Republicans pick another winner: telling voters to eff off.

[RandomGuy]

Trump party finest. :rolleyes
Results here replicated in other states. Voters matter less than donor class, apparently.






PORTLAND, Me. — Brandy Staples, a 39-year-old breast cancer survivor, had expected to become eligible for Medicaid coverage this month after Maine voters approved an expansion of the program last fall. Instead, she found herself in a courtroom here on Wednesday, watching the latest chapter unfold in a rancorous, drawn-out battle over whether she and thousands of other poor people in the state will get free government insurance after all.

Ignoring the binding vote, Gov. Paul LePage has refused to expand the program, blasting it as a needless, budget-busting form of welfare. He vetoed five expansion bills before the issue made the ballot, plus a spending bill this month that provided about $60 million in funding for the first year. Earlier this month he went so far as to say he would go to jail “before I put the state in red ink” by adding at least 70,000 more low-income adults to the state’s Medicaid population of 264,000.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/health/maine-medicaid-expansion-lepage.html

[hater]

Because democrats telling US that they are losing because of Russia is any better :lmao

[KenMcCoy]

Ms. Staples, the breast-cancer survivor who attended the oral arguments, works part time in food service at Bowdoin College. She pays $75 a month for subsidized private coverage through the Obamacare marketplace, plus a deductible, but is poor enough to qualify for Medicaid if it were expanded, she said. She gathered hundreds of signatures to help get Medicaid expansion on the ballot last year, then knocked on hundreds of doors to get out the vote as a member of the Maine People’s Alliance, a nonprofit organizing group. It was the first time (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/health/medicaid-maine-obamacare.html) voters anywhere got to decide the issue, and they approved it (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/us/maine-medicaid-healthcare.html) 59 percent to 41 percent.

Maybe she should spend some of her time gathering signatures/knocking on doors to get a job that provides better healthcare...Seems to me that she knows exactly how poor she needs to remain in order to get benefits.

[RandomGuy]

Ms. Staples, the breast-cancer survivor who attended the oral arguments, works part time in food service at Bowdoin College. She pays $75 a month for subsidized private coverage through the Obamacare marketplace, plus a deductible, but is poor enough to qualify for Medicaid if it were expanded, she said. She gathered hundreds of signatures to help get Medicaid expansion on the ballot last year, then knocked on hundreds of doors to get out the vote as a member of the Maine People’s Alliance, a nonprofit organizing group. It was the first time (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/health/medicaid-maine-obamacare.html) voters anywhere got to decide the issue, and they approved it (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/us/maine-medicaid-healthcare.html) 59 percent to 41 percent.

Maybe she should spend some of her time gathering signatures/knocking on doors to get a job that provides better healthcare...Seems to me that she knows exactly how poor she needs to remain in order to get benefits.

Poor people bad now.

Good to know.

This kind of stuff makes Cortez/Sanders' case for them. Thank you.

[KenMcCoy]

Not just NOW. Always have been always will ;)

[AaronY]

Ms. Staples, the breast-cancer survivor who attended the oral arguments, works part time in food service at Bowdoin College. She pays $75 a month for subsidized private coverage through the Obamacare marketplace, plus a deductible, but is poor enough to qualify for Medicaid if it were expanded, she said. She gathered hundreds of signatures to help get Medicaid expansion on the ballot last year, then knocked on hundreds of doors to get out the vote as a member of the Maine People’s Alliance, a nonprofit organizing group. It was the first time (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/health/medicaid-maine-obamacare.html) voters anywhere got to decide the issue, and they approved it (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/us/maine-medicaid-healthcare.html) 59 percent to 41 percent.

Maybe she should spend some of her time gathering signatures/knocking on doors to get a job that provides better healthcare...Seems to me that she knows exactly how poor she needs to remain in order to get benefits.
You highlighted everything but the voting totals lmao

[AaronY]

Pro tip: boutons does a thing where he shrinks text so you cant read it. might wanna try that next time

[Monostradamus]

Not just NOW. Always have been always will ;)
I hope you get AIDS and die.

[RandomGuy]

Not just NOW. Always have been always will ;)




Kentucky Spending All Its Money Making Sure Nobody Gets Something For Free

Doktor Zoom July 24, 2018 04:06 PM

Kentucky was the first state in the country to get approval to impose work requirements on recipients of Medicaid, a terrible idea that Donald Trump and the current crop of GOP ninnyhammers think is the best idea since pee tests and private prisons. And while Kentucky's work requirements were blocked by a federal judge shortly after they were rolled out, a report by financial analyst Fitch Ratings found adding the work requirements increased the state's administrative costs by 40 percent. Golly, a result that everyone saw coming, what a huge surprise!

You see, kids, you can't have a Poors Gotta Work program without making sure the poors are actually working, not to mention tracking who's required to work and who's not, who's in a job training program, who's volunteering, who's in school, and so on. Most important, you have to determine who you can throw off healthcare for not having a computer like poor people shouldn't, and how to get away with it, heh-heh-heh.

Lead researcher Eric Kim explained that getting a whole new poor-thumpin' bureaucracy off the ground actually costs something, you see:


In its biennial budget, Kentucky's Medicaid administration costs increased more than 40%, or $35 million, from the prior biennium to $116 million, which Fitch partially attributes to implementing Medicaid work requirements.

This may come as a surprise to those who assumed work requirements might just cut down on the number of unworthy poors through the magic of yelling "Get a job!" while stroking the embossed cover of your personal copy of Atlas Shrugged. Instead, you have to do computers and staff and number-crunchers, all of which make limited government bigger somehow. And yes, that's even if Kentucky somehow achieves its dream of scaring away or shunting off 95,000 enrollees over five years.


Direct costs for Medicaid work requirements could limit savings from enrollment declines. Work requirements require tracking systems that few, if any, states have. States developed systems in the 1990s to implement work requirements for welfare called the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) but the scale of Medicaid is significantly larger now. TANF enrolled 2.4 million monthly during 2017. Medicaid enrolled 67.3 million in April 2018 alone.

