U.S. Politics

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

1 minute ago, Davkaus said:

I can imagine it's a pretty small target.

The videos on the News are different from other videos I have seen about the disturbances in the US.

The guy we are talking about was a little unlucky,  when he was found nobody could find a bullet hole. 

He was wearing a Red Bandanna thing around his head and it hid the damage.  

 

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

2 minutes ago, bielesibub said:

I heard he also has a special w4nk flag that he keeps at the side of his bed which makes him patriotic squared.

Stands up on its own i heard.

[chrisp65]

Flag patriotism?

My fave is still Trump colouring in a flag in those classic red, white, white and blue stripes.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

1 hour ago, chrisp65 said:

My fave is still Trump colouring in a flag in those classic red, white, white and blue stripes.

I would like to think he is colour blind,  I have a sneaky feeling he isn't though,  not sure why.

 

[chrisp65]

2 minutes ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

I would like to think he is colour blind,  I have a sneaky feeling he isn't though,  not sure why.

 

I think the last 12 months have proven he’s anything but colour blind.

[villakram]

From the Lancet, starkly illustrating the farce that is the US medical industry. 

Take a bow Joe Biden, amongst others.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30750-9/fulltext

[StefanAVFC]

Unsure of the relevancy to Biden considering the stats are from 2017 when Trump was in power but hey ho. 

**** Biden, **** Democrats. Trump 2020!

[villakram]

8 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Unsure of the relevancy to Biden considering the stats are from 2017 when Trump was in power but hey ho. 

**** Biden, **** Democrats. Trump 2020!

The last major reform of healthcare in the United States was marshaled by Joe Biden during the Presidency of Barack Obama. This was at a time when the Democrats held majorities in the Senate, the House and held the WH. Then there is also Biden's long legislative history in which I'm sure we'll find his previous involvement in the US explicitly for profit medical industry.

Of course, private insurance industry controlled healthcare remains a pillar of the Biden policy platform heading into the 2020 election.

[maqroll]

2 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

Flag patriotism?

My fave is still Trump colouring in a flag in those classic red, white, white and blue stripes.

Looks like sort of an American-Russian hybrid flag

[chrisp65]

34 minutes ago, maqroll said:

Looks like sort of an American-Russian hybrid flag

Strange that isn’t it. 

I like how in some of the photos, he appears to be trying to copy the work of the little girl next to him.

Literally cheating at colouring in, and cocking it up.

[HanoiVillan]

1 hour ago, villakram said:

The last major reform of healthcare in the United States was marshaled by Joe Biden during the Presidency of Barack Obama. This was at a time when the Democrats held majorities in the Senate, the House and held the WH. Then there is also Biden's long legislative history in which I'm sure we'll find his previous involvement in the US explicitly for profit medical industry.

Of course, private insurance industry controlled healthcare remains a pillar of the Biden policy platform heading into the 2020 election.

Biden clearly isn't very good on healthcare, but at least there is some pressure within the Dems for better healthcare policy. The Republicans, by contrast, have few ideas and those they do have all involve vast numbers of people *losing* healthcare coverage.

[villa4europe]

On 31/08/2020 at 12:24, villa4europe said:

My favourite is how they show scenes from the unrest last night under the caption "this is what a Biden government would look like" 

and there it is...

 

[villakram]

51 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Biden clearly isn't very good on healthcare, but at least there is some pressure within the Dems for better healthcare policy. The Republicans, by contrast, have few ideas and those they do have all involve vast numbers of people *losing* healthcare coverage.

Very true, but Pelosi, Schumer & Biden (i.e., those with actual power) are all stridently against public health insurance and have worked their hardest to ensure the sidelining of those with that policy agenda in their party. Of course, they publicly equivocate and avoid explicitly stating their actual position.

Imho, there needs to be less federal influence/control and allow the states to set their own agendas. Those republican states that went their own way with some of the Obamacare changes quickly changed tack when they saw the mess this created and that they owned it.

The current federal approach allows too much finger pointing at others and obfuscation of the real problems in individual states and localities.

There is no easy fix however, given the enormous size of the healthcare money pie.

[HanoiVillan]

9 minutes ago, villakram said:

Very true, but Pelosi, Schumer & Biden (i.e., those with actual power) are all stridently against public health insurance and have worked their hardest to ensure the sidelining of those with that policy agenda in their party. Of course, they publicly equivocate and avoid explicitly stating their actual position.

Imho, there needs to be less federal influence/control and allow the states to set their own agendas. Those republican states that went their own way with some of the Obamacare changes quickly changed tack when they saw the mess this created and that they owned it.

