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“Bernie’s most important job is being a very reasonable thing that the people want and the establishment refuses to let them have. Force them to kill his run openly and you can wake more people up to the reality that they’re not living in the kind of nation they thought they were.”
Better and more efficient would be good. I remember when then Senator Kent Conrad from North Dakota identified 20 different government agencies/programs where two, three, four were doing just about the same thing. His idea was to combine and eliminate. Take a program or agency were there were three and cut it to one. Those 20 or so programs, agencies could be cut to 5 or 6. But no one was willing to touch it. Whether it was agencies or programs, I'm not sure. That was quite awhile ago.
It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.
The only people advocating communism are the Communist Party of America. All the "left" in America is advocating is a slightly more progressive new deal like Norway or indeed most of Europe. They are FDR New Dealers. Or Eisenhower Republicans!
Single-payer is not radical: It will help us compete with the rest of the developed world. Free higher education for those capable is pretty common all over the world. Again, it could help us compete with the rest of the countries that do that.
Better and more efficient would be good. I remember when then Senator Kent Conrad from North Dakota identified 20 different government agencies/programs where two, three, four were doing just about the same thing. His idea was to combine and eliminate. Take a program or agency were there were three and cut it to one. Those 20 or so programs, agencies could be cut to 5 or 6. But no one was willing to touch it. Whether it was agencies or programs, I'm not sure. That was quite awhile ago.
Guess what? When Bernie and the rest of the Left call to eliminate ICE, they're not saying that they want to eliminate border protection, they're saying ICE is just another BLOATED and CORRUPT agency doing a job that was already being done before ICE existed. We HAVE a border patrol and customs. ICE is simply not necessary.
Conservatives should be in favor of such an idea.
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As of 5 Feb you can go to question 38 to see how the candidates stand or getting their support from whites, blacks, Hispanics. Now this is nationwide. It is also dynamic and changes week to week.
Over the last three weeks, Biden's support among blacks has dropped from 55% down to the listed 43%. Sanders and Warren have fluxuated between 10-14% each among blacks. Blacks who have left Biden haven't gone to either one. The big winner or who the blacks have went is Bloomberg, he has went from 0% up to 12%.
The lowering of black support for Biden is big in my opinion. That doesn't make him a sure winner in states where the black primary vote is 35% or more. Winning over half of blacks in those states while the rest of the field split the white vote was exactly where Biden's hopes lied.
Some early states where the non-white Democratic Primary vote can be decisive. These figures are from 2016 thanks to Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball Report.
Nevada 36% South Carolina 57% Georgia 56% Alabama 57% Texas 54% North Carolina 38% Tennessee 34% Virginia 38% Louisiana 52% Mississippi 52% Illinois 43%
Last edited by perotista; 02/10/2002:36 PM.
It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.
You are right, single payer is not radical. not only that but it will cost less and is financially responsible. The problem is that "socialism" thing which we debated to exhaustion months ago. Now, however, its coming true and just may cause the Dems to lose. I am not trying to start an argument here, just mentioning what I have been seeing.
The problems with single payer are daunting. The reason is that it threatens much of the healthcare industries. To run a real single payer system you must control and regulate ALL OF HEALTHCARE! The whole thing. It will be VERY hard to get through the congress. When Obamacare became law it was, basically, the last legislation that Obama was actually allowed by the Republicans. I watched the write up of that and the Republicans actually wrote about half of Obamacare (and then refused to vote for it).
I am not sure how to put in a single payer system. I should also add that there are a number of different single payer systems. That being the case I am not even really sure what is meant, other than the taxes picking up all the tabs. The problem is that is just not that simple. The last healthcare system was put in by Switzerland. Its pretty different from all the others. It says, basically (there is a lot more to it than the following) that insurance companies may continue to underwrite healthcare IF they supply a basic healthcare for all customers at their expense. (then there are controls, etc) The result of their healthcare plan is that insurance companies kinda took over all the hospitals. I am simply suggesting that "single payer healthcare" is a lot more complicated than one might think.
Its also interesting about northern Europe. Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, etc. are all called "socialist". However, that being said they all have different types of government, healthcare, etc. They do have tax supported services, including healthcare, but they are all different!
My reason for saying this is that phrases like; "single payer healthcare" sounds simple - it is NOT!
I should also mention that our current healthcare system is responsible for the auto industry in Canada. They moved a lot of production up there because they had a single payer system so that industry didn't have to go broke paying for healthcare insurance. I have always thought that was interesting.
I am not sure how to put in a single payer system.
No one is. But by expanding Medicare and Medicaid we can ease ourselves into it. I expect the ACA to play a big part in it too.
It's like boiling frogs. You have to turn the temperature up slowly or they will jump out of the pot.
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My reason for saying this is that phrases like; "single payer healthcare" sounds simple - it is NOT!
President Trump thought it was simple. "Everybody will be insured! We'll have policies...the best policies!"
Turns out that, like Puerto Rico, it was surrounded by water and hard to get to. So he abandoned it.
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Its also interesting about northern Europe. Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, etc. are all called "socialist". However, that being said they all have different types of government, healthcare, etc. They do have tax supported services, including healthcare, but they are all different!
Yes, different countries, different laws, but all social democracies. All listed among the happiest countries in the world, Health insurance, paid time off, free college, living wages. Food security.
Things that Americans can't have. Because FREEDOM.
Or just go for it, if there is enough political support. Canada, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, etc. Just pick one and copy it. They all seem to work. They all seem to be able to afford their system. You can't say it's impossible or we can't afford it, because there they all are.
The US has mostly moved away from bill-for-service already. Most people are on HMO insurance so a whole group of doctors are getting paid so much per capita. Copays just keep people from going to the doctor every day. The shock would be that a few industries would not be raking in billions all of a sudden. Like Big Pharma, and health insurers. But they would still be making a reasonable amount.
