Here's What's Going to Happen
This is from a friend of mine and I'm curious as to what the community thinks:
The Republicans now get their golden opportunity to institute their austerity programs (read “breaking the backs of the middle class to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy under the guise of fiscal responsibility”).
The current economic expansion which started in July of 2009 is into its last phases as evidenced by the fat state of lagging economic indicators, most significantly the employment rate (unemployment which peaked at 10% in Oct 2009 is now below %5). The Republicans’ austerity programs will be centered on reducing “entitlements” which make up a huge part of government expenditures. This will have a profound impact on consumer spending which makes up around 70% of the US economy. This reduction in consumer spending will coincide with the natural economic cycle which will be coming full circle within the next 12-18 months at most. (According to the National Bureau of Economic Research the average duration of US economic expansion post-WWII is about five years). In 24-30 months the economy will be in a solid downward trajectory due to the normal economic cycle exacerbated by huge cuts in entitlement spending. In three years the unemployment rate will be back well above 8%.
The economy will be in shambles by the next general election and the blame will lie directly at the feet of the Republican party.
Obamacare will be gutted. It cannot be repealed wholesale because only the financial parts of it that can be killed by passing the Senate through reconciliation will get stripped out leaving many mandates that will now be “unfunded” via government taxes and subsidies. The insurance companies will refuse to continue in the business under these conditions (they were the only reason the health insurance companies allowed Obamacare to pass in the first place). The health insurance business will collapse and we’ll be left with not just 20 Million people losing their health coverage, the numbers will be much, much larger. At that point perhaps we wind up with what would be the only viable solution; Medicare for everyone, just like Bernie proposed.
Health care in America will be in shambles by the next general election and the blame will lie directly at the feet of the Republican party.
The Clinton political machine has been destroyed. Trump’s mandate is paper-thin, having lost the popular vote, and it is all but guaranteed that conservatives will be hoisted upon their own petard (see above). The demographics of the nation continue to trend Progressive. In four years America will be desperately looking for answers and a new direction. It won’t be Bernie, but the table has been set. It’s just going to be awhile before the dinner bell rings. Hunker down.
That is all.
Comments
There is a lot of doom and gloom going around
predictions of the apocalypse even. Trump is already backing away from ACA dismantling and Clinton prosecuting.
For once I think it is really a case of wait and see, I know what the Republicans would like to do, I'm not sure what Trump wants to do apart from play golf.
Trump won't need to dismantle the ACA, as it is about
to implode on itself.
Even when it was passed, its proponents admitted it was just the start, and would need serious upgrading. If Obama had given half the desperate fuck about his legacy that the conventional wisdom suggests is now his primary concern, then every fucking waking moment from the moment of its passage until now should have been devoted to electorally demolishing the Republicans from one shore of this nation to the other.
Jesus, the haplessness of these people boggles the mind.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Question:
Why can't the ACA proceed indefinitely? Sure, people will gradually stop buying insurance at outrageous prices, and more and more people will pay outrageous mandate penalties. Bankruptcy rates will go up. But the system can handle that. So I don't see why the ACA can't just proceed indefinitely.
“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon
Fair enough.
I suppose I was referring more to the system imploding in terms of it actually doing anything useful for people who need healthcare.
But then, as soon as it gets to the point where enough people are dissatisfied with it and not participating, the Republicans will be able to repeal it wholesale, without fear of an electoral backlash.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Rather than Obama Care, it should be renamed...
Obamanation Care. It better describes the true nature of the program.
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush
When everyone goes bankrupt,
there less taxes for them to loot. So at what point does the golden goose (middle class) just keel over.
In CT the cheapest ACA bronze plan is $8000 per year. I'd say we are getting real close.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
I support single payer, but was interested to see this study
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Are you snarking or do you believe that
Neoliberal Brookings Inst study?
When ACA passed , US healthcare cost 2X,3X,4X what healthcare cost in other industrialized nations. And it is ranked as 29th (IIRC) in quality. And it just went up 25% nationwide this year. Seriously, I'm not eating that dog food.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Hear! hear!
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Nobody is trying to get you to swallow a damn thing.
Hey, your reaction was off base and insulting. No need for that, I didn't attack anyone or disagree with anyone with posting that. What's your problem?
But whatever. Take a look around, people here are looking at all manner of different sources for news these days that we would have never looked at in the past. Sheesh.
