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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Including private competition in this context is not good for the consumer, quite the opposite. In America at-least 50% of the political spectrum is fanatically devoted to deregulation, if we allow private entities to exist within the healthcare system then they will inevitably try their hardest to claw back into a position of primacy.
No, healthcare is one of those things that are just too crucial to permit the profit motive to touch. I'd vastly prefer the potential inefficiency of a state program to the racketeering intrinsic to private competition. The costs of the latter far outweigh the costs of the former.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Mar 18th 2019 at 9:32:04 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangPlus, Medicare and Medicaid are currently far more cost-effective than any private alternative. In fact, the US is incredibly cost-inefficient when compared to other countries on health care. Other countries with single-payer or nationalised healthcare.
This competition drives down prices argument simply does not apply to all sectors.
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."Trump is actually a socialist.
Now before you spit out your drinks and prepare angry rebuttals, I'm pretty sure this article is at least partly satire, and the author should have used "communist" rather than "socialist". Basically, pointing out how Trump demanding GM to reopen the factory they shuttered is blatantly against free market ideals, and is more akin to Stalinist/Maoist state control of industry.
It's just funny, sad, and infuriating how Trump can just trample all over conservative ideals and the right just lap it up, like mindless drones.
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I already lost respect for her when she peddled that "DNC rigged primaries" bullshit before walking it back (I lost respect for Warren when she jumped on that bandwagon too).
This move has simply further vindicated my contempt.
Edited by M84 on Mar 19th 2019 at 12:56:22 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedI was watching an Extra Sci-Fi
video, and one of their videos about Dune goes into problems with leadership. Sharing it because I felt it has some real parallels to the Democratic primaries, and specifically some of the candidates who've thrown their names in the ring. To quote the part I found most important:
...
He serves as our warning against good people leading us because of who they are rather than what they are doing. Even the most well-intentioned make mistakes and make compromises they don't desire in order to survive in the world of politics. If we let their personality and a few flashy performances distract us from holding them accountable for the decisions they make and what, at the end of the day, they actually do, we all suffer - as those who followed the Atreides found out.
Absolutely, we shouldn't be conned into supporting a vapid candidate who offers nothing concrete (*cough* Beto *cough) and we shouldn't vote for a candidate who offers cancerous rot disguised as beneficial policies (*cough* Bloomberg *cough*). Still, I feel confident that overall the roster has much better then worse.
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangCome on, people of Iowa, don't dig your heels in and re-elect this guy yet again. You CAN do better.
Edited by speedyboris on Mar 18th 2019 at 3:07:10 AM
King did get kicked off the committees he was on, which is pretty much the strongest sanction he can face short of expulsion. He'll also face a primary challenger ... although the challenge in question is more motivated by his perceived inefficiency (not being on any committee is really bad for a lawmaker) than for ethics reasons.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanI feel you, we call the entire institution Congress but only the Representatives in the House are congressmen/women? It's completely illogical!
Agreed, it's not quite accurate to say that he hasn't faced any consequences.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Mar 18th 2019 at 1:56:09 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang"Congressman" can refer to a member of the House or the Senate. A Senator is in the Senate, and a Representative is in the House, but "representative" is ambiguous so they're often just called a "member of the House". If the term "Congressman" is used without qualification, they're probably in the House, as there are more people in the House to begin with and "Senator" is already a neat, unambiguous term for "member of the Senate" that will probably be used instead.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

Also, either King didn't notice or didn't care that Iowa is on the blue side of that Civil War picture.