General US Politics Discussion

[nonobaddog]

2 hours ago, TheSpectre said:

My biggest issue this election cycle is healthcare, as the healthcare system as it is now does not afford me quality healthcare. I won't get into details, but I have family members who do have medical debt as well. I am a firm believer in Medicare-for-All. I will vote for candidates that support it.

 

I think that medicare for all would be a huge mistake and a very expensive mistake.

 

Medicare now does not pay the cost of health care.  Many doctors will not even accept patients that have medicare-only coverage because they pay so little. 

The high cost of medical care for patients with supplemental insurance coverage  is partially to make up for all the expenses not paid for by medicare.  If medicare were implemented for all, the tax burden for all would have to skyrocket.

[sivispacem]

I'm not sure that's true. The US already spends more per capita on public healthcare than many nations that deliver free at the point of access nationalised healthcare services. It's the privatised aspects of the US healthcare system that so significantly elevate the cost of Medicare and Medicaid.

 

The general cost of medicines in the US healthcare system is between 2.5 and 3.5 times the equivalent cost elsewhere in the developer world, for example. 

[Svip]

14 hours ago, trip said:

All the dems and all of their talking heads need weekly(maybe daily) conference calls to settle on "talking point".  Take a page from the Republicans.  The repubs and their talking heads have takin the art of repeat, repeat, repeat to amazing coordinated levels.   They all hit the weekend cable shows and repeat their same unified talking point.  If everyone is saying it...it must be true.

If you actually pay attention to what Republicans are doing, it's pretty clear there is no overarching strategy.  If there was, Trump would not have been their candidate in 2016.  How Trump and the White House deals with news items is completely separate from Republicans in Congress, and those in the news media.

 

It may appear as if it is coordinated, but it's easier to bite the bullet and accept the party line, when your party is in power, which is why from a casual observer it may seem coherent, but it really isn't.  Just scratching below the surface lurks a lot of disagreements within the Republican Party.  And if they lose the White House in 2020 (and maybe even the Senate?), you will start seeing the chaos break through.

 

In 2015-2016, you still saw this chaos in the Republican Party.  Trump's victory did not solve their disunity, it just postponed a civil war within the party for another four years.

[Bartleby]

11 hours ago, nonobaddog said:

 

I think that medicare for all would be a huge mistake and a very expensive mistake.

 

Medicare now does not pay the cost of health care.  Many doctors will not even accept patients that have medicare-only coverage because they pay so little. 

The high cost of medical care for patients with supplemental insurance coverage  is partially to make up for all the expenses not paid for by medicare.  If medicare were implemented for all, the tax burden for all would have to skyrocket.

I take it you are assuming that the overheads which currently exist in the American system would remain the same (insurance companies negotiating, marketing, reviewing claims, increasing shareholder returns). I would also wonder if you've considered the fact that while this could be paid via taxes (under a single-payer system), that increase would theoretically be offset by no longer needing to foot the bill yourself out of pocket. I know taxation is an especially dirty word in the US but it is possible for it to mean more money in your pocket, in this regard.

 

However if single-payer isn't your bag, then the German system might also be worth looking at. Health insurance is mandatory (presumably still another non-starter for many Americans), but individuals shop for themselves among several different companies whose out-of-pocket costs are mandatorily limited and pretty agreeable, especially in comparison to the US.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Bartleby

[Typhus]

Trump just got impeached:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/dec/18/trump-impeachment-vote-today-live-latest-news-updates-democrats-house

[Awful Waffle]

as amusing as it all is, his impeachment was as much a formality as will be his forthcoming exoneration by the Senate.

[gooeyhole]

What are the odds the senate flips on Blumpf?

Edited December 19, 2019 by gooeyhole

[TheGodDamnMaster]

This will die in the senate. The only way Trump is leaving the White House is if he gets voted out next November.

[Jimmy]

11 hours ago, TheSpectre said:

This will die in the senate. The only way Trump is leaving the White House is if he gets voted out next November.

It's obvious. The Republicans have his back. All of this will be just in vain. Nixon and Clinton weren't as lucky as Carrot-top is. Saw the below video earlier in response to the whole #MerryImpeachmas drama:

 

 

[Svip]

14 hours ago, gooeyhole said:

What are the odds the senate flips on Blumpf?