Look, I have been really critical of ACA from the get go over the years at TOP and surprised you don't remember that but my comment history is still there. Any time the front page had an article crowing about ACA I had a contrarian quote from Physicians for a National Health Plan or National Nurses.
But this individual study from Brookings did raise important points for RIGHT NOW TODAY in the face of Single Payer efforts which failed in two states last week, and Ryan announcing that the Disaster Capitalism first up move in January is to privatize Medicare and do away with ACA.
ACA left millions uncovered and I will never forgive the Dems for it.
But just now my stomach roils at how many will die and go bankrupt if that happens. I have relatives who will suffer from this. If Medicare goes private, I will suffer from these moves.
From the article:
So what are we going to do next?
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2016/november/health-care-in-the-age-of-trump
Posted on: Saturday, November 12, 2016
Health Care in the Age of Trump
There is no uniquely Trumpian health care agenda. The danger is the enactment of the GOP’s reactionary proposals.
By Adam Gaffney, M.D.
Jacobin, Nov. 11, 2016
SNIP
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
It was not meant to insult you
It was meant to insult Brookings that likes to pretend that it is a beacon of progressive thought -- when in fact it is Neoliberal stink tank. Sorry you took it as an attack on you.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Thanks. IMO the study does raise some good points imo,
even though it is from a place that is know for it's war mongering etc.
I feel for those like my sibling who works construction and has no insurance, no social security pay in, no hope for medicare.
At any rate will just have to keep plugging and educating for single payer.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
The Health Exchanges may 'survive' in wealthier
areas of the country, but it came close to completely failing this year in several of the poorest locales. It took last minute wheeling and dealing to maintain even one provider in several regions. IIRC, one of those was in New Mexico or Arizona, to best of my recollection. And, as we all know--premiums skyrocketed in many regions.
IOW, we may go back to what we had before--only well-heeled folks who can afford the Exchange premiums, or those folks who can afford their employer-sponsored group health plans, will be insured.
Eventually, insurers will pull out of the markets that aren't profitable enough. Remember, they have an ever-growing, captive private market of seniors to gouge. As I understand it, Medicare Advantage is now about 25% of the Medicare population--and Paul Ryan could give a major assist to insurers, with his plans to voucherize Medicare--and possibly throw millions more seniors, and persons with disabilities in their direction.
That's why UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Aetna, and other have already begun an exodus out of some of the ACA markets.
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Not if... When the ACA impodes
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
After all, Trump used to be a Democrat.
Democrats used to be Democrats too.
If Trump was serious about getting the insurer middle men out of the health care system, and he's willing to buck the troglodyte faction of his party to pursue it, we could be pleasantly surprised. We really have very little to go on with a President who has never governed.
I'm happy to wait and see, we really have no other choice, do we? With Hillary the future would be less uncertain, but no less of a shit show than what Trump and our next Congress likely have in store for us.
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
I once read a terrific article about the concept of health
providers providing direct care and advertising their rates, I'll have to see if I can rustle it up.
It pointed out that of the biggest issues in health care is that no one has any idea what any particular procedure will cost - that a standard knee replacement surgery had gigantic swings in cost depending on what hospital was doing the procedure and who was paying, an insurance company or an individual. Individuals ended up paying far more because they didn't have the protections of a rate negotiated in advance by an insurance company representing a group and some hospitals were guilty of wild profiteering.
A "free market" without insurance probably would reduce costs due to competition but it leaves unaddressed what happens if there are complications, also drug costs are not subject to competition unless a generic exists and on a free market, even lowered costs would be too much to bear for an individual.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
I think there was an article
I think there was an article about that in The Atlantic 5-8 years ago. The author may have been writing about dealing with health care for his aged and infirm father.
I've read stories about people going in and offering to pay cash on the barrel head, sidestepping the insurance morass, and suddenly the $30K procedure could be had for $5K (numbers for example only).
Of course that ignores that many people don't have the luxury of shopping around between 5-10 hospitals and having cash on hand to qualify for a big discount.
In 1993 Money magazine had an article about the then US
health care pricing system. It said that hospitals charged Medicare 100% of the actual cost, that the uninsured were charged 50% of the actual cost - because that was the "sweet spot" where the maximum percentage of people would actually pay, and that private insurance was charged 2x the actual cost to make up for the uninsured.
Then Hillarycare came along. Now insurance companies "negotiate" prices and the uninsured are charged 5x what the insurance companies pay.
