for nothing". In the end you have a country like the ones they have left "3rd world countries" where everyone shares in poverty when all the services have evaporated due to lack of funds.

janet White said:
Monday, December 10, 2012 @ 1:39 PM

This is a problem well recognised in the UK and the NHS. Millions work and pay into the system but are now faced with immigrants who come here not having paid a sausage and who are taking advantage of free healthcare which is why we have a problem with health tourism. Our GP's have now been told they cannot turn anyone away who has been in the country for at least 24 hrs. We now have a situation where people who have lived here and paid in all their lives not being able to access their doctor for an appointment and hospitals full of free loading immigrants whilst our own cannot get access to hospital operations and treatment. Much of their treatment too is for diseases previously eradicated in the UK which are expensive to treat. I am all for helping people who come either to here or Spain but where do you draw the line. Our NHS is now creaking under the strain of trying to be an IHS (International Health Service) and may well collapse if something isn't done to ensure people pay in for a limited time before access, otherwise a health service once envied by the world will crumble and collapse. Social Services is a great thing if people contribute but you will always find an overload of people willing to take advantage of the "something for nothing" culture, hence the problem we have had from the Labour government's expansion of the benefits system so that now they are being reduced drastically and the majority of people (poor, sick and disabled) are suffering immeasurably along with the rest. Socialism never works, it is the one step short of communism where poverty is viewed by their government as the norm for the masses and just a few elite rich people get the very best. It just doesn't work so Spain will only end up going the way of the UK. In the end the ones that do work end up paying huge taxes to support the rest and are outnumbered, especially during periods of high unemployment so end up leaving and taking their money elsewhere which is what is happening in the UK. Now middle class working families in the UK are becoming as poor as the rest as we are carrying millions of immigrants and unemployed and Social Services is getting ready to collapse too due to lack of funds to cope. A completely unbalanced economy ! In the end someone has to pay and you can't blame people who want to strive to flourish for themselves and their families going elsewhere where they are not taken for a ride by people who as I say want "something for nothing". In the end you have a country like the ones they have left "3rd world countries" where everyone shares in poverty when all the services have evaporated due to lack of funds.

janet White said:
Monday, December 10, 2012 @ 4:47 PM

This is a problem well recognised in the UK and the NHS. Millions work and pay into the system but are now faced with immigrants who come here not having paid a sausage and who are taking advantage of free healthcare which is why we have a problem with health tourism. Our GP's have now been told they cannot turn anyone away who has been in the country for at least 24 hrs. We now have a situation where people who have lived here and paid in all their lives not being able to access their doctor for an appointment and hospitals full of free loading immigrants whilst our own cannot get access to hospital operations and treatment. Much of their treatment too is for diseases previously eradicated in the UK which are expensive to treat. I am all for helping people who come either to here or Spain but where do you draw the line. Our NHS is now creaking under the strain of trying to be an IHS (International Health Service) and may well collapse if something isn't done to ensure people pay in for a limited time before access, otherwise a health service once envied by the world will crumble and collapse. Social Services is a great thing if people contribute but you will always find an overload of people willing to take advantage of the "something for nothing" culture, hence the problem we have had from the Labour government's expansion of the benefits system so that now they are being reduced drastically and the majority of people (poor, sick and disabled) are suffering immeasurably along with the rest. Socialism never works, it is the one step short of communism where poverty is viewed by their government as the norm for the masses and just a few elite rich people get the very best. It just doesn't work so Spain will only end up going the way of the UK. In the end the ones that do work end up paying huge taxes to support the rest and are outnumbered, especially during periods of high unemployment so end up leaving and taking their money elsewhere which is what is happening in the UK. Now middle class working families in the UK are becoming as poor as the rest as we are carrying millions of immigrants and unemployed and Social Services is getting ready to collapse too due to lack of funds to cope. A completely unbalanced economy ! In the end someone has to pay and you can't blame people who want to strive to flourish for themselves and their families going elsewhere where they are not taken for a ride by people who as I say want "something for nothing". In the end you have a country like the ones they have left "3rd world countries" where everyone shares in poverty when all the services have evaporated due to lack of funds.