And Oopsies, even if work requirements force even more people off benefits, the savings from making them sicker won't make the costs of developing and operating those systems vanish. You can't police the poors without having systems and people in place to make sure you're only fucking them over in the government-approved ways. But it's a great way to allocate tax money on things other than providing healthcare, so it's popular.

It's not as if any of this can be much of a surprise to the people who've been pushing work requirements, the Get Tough On Poor People flavor of the moment. Most people getting Medicaid already work (or are children, or retired, or on disability), and nearly 80 percent are in a family where at least one person is working. Work requirements, like so many great ideas from small government conservatives who hate social engineering, are mostly a solution in need of a problem. Have to wonder if data systems manufacturers have been pushing for them.

It's almost as if these fuckers have learned nothing from the experiments with pee-testing welfare applicants, which mostly determined that testing labs made assloads of money while the testing programs found only a handful of bad evil drug abusers to throw off welfare.

Still, the dream of eliminating poverty by making life even harder for poor people is an attractive one, so we can hardly guess what scheme Rs will impose next. Maybe mandatory DNA testing of poors to make sure they aren't welfare lizard people come to steal our young for their reptilian overlords.



https://www.wonkette.com/medicaid-work-requirements

[sickdsm]

Are you fucking kidding me? ACA fucked rural America but now you find a story complaining about people not getting free insurance?

Trump would have been a savior to the left if he had only called the Subsidy a health insurance voucher for the self employed family.

[Spurtacular]

I'm sure OP giving the bleeding heart version of the story; but the Maine governor is probably the biggest jackass in the upper echelons of Republicans, tbh.

[Spurtacular]

Are you fucking kidding me? ACA fucked rural America but now you find a story complaining about people not getting free insurance?


It was designed to fuck over the country; its own framer admitted that. Dems are losers.

[AaronY]

It was designed to fuck over the country; its own framer admitted that. Dems are losers.
Excellent synopsis and a biting critique as well!

[Spurtacular]

Excellent synopsis and a biting critique as well!

[boutons_deux]

ACA fucked rural America

what?

[AaronY]

tell em about the repugs bouton and how they sabotaged aca. go in on "Trash" too if at all possible

[RandomGuy]

Are you fucking kidding me? ACA fucked rural America but now you find a story complaining about people not getting free insurance?

Trump would have been a savior to the left if he had only called the Subsidy a health insurance voucher for the self employed family.

The tax cuts for the hyper-wealthy cost 2.5 times more than the ACA did.

The amount of extra money we are borrowing to fund them could pay for free college, and free medical care for quite a few people.

Republicans, having tossed out their fig leaf when it comes to being "fiscal conservatives", are giving us the choice on what we are going to borrow money for.

1) Giving more money to the hyper-wealthy
2) Investing in people and infrastructure

Ask any economist which gives a better return to the economy.

[RandomGuy]

Are you fucking kidding me? ACA fucked rural America but now you find a story complaining about people not getting free insurance?

Trump would have been a savior to the left if he had only called the Subsidy a health insurance voucher for the self employed family.

What has fucked rural America when it comes to health care is the closing of rural hospitals, which are all money losers.

Seems like the only solution to that is to subsidize it.

Pick a free market solution for that. I'll wait.

[KenMcCoy]

I hope you get AIDS and die.

Sorry, only poor people with no insurance die from AIDS nowadays.

[KenMcCoy]

I hope you get AIDS and die.

Sorry, only poor people with no insurance die from AIDS nowadays.

[SnakeBoy]

Sorry, only poor people with no insurance die from AIDS nowadays.

More like only people who don't take their meds die from AIDS nowadays. Don't even need insurance.

[RandomGuy]

More like only people who don't take their meds die from AIDS nowadays. Don't even need insurance.

Maybe you can tell me what justification you would give as governor for ignoring something that was passed by a rather large margin of your voters.

[SnakeBoy]

Maybe you can tell me what justification you would give as governor for ignoring something that was passed by a rather large margin of your voters.

I'd just tell them "I'm Governor Snakeboy bitches and I'm doing it for the lulz"

[Monostradamus]

I'd just tell them "I'm Governor Snakeboy bitches and I'm doing it for the lulz"
Accepting that you’re a vacuous memelord is the first step.

[RandomGuy]

I'd just tell them "I'm Governor Snakeboy bitches and I'm doing it for the lulz"

The tone at the top is important. I see you got the memo.

[Monostradamus]

Trump is also embracing his “troll” status too, so Team Trump here is right on cue.

[SnakeBoy]

The tone at the top is important. I see you got the memo.

The actual Governor gave his justification. It's in your op.

[KenMcCoy]

What has fucked rural America when it comes to health care is the closing of rural hospitals, which are all money losers.

Seems like the only solution to that is to subsidize it.

Pick a free market solution for that. I'll wait.

Big insurance, big medicine, and big malpractice suits, have killed independent practitioners in the US.

Direct primary care is one solution:

Keeping his costs low helped Lassey break even within four months of opening his practice. Still, he's not earning as much as he used to when he worked at a hospital and had only five to 10 minutes with a patient — a lot less time than he gets to spend with his patients now.


"I am making a profit, I have more free time, and I can practice properly," he said. "It's worth it to me."

Others, like Dr. M. Chad Williamson in Fort Payne, Alabama, went upscale — he offers his patients a 24-hour gym as part of his practice's $60 monthly membership fee. Williamson, who opened his practice in August, a few months after finishing his residency, currently has 215 members. He wants to bring that up to between 600 and 1,000 people, ideally.

https://www.businessinsider.com/direct-primary-care-a-no-insurance-healthcare-model-2017-3

[sickdsm]

What has fucked rural America when it comes to health care is the closing of rural hospitals, which are all money losers.

