Off Topic - Donald Trump and US politics - Forum

" pneuma wrote: " ChanