POLITICAL THREAD

[DSmith21]

Agree with you about single issue voting - from my chair, I don't see Roe v Wade ever being overturned. I side with Trump there in believing that it's settled law - as such, voting democrat simply because you are pro choice is a silly position to take IMO (and vice versa for the other side of that argument.)

My top 2 priorities are probably healthcare and education. As someone who grew up in Canada, I don't think single payer is the solution, but there has to be some middle ground. My wife went through cancer treatment in 2016/2017 and thankfully we have good insurance, because it was well into the 6 figures.

Based on what I see, our education system needs an overhaul. I have a son in 9th grade who is not good at math. In interacting with his teacher about his grades, I was informed that "most of the class is failing so they will get an opportunity to reassess." To me, that's a terrible reflection on the teacher and/or curriculum.

Historically, those two issues have been more in the democrat wheelhouse. The democrats answer has been to throw more money at both issues. That hasn't worked all that well especially with education as the U.S. spends more per student than almost any nation. Yet our public system is still lacking compared to others.

As for healthcare, Medicare is the budget item that could ultimately break the bank unless it is reformed. It is nearly impossible for healthcare to be affordable if we are going to offer everyone unlimited end of life treatments. No other 1st world country does that.

 

[JohnKBA]

To drive prices down while maintaining quality there needs be more competition. Government involvement drastically reduces quality while having minimal impact on price.

Hate to hear about your wife. Really you were in the best place in the world to handle such a health event. Access to the best treatment available at the fastest availability.

Thanks BBI - yes, she got excellent care and has been cancer free for one year as of April 13th.

I'm the healthcare industry and the amount of waste in the life cycle of a provider visit is insane. Cutting that out would be a good start.

 

[JStaff2187]

Agree with you about single issue voting - from my chair, I don't see Roe v Wade ever being overturned. I side with Trump there in believing that it's settled law - as such, voting democrat simply because you are pro choice is a silly position to take IMO (and vice versa for the other side of that argument.)

My top 2 priorities are probably healthcare and education. As someone who grew up in Canada, I don't think single payer is the solution, but there has to be some middle ground. My wife went through cancer treatment in 2016/2017 and thankfully we have good insurance, because it was well into the 6 figures.

Based on what I see, our education system needs an overhaul. I have a son in 9th grade who is not good at math. In interacting with his teacher about his grades, I was informed that "most of the class is failing so they will get an opportunity to reassess." To me, that's a terrible reflection on the teacher and/or curriculum.

As far as education goes, it is in serious need of overhaul. The biggest issue I see is the administration and decision makers. All they care about is test scores, parents being happy and pushing kids to the next grade.

For example, (at least in my school district) they refuse to hold kids back. The kid’s teacher suggested he be held back because he was struggling (like couldn’t write his name correctly struggling) in 2nd grade... and the administration shut that down. Said it wasn’t beneficial to hold kids back. That’s BS. My wife and decided to have our son held back and he went from struggling to excelling. He gained a ton of confidence.

I know teachers that really do care and try their best but what they’re told to do by the higher ups makes it impossible to make much of an impact.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

Alright, so I've openly said on this site that I consider myself a sane democrat. @PhattyJ4UK has tried to tell me I'm actually not a democrat. Wildcat and ymmot have labeled me a radical leftist. @Mashburned thinks I am a bot. So someone tell me what I am based on the below.

• I'm pro choice but not pro late term abortions - first trimester is probably where I would limit it if I was making that call
• I'm an atheist
• I think there are 2 genders, period
• I don't care what consenting adults do in the bedroom
• I'm indifferent to guns. I don't own any but don't care how many any law abiding citizens want to own
• I think our military should keep their noses out of places they don't belong
• I think Islam is incompatible with western culture
• I want to pay less taxes
• I think healthcare should be affordable and accessible
• As a legal immigrant that went through the process, I think anyone who wants to immigrate to the US should have to follow that process
• I think @Willy4UK is a sexy bastard

i was right. youre not a democrat. youre an independent.

it depends on which issues you wish to prioritize. do you wish to rank issues that effect your wallet or do you wish to prioritize issues that get people caught up in their feelings. since you dont care about issues like who youre screwing.. i would say you lean right. you just may have been caught up in the public shaming of the right.

to me, i consider myself independent.. i have issues that democrats have a better outlook on...like marijuana.. but my big ones... like money and size of government, democrats are complete garbage on. beyond garbage. they are the exact opposite of what i think. they want to give your and my money to others and to fund large government. hell naw.

i also think we should allow some immigrants, but not at risk of jeopardizing our country. seems most republicans agree with this. allow people to come in at a rate that will benefit those that are already here. our process needs an overhaul in order to make it less burdensome but that does NOT mean we should allow savages to pour over the border unchecked.

another big one to me is the PC police. i cant stand this. no, people arent racist for wanting to protect our borders. no, liberal white women shouldnt be telling others what they should be offended about. elementary children shouldnt be taught to be ashamed of their race no matter if they are white, black, purple or orange. no one today is responsible for the slave trade.

so, youre not a democrat. you may have some democrat philosophies... but upon reflection, i suspect you will agree that the policies that relate to your wallet far outweigh those minor issues,

 

[moe_schmoe]

I want to know how "dragon energy" wasn't trending worldwide, across all social media platforms, yesterday? It's easily the new "tiger's blood", but much better.

I know I did my part. I trolled, shitposted and spammed that brilliance for two hours straight.

Bunch of bums. Ya'll need to step your game up. Shameful.

 

[Platinumdrgn]

To drive prices down while maintaining quality there needs be more competition. Government involvement drastically reduces quality while having minimal impact on price.

Hate to hear about your wife. Really you were in the best place in the world to handle such a health event. Access to the best treatment available at the fastest availability.

competition doesn't drive down prices in healthcare. The demand is to large and inelastic and The consumer also has 0 choice or transparency in the prices. When you are sick or dying you don't stop to price shop. Government involvement drives down the price drastically because they can set them as low as they want. Hence why we pay out the ass in the US by many times more than any other developed country. The quality argument is way overstated, the rest of the developed world has just as long life expectancy as we do. The people that live to be 110+ are all asian, not american and they have 100% government healthcare. Even if we went to single payer rich people could still pay extra to get the "quality" they want.

 

[JohnKBA]

to me, i consider myself independent.. i have issues that democrats have a better outlook on...like marijuana.. but my big ones... like money and size of government, democrats are complete garbage on. beyond garbage. they are the exact opposite of what i think. they want to give your and my money to others and to fund large government. hell naw.
,

Ultimately I think there are benefits to legalizing weed. It would create a lot of additional revenue, but we can't really trust the government to use that revenue wisely, so who knows. As it stands, I have no trouble getting my hands on weed when I want it, and I don't have any worries about getting in trouble for smoking it, so status quo is acceptable.

 

[Platinumdrgn]

Now that Cohen has plead the fifth and Trump realizes this shit isn't going away he now admits Cohen represented him against Stormy, after lying about it on national TV for a month.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Thanks BBI - yes, she got excellent care and has been cancer free for one year as of April 13th.

I'm the healthcare industry and the amount of waste in the life cycle of a provider visit is insane. Cutting that out would be a good start.

Waste is enormous. There's alot done to combat it. There are even entire industries focused around it on both pre billed and post billed sides. It's insane

 

[Platinumdrgn]

https://www.kff.org/report-section/medicaid-spending-growth-compared-to-other-payers-issue-brief/

https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2015/04/20/study-medicaid-benefits-well-worth-costs/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15055833

Here is multiple extensive studies on private insurance vs medicaid where it is estimated that private is about 50% more expensive. And spending increases year to year are also about half for medicaid vs private insurance. Medicaid recipients are also generally much sicker than your general private insurance user and use it much more. Medicaid & medicare already covers 40% of the population. If it covered 100% we would save about 1 trillion a year at current healthcare spending costs.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

competition doesn't drive down prices in healthcare. The demand is to large and inelastic and The consumer also has 0 choice or transparency in the prices. When you are sick or dying you don't stop to price shop. Government involvement drives down the price drastically because they can set them as low as they want. Hence why we pay out the ass in the US by many times more than any other developed country. The quality argument is way overstated, the rest of the developed world has just as long life expectancy as we do. The people that live to be 110+ are all asian, not american and they have 100% government healthcare. Even if we went to single payer rich people could still pay extra to get the "quality" they want.

Read what I wrote. Competition is the only way to drive down prices WHILE maintaining quality.

You're exactly right that government can get prices the lost by setting "them as low as they want". But that drastically reduces quality. Don't believe me? Go visit any rural primary care clinic or inner city ER. Odds of seeing an actual Dr are slim to none.

Quality of healthcare as a concern is "overstated"? Lol did someone actually type that? If you ACTUALLY believed that you wouldn't even go to a medical facility. Just let one of your buddies diagnose you. Or just a random person on the street. Because who cares about quality of care right?

Rich people will always be able to afford the best care. Why shouldn't they? Rather than trying to reduce the level of their care you should focus on improving care for the poor. But that's indicative of the liberal mindset - always bringing the top down rather than the bottom up.

 

[JohnKBA]

Waste is enormous. There's alot done to combat it. There are even entire industries focused around it on both pre billed and post billed sides. It's insane

That’s my industry - healthcare BPO. It’s incredible how much money is spent.

 

[Platinumdrgn]

But i will also note that i don't care about healthcare. I have 2 kids and pay about $400 a year for the entire family and the policy covers everything with no deductible. Because my wife is on my insurance she gets a SHA stipend from JCPS that covers any costs we have. UPS doesn't treat it's employees like it used to but it still has the best insurance you can get.

 

[Platinumdrgn]

Read what I wrote. Competition is the only way to drive down prices WHILE maintaining quality.

You're exactly right that government can get prices the lost by setting "them as low as they want". But that drastically reduces quality. Don't believe me? Go visit any rural primary care clinic or inner city ER. Odds of seeing an actual Dr are slim to none.

Quality of healthcare as a concern is "overstated"? Lol did someone actually type that? If you ACTUALLY believed that you wouldn't even go to a medical facility. Just let one of your buddies diagnose you. Or just a random person on the street. Because who cares about quality of care right?

Rich people will always be able to afford the best care. Why shouldn't they? Rather than trying to reduce the level of their care you should focus on improving care for the poor. But that's indicative of the liberal mindset - always bringing the top down rather than the bottom up.

You live in some fantasy country where this happens? In healthcare there is minimal correlation between cost & quality, especially in the US. Rural clinics are shit because its a rural clinic, low cost & low quality. And the ER goes entirely against your argument, extremely high cost & medium quality. The US healthcare system doesn't follow any of the economic rules because its a horribly rigged system. The hospitals and insurance companies set the prices with each other and the consumer has ZERO influence over those prices and no choice. The only thing a consumer can do is go to a different insurance company that is playing the same game. Go to a hospital and ask to see their prices, oh thats right you can't because chargemasters are considered protected proprietary information. California is the only state that requires hospitals to release their chargemasters to the public.
European & Canadian healthcare costs are significantly lower than ours and they manage to live just fine. Yes there are edge cases where people get screwed up care. But that's still not worse than the tens of millions of people in the US that get no care and drive up costs when they end up in the ER.
Our healthcare is completely screwed up and the free market is not going to fix it. They will never try to bring down consumer cost for something they make so much profit on. Some things should not be profitable and preying on peoples health is one of those things.

 

[moe_schmoe]

Example 4,567,764,433,234 of the facts being misrepresenting by a certain someone. I guess that what happens when you get your propaganda talking points from Mother Jones, CNN, Slate, Vox, etc... There's a reason he was the only one in here who was fooled into believing that Cruz was an actual Nazi.

That boy dumb.

Media Maligns Mulvaney With Edited Quote

The establishment media and Democrats are maligning Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney by selectively editing a long speech he gave to bankers this week.

Mulvaney advised the bankers to talk to congressmen in their districts, noting that constituents telling their representatives what matters to them is the most effective way to enact change. While making this point, Mulvaney brought up the hierarchy he implemented in his own former congressional office: constituents, lobbyists who donate and then lobbyists who don’t donate.

“If you were a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you,” he said. “If you were a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you. If you came from back home and sat in my lobby, I talk to you without exception, regardless of the financial contributions.”

“People coming from back home, to tell people in Congress what issues are important to them, is one of the fundamental underpinnings of our democracy, and you have to continue to do it,” Mulvaney added.

The media immediately honed in on Mulvaney’s admission that lobbyists who donate get better access than lobbyists who don’t – which everyone in Washington openly acknowledges – and completely ignored his assertion that constituents still get the most access.

 

[santamaria78]

You live in some fantasy country where this happens? In healthcare there is minimal correlation between cost & quality, especially in the US. Rural clinics are shit because its a rural clinic, low cost & low quality. And the ER goes entirely against your argument, extremely high cost & medium quality. The US healthcare system doesn't follow any of the economic rules because its a horribly rigged system. The hospitals and insurance companies set the prices with each other and the consumer has ZERO influence over those prices and no choice. The only thing a consumer can do is go to a different insurance company that is playing the same game. Go to a hospital and ask to see their prices, oh thats right you can't because chargemasters are considered protected proprietary information. California is the only state that requires hospitals to release their chargemasters to the public.
European & Canadian healthcare costs are significantly lower than ours and they manage to live just fine. Yes there are edge cases where people get screwed up care. But that's still not worse than the tens of millions of people in the US that get no care and drive up costs when they end up in the ER.

what is it with you libs typing so damn much

 

[santamaria78]

prolly gonna see some anti cop terrorists in louisville. the cops there are on a rampage killed 2 criminals in 2 days

 

[Platinumdrgn]

what is it with you libs typing so damn much

healthcare is complicated, takes a lot of words. I know conservatives can't handle that much thinking.

 

[DSmith21]

Now that Cohen has plead the fifth and Trump realizes this shit isn't going away he now admits Cohen represented him against Stormy, after lying about it on national TV for a month.

Who cares? I have no doubt that Trump cheated on his wife and lied about doing it. Its not a crime and we all knew Trump was no choirboy before the election. I am calling B.S. on Stormy's sketch of the person claimed to have threatened her. It looks just like her husband. She is just trying to get another big payday out of Donald one way or another.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

Let's be honest, If platinumdouche types more then 2 sentences..err.. I mean copies/pastes from salon or some other idiot factory more than 2 sentences.. does anyone read it?

 

[KingOfBBN]

Who cares? I have no doubt that Trump cheated on his wife and lied about doing it. Its not a crime and we all knew Trump was no choirboy before the election. I am calling B.S. on Stormy's sketch of the person claimed to threaten her. It looks like her husband.

If I wanted some Boy Scout,we would’ve put in someone like Rick Santorum or someone who would’ve done the typical GOP spineless BS where they just cite scripture and then proceed to let the media destroy them and libs to run all over them.

We wanted a guy who would give you the middle finger and not be afraid to take you on for the issues that were important to us. Trump is not my spiritual advisor nor do I look to him for marriage advice. He’s a bulldog who isn’t a coward, which every GOP guy hasn’t proven to be.

Pretty ridiculous though that a foul-mouthed New York billionaire with multiple marriages is more in touch with the working man than any of the GOP dickheads out there.

 

[moe_schmoe]

I mean, its a pretty good question.

View embedded media

It was all lies. Axios was the first to catch wind of allegations and they refused to report them because they couldn't verify a single detail. That's when Democrats couldn't run to a camera fast enough to smear Jackson, even though none of it was reliable nor had it been proven.

Now, from all accounts, you have a good, hard working man, whose name and career has been publicly smeared without being afforded a hearing to defend himself and set the record straight. Doesn't matter, though. The troglodyte sheep such as platinum believe every word of it, and Jackson withdrew. Mission accomplished.

 

[Platinumdrgn]

Trump finally got sick of watching Fox & Friends and instead called in and made a complete fool of himself. They actually cut him off and ended the call after he admitted he wanted to exert control over the DOJ to end the russia investigation.

https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-di...ed-against-him-in-federal-court-428047f8bdb5/

LoL, as soon as Fox hung up on Trump the SDNY amended their case against Cohen using Trumps own words.

 

[P19978]

Let's be honest, If platinumdouche types more then 2 sentences..err.. I mean copies/pastes from salon or some other idiot factory more than 2 sentences.. does anyone read it?

TL;DR was invented for her posts.

 

[Platinumdrgn]

Who cares? I have no doubt that Trump cheated on his wife and lied about doing it. Its not a crime and we all knew Trump was no choirboy before the election. I am calling B.S. on Stormy's sketch of the person claimed to have threatened her. It looks just like her husband. She is just trying to get another big payday out of Donald one way or another.

Well Cohen definitely cares that Trump just screwed him. His entire argument in the Daniels case was that Trump was unaware of the deal and he did it all on his own. Now Trump has finally stopped lying and admitted on TV that Cohen is lying in federal court.

 

[moe_schmoe]

 

[DSmith21]

Well Cohen definitely cares that Trump just screwed him. His entire argument in the Daniels case was that Trump was unaware of the deal and he did it all on his own. Now Trump has finally stopped lying and admitted on TV that Cohen is lying in federal court.

Cohen is taking the 5th or so he said.

 

[Platinumdrgn]

Cohen is taking the 5th or so he said.

He did that because he didn't want to be deposed and that used against him in his criminal case. He's completely screwed no matter what he does. His main client is a narcissist that will happily throw him to the wolves to pull away attention. The only way he stays out of prison is if he has some really good dirt on Cheeto face.

 

[USSLair]

Let's be honest, If platinumdouche types more then 2 sentences..err.. I mean copies/pastes from salon or some other idiot factory more than 2 sentences.. does anyone read it?

Nope. It's all bullshit liberal spin

 

[DSmith21]

He did that because he didn't want to be deposed and that used against him in his criminal case. He's completely screwed no matter what he does. His main client is a narcissist that will happily throw him to the wolves to pull away attention. The only way he stays out of prison is if he has some really good dirt on Cheeto face.

You are dreaming if you think that Trump is going to end up in jail or impeached. He may end up divorced but that is likely the worst case.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Kanye sharing John Legend texts (eff you, Legend).

 

[Platinumdrgn]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/geologists-north-koreas-nuclear-test-collapsed-232700947.html

That test site that NK was going to "voluntarily" stop using as part of negotiations.

You are dreaming if you think that Trump is going to end up in jail or impeached. He may end up divorced but that is likely the worst case.

politicians almost never go to jail so Trump definitely won't.

 

[Bill Derington]

He did that because he didn't want to be deposed and that used against him in his criminal case. He's completely screwed no matter what he does. His main client is a narcissist that will happily throw him to the wolves to pull away attention. The only way he stays out of prison is if he has some really good dirt on Cheeto face.

You need to educate yourself, Cohen is pleading the 5th in the civil case, so he won’t incriminate himself in the criminal case. That’s it

 

[moe_schmoe]

Super Double Dragon Energy. Fighting off the hordes of thought police, social justice warriors and haters...

 

[Bill Cosby]

You are dreaming if you think that Trump is going to end up in jail or impeached. He may end up divorced but that is likely the worst case.

Worst case?

 

[Bill Cosby]

Kanye sharing John Legend texts (eff you, Legend).

View embedded media

Would love to hear a little more detail supporting JL's assertions that Trump's policies cause harm, especially to people of color.

 

[WKBlu]

 

[bigblueinsanity]

You live in some fantasy country where this happens? In healthcare there is minimal correlation between cost & quality, especially in the US.

Then you shouldn't need that excellent ups insurance you crowed about earlier. Just cancel that and have your family start going to free clinics.

Of course you won't nor should you. The point, as usual, as you continually sacrifice the truth in an attempt to win an argument on a message board.

It's bizarre

 

[Catfan in Tn.]

Pompeo confirmed by Senate 57-42.

 

[JohnKBA]

Pompeo confirmed by Senate 57-42.

Good for her. She's come a long way since Grey's Anatomy.