Seems like the only solution to that is to subsidize it.

Pick a free market solution for that. I'll wait.

Most people are driving around here an hour to get to a major medical hospital (relatively speaking). Fargo ND and Sioux falls SD are making big money in health care but they are still rural.


Tell me how that raised my premiums up..

[SnakeBoy]

Big insurance, big medicine, and big malpractice suits, have killed independent practitioners in the US.

Direct primary care is one solution:

Keeping his costs low helped Lassey break even within four months of opening his practice. Still, he's not earning as much as he used to when he worked at a hospital and had only five to 10 minutes with a patient — a lot less time than he gets to spend with his patients now.


"I am making a profit, I have more free time, and I can practice properly," he said. "It's worth it to me."

Others, like Dr. M. Chad Williamson in Fort Payne, Alabama, went upscale — he offers his patients a 24-hour gym as part of his practice's $60 monthly membership fee. Williamson, who opened his practice in August, a few months after finishing his residency, currently has 215 members. He wants to bring that up to between 600 and 1,000 people, ideally.

https://www.businessinsider.com/direct-primary-care-a-no-insurance-healthcare-model-2017-3

DPC isn't the future, it's a business model destined to fail.

Check out the largest DPC provider in the country
http://qliance.com/

[RandomGuy]

The actual Governor gave his justification. It's in your op.

Fascism at its finest. So glad we have strong leaders to tell us what we want from our government is not what they want us to do.

Don't see any other word for it.

[SnakeBoy]

Fascism at its finest.

*ding*

[RandomGuy]

*ding*

Feel free to pick a different word, LayzeeBoy.

One leader has decided he wants to ignore the law as decided by his voters, to do what it is he wants, and you clap on cue.

I'll give you another one.

Fascism. Feel free to :cry about that again. :lol

[SnakeBoy]

Feel free to pick a different word, LayzeeBoy.

One leader has decided he wants to ignore the law as decided by his voters, to do what it is he wants, and you clap on cue.

I'll give you another one.

Fascism. Feel free to :cry about that again. :lol

Poor RandomGuy

[sickdsm]

what?

Bou can't figure out that there is a different side. Thinks there is no ying to the yang. Takes a look at the voting demographics and thinks that everyone not in a Urban, liberal area is racist, idiotic and well,a racist idiot. It couldn't possibly be that the policies that work great for one area fuck the other. How exactly do you think America said no to more status quo politicians? I know, I know. All the racist idiots voted and it had nothing to do with policies that didn't work for them........

[KenMcCoy]

"Donna Wall, 61, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, is uninsured. She racked up $60,000 in debt after shattering her ankle when she fell on an icy sidewalk in Lewiston last December while delivering newspapers in the middle of the night, a job that paid her $150 a week.
A GoFundMe.com campaign raised more than $10,000 to help her. But Ms. Wall, who cares full time for her 20-year-old autistic twins and donates blood plasma for extra income, is eager for the security of Medicaid coverage. She applied for it on July 3, a day after the state was supposed to start covering the newly eligible population under the law."

She's definitely doing something wrong...that's two NBA max contracts right there.

[boutons_deux]

Bou can't figure out that there is a different side. Thinks there is no ying to the yang. Takes a look at the voting demographics and thinks that everyone not in a Urban, liberal area is racist, idiotic and well,a racist idiot. It couldn't possibly be that the policies that work great for one area fuck the other. How exactly do you think America said no to more status quo politicians? I know, I know. All the racist idiots voted and it had nothing to do with policies that didn't work for them........

How did ACA, eg, expansion of Medicaid hurt rural America?

ACA by status quo pols was intended to help, to "work for" poor rurals, anybody poor, in ALL areas.

(of course, red/slave states refuse to help their own poor, but that's "status quo" Repug/oligarchy politics)

Failure to expand Medicaid by Repugs status quo pols hurt, even shut down, rural hospitals and clinics.

"America said no to more status quo politicians"

Trash lost by 2.8M votes by AMERICANS (but won by Comey and Pootin voting for him).

America said NO to Trash,

more than America said YES to a fake anti-status quo Trash who gave the status quo swamp monsters (oligarchy) huge powers, with full support by the status quo Repugs voted in perenially by rurals.

It ain't ACA's fault that America has been urbanizing for 100+ years and people left in rural areas are underserved by for-profit providers, made worse by BigCorp status quo oligarchy whore PAI.

eg, Universal health care and community Internet could vastly improve the lives of rurals, but your status quo Repugs block both

Socialism (eg stuff like Universal Service Fund) could help rurals staying rural, by choice or by stranding, but status quo Repugs freak out at (undefined) socialism (except when it's socialism for BigCorp and the wealthy)

hyper-complex ACA certainly needed adjustments, tuning for hyper-complex America, but status quo Repugs are killing ACA and killing rurals by denying them health care.

[koriwhat]

I hope you get AIDS and die.

Why not diabetes & clogged arteries like your obese ass has?

[RandomGuy]

Bou can't figure out that there is a different side. Thinks there is no ying to the yang. Takes a look at the voting demographics and thinks that everyone not in a Urban, liberal area is racist, idiotic and well,a racist idiot. It couldn't possibly be that the policies that work great for one area fuck the other. How exactly do you think America said no to more status quo politicians? I know, I know. All the racist idiots voted and it had nothing to do with policies that didn't work for them........

https://psmag.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_380/MTUzODYxMzY4MTI5MjY3NDAz/pacificstandard_alexandria-4.webp

Here you go. The corrupt POS she replaced was the start. All the Democrats I know are enormously happy about that.

Let's get rid of the status quo indeed.

[SnakeBoy]

https://psmag.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_380/MTUzODYxMzY4MTI5MjY3NDAz/pacificstandard_alexandria-4.webp

Here you go. The corrupt POS she replaced was the start. All the Democrats I know are enormously happy about that.

