Alexandria ocasio Cortez is a breath of fresh air

[Chucho]

..."occasionally losing one's temper"*

[RandomGuy]

..."occasionally losing one's temper"*

Well, now that you are here. Thoughts on other things talked about?

This is exaggeratingly alarmist. Let's look at some of the core ideas of the "increasingly radical leftist" Democratic party.

- Universal healthcare. This is bad why? Works in every other developed country in the world just fine. "B-B-But h-h-h-how are we gonna pay for it!" I think in combination with higher tax rates (on the wealthy and maybe a slight tax hike on the middle class, which will wind up paying for itself), universal healthcare supporters need to see that we are already spending the same amount of tax dollars per capita on healthcare as universal healthcare countries and ask, "Where is the money is going?" I've already speculated where the money is going. To pay for price gouged services, equipment, and medicine. The profit motive is fundamentally incompatible with "Do No Harm," as I've said.

- Higher marginal tax rates (and capital gains rates) on the very wealthy. Bad why? Worked post-New Deal/pre-Reagan fine. As we've discussed before, trickle down has had a 40 year trial. Bottom 90% growth flatlined. We can talk about globalization, technology, etc, etc, changing the economy all we want, but boiled down, the economy fully satisfied the conditions of supply side economics where the wealthy saw significant growth, and per the theory, it was supposed to neatly "trickle down" regardless of any marketplace changes. It didn't. It simply doesn't work.

- Addressing climate change. Bad why? The scientific consensus is that we need to address it. I'll buy that it's a "global conspiracy" to impose "ebil socialism and big gubbint" if you can show me some hard evidence that supports that idea. That said, I'm not a climate scientist, nor am I a dilettante blogger/youtuber who believes he's a climate scientist after reading a couple of Wikipedia articles and thinks he has the authority to state, "there is no crisis!" Yes, AOC's GND is optimistic, but that doesn't mean we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

- Immigration. We've come to agreement on a sensible policy in earlier discussion, which I think most Dems would favor.

Don't see how this " show" is going to be produced.

Too extreme? or feasible? or...?

[Will Hunting]

This is exaggeratingly alarmist. Let's look at some of the core ideas of the "increasingly radical leftist" Democratic party.

- Universal healthcare. This is bad why? Works in every other developed country in the world just fine. "B-B-But h-h-h-how are we gonna pay for it!" I think in combination with higher tax rates (on the wealthy and maybe a slight tax hike on the middle class, which will wind up paying for itself), universal healthcare supporters need to see that we are already spending the same amount of tax dollars per capita on healthcare as universal healthcare countries and ask, "Where is the money is going?" I've already speculated where the money is going. To pay for price gouged services, equipment, and medicine. The profit motive is fundamentally incompatible with "Do No Harm," as I've said.

- Higher marginal tax rates (and capital gains rates) on the very wealthy. Bad why? Worked post-New Deal/pre-Reagan fine. As we've discussed before, trickle down has had a 40 year trial. Bottom 90% growth flatlined. We can talk about globalization, technology, etc, etc, changing the economy all we want, but boiled down, the economy fully satisfied the conditions of supply side economics where the wealthy saw significant growth, and per the theory, it was supposed to neatly "trickle down" regardless of any marketplace changes. It didn't. It simply doesn't work.

- Addressing climate change. Bad why? The scientific consensus is that we need to address it. I'll buy that it's a "global conspiracy" to impose "ebil socialism and big gubbint" if you can show me some hard evidence that supports that idea. That said, I'm not a climate scientist, nor am I a dilettante blogger/youtuber who believes he's a climate scientist after reading a couple of Wikipedia articles and thinks he has the authority to state, "there is no crisis!" Yes, AOC's GND is optimistic, but that doesn't mean we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

- Immigration. We've come to agreement on a sensible policy in earlier discussion, which I think most Dems would favor.

Don't see how this " show" is going to be produced.

Universal healthcare will also be a boon for small business growth. The current system where employers need to provide health insurance in order to attract good employees places a significantly larger burden on small employers than it does large corporations with a huge pool of employees they can insure on a much cheaper per employee basis. A small business with only 50-100 employees regularly gets slapped with giant premium increases if it has just a few employees (or employee family members) who have significant medical costs during a policy year.

