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The real question: How strong is the Trumpster's death wish?
The right wing trolls on this site agree with destroying earth. The 1% owned and operated mainstream media agrees with destroying earth. Fortunately Trumps New York City and Trumps home in Palm beach will be among the first affected. I live at 6500' elevation.
#MSM is PAID OFF thru ADS to NOT talk about by these same CRIMINALS who are profiting by poisoning the world.
Its just that simiple.
Most of the press is BOUGHT and PAID FOR by SPECIAL INTERESTS!
Money speaks louder than sanity.
There is a book called the top 5 countries to retire to.
90 percent of the population and pollution are in the northern hemisphere. Guess where these 5 countries are and who can afford to live there. People inherently care about themselves.
Society hasn't ever lost everything to know it's true value. We can't afford that lesson either.
The world will not sit up and stand together until it's strong enough
To stand against any and all threats against it.
We just are not there yet.
Trying to follow the logic of your average, low-information Republican explaining how to "reform" healthcare is like trying to make sense of chattering chimps at the zoo, picking their butts and flinging crap at passersby.
They are trapped in boring, dead-end lives and are obviously greatly agitated, but hooting and howling and spreading sh*t around is such a poor way to communicate with one's more sentient neighbors. Although mildly entertaining at first, it is ultimately very depressing to witness living things waste their miserable, frustrating lives in tiny cages.
But enough about Republican monkeys grunting and screeching on Fux News! At least the more evolved members of their genus at the zoo receive healthcare regardless of their status within the group.
I want to burn and shine like stars in the sky, so give me that chance.
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Erinrose. I know a lot of American Republicans and not one of them is anything like you are describing above. That is just ridiculous. Yes your defence budget is overwhelming but I think Trump is right. Start charging for the worlds protection. Someone has to police the world but let's do it the capitalist way and make a profit at it. Other countries have a choice. Pay or look after your self.
With healthcare just be honest. Obama told everyone nothing would change. Of course things are going to change if you provide tens of millions of people who can't afford healthcare with healthcare. If you where honest the majority of Americans would have no problem with it. "Mr and Mrs tax paying American, you have to pay more to subsidize those who can't pay anything ". See it's easy.
#Kend: Yes, health care is very expensive but so is our Defense Budget. However, there is more justification for health care than there is for a for-profit, imperialistic, so-called "National Defense Budget".
"How does any of this make any sense?"
Easy. It makes sense in the light of the Georgia Guide Stones, reducing the population to a controllable number (I think the suggested amount is one-half billion planet wide,) and thereby getting rid of opposition to the New World Order.
The Republicans have long been in favor of getting rid of people who have "outlived their usefulness"; mentally ill, handicapped, Seniors, LGBT, persons of color, the poor (whom they believe are poor because God doesn't smile on them, or they are too lazy or defective to be successful in and at business,) etc..
In fact, many years ago, Senator John Cornyn of Texas introduced a bill proposing the required euthanasia of any and all who had reached a majority of 50 years old.
I don't remember if it was part of his bill or just talk around it, but it was suggested that when one reached their 50th birthday, they would go to their local health center and check themselves in to be euthanized. This bill obviously never passed, but it does go to show you what's on the minds of Republicans and how they view, and are thinking about, things.
At the moment they are busy purging the US of undocumented immigrants. I have heard many people (Chris Hedges, TYT, Jimmy Dore, etc.,) say that this is the beginning; that they are going to work their way up from this to eliminating Blacks, Indigenous, and then all Brownies, because they want a White (supremacy) America only.
I'm surprised the Republicans don't support more abortion, especially in ghetto neighborhoods, or we don't see more incidences of covert sterilization among what Republicans consider undesirables.
Aside from their maniacal obscession with the acquisition of money, White (male) supremacy is the only thing they really care about, and murdering off everyone who doesn't fit their zeitgeist poses no problem at all. If anything, it is seen as "herd management" just like any animal in the wild whose numbers exceed manageable amounts. And by depriving health care, they speed up the death rate to achieve their goals, while making obscene amounts of money in the process. All of this "pre-existing condition" stuff is very consistent with weeding out the weak. It seems likely that they justify pre-existing conditions as a "process of elimination" coupled with "natural selection". ***
The GOP gang and the Trump/Russian Mafia gang simple CANNOT ignore the chance to run a grift on this much money. Much like my wife could never ignore a turtle halfway across the road, they basically HAVE to at least try. The issue will be if the relatively few Americans who understand what is going on outnumber the willing marks and the sports-deluded. Remember, 100 days may be a popular measure for presidents, but the American attention span is only 90 days. Most Americans have already turned off politics and turned on whatever sport is popular right now. I positivelfy LOVED watching Bill Clinton time after time after time do absolutely nothing until 89 days before the deadline. Check history and you will find that Hitler and Reagan and Churchhill and Stalin and MANY effective leaders clearly understood that humans (not just Americans) have a 90 days attention span. We the people and the DNC could reverse the police state and create a free country if we were smart enough to spend our resources in a bell curve that has 75% of the bell in the last 90 days.