Let's get rid of the status quo indeed.

You a Bernie supporter now RG?

[RandomGuy]

You a Bernie supporter now RG?

I am a Democratic Socialist, yes.

Sure. Personally I think it is time to move the country more leftward. We have tried what passes for conservatism, and found it to be universally a vacuous failure.

[SnakeBoy]

I am a Democratic Socialist, yes.

Sure. Personally I think it is time to move the country more leftward. We have tried what passes for conservatism, and found it to be universally a vacuous failure.

lol from independent to democrat to socialist since I've been on ST

https://media.giphy.com/media/3wSdgczc6yMb6/giphy.gif

[SnakeBoy]

I am a Democratic Socialist, yes.

Sure. Personally I think it is time to move the country more leftward. We have tried what passes for conservatism, and found it to be universally a vacuous failure.

Have you joined the DSA yet?

[DMC]

Ms. Staples, the breast-cancer survivor who attended the oral arguments, works part time in food service at Bowdoin College. She pays $75 a month for subsidized private coverage through the Obamacare marketplace, plus a deductible, but is poor enough to qualify for Medicaid if it were expanded, she said. She gathered hundreds of signatures to help get Medicaid expansion on the ballot last year, then knocked on hundreds of doors to get out the vote as a member of the Maine People’s Alliance, a nonprofit organizing group. It was the first time (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/health/medicaid-maine-obamacare.html) voters anywhere got to decide the issue, and they approved it (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/us/maine-medicaid-healthcare.html) 59 percent to 41 percent.

Maybe she should spend some of her time gathering signatures/knocking on doors to get a job that provides better healthcare...Seems to me that she knows exactly how poor she needs to remain in order to get benefits.

If so that's pretty fucking intelligent and you cannot say she's lazy if she got out and rustled up enough signatures to get it done. It's a big ass fucking (ass fucking) wave and people who don't catch a ride on it are just behind it in the trough saying "you took advantage of water!". The wave was coming either way.

[DMC]

I am a Democratic Socialist, yes.

Sure. Personally I think it is time to move the country more leftward. We have tried what passes for conservatism, and found it to be universally a vacuous failure.

Sorry, you cannot locally find something to be universally anything - unless you somehow tried it across the universe.

You cannot even beat a fat orange reality TV slumlord akin to "storage wars" peeps or one of the fucking Tuttles.

[RandomGuy]

lol from independent to democrat to socialist since I've been on ST

https://media.giphy.com/media/3wSdgczc6yMb6/giphy.gif

Meh. The country went right and right and right.

I don't think I have really gone anywhere.

You on the other hand, have gone off the deep end.

[sickdsm]

https://psmag.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_380/MTUzODYxMzY4MTI5MjY3NDAz/pacificstandard_alexandria-4.webp

Here you go. The corrupt POS she replaced was the start. All the Democrats I know are enormously happy about that.

Let's get rid of the status quo indeed.

Every week she's on TV saying something even more fucking retarded than the last time. You would be more sane if you were pimping John Macafee. The sad thing is that you don't even know. Is your name Scotty?

[SnakeBoy]

Meh. The country went right and right and right.

I don't think I have really gone anywhere.

You on the other hand, have gone off the deep end.

Have you joined the DSA yet?

[sickdsm]

How did ACA, eg, expansion of Medicaid hurt rural America?

ACA by status quo pols was intended to help, to "work for" poor rurals, anybody poor, in ALL areas.

(of course, red/slave states refuse to help their own poor, but that's "status quo" Repug/oligarchy politics)

Failure to expand Medicaid by Repugs status quo pols hurt, even shut down, rural hospitals and clinics.

"America said no to more status quo politicians"

Trash lost by 2.8M votes by AMERICANS (but won by Comey and Pootin voting for him).

America said NO to Trash,

more than America said YES to a fake anti-status quo Trash who gave the status quo swamp monsters (oligarchy) huge powers, with full support by the status quo Repugs voted in perenially by rurals.

It ain't ACA's fault that America has been urbanizing for 100+ years and people left in rural areas are underserved by for-profit providers, made worse by BigCorp status quo oligarchy whore PAI.

eg, Universal health care and community Internet could vastly improve the lives of rurals, but your status quo Repugs block both

Socialism (eg stuff like Universal Service Fund) could help rurals staying rural, by choice or by stranding, but status quo Repugs freak out at (undefined) socialism (except when it's socialism for BigCorp and the wealthy)

hyper-complex ACA certainly needed adjustments, tuning for hyper-complex America, but status quo Repugs are killing ACA and killing rurals by denying them health care.

Bou talks about intention than spouts off on his opinions. I've stated on another thread rural hospitals that most people use are larger rural cities. I used Sioux falls In my example previously. 186 largest metro area in the United States. Still rural. The excuse of small clinics doesn't apply here. Premiums have sky rocketed. Rural communities don't have large companies to pool together on insurance. If your middle class, your fucked. Can't quality for big subsidies on insurance, did that one year then they kicked us off. Every year have been dropping our coverage to lower tiers but premiums stay the same or rise. Couple employees? Forget about it. I've spent a shit load on infrastructure and equipment the past few years trying to avoid another employee. I'm not in the minority. The biggest jackpot one can get is to get a govt job that overpays and huge benefits. Imagine that. Sounds like a communist/socialist dream.



"But the intentions of ACA......"



No wonder the Dems can't win outside of the urban areas. No interest in finding out what works and why......

[boutons_deux]

Bou talks about intention than spouts off on his opinions. I've stated on another thread rural hospitals that most people use are larger rural cities. I used Sioux falls In my example previously. 186 largest metro area in the United States. Still rural. The excuse of small clinics doesn't apply here. Premiums have sky rocketed. Rural communities don't have large companies to pool together on insurance. If your middle class, your fucked. Can't quality for big subsidies on insurance, did that one year then they kicked us off. Every year have been dropping our coverage to lower tiers but premiums stay the same or rise. Couple employees? Forget about it. I've spent a shit load on infrastructure and equipment the past few years trying to avoid another employee. I'm not in the minority. The biggest jackpot one can get is to get a govt job that overpays and huge benefits. Imagine that. Sounds like a communist/socialist dream.