I'm assuming that's a genuine question, so let me provide you with a proper answer.

 

The short answer is high (or for American odds terminology; low).  Essentially, as it stands, it seems very unlikely that any but a few Republican senators will flip on Trump.  While UT and ME Senators Romney and Collins may be the most likely Republican candidates to twist their tune, WV and AZ Senators Manchin and Sinema - who are Democrats - might vote to not remove President Trump from office.

 

But the safe money is on no or few flips along party lines, and eventually that the Senator doesn't vote to remove.

 

However, the question is not so much about whether or not the Senate flips, it's rather how it plays out.  Speaker Pelosi have already announced her intention to delay handing it over to the Senate, unless McConnell can promise a fair trial.  Which he so far has rather explicitly said he does not plan to do.

 

A more curious point is that McConnell has no plans to call witnesses, which is customary in a trial.  True, the Senate trial is a bit unusual, since it's really the Senate that's the jury, but otherwise it can behave as a normal trial with witnesses and so on.  However, the exact procedure is actually set by the Senate.  A simple majority of Senators are needed to said procedures. In which case, just four Republicans would need to flip to say require witnesses.

 

But regardless of how it all plays out, the politics are clear.  It's good for the Democrats and it's good the Republicans.  Democrats promised to impeach during the 2018 midterms, and now they have delivered.  Republicans can use it to rile up their base.  The real question is whether that rage can materialise into votes that flip states and districts.  And so far the evidence seems to suggest no.

[TheGodDamnMaster]

Buttigieg got demolished last night. Very happy about that.

[Creed Bratton]

What a surprise...

 

Leaked audio: Trump adviser says Republicans 'traditionally' rely on voter suppression: https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/world/leaked-audio-trump-adviser-says-republicans-traditionally-rely-on-voter-suppression-1.4739219

 

In case you were thinking that it's just one guy saying that, here's a story from 2016 to refresh your memory: https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-voter-suppression-2016-10

 

 

 

 

[ilovebender.com]

Why doesn't Al Gore want to run?

 

Save the world Al Gore, we had a hole in our ozone layer but that hole went but the nasty farts and other green house gasses from a whole variety of pollutants remained and are making things really hot messing with the weather melting the polar icecaps and stuff. We need you now, more than ever Mr. Al Gore; please, will you run for President of the United States again; You could beat Donald Trump, I know you can. Only you can do it Al Gore.

 

-Ilovebender.com

 

[Raavi]

23 minutes ago, ilovebender.com said:

Why doesn't Al Gore want to run?

 

Save the world Al Gore, we had a hole in our ozone layer but that hole went but the nasty farts and other green house gasses from a whole variety of pollutants remained and are making things really hot messing with the weather melting the polar icecaps and stuff. We need you now, more than ever Mr. Al Gore; please, will you run for President of the United States again; You could beat Donald Trump, I know you can. Only you can do it Al Gore.

 

-Ilovebender.com

 

 

[ilovebender.com]

3 minutes ago, Raavi said:

 

Chicken butt.

[Pesos]

1 hour ago, ilovebender.com said:

Why doesn't Al Gore want to run?

 

Save the world Al Gore, we had a hole in our ozone layer but that hole went but the nasty farts and other green house gasses from a whole variety of pollutants remained and are making things really hot messing with the weather melting the polar icecaps and stuff. We need you now, more than ever Mr. Al Gore; please, will you run for President of the United States again; You could beat Donald Trump, I know you can. Only you can do it Al Gore.

 

-Ilovebender.com

 

The hole in the ozone layer isn't gone, for starters.

 

 

[ilovebender.com]

7 hours ago, Pesos said:

The hole in the ozone layer isn't gone, for starters.

 

 

Yeah, I thought it went/the planet fixed itself - I guess we're still stuck with it, damn aerosol sprays.

Edited December 22, 2019 by ilovebender.com

[RedDagger]

Nah, it's been shrinking thanks to a global effort to stop using CFCs, since that's what happens when people take a problem and its anthropogenic causes seriously. 

[sivispacem]

6 hours ago, RedDagger said:

Nah, it's been shrinking thanks to a global effort to stop using CFCs

Except sadly it's shrinking has now slowed significantly, because of massive increases in the release of banned trichlorofluoromethane from China.