[DMC]

You may wish to read their entry then, especially the notes on usage relative to "social democracy" and "communism"

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

I prefer that private capital and property remain in private hands (means of production), which deviates from the dictionary definition of webster. People should be able to own their own businesses and companies.

Most on the right use it interchangeably with that of "communism", which I would not support.

Does this sound about right?

I would not support outright communism. I do think we can, and should, do more for people who are struggling, and think that capitalism will have to be saved from itself.

The term "struggling" though implies they are attempting. Many we consider to be struggling are simply riding along for free. Having a lower standard of living because you've accepted that in exchange for a sedentary, uneducated life isn't "struggling". I think we should help struggling people, if they are indeed struggling and if their goal, their intention when they become successful is to contribute to the system that helped them get there (instead of returning all the profit to another country or horde it for themselves).

[DMC]

Pretty much. We tried the most market-based reform, aka Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and Conservatives all over it, which is ironic because it was a conservative idea to begin with.

The main reason that conservatives opposed this was that the Scary Black Man proposed it. They were so bent on not giving him a win, they sabotoged their own idea, and will, also ironically, be forced to swallow universal health care.

This is too simplistic and a scapegoat. The reason it was opposed is because the medical community opposed it as did small businesses. Obama won with a record vote, and there aren't enough black people who voted to have made that happen. Blaming everything on racism is too easy and simplistic and wrong. You should hope others in your section of the crowd have a more detailed approach.

[RandomGuy]

The term "struggling" though implies they are attempting. Many we consider to be struggling are simply riding along for free. Having a lower standard of living because you've accepted that in exchange for a sedentary, uneducated life isn't "struggling". I think we should help struggling people, if they are indeed struggling and if their goal, their intention when they become successful is to contribute to the system that helped them get there (instead of returning all the profit to another country or horde it for themselves).

Flesh that out with something that approaches data. Quantify it.

What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. Your claim, your burden of proof.

[RandomGuy]

This is too simplistic and a scapegoat. The reason it was opposed is because the medical community opposed it as did small businesses. Obama won with a record vote, and there aren't enough black people who voted to have made that happen. Blaming everything on racism is too easy and simplistic and wrong. You should hope others in your section of the crowd have a more detailed approach.

The GOP's no-compromise pledge (FROM 2010)
https://www.politico.com/story/2010/...-pledge-044311

Here’s John Boehner, the likely speaker if Republicans take the House, offering his plans for Obama’s agenda: “We're going to do everything — and I mean everything we can do — to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell summed up his plan to National Journal: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

They decided well beforehand what their opinion was going to be for anything he proposed. While they may not have thought Obama was a Scary Black Man, they were more than willing to go along with the sentiment and look the other way, when people wanted the Kenyan out of office.

[RandomGuy]

Universal healthcare will also be a boon for small business growth. The current system where employers need to provide health insurance in order to attract good employees places a significantly larger burden on small employers than it does large corporations with a huge pool of employees they can insure on a much cheaper per employee basis. A small business with only 50-100 employees regularly gets slapped with giant premium increases if it has just a few employees (or employee family members) who have significant medical costs during a policy year.

Canadian businesses overall are happy to let the government handle this. They do not have to spend the time or money on matching premiums, nor finding the right plan.

[RandomGuy]

This is too simplistic and a scapegoat. The reason it was opposed is because the medical community opposed it as did small businesses. Obama won with a record vote, and there aren't enough black people who voted to have made that happen. Blaming everything on racism is too easy and simplistic and wrong. You should hope others in your section of the crowd have a more detailed approach.

40% of Americans struggle to pay for at least one basic need like food or rent
https://www.marke ch.com/story/40...are-2018-08-28

Last December, the same month the Urban Ins ute conducted its survey, the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C., released its own study of nearly 43,000 people in 38 countries around the globe that question this past spring. Residents in 20 countries said people like them were better off than they were 50 years ago, but the U.S. was not among them. The U.S was one of 18 countries in which people said they were actually worse off than half a century ago.