On to Biden since 1973
Two Words
Mike Pence.
He will be the real president, not Trump. The Party will insist, and if he doesn't like it, they can impeach him just as fast as they would have impeached Hillary.
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
I don't believe that
Trump is no stooge. He won this election BY HIMSELF. It's impressive. We'll see what happens...
A La Mussolini
I wonder what gas station will host Trump''s corpse?
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
Excellent point!
SNL caught that at the end of their skit about the final debate where "Hillary's" summation is that the American people have a choice between a Republican and Trump.
Ba-dump-bump-shuh...
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
Convince Trump Voters to push back against Ryan !
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Who the Hell are people trying to fool? Millions of us are
already living way below the poverty line and under the Big Dollar Dems (who have plenty of money for bankers and war). It wasn't about to improve one iota under the Clinton creature. The difference between 'evil' and 'the lesser evil' today is barely noticeable. The Clinton creature was talking about giving Wall Street a percentage of the public's hard earned money that goes toward SS for 'investing'. She had all kinds of ideas on how to 'strengthen' SS but all of them somehow ended up to the benefit of the Democratic Party's real constituency who can be described as the Wall Street Masters of the Universe.
The ACA is imploding on itself thanks to what a crap legislation it was. How many are FORCED to purchase something they can't use? Paul Ryan doesn't scare me. Or the masses who take the hit at tax time and get 'fined' for not having the money to sign up because the premiums are too high and they're getting higher every damn year. Or if they do sign up the deductibles are so high it does no good anyway? There's an old saying about not being able to get blood from a stone. You can't get affordable healthcare from a Republican or a BDD either.
And how about meds? I go weeks at a time without mine. Half the time my oldest kid ends up having to pay for them. I've had 8 mini strokes and two major strokes. My neighbor gave me a blood pressure monitor so that I know when I'm in big trouble and he has to take me to the doctor if my kids can't do it. I'm thousands and thousands of dollars in debt for medical bills I'll never be able to pay. AND AGAIN, THERE ARE MILLIONS OF OTHER AMERICANS IN THE SAME LEAKY LIFEBOAT
I have $200 every month to pay my bills and buy necessities. I am always broke by the time the first week of the month is over. I lost my last job because the hospital I worked for was sold. I was the bookkeeper for the company that handled all the food related services for Creighton Med Center/St Joseph's Hospital. The new owners, Alegent Health, chose not to honor the contract that the hospital had with Sodexo. The hospital only kept the people who delivered the trays to the room and the rest of us were let go. I also have a Paralegal Degree that I got with honors. But I am 67 years old. I have applied for hundreds of jobs that I could do in my sleep. All I get is occasional temp work. I have a food allowance of approximately $3 a day, but there is no way to live on that when a fucking can of tomato soup now costs almost $2 although I have learned that I can stretch that $3 out a little farther if I do all my shopping at Family Dollar. AND AGAIN, THERE ARE MILLIONS LIKE ME OUT THERE. I deserve NO special pity or concern myself because I am representative of millions who live like this. Many many many are younger than me.
You have no idea how many of my son's friends are in the same boat. He is too because his car insurance, car payment, and necessities keep him broke and unable to afford anything. He is forced to live with me even though he wants a place of his own. He s 23 and he is angry and so are his friends. When I was young people like them had manufacturing and construction jobs they could get and make a livable wage. Now they're all fighting over the low-paying menial/manual labor jobs that out there that involve changing sheets, changing tires, or flipping burgers. The construction jobs and lawn care jobs and the other manual labor jobs here in Lower Hooterville are all taken by immigrant labor who work for below poverty wages. And because they'll do that work and never complain, they are who get those jobs. Being a young (or any age for that matter) white OR BLACK working class man or woman has become a negative now because employers don't want people around who might think that they should get a fair wage. That is why immigrant workers are the preference of todays employer in my neck of the woods. (I have NO PROBLEM with hiring immigrant labor. They deserve to be able to earn a living. I have a BIG PROBLEM when they are used against Americans to avoid paying a decent wage.) Paul Ryan isn't going to do anything different than the Big Dollar Dems have done and would have continued to do if they had the opportunity, The only difference is MAYBE in the degree to which the screws are put to us. None of this would have been possible without the Clintons and last time I looked, they aren't officially Republicans. They call themselves Neo-liberal Democrats instead.