"But the intentions of ACA......"

No wonder the Dems can't win outside of the urban areas. No interest in finding out what works and why......

Dems can't win outside of urban areas because rurals are confused to think that Repugs give a (financial) shit about them. Repugs and their social issues play the rurals like ignorant rubes.

ACA succeeded in its primary objective of expanding access to Ms of people, 30M+ of them Repugs now want to deny them health care.

If you were middle class before ACA, you were fucked, not ACA's problem or priority.

Perhaps it could be fixed for those people, but Repugs will hurt them more, very soon, if not already.

Take it up with BigInsurance and the corrupt, greedy, closed-guild medical profession.

[sickdsm]

Dems can't win outside of urban areas because rurals are confused to think that Repugs give a (financial) shit about them. Repugs and their social issues play the rurals like ignorant rubes.

ACA succeeded in its primary objective of expanding access to Ms of people, 30M+ of them Repugs now want to deny them health care.

If you were middle class before ACA, you were fucked, not ACA's problem or priority.

Perhaps it could be fixed for those people, but Repugs will hurt them more, very soon, if not already.

Take it up with BigInsurance and the corrupt, greedy, closed-guild medical profession.

Bou talking theory again. Has no interest in the situation as long as it involves rural folk.

Big insurance is like you describe when the government says you have to have insurance. You ever think the dog will catch his tail? You seen rather casual to the fact that my kids and I aren't able to justify prescriptions, doctor visits and surgeries yet are adamant about the ones that are heavily subsidised that now have access to all the things my family does not.

Please explain why your not championing that fight instead telling me to take it up with someone else, not your problem.

[DMC]

The country went right and right and right.

I don't think I have really gone anywhere.


You said it.

[DMC]

https://psmag.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_380/MTUzODYxMzY4MTI5MjY3NDAz/pacificstandard_alexandria-4.webp

Here you go. The corrupt POS she replaced was the start. All the Democrats I know are enormously happy about that.

Let's get rid of the status quo indeed.

Pretty sure I saw her on Pornhub in a throatfuck video.

[boutons_deux]

short history of how a Lepage is elected with 38% of the vote

"Incumbent Republican Paul LePage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_LePage) is term-limited, having been elected twice consecutively in 2010 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_gubernatorial_election,_2010) and 2014 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_gubernatorial_election,_2014).

LePage did not win a majority of the vote either time

(receiving 37.6% in a crowded four-way race in 2010 and 48.2% in a three-way race in 2014),

with Democrats accusing independent candidate Eliot Cutler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Cutler) of splitting the anti-LePage vote in both instances,

though Cutler finished closer to LePage than Democratic candidate Libby Mitchell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libby_Mitchell) in the 2010 election.[8]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_gubernatorial_election,_2018#cite_note-8)
Maine's history of governors elected without majorities, including LePage, was one impetus for the

citizen's referendum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Question_5,_2016) to implement ranked choice voting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranked-Choice_Voting).[9] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_gubernatorial_election,_2018#cite_note-9)[10] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_gubernatorial_election,_2018#cite_note-10)

Though it was approved by voters in a 2016 referendum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Question_5,_2016), the Maine Legislature (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Legislature) voted to delay and potentially repeal RCV for all elections after an advisory opinion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advisory_opinion) by the

Maine Supreme Judicial Court (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Supreme_Judicial_Court) ruled it unconstitutional for general elections for state offices.

RCV supporters succeeded in a people's veto effort to prevent the delay, which suspends it until a June 2018 referendum vote.[11] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_gubernatorial_election,_2018#cite_note-11)

RCV supporters were victorious in the June referendum, and ranked-choice voting will remain in place for state and federal primaries and federal general elections.[12] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_gubernatorial_election,_2018#cite_note-12)"

[boutons_deux]

Bou talking theory again. Has no interest in the situation as long as it involves rural folk.

Big insurance is like you describe when the government says you have to have insurance. You ever think the dog will catch his tail? You seen rather casual to the fact that my kids and I aren't able to justify prescriptions, doctor visits and surgeries yet are adamant about the ones that are heavily subsidised that now have access to all the things my family does not.

Please explain why your not championing that fight instead telling me to take it up with someone else, not your problem.

I have always been for tuning ACA from its first 100-amendment bastardized version, which might include improving your anecdotal situation.

ACA didn't touch prices, that's still, always 100% up to for-profit BigInsurance / BigProvider.

If ACA had tried to reduce health care prices, Repug whores would have killed it, not bothered with one-year debate / 100 amendments, just fucking killed it, to protect profits.

Trash still hasn't delivered a cheaper, better health care for everybody, nor even brought down drug prices.

He won't, status quo Repug whores won't let him.

[baseline bum]

If ACA had tried to reduce health care prices, Repug whores would have killed it

Could have been a great law had Lieberman and Nelson not killed off the price controls through the public option.

[boutons_deux]

Could have been a great law had Lieberman and Nelson not killed off the price controls through the public option.

yep, Repugs LIE that Obama controlled both House and Senate. He didn't have the Senate 60.

BigInsurance corps in CT owned Lieberman.

"the key legislator (http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1910651_1910649_1910638,00.html) was the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, whose committee took the lead in drafting the legislation.

As Baucus himself repeatedly boasted (http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/29/baucus-thanks-wellpoint-vp-liz-fowler-for-writing-health-care-bill/), the architect of that legislation was Elizabeth Fowler, his chief health policy counsel;

indeed, as Marcy Wheeler discovered (http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/09/08/liz-fowlers-plan/), it was Fowler who actually drafted it.