Some economists point to growing inequality in the U.S. and say the rich get richer, while the poor are stuck in low-paid jobs. One example: Out of 100 children whose parents are among the bottom 10% of income earners, only 20 to 30 of them go to college. But closer to 90 out of 100 children go to college if their parents are among the top 10% earners. And yet when elite colleges welcome students from poor backgrounds, academic performance at the ins ution doesn’t decline.

[Will Hunting]

Canadian businesses overall are happy to let the government handle this. They do not have to spend the time or money on matching premiums, nor finding the right plan.

Nor having the administrative staff / service provider needed to administer the policy for employees, COBRA, etc.

The employer based healthcare system we’ve had for decades is a much larger burden on small business than the regulations conservatives constantly talk about.

[Will Hunting]

Part of the problem though is that just like defense spending, our healthcare system serves as, among other things, a jobs program that functions as a band aid to cover up the fact there aren’t enough respectable 40 hour /week jobs for everyone in the digital economy.

If we went to Canada’s healthcare system there’d be several hundred thousand people out of a job who we’d need to have a solution for.

[RandomGuy]

Nor having the administrative staff / service provider needed to administer the policy for employees, COBRA, etc.

The employer based healthcare system we’ve had for decades is a much larger burden on small business than the regulations conservatives constantly talk about.

1/4 of every dollar spent on health care is for administrative expenses.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.co...tatistics.html

It found that 25.3 percent of total U.S. hospital costs went toward administrative expenses. The U.S. had the highest hospital administrative costs, followed by the Netherlands (19.8 percent) and England (15.5 percent). Scotland and Canada had the lowest hospital administrative costs.

U.S. health care spending increased 3.9 percent to reach $3.5 trillion, or $10,739 per person in 2017

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statist...highlights.pdf

We spend approximately 900 BILLION dollars on administrative overhead. Think of all the clerks in the doctors office next time you visit.

One of the prime drivers is the requirement for billing. You have to know how to code for it, where to send the bills, and what each insurance company will pay for. If you don't get paid enough by the insurance company, you spend lots of labor hours trying to recoup from the patient, often paying debt collectors a slice.

This is what I say when people try to tell me that "government is wasteful" as a counter to single payor. Our current "market based" system is vastly inefficient.

There is a REASON we spend twice as much as everybody else, and get worse outcomes.

[RandomGuy]

Part of the problem though is that just like defense spending, our healthcare system serves as, among other things, a jobs program that functions as a band aid to cover up the fact there aren’t enough respectable 40 hour /week jobs for everyone in the digital economy.

If we went to Canada’s healthcare system there’d be several hundred thousand people out of a job who we’d need to have a solution for.

My mind: Free college for nurses and general prac ioners. Ramp up the supply of labor for health care jobs, since there is starting to be a critical shortage already. Not going to be for everybody, but we could definitely absorb a lot of those losses.

[DMC]

Flesh that out with something that approaches data. Quantify it.

What can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. Your claim, your burden of proof.

I don't need to quantify . You're not going to solve anything when I do. You're going to go right back to the racism/victim schtick. The numbers exist, flesh it out yourself you self righteous prick.

[DMC]

40% of Americans struggle to pay for at least one basic need like food or rent
https://www.marke ch.com/story/40...are-2018-08-28

Really weird since 160 million Americans are overweight or obese.

They struggle because they suck with money, because that 1000 dollar iPhone was more important than that 1200.00 rent payment, or because 2 low income earners needed a 300K dollar home and three vehicles. So you think 40% of America lives in abject poverty?

[Will Hunting]

My mind: Free college for nurses and general prac ioners. Ramp up the supply of labor for health care jobs, since there is starting to be a critical shortage already. Not going to be for everybody, but we could definitely absorb a lot of those losses.

Don't disagree, there's definitely a critical shortage of nurses in this country, but I still think the ultimate solution is the work week needs to get shortened over time.

The idea of a 40 hour work week was viewed by the oligarchs as a ridiculous thing for the working class to ask for 100 years ago during the industrial revolution even though worker productivity was growing exponentially, and the same thing is happening now. The American worker is more productive than its ever been which is why there isn't enough work to go around for everyone to get 40 hours. It seems like a common sense solution to increase wages and reduce the work week (gradually) to 30 hours.