I'm not running around scared shitless because I'm already in that place that the Big Dollar Dems think I should be in. And I don't have much pity for a lot of the people who are going to find out what it's like because they continued to believe and support the BDDs long after they came out of the closet and revealed themselves to be predatory capitalists exactly like the Romney's and the Koch boys. I shocked and appalled a lot of people when I would tell them that Barack Obama was a fraud and we were played and that TPTB did it by calling him the first 'black' president. They got very upset when I pointed out that his mother's family was white, well off, and he was raised by his banker grandmother and never had to do without in his entire life. You might not like what I just said, but he's still playing on his skin color. He recently said:
***
Snippet from CNN 11/2 article
Obama to black voters: Trump would undo my legacy
"And I know that there are a lot of people in barbershops and beauty salons, you know, in the neighborhoods who are saying to themselves, 'We love Barack, we love -- we especially love Michelle, and so, you know, it was exciting and now we're not as excited as much.' You know what? I need everybody to understand that everything we've done is dependent on me being able to pass the baton to somebody who believes in the same things I believe in," Obama said.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/02/politics/barack-obama-black-voters-donald-...
End of snippet from CNN 11/2 article
***
What legacy was he talking about? Why his trade agreements, of course. Trade agreements which would have hurt blacks, whites, Native American, Hispanics, and every one in between. Old Hopey-Changey was one of the most foul of the Big Dollar Dems because he played on the hopes, needs, and dreams of those that have the least and he worked for the benefit for those that have the most.
So if I am not showing the proper amount of terror in regard to what Trump and the Repubbies might do to us, that's because as the results of the recent election shows, millions of us already live it.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Great rant, but not sure why you said it in reply to my
comment encouraging people to jack with Trump supporters and pressure Repubs to leave Medicare alone.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
You did not address me
But that happens to me often. I will be addressing a comment and it turns up either on the main thread or in a different comment. (Not saying it happened here.)
And then there was that time one of us sent a text to a friend and it showed up here and we all went crazy and called the police. Don't ask.
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.
Whoa!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I don't know why it's where it is. I have been known to
post things in the wrong place before but this was just supposed to be a general comment on Paul Ryan and also on how bad things really are already contrary to anything Hopey-Changey says.
But the first time I tried to post THIS response I got about half a sentence out and the the screen went white and I ended up at the top of the list again. Could be my computer, but if it isn't I don't know what's going on.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Jeeze. I just tried to go the the Essay List and I looked up and
I'm back here AGAIN.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Privatizing healthcare
I remember when Bush II tried to privatize SS back in 2005 with a House and Senate majority and that went no where. Paul Ryan is part one guy and there would be too much pressure brought by voters that put them back in the majority that use these programs. They would be risking their political necks for sure. Over 55 million people use SS and medicare. I don't believe it would get the votes to pass. Suggesting stuff like this cost them (the republicans) both the House and Senate in the 2006 elections.
Heidi Foglia
Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, GWB
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690175/
Kaiser Foundation: The Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefit
So much for your major new federal entitlement. Thanks Obama? I don't know who else.
Peace
That's right
the Republicans are "conveniently" forgetting that half of their voters are on Social Security and Medicare.
On to Biden since 1973
A recession may even impact the mid terms
Which would be good, especially if Bernie can take over the party and start up a 50 state strategy.
If not, I hope the Greens or Casses Working Class Party can provide a reasonable alternative.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
The country needs new blood.
I don't want to see Bernie taking over anything. I have no problem with him being involved but it's time to dispense with anybody from the old guard running anything.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Yeah, I mean old people are clearly the problem.
We should probably just kill everyone over 25, because they are all just a fucking waste of space.
Geez, there is no hope for this country! I left KOS so I could escape this sort of devisive bullshit.
If you are lucky enough to become old, I wonder, will you then just rail against the young?
Peace out, tmp.
Whoa!!
Picknick said "old guard", not "old people".
and then singled out a 75 year old man
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
Kinda hard not to mention older people.
When discussing the old guard:
Bernie Sanders - 75
Hillary Clinton - 69
Harry Reid - 76
Nancy Pelosi - 76
Dianne Feinstein - 83
Joe Biden - 73
Chuck Shumer - 65
John Kerry - 72
Howard Dean - 67
You are the one bringing divisive bullshit to c99.
By pressing your hyperbole to the extremes of absurdity.
No one here will acknowledge that they are engaged in such a conversation, since it came entirely out of your defensive, resentful head.