As Politico put it at the time (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21952.html):

"If you drew an organizational chart of major players in the Senate health care negotiations,

Fowler would be the chief operating officer.""

Fowler was previously a health industry exec.

rightwingassholes here "believe" there is no oligarchy but the oligarchy (Fowler, etc) wrote the ACA (and also essentially ALL Federal legislation and rule making).

Baucus was also a whore to the health care industry.

https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/contributors?cid=N00004643&cycle=CAREER

where is Fowler now? https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-fowler-b5612749

but somehow, in their perverted tribal, cultish so-called thinking, rightwingnutjob assholes think Obama wrote ACA (helps their "thinking" that he was a non-American Muslim knitter), when in fact, as always, rightwingnutjob assholes are the cult that can't shoot straight, get their targets always wrong.

[pgardn]

Repeal and Replace with the biggest bestest plan...

Oh wait, who ever knew Heathcare could be so difficult.
The mountain of lies and fabrications just grows.
Amazing times.

[rmt]

I have always been for tuning ACA from its first 100-amendment bastardized version, which might include improving your anecdotal situation.

ACA didn't touch prices, that's still, always 100% up to for-profit BigInsurance / BigProvider.

If ACA had tried to reduce health care prices, Repug whores would have killed it, not bothered with one-year debate / 100 amendments, just fucking killed it, to protect profits.

Trash still hasn't delivered a cheaper, better health care for everybody, nor even brought down drug prices.

He won't, status quo Repug whores won't let him.

Thinking that ACA didn't touch prices is naive. Mandating those 10 essential benefits regardless of whether it's necessary/possible for the policy holder DID drive up prices - why would men need maternity benefits, why would adults need pediatric services including oral and vision? Mandating that older policy holders pay only 3 times young people (when it should be 5) drives up prices for younger policy holders. It's like me - an old, very safe driver without tickets paying more to subsidize a teenage male with lots of traffic tickets.

[sickdsm]

Thinking that ACA didn't touch prices is naive. Mandating those 10 essential benefits regardless of whether it's necessary/possible for the policy holder DID drive up prices - why would men need maternity benefits, why would adults need pediatric services including oral and vision? Mandating that older policy holders pay only 3 times young people (when it should be 5) drives up prices for younger policy holders. It's like me - an old, very safe driver without tickets paying more to subsidize a teenage male with lots of traffic tickets.
"But muh intent! No ancedotes!”

[monosylab1k]

like me - an old, very safe driver

:lmao slow, old gook drivers aren’t safe drivers. Just because you don’t get tickets doesn't mean you’re less of a threat on the roads.

[Will Hunting]

:lmao slow, old gook drivers aren’t safe drivers. Just because you don’t get tickets doesn't mean you’re less of a threat on the roads.
:lol she’s probably one of those gooks who doesn’t accelerate at all when she’s on the onramp, making so there’s a line of cars behind her that need to merge into lanes with cars going double the speed they’re going

[monosylab1k]

:lol she’s probably one of those gooks who doesn’t accelerate at all when she’s on the onramp, making so there’s a line of cars behind her that need to merge into lanes with cars going double the speed they’re going

:lmao there’s a ridiculous amount of them in DFW too

[Will Hunting]

:lmao there’s a ridiculous amount of them in DFW too
It’s probably what causes 1 out of every 3 accidents on the 75 (and that’s a lot of accidents :lol)

[DarrinS]

:lmao slow, old gook drivers aren’t safe drivers. Just because you don’t get tickets doesn't mean you’re less of a threat on the roads.


:lol she’s probably one of those gooks who doesn’t accelerate at all when she’s on the onramp, making so there’s a line of cars behind her that need to merge into lanes with cars going double the speed they’re going


nice

[monosylab1k]

nice

Virtue signaling good now :lmao

[monosylab1k]

White knighting for the Asian race like a good alt-righter :lmao

[dabom]

nice

Name calling bad, abusing toddlers fine. :lmao

[Will Hunting]

Name calling bad, abusing toddlers fine. :lmao
:lmao

[baseline bum]

:lmao slow, old gook drivers aren’t safe drivers. Just because you don’t get tickets doesn't mean you’re less of a threat on the roads.

Not a gook tbh, she is a black jamaican chink immigrant who hates immigrants.

[monosylab1k]

Guaranteed that middle aged, dad joke tellin, white guy Darrin has used his fingers to do the Asian eye pose for a picture in the past year, and probably has said “me Chinese me play joke me put peepee in your Coke” to some unamused 11 year old child as well.

[monosylab1k]

Not a gook tbh, she is a black jamaican chink immigrant who hates immigrants.

:lmao

[Will Hunting]

Not a gook tbh, she is a black jamaican chink immigrant who hates immigrants.
:lmao

[AaronY]

black jamaican asian female trumper lmao

[dabom]

black jamaican asian female trumper lmao

:lmao

Can you even be more of a minority? Senior citizen? :lmao

[RandomGuy]

Every week she's on TV saying something even more fucking retarded than the last time. You would be more sane if you were pimping John Macafee. The sad thing is that you don't even know. Is your name Scotty?

"people should have access to education and health care".

That really *is* retarded. The Republican alternative, sick and stupid, is soooo much more intellectually superior. :rolleyes

[sickdsm]

"people should have access to education and health care".

That really *is* retarded. The Republican alternative, sick and stupid, is soooo much more intellectually superior. :rolleyes

You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't pretend to be aloof. Her Trevor noah appearance was cringeworthy at best. I guess that's one way for him to get laughs

[sickdsm]

Guaranteed that middle aged, dad joke tellin, white guy Darrin has used his fingers to do the Asian eye pose for a picture in the past year, and probably has said “me Chinese me play joke me put peepee in your Coke” to some unamused 11 year old child as well.
Racial assumptions about a guy doing racial slurs That's some deep Matrix style covert racism.