[Smith John]

Wasn't really sure where to leave this comment, but ach well, I'll leave it here.

 

Did anyone watch Ricky Gervais' speech at the Golden Globes? Lol jeez, that peoplekind unloaded on the woke platoon like nothing else!

[Creed Bratton]

I suspected that delusional right wingers with warped idea of reality and shallow understanding of the world would cling to Ricky's speech like it was somehow compatible with their ideology. It's like the whole red pill idiocy again. I bet you still haven't figured out why the Matrix stuff is hilarious when it's used by conservatives. Anyways:

 

[make total destroy]

something something words idpol bad something something

 

 

anyways it's hard out here to be a straight white man these days

[Smith John]

2 hours ago, make total destroy said:

anyways it's hard out here to be a straight white man these days

If i wasnt already convinced by ^this kid's member title, I'm now 1000% certain this account has been a troll/parody account all this time! 

 

Well played chap, well played!

11 hours ago, DareYokel said:

I suspected that delusional right wingers

Yes, anyone who doesn't conform to the hypocritical, severely out of touch, virtue-signalling paedo hub that is Hollyweird, is "right-wing"......

[TheGodDamnMaster]

2 hours ago, make total destroy said:

something something words idpol bad something something

 

 

anyways it's hard out here to be a straight white man these days

People aren't allowed to say Merry Christmas anymore and it's a damn shame. This country is going to hell in a handbasket.

[sivispacem]

59 minutes ago, Smith John said:

anyone who doesn't conform to the hypocritical, severely out of touch, virtue-signalling paedo hub that is Hollyweird, is "right-wing"......

I mean the only people who are complaining are, so...

[Awful Waffle]

On 1/6/2020 at 4:46 PM, Smith John said:

Did anyone watch Ricky Gervais' speech at the Golden Globes? Lol jeez, that peoplekind unloaded on the woke platoon like nothing else!

so if I enjoyed the monologue... I'm Alt-Right?

so if I hated the monologue... I'm a Social Justice Warrior?

 

I'm pretty sure at the very beginning of his appearance, Ricky prefaced the whole set by saying "These are just jokes," but congratulations on outing yourself as a triggered conservative snowflake.

carry on!

[Tchuck]

sh*t I'm nearly all the way on the left of the political spectrum, and I enjoyed his speech. It was, obviously, very easy. He googled the latest trends and ripped into them. It was pretty good, though, specially the bit calling out celebs for accepting awards and then talking about some cause or another, while simultaneously working for/with some of the most despicable humans on the planet.

[Clem Fandango]

On 1/7/2020 at 10:46 AM, Smith John said:

Wasn't really sure where to leave this comment, but ach well, I'll leave it here.

 

Did anyone watch Ricky Gervais' speech at the Golden Globes? Lol jeez, that peoplekind unloaded on the woke platoon like nothing else!

Do you care about anything besides culture war bullsh*t? Boris won, Brexit's going through, we're going to war with Iran and Australia is on fire, everything in the news is Earth shattering but you only come to D&D to talk about the Golden Globe awards.

 

6 hours ago, Smith John said:

Yes, anyone who doesn't conform to the hypocritical, severely out of touch, virtue-signalling paedo hub that is Hollyweird, is "right-wing"......

Yeah but you were saying how "the woke platoon" (the left I guess you mean) was owned and screeching autistically, unless the "woke platoon" means Hollywood executives in which case wtf. 

 

[Smith John]

1 hour ago, Clem Fandango said:

Do you care about anything besides culture war bullsh*t?

You, of all people talking about culture war? Seriously? Christ or Allah or whatever......

1 hour ago, Clem Fandango said:

Brexit's going through,

Well that depends; is it Boris' rehashed Theresa's "Brexit"? Or is it actually Brexit?

1 hour ago, Clem Fandango said:

Australia is on fire. 

 

And yet you loons politisise the suffering of people by blaming it on climate change or whatever, despite it being proven as multiple arson attacks - most likely committed by the same dumbass students/man children who will put human and animal life at risk to make their "point"......

[Raavi]

4 hours ago, Smith John said:

And yet you loons politisise the suffering of people by blaming it on climate change or whatever, despite it being proven as multiple arson attacks -

https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/08/police-contradict-claims-spread-online-exaggerating-arsons-role-in-australian-bushfires?