The folks at c99 are sticking very close to the reality that is unfolding before us. They are not scrambling to deny it because it does not match their inner ideology. They are stoically metabolizing it to become the change that is needed.
Here's where you derailed:
This author is more correct than she probably realizes
Thanks.
But where did you get idea that he was a she?
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
As I was finishing the comment
…I glanced upthread to recall the author. I saw just the flowers so I used "she." I was moving fast.
After I posted, I looked closer and saw your name, a familiar one to me. I had to smile. Even though I edited the comment twice, I left the "she" alone. Just to see.
I would describe the author as spot on . . .
However, I would quibble by saying I don't think of Bernie as old guard.
You have to be on guard to be a part of the old guard,
and no progressive, certainly not Bernie has been that.
I am not happy that Bernie conceded and endorsed her, but his agency and policy proposals were right on. He's been around the block enough times to know where the bombs are. I think we need good 'ol Bernie and a whole bunch of new guard to bury the old guard, which doesn't include Bernie.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Re the new guard from his campaign are looking for nominees
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Electing amatuers won't help.
It will just increase the influence of K Street. Now if you new Congress consists of former state reps and state senators ...
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
A salient point, indeed.
Tested at the local level, strengthen at the state level, and then (if still not corrupted by the existing structure) promoted to the national stage. This is the way politics should operate. If we can stop the influence peddling that has become institutionalized we could have a real functioning government in this country.
Like their isn't a lack of ethics at the state level
where do you think establishment party hacks learn the ropes that allow themselves to be elevated to congress?
srsly?
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
Really. We have tried that for the last 30 years
and go no where but downhill. Nope, time for some new people to create a new way.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Were you replying to PriceRip?
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
I will take it, Roger
If you were replying to me (If not, please disregard). I started in 1972 with George McGovern losing to Tricky Dicky. We were supposed to learn that we could never elect a left wing democrat. So, for me the "we have tried that for the last (well that would be 44) years" was about never being able to elect someone like Bernie. In my time in the scene I have never observed a coordinated effort by progressives to develop a "deep bench". In fact, in the last 44 years I haven't seen progressives get coordinated to produce an real coherent anything.
I am that tiresome jerk in the corner than keeps asking everybody to please let's agree on at least one little thing before we call it a night. Surprisingly, I have seen (and been a part of) coalition building in Nebraska, of all places. I know it can be done. I just don't know how to take the temporally and spatially restricted examples and scale them to a national scale. Maybe it's a Nebraska only kind of thing.
I wasn't talking about policy
I was talking about experience. What good is it to elect a bunch of amateurs who don't know the process and don't know how to write a bill. If they accomplish anything it will be to pass a bill with so many holes the courts will throw it out.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I am not seeing " old people"
in Pricknicks comment I see old guard, That being said many in the old guard are old there are plenty in their 70s and even 80s and if you think people in this age group have the same stamina they had when they were younger you would be lying to yourself. Not that I don't think they have a useful purpose in society. There is a reason the retirement age is 65 (For most, and younger in many countries) and why there is a mandatory retirement age in many professions. Nothing pisses me off more than old people refusing to retire and give the younger generations a chance. BTW I am not talking about the older people that can't retire, that's another problem in itself and I'm pushing 60 and wont be able to retire anytime soon.
Our social contract is failing
For older people to be able to retire from paid employment and take their place as "elders", there has to be a functioning social contract that supports them in doing so. Our social contract is failing.
I'm speaking as someone who's in her early 60s. There's some strong longevity DNA in my family, people living into their 90s and even past 100. I could be around for another 30 years. What's that going to look like for me, I wonder? What am I going to do to contribute to society and to take care of myself, during the years in which my physical body will not be as resilient as it used to be?
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
with you there
the problem I see is there is no way to support my family without working myself to death. great choices here in the land of the donors...
I am the old guard.
I will retire soon (as if I haven't already).
My position requires a sharp mind and agile body. A life or even lives may be at stake if I make a mistake.
I will turn my duties over to those with sharper, younger minds and do my best to teach them.
But I will never tell them what to do. You can lead a horse to water.
Isn't this a great site!
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Really? Bernie is 'old guard' to you?
Not in my estimation.
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
Sorry as of Nov 9th
Bernie is the most important/powerful Democrat in Washington. And hes not even a Dem. Buwhahahahaha ......Bernie wants Ellison and Schumer says yeah sure, Ellison it is.
Suddenly Nina Tuner is being asked to run for Gov.