[Pavlov]

you didn't watch lol

Why would I watch that? Some old dork who can't settle on a hair color says "You're fired" about a Rep who has been in office for a month?

[DMC]

My mind: Free college for nurses and general prac ioners. Ramp up the supply of labor for health care jobs, since there is starting to be a critical shortage already. Not going to be for everybody, but we could definitely absorb a lot of those losses.

It already exists. Many hospitals will pay for your school for a commitment from you to work there for 2 years. Absolutely free = not doable long term.

[Will Hunting]

Really weird since 160 million Americans are overweight or obese.

They struggle because they suck with money, because that 1000 dollar iPhone was more important than that 1200.00 rent payment, or because 2 low income earners needed a 300K dollar home and three vehicles. So you think 40% of America lives in abject poverty?

Not abject poverty, but when I hear that the median American family of four makes ~$55,000 a year, I have no ing idea how a family of 4 makes ends meet on that without some combination of food stamps, a "side hustle" (the PC way of saying your job pays so ing little you need to be an uber driver too), or renting out a room on AirBNB

[DMC]

Not abject poverty, but when I hear that the median American family of four makes ~$55,000 a year, I have no ing idea how a family of 4 makes ends meet on that without some combination of food stamps, a "side hustle" (the PC way of saying your job pays so ing little you need to be an uber driver too), or renting out a room on AirBNB

It depends on where they live. Some houses in the rural, non suburban areas are cheap and the cost of living there isn't high either.

It's hard for people who've spent their entire lives in faster environments to accept that some people work and go home instead of hitting happy hour or the mall after work.

[DMC]

The GOP's no-compromise pledge (FROM 2010)
https://www.politico.com/story/2010/...-pledge-044311



They decided well beforehand what their opinion was going to be for anything he proposed. While they may not have thought Obama was a Scary Black Man, they were more than willing to go along with the sentiment and look the other way, when people wanted the Kenyan out of office.

You just moved the ing goalpost again. Where does it say "because he's black"?

[RandomGuy]

I don't need to quantify . You're not going to solve anything when I do. You're going to go right back to the racism/victim schtick. The numbers exist, flesh it out yourself you self righteous prick.

So you can't support your assertions, and meltdown the first time you are respectfully asked to do so, ordering me to do your work for you. I decline.

The term "struggling" though implies they are attempting. Many we consider to be struggling are simply riding along for free.

Breezy claim made. Breezy claim dismissed. Easy to figure out how seriously to take your claims.

[RandomGuy]

Not abject poverty, but when I hear that the median American family of four makes ~$55,000 a year, I have no ing idea how a family of 4 makes ends meet on that without some combination of food stamps, a "side hustle" (the PC way of saying your job pays so ing little you need to be an uber driver too), or renting out a room on AirBNB

It is usually by having more than one really low paying job.

[DMC]

So you can't support your assertions, and meltdown the first time you are respectfully asked to do so, ordering me to do your work for you. I decline.

What assertion did I make? I gave an opinion. I am not for supporting lazy s. I don't need to conduct an investigation to get the same response from you.

Breezy claim made. Breezy claim dismissed. Easy to figure out how seriously to take your claims.

You're not a worthy debate opponent so no research will be done for you.

[Will Hunting]

It depends on where they live. Some houses in the rural, non suburban areas are cheap and the cost of living there isn't high either.

It's hard for people who've spent their entire lives in faster environments to accept that some people work and go home instead of hitting happy hour or the mall after work.

Not sure if you're passive aggressively referring to me, but it's not like I'm assuming these families buy the same overpriced clothes/food that I buy , I'm just talking about basic living expenses.

They're still paying for gas and car-related expenses (way more than I pay if they're living in a rural area since I walked to work back when I actually had to come into the office and I didn't have a loan on my car), still paying mortgage/homeowners insurance/property taxes if they own a house, but the biggest thing that makes no sense to me is how they can support two kids on $55,000 a year.

For all the unnecessary that I buy, I'd still think a kid is going to cost more. Diapers, baby formula, daycare (if both parents are working), a bunch of clothes that don't last very long before he/she grows out of them, school supplies, food, etc.