[RandomGuy]

You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't pretend to be aloof. Her Trevor noah appearance was cringeworthy at best. I guess that's one way for him to get laughs

Haven't watched everything she has done, and I would not expect that anyone new to the political process, left or right, would be overly polished.

Her platform shows how much the "Democrats don't have ideas" myth is a misleading lie taken for truth in many circles.

[Monostradamus]

Racial assumptions about a guy doing racial slurs That's some deep Matrix style covert racism.
Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted.

[RandomGuy]

[Ocasio-Cortez'] Trevor noah appearance was cringeworthy at best. I guess that's one way for him to get laughs

Watching it now. Polite, well-spoken, and clearly articulates her beliefs.

Puzzled at what you found "cringeworthy", other than the fact that she is progressive and intelligent.

"I'm not going to take any corporate PAC money."?

What a radical. :rolleyes

[sickdsm]

Haven't watched everything she has done, and I would not expect that anyone new to the political process, left or right, would be overly polished.

Her platform shows how much the "Democrats don't have ideas" myth is a misleading lie taken for truth in many circles.
So you wouldn't expect someone promoting access to education and healthcare to have a thorough understanding of funding it?


She's the equivalent of Trump talking about really great ideas and getting tired of winning. Fluff and your failing for it.

[Monostradamus]

So you wouldn't expect someone promoting access to education and healthcare to have a thorough understanding of funding it?


She's the equivalent of Trump talking about really great ideas and getting tired of winning. Fluff and your failing for it.
*you’re

[RandomGuy]

So you wouldn't expect someone promoting access to education and healthcare to have a thorough understanding of funding it?

She's the equivalent of Trump talking about really great ideas and getting tired of winning. Fluff and your failing for it.

Again, I wouldn't expect her to have a thorough understanding of funding at this point, no.

Raise taxes on the wealthy, and large corporations. Not a difficult concept.

[sickdsm]

Again, I wouldn't expect her to have a thorough understanding of funding at this point, no.

Raise taxes on the wealthy, and large corporations. Not a difficult concept.
Last week she backed down from her Israel Palestine stance by proclaiming that she wasn't an expert on geopolitical issues.
Which is making a really awesome Gif btw.

This week it was her taking to a Nobel prize winning economist then proceeding to fuck to the logistics of funding it.


You thinking that the rich and not the middle class is going to pay for it is pretty cute.

[sickdsm]

*you’re

Shrugs. Take it up with Google swipe text technology.

[Monostradamus]

Shrugs. Take it up with Google swipe text technology.
“:cry Google does all my thinking for me, take it up with them :cry”

[sickdsm]

“:cry Google does all my typing by swiping my finger for me, take it up with them :cry”

fify

[Monostradamus]

fify
“The things you own end up owning you”
-that guy from that movie

[sickdsm]

“The things you own end up owning you”
-that guy from that movie

You sure owned me there. Didn't think you could do one better than pointing out my grammar and spelling but here we are.

[Monostradamus]

You sure owned me there. Didn't think you could do one better than pointing out my grammar and spelling but here we are.
Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

[RandomGuy]

Last week she backed down from her Israel Palestine stance by proclaiming that she wasn't an expert on geopolitical issues.
Which is making a really awesome Gif btw.

This week it was her taking to a Nobel prize winning economist then proceeding to fuck to the logistics of funding it.


You thinking that the rich and not the middle class is going to pay for it is pretty cute.

Middle class is already paying for it, having its pockets picked by the hyper-wealthy, essentially at gun point.

The rich have been taking a greater and greater share of income and wealth, with almost all the economic growth in the last 30 years has going to the people who have bought the most members of congress.

"the middle class will pay for it" is a hollow deepity at this point, made vacuous by a rapacious, corrupt system that only really benefits the wealthy, and I can show more than a little data to show this. "money is free speech" after all, right? only rich people get their voices heard in our current system. I think people are fucking tired of that.

[RandomGuy]

It is expensive to be poor in the US.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/it-is-expensive-to-be-poor/282979/


I am also not the only one to notice the conservative War on the Poor.




Although underfunded, the War on Poverty still managed to provoke an intense backlash from conservative intellectuals and politicians.

In their view, government programs could do nothing to help the poor because poverty arises from the twisted psychology of the poor themselves. By the Reagan era, it had become a cornerstone of conservative ideology that poverty is caused not by low wages or a lack of jobs and education, but by the bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles of the poor.

Picking up on this theory, pundits and politicians have bemoaned the character failings and bad habits of the poor for at least the past 50 years. In their view, the poor are shiftless, irresponsible, and prone to addiction. They have too many children and fail to get married. So if they suffer from grievous material deprivation, if they run out of money between paychecks, if they do not always have food on their tables—then they have no one to blame but themselves.

In the 1990s, with a bipartisan attack on welfare, this kind of prejudice against the poor took a drastically misogynistic turn. Poor single mothers were identified as a key link in what was called “the cycle of poverty.” By staying at home and collecting welfare, they set a toxic example for their children, who—important policymakers came to believe—would be better off being cared for by paid child care workers or even, as Newt Gingrich proposed, in orphanages.

[KenMcCoy]

Poor people always love to play the victim. Don't want minimum wage?
- Join the army (https://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-duty-soldiers.html)
- Ask your boss if there are other responsibilities you can assume that would come with a pay raise
- Learn a skill, apprentice with a tradesman for a while...for free if that's what it takes

There are so many opportunities out there yet people don't want/are too lazy to take them

[RandomGuy]

[RG- conservatives have a War on the Poor]



Poor people always love to play the victim. Don't want minimum wage?
- Join the army (https://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-duty-soldiers.html)
- Ask your boss if there are other responsibilities you can assume that would come with a pay raise
- Learn a skill, apprentice with a tradesman for a while...for free if that's what it takes

There are so many opportunities out there yet people don't want/are too lazy to take them

... and on cue.