And Tulsi Gabbard should run for US Senate.
Suddenly Brand New Congress and Our Revolution are our best hope for 2017 and 2018.
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
Roger that
https://www.thenation.com/article/is-brand-new-congress-the-future-of-pr...
Is Brand New Congress the Future of Progressive Politics?
By D.D. GuttenplanTwitter
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I wonder if Bernie brokered that support of Ellison
by agreeing not to challenge Schumer for Minority Leader (which he would lose anyhow) but rather saying he would run for some other leadership position. Obviously getting a true progressive in the DNC leadership role is crucial to future control of the party...a truly wise move IMO.
The pick of Ellison highlights diversity & a new fundraising
model, or a funding makeover--by mostly small dollar contributions. IOW, a mechanism which is more reflective of Main Street, than Wall Street.
From WaPo,here's an excerpt,
and,
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
That's what the McGovern people said
And it only took them 5 years to turn America into smoking , glowing rubble.
On to Biden since 1973
No doubt austerity will be in the air.
Remember, we're coming up on 20 Trillion in national debt. Trump has already indicated that and said that he'd exempt the military. Same old thing. As far as the economy, could happen. The economy is a house of cards and could come down at any time. It appears to have been super inflated by Wall Street and the Fed Reserve more than it was prior to the 08 recession. But I don't see that happening within 24-30 months because of entitlement cuts. If they do cut entitlements, they'll phase in the cuts and the effects will take longer than that to significantly affect the economy. And cuts made down below end up going to those at the top so the economy could just keep morphing into a served and server setup. Have's and have nots. I have a yacht, you clean it and cook my meals.
The worst part that is true - "In four years America will be desperately looking for answers and a new direction". More like about 2 and 1/2 years when the next election starts and unfortunately that's all most Americans will do between now and then, just wait to elect someone else. That could change should Trump not make it out of his first year.
The more they fuck everybody over, the
more slit their throats in two years. The voters took the Democrats down and next in line is the GOP. There is revolt in the air, and we are seeing it.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I don’t think the “2nd amendment remedies” crowd would
take very kindly to Trump double-crossing them the way people looking to Obama for change were double-crossed.
Trump = #TOOTR (The Obama of the Right) ?
I agree that they wouldn't. And, they will know it,
if/when he does. (double-cross them, that is)
OTOH, I seriously doubt that DT has any plans/inclination to want to serve a second term, so I'm concerned that he won't be in the least bit intimidated by his supporters' displeasure with him.
And, from what I'm reading, I believe that his Crew will hit the ground running. Other than Paul Ryan, economic analyst Larry Kudlow, one of WJC's and John Podesta's old cronies from Yale, is one of his advisors who most frightens me--whew!
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stash
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Personally
I think that 2018 will be a tsunami year, when the Democratic Party is finally, completely, permanently obliterated. Then the Republican's turn will come in 2020. At least that's what I hope - if the Dems makea comeback in 2018 it will be the corrupt wing.
On to Biden since 1973
And during this period I will die . . .
. . . because my transition to retirement funded by the now defunct social "security" will make me homeless . . . no funding for education means I will not be able to get a job doing the only thing I have ever done . . . the collapse of medical insurance will make getting my meds impossible . . . Ha, maybe I will go fast as every artery explodes!
Yes, the important thing is what will happen to actual people...
lots of them! Just saw a clip of Jane Sanders replying to Wolf Blitzer's question as to Bernie's running in 2020. She told him it was exactly the wrong question to be asking...they are focused on 2017 and helping people to overcome fear and suffering. She did add that they'd be glad to talk about the issues every day but that didn't elicit much response from Wolf.
Precisely
I wish the MSM would focus on the Jane Sanders's among us. The lack of response from Blitzer (and others) is sad but unfortunately all too predictable.
Please don't leave us! I like your style.
This is going to be an interesting ride. I am 63 and am trying to calm down those younger. To focus. Make plans. Who knew that some elders could be relatively collected about this? It's going to be strange. I am still in Don't Panic.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
It because we have seen
and survived a lot. I hope your younger ones are reacting better than mine. Yesterday one acussed me of having become a fan of Presidente Trump,whereas I challenged her to point out where I had defended Trump. I don't know what she found because I flung my phone away after turning it off.
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.
You have my condolences
My daughter and I are in accord on these issues. When my daughter stared down death, I was the one to put a hole through a lath-and-plaster wall. I can be one tough son of a bitch when rage takes over.