With congress and the white house trying to run different grifts on the same group of marks, and at the same time keep the marks convinced that the people who actually want to HELP them are the "enemy", it's a real mess. I think this time the two teams of grifters have arrived at a solution that will eliminate health care for sick people and increase the cost for everyone else and split the profits between the two teams of grifters, so this week we will finally see the Trump gang get something passed by the GOP gang. GOP voters will be robbed of the most money, of course, as they are the primary marks in the grift. If you have a mark that hands you his wallet every time you ask, why NOT keep running the grift? The big gridlock so far is that the GOP gang was resentful of the Trump gang trying to run a grift on THEIR marks, but now they are realizing it's not just the Trump gang, it's the Trump gang and the Russian mafia, and this isn't their first national level grift, just the first national level grift they've run in the USA..
A compromise deal is not a compromise without Democratic Party input!
May the Democratic members of congress remember to return the same favor and never compromise with the Fascist owned members of congress....on anything.
Let's not forget the massive partisan damage McConnell has done to this country the past eight years....and now his wife gets rewarded with out tax dollars.
To hell with Resist.....REVOLT!
BTW: Tillerson's Exxon got turned down on their waiver request from Russian sanctions. So plan A is out the window. Now it's on to Plan C ....Putin has to turn against Assad. That will be the sanction lifting deal. Plan B has already been turned down by Tillerson, which was.....Assad gets granted asylum in Russia!
A fun article Thom, but America is far from being a "socialist" nation. I know it. You know it. Just because Bernie is generally "popular" doesn't mean a great deal. People thought that the "Wicked Witch of the West Wing", Hillary Clinton, was "popular" too. Turned out not to be case. Of course, it could be her corrupt activities, acts of treason, and level of greed which would have choked Midas that made the difference. If Bernie was indeed truly popular (and, yes, I actually like the guy too), he would have at least won the nomination, but, alas, that was pretty blantenly rigged. As for America, we are an Oligarchy. You've said it repeatedly yourself. They own both corporate parties. Hell, they own the very political process! They own the media (aka propaganda division), the banks and financial institutions, not to mention controlling the Federal Reserve. They control the government which acts like their private gophers. The military is there enforcers, which saddens me to end to say since men and women are killed or disabled (as am I) in the name of their need for control. And we are no better than economic serfs. No, Thom. We aren't "socialist". We are necessary cogs in someone else's machine.
Kend, If you go to Phoenix many Americans Conservative claim that you are the type (Canadian) that is clogging the Mayo Clinic, seeking healthcare that you cannot get in Canada. It is even on the Conservative radio stations. But as most Conservative statistics untrue. Most everyone cannot afford the 100% cost of medical care in America. Even the insurance Companies get a discount on the 100% cost.
Lawsuits is also one of those smokescreens thrown up by the Conservatives. Sure the AMA would like zero. 27% of the cases are won by the plaintiff. Many (as in my brother in law) never develop into a lawsuit because so many papers were signed preventing any case. You do not get surgery unless you sign a ton of paperwork that releases them from lawsuit.
Right now our Government is controlled by the 1%. Who as you point out get excellent medical care. The fat pig Rush Limbaugh did not want to be forced to buy medical insurance because he could afford the 100% cost. Medical Bankruptcy is huge in America. And the real crime of the wealthy is not letting poor children get medical care.
I am on Medicare which is supposed to be the best. But when you review it you cannot afford it without supplemental from one of the for profit insurance companies or an Advantage Plan. Thom knocks Advantage Plans but I prefer mine over paying for a for profit ripoff plan. When you pay the 20% with Medicare you are paying for a procedure that costs 5 times what it should thus you pay 100%.
I have been preaching Medical Tourism for a long time on this site. Even Dental work is much cheaper in Panama than the USA. Medicare does not cover Dental. I looked into separate Dental insurance I calculated that you would basically break even over a 2 year period if you had dental work done. It was $35 per month and the most that you could get back over 2 years was $1000. Plus you would still owe the Dentist a percentage. Fortunately I have good teeth but if I need most anything beyond a cleaning I am taking a vacation to Panama. Two friends have. I have said that Cuba should go into the medical tourism business. Advertise on TV. Package plans at beach resorts etc. There are Medical Tourism websites with India being very popular for major things such as heart bypass surgery. If enough people do not buy insurance and plan on using medical tourism it may make the AMA think about costs.
https://www.health-tourism.com/panama-medical-tourism/
http://www.medicaltourismpanama.com/
http://www.worldpropertyjournal.com/featured-columnists/the-panama-wire/...
I hate to say this, but this will likely pass. Why? The 1st one failed not because of all the activism against it. It failed because there were republicans who opposed it because it didn't go far right enough, which means it collapsed under the weight of the Republican's own greed. If they did come to a compromise, then that means they are all on board now and it will pass along party lines.