Sorry, already addressed here, in an article you didn't read, a couple of them in fact.

[SnakeBoy]

Middle class is already paying for it, having its pockets picked by the hyper-wealthy, essentially at gun point.

The rich have been taking a greater and greater share of income and wealth, with almost all the economic growth in the last 30 years has going to the people who have bought the most members of congress.

"the middle class will pay for it" is a hollow deepity at this point, made vacuous by a rapacious, corrupt system that only really benefits the wealthy, and I can show more than a little data to show this. "money is free speech" after all, right? only rich people get their voices heard in our current system. I think people are fucking tired of that.

Oligarchy, you forgot to say oligarchy

[koriwhat]

Oligarchy, you forgot to say oligarchy

:tu

[KenMcCoy]

[RG- conservatives have a War on the Poor]




... and on cue.

Sorry, already addressed here, in an article you didn't read, a couple of them in fact.

I read the article. I agree with a lot of the conservative viewpoints. I've been managing/leading people for more than 25 years now. From a quick lube station to get me through college to large corporate finance departments. In all of that time, the employees that made it clear that they were interested in advancement (more $$) were given opportunities. I have several employees (of multiple nationalities, cultural backgrounds, and genders) that only have high school educations and have worked their way from hourly positions to salaries in the 50K - 80K range by being dependable, smart, and open to additional responsibilities. I've also seen numerous people cycle through jobs because they weren't interested in learning, weren't dependable, and didn't want to do anything else but clock in at 8 am, do the minimum needed to maintain employment, and clock out at 5pm.

Stop playing the victim RG...you CAN be someone if you apply yourself :)

[KenMcCoy]

Look at this hard worker:

https://www.krqe.com/news/hfr-until-monday-albuquerque-woman-sews-her-way-out-of-poverty/900181460

"I took sewing classes at Sew Right, Inc. to learn how to do cushions," she said.
At one of her client's home in Los Ranchos, Nezzie's mark is on the outside and the inside. From cushions and pillows, to umbrellas and drapery, to floral arrangements, she spent months working hard.
"This month I'm able to make money, so I reported it to SSI, so I can kiss them goodbye and no more food stamps," she said.
Nezzie's business is called Nifla Backyard Oasis. Word has spread about her skills.
"Green River, Wyoming, Ontario, Salt Lake City, it's just crazy," she said, noting places with new inquires into her services.
She did suffer setbacks and feels repercussions from an attack in Columbus, Ohio, to this day.
"It's been about 30 years. I was bludgeoned with a hammer. 128 broken bones in my hand," she noted.
Nezzie, who's almost 70, tells her story not for publicity, but as a thank you to those who helped her, and for encouragement.
"I just want to encourage anybody with a dream, don't take it to your grave. Work on it, I worked on it. You can work on it," she said.

[boutons_deux]

Look at this hard worker:

https://www.krqe.com/news/hfr-until-monday-albuquerque-woman-sews-her-way-out-of-poverty/900181460

"I took sewing classes at Sew Right, Inc. to learn how to do cushions," she said.
At one of her client's home in Los Ranchos, Nezzie's mark is on the outside and the inside. From cushions and pillows, to umbrellas and drapery, to floral arrangements, she spent months working hard.
"This month I'm able to make money, so I reported it to SSI, so I can kiss them goodbye and no more food stamps," she said.
Nezzie's business is called Nifla Backyard Oasis. Word has spread about her skills.
"Green River, Wyoming, Ontario, Salt Lake City, it's just crazy," she said, noting places with new inquires into her services.
She did suffer setbacks and feels repercussions from an attack in Columbus, Ohio, to this day.
"It's been about 30 years. I was bludgeoned with a hammer. 128 broken bones in my hand," she noted.
Nezzie, who's almost 70, tells her story not for publicity, but as a thank you to those who helped her, and for encouragement.
"I just want to encourage anybody with a dream, don't take it to your grave. Work on it, I worked on it. You can work on it," she said.

plenty of "working poor" (and most of the able-bodied poor on public assistance are working and are white) are working their asses off in 2,3 jobs, 7 days /week, very often in dead-end, no-future jobs.

learn new skills, upgrade themselves, have some time for personal life, when?

you are suckered by the rightwing lies about "welfare queens in cadillacs" and "young (black) bucks are lazy"

[KenMcCoy]

plenty of "working poor" (and most of the able-bodied poor on public assistance are working and are white) are working their asses off in 2,3 jobs, 7 days /week, very often in dead-end, no-future jobs.

why would you stay in a dead end job? are the "working poor" required to stay there? did they give their boss their ID/Passport?


learn new skills, upgrade themselves, have some time for personal life, when?

If you're serious about bettering yourself, personal life comes last. Hungry people in my profession put in 80+ hours a week to get that Promo/$$

[RandomGuy]

Oligarchy, you forgot to say oligarchy

Sure. Oligarchy is pretty much an apt description, useful idiot.

While I am at it I will make fun of your "walkaway thread". :lmao

[RandomGuy]

I read the article. I agree with a lot of the conservative viewpoints. I've been managing/leading people for more than 25 years now. From a quick lube station to get me through college to large corporate finance departments. In all of that time, the employees that made it clear that they were interested in advancement (more $$) were given opportunities. I have several employees (of multiple nationalities, cultural backgrounds, and genders) that only have high school educations and have worked their way from hourly positions to salaries in the 50K - 80K range by being dependable, smart, and open to additional responsibilities. I've also seen numerous people cycle through jobs because they weren't interested in learning, weren't dependable, and didn't want to do anything else but clock in at 8 am, do the minimum needed to maintain employment, and clock out at 5pm.

Stop playing the victim RG...you CAN be someone if you apply yourself :)

Sure. Stupid, lazy people exist, and some of them are poor.

Now, can we help all people who are poor, rather than demonizing every poor person as being not worth helping?