Editorial Note: Don't try the hand through the wall bit unless you know what you are doing. It is great for venting frustration, but I wouldn't want someone here hurting themselves on my account.
We have talked during the intervening months, and have come to the conclusion that we cannot let the bastards get us down, but it is tough. I get really pissed when some clueless jerk describes Millennials as entitled and self-absorbed. Someday one of those jerks is going to speak out when one of us is nearby . . .
I have a dent in a hollow-core door from husband's head or fist
I really do not want to think of that time at all. He is dead, so memory erase. It was not that bad, except I realize I accommodated. Holy moly. My kids (adults) suffered, one more than the other. But both functional and productive cogs now!
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Agree with you on the milennials
I know a few great ones.
My younger one was my little sister, a grown ass woman. My sons and I mostly agree politically, except they voted for Her as the lesser evil. But even if we did not agree they are very even tempered and rational. Me not so much but when talking with my sons I never lose my temper. I am in awe of them.
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.
C'mon, it's Wolf Blitzer, for Cat's sake!
It's Wolf Blitzer! What the F did you expect?
Now, if Herr Blitzer had responded significantly, we'd have worries coming!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Lol! Neither I nor Jane expected anything else,but
I'm sure sheacceptedthe invitation knowing what would be asked and planning her response and push back toward the issues. Why not accept and get air time to push progressive values?
Channeling my best Alan Grayson
"Die quickly"
It really is a policy of theirs (Republicans).
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
I will jump in here . . .
While you were not replying to me directlyI would like to highlight this very important point.A few years ago I watched a good friend die precisely because of these policies.
Recently, I had a very disturbing conversation concerning these very issues with someone very close to me.
As I have stated elsewhere: There are people dying on the streets because of public policies and general ennui on the part of the "powers that be". Pull yourselves up my your own bootstraps. Yea, right! With your jackboot on my neck.
Parent/Child relationships are not always clear to me.
hence the:
It really is
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Do Tell Alan Grayson
He could use some anecdotes from Realityland to support his assertion about the Republican medical plan.
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
I would be glad to testify.
I live in Reality. I know a LOT of republicans. When you cut through all the rhetorical bullshit, Alan Grayson's synopsis of the Republican Plan is spot on.
I looks like Pence is going to be running the show, so all I can
say is be ready for a whole lot of ugly. The announcement of him running the transition team came after Trump said he didn't want to dismantle the ACA. This may be the party reining him in. Pence will follow the party line, while Trump is a wild card as he has already proven.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Why would Repubs dismantle ACA?
Forget the campaign speeches. That was just shit you say to get elected.
ACA is a windfall law for their masters Big Insurance, Big Pharma, Big Health, etc. The most expensive product you buy is mandated and increasing 25% per year. They will just chip away at the few good things the law does.
And Repubs now have all three branches of the govt. Believe me, there are enough Neoliberal Dems to go along with their plans to further loot the taxpayers.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
True. And the ACA is just warmed-over RomneyCare
anyway. And I am absolutely certain that those elected as Democrats will go right along with anything that will benefit the 1% to our detriment. Congress is not the friend of the 99%.
My one hope is that Dems will use threats to Medicare and SS as a rallying point against the GOP. They may be willing to kill it with a Democrat in the White House, but they make a good blunt object to use against Republicans, so they may get a reprieve for 8 years. Dems are just too weak, intentionally so IMO, to mount a serious challenge for the WH before then.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Probably would repeal expanded Medicaid
It would go along with their privatization. Also probably would repeal the subsidies (balancing the budget). I agree that the mandate to buy private insurance would continue.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Naw, if they did the whole thing would fall apart
Gov subsidies go to their insurance buddies. They'll get rid of those pesky well women's exams, mammograms and birth control though for starters.
Not for Medicaid
But they might privatize Medicaid and allow only Medicare advantage.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
The Voice In . . ., repealing subsidies is one of the 'reforms'
that Ryan has espoused in the past.
IIRC, it is not a total repeal of ACA premium subsidies; however, instead of the eligibility being extended to individuals whose income is 400% of the FPL, it would be limited to either 200% or 300% of FPL.
(There are varying proposals.)
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
K Conway said on Sunday show that DT's Admin would repeal tax
penalties.
Dunno, but that sounds like they're going to amend the ACA by abolishing the 'mandate,' among other measures.
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
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