Kend; You ask if the American middle class is willing to pay more to support those less fortunate financially. You bet. I'm the middle class...sometimes barely so (on the low end), yet the concept of more taxes for Health Care, Education and many social services is fine with me.
What isn't all right with me is the 50% or more of my taxes going to 'Defense'...and probably going up what with our bombing Syria and building a ridiculous wall to the South.
Might wake some Americans up if one morning they turn on the news to hear Trudeau say Canadians are building a wall to keep the Americans out...and he wants the USA to pay for it.
Just why?
Can't humans simply do the right thing using common sense?
Would you do or accept these mindless unecessary cruel actions against yourself?
Legend I can't tell you what I pay for healthcare. I live in Alberta Canada where we have a provincial (state) healthcare plan that covers all basic and catastrophic healthcare issues and I as well as my employees also have a private care plan that covers things not covered by the government like ambulance, meds, all eye care, dental, wheelchairs, etc. That costs me about $200 USD a month per person. The reason I can't tell you is no one knows, it is all hidden in our taxes. I can tell you that our personal taxes are much higher than yours. Of course the wealthy subsidize the less fortunate as you do with all your social programs. Keep in mind Canada only has 35 million people about a tenth of your population and we have 3 times the resources that are all owned by the government so this subsidizes healthcare tremendously. At the end of the day healthcare costs the same for both of us we just pay for it differently. Your healthcare is much better than ours if you are well off and much worse if you aren't. Here everyone has ok care equally. We can wait up to a year for some non life threatening problems like shoulder, knee etc. But we all get taken care of. I see a couple of things you need to do down there. Stop the ridiculous law suits that force medical companies from paying billions in insurance and find a way to reduce your pharmaceutical costs. I have said many times my eye drops at the same pharmacy same brand in Canada $20 in Scottsdale AZ $130. That is just wrong.
By the way if you need long term meds many of my American freinds fly up here and buy meds here and save thousands. With our low dollar it is a great savings and holiday at the same time.
I guess what I am trying to say is there is no easy solution, healthcare is very expensive, period. Americans have to be told the truth. It is going to cost everyone a lot more to have healthcare for everyone. Are middle class Americans willing to pay more so less fortunate Americans can have the same care as they have. Because the wealthy never pay. Our tax systems don't work that way
LMAO....I don't think anyone had their hopes up on a compromise deal.
It's just a bunch of self-serving Teapublican "public servants" ???? doing the bidding of their billionaire donors while ignoring the single-payer desires of the vast majority. ...and oddly enough, many of those citizens who desire single-payer turn around and vote Teapublican. It's all just foxaganda insane!
Kend, I am now on Medicare and pay $121 per month for a plan that covers 80%, where the 20% costs about 5 times what it does in other civilized countries. Do the math. This is the "good" plan. Thus you need supplemental insurance at around $200+ per month or do like I do and join a non profit advantage plan. Advantage plans are good if you are healthy. Very few are non profit. Before hitting the magical age of 65 my wife and I paid $1200 per month for a Cobra plan that I would consider marginal at best. Spent hours on the phone and writing letters over the minimal charges that we did have.
This year my brother in law passed away at 60. He had had a business failure during the Bush/Cheney Depression and never recovered. Lost his house. Lost his wife who got a lot. Then his health started to fail. Did not qualify for SS because "he had $16000 in the bank". Lived in TX which has no Medicare expansion. Moved to NM to get medicare but passed right before he got it. His last bill was for 6 days in the hospital $120000.
Now Kend, how about being honest and telling us what you spend on medical care. Put something other than snide remarks. Put down some fact, maybe with some documentation.
Pump the brakes a little. You are a little narrow minded when you are rejecting something you haven't seen yet. Aren't you? I guess it makes sense as most Democrats voted for Obamacare without even reading it.
trumpcare makes perfect sense if you want taxcuts for the rich and loathe the other 99 percent that didn't fund your congressional election and were ignorant and complacent enough to vote for you. time to wakey wakey america, the coffee is brewing and it doesn't smell good.
The degenerates have come up with another "bill" which will cause up to 29 million Americans to lose health care. A group of doctors estimates that, with the previous bill, 44,000 Americans a year would die. THIS IS PLANNED GENOCIDE and we cannot let these bastards get away with it. In addition, cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Meals on Wheels, school lunches for children and Planned Parenthood will result in many more deaths. My Congress asshole Steve Pearce is one of the freedom caucus and is a multi-milionaire to boot. He is controlled by the oil zillionaires in Southeast New Mexico. He was afraid to hold town hall meetings in my area and I would have had to drive 200 miles each way to attend. He talks a good game promising jobs and the like but isn't keeping his promise.
Anyone laying bets on which State(s) has the first secession vote? Would it be possible to form a new 'Country within a Country' from states that don't have contiguous borders?...say Oregon and Vermont...perhaps the 'Affiliated States of North America'.
Better yet, seceed and petition to become a Province...at least we'd get Health Care.