The current federal approach allows too much finger pointing at others and obfuscation of the real problems in individual states and localities.

There is no easy fix however, given the enormous size of the healthcare money pie.

Sometimes a state-led approach works well. For instance, with Medicaid expansion, Republican state governments have been put into the difficult position of explaining why they are turning away pots of money for healthcare that they simply need to ask for, something which annoys even right-wing electorates. But I don't think public health insurance could be state-led could it? Hard to see how a state could implement it, retain its doctors, and balance the state budget. I think it has to be federally-led, even if it's just the federal government creating the financing structures that could allow state governments to experiment with it.

[TheAuthority]

2 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Sometimes a state-led approach works well. For instance, with Medicaid expansion, Republican state governments have been put into the difficult position of explaining why they are turning away pots of money for healthcare that they simply need to ask for, something which annoys even right-wing electorates. But I don't think public health insurance could be state-led could it? Hard to see how a state could implement it, retain its doctors, and balance the state budget. I think it has to be federally-led, even if it's just the federal government creating the financing structures that could allow state governments to experiment with it.

Massachusetts has a state run health care program created under the Governorship of Mitt Romney. So it is possible. 

I agree with your earlier point that at least there is pressure within the Democratic party to try and have a conversation about public healthcare. I'd love someone to explain to me what the Trump GOP healthcare policy is. Apart from obviously promising to have the biggest and the best healthcare ever and getting rid of Obamacare.

[HanoiVillan]

9 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

Massachusetts has a state run health care program created under the Governorship of Mitt Romney. So it is possible. 

I agree with your earlier point that at least there is pressure within the Democratic party to try and have a conversation about public healthcare. I'd love someone to explain to me what the Trump GOP healthcare policy is. Apart from obviously promising to have the biggest and the best healthcare ever and getting rid of Obamacare.

My understanding is that Romneycare isn't a true 'public option', in that it's only accessible to people within a certain percentage of the poverty line? I may be wrong though.

[villakram]

12 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

Massachusetts has a state run health care program created under the Governorship of Mitt Romney. So it is possible. 

I agree with your earlier point that at least there is pressure within the Democratic party to try and have a conversation about public healthcare. I'd love someone to explain to me what the Trump GOP healthcare policy is. Apart from obviously promising to have the biggest and the best healthcare ever and getting rid of Obamacare.

I believe it's the rather non-sensical - personal responsibility - thing, except for policing and military of course, which must be public. 

[TheAuthority]

2 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

My understanding is that Romneycare isn't a true 'public option', in that it's only accessible to people within a certain percentage of the poverty line? I may be wrong though.

I honestly don't know enough details having never lived in the state. However young musician colleagues when starting out on their careers and invariably not that financially stable have always used it - and been very thankful it's there.

[villakram]

2 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Sometimes a state-led approach works well. For instance, with Medicaid expansion, Republican state governments have been put into the difficult position of explaining why they are turning away pots of money for healthcare that they simply need to ask for, something which annoys even right-wing electorates. But I don't think public health insurance could be state-led could it? Hard to see how a state could implement it, retain its doctors, and balance the state budget. I think it has to be federally-led, even if it's just the federal government creating the financing structures that could allow state governments to experiment with it.

It's trivially possible. There are numerous examples in other nations with populations and economies of smaller or similar size to most US states. Sure, the wealth will be less, but there are many people who enter healthcare that would be happy with a solid wage (ala other public healthcare systems), and a high standard of living.

Of course, the education of people here is specifically dedicated to pointing out how bad everywhere else is on the basis of things like manifest destiny and shining lights and other such mythical silliness. Hence, it's incredibly difficult to get the people to ask for or demand such a change.

[HanoiVillan]

19 minutes ago, villakram said:

It's trivially possible. There are numerous examples in other nations with populations and economies of smaller or similar size to most US states. Sure, the wealth will be less, but there are many people who enter healthcare that would be happy with a solid wage (ala other public healthcare systems), and a high standard of living.

Of course, the education of people here is specifically dedicated to pointing out how bad everywhere else is on the basis of things like manifest destiny and shining lights and other such mythical silliness. Hence, it's incredibly difficult to get the people to ask for or demand such a change.

Nations are allowed to run budget deficits. It's not a small difference! It would be hard to run a public health system only out of tax receipts, and the state government would be forever trying to make it less attractive in the hope of disincentivising people from joining. As I say, you would need federal action to create a system of financing that did something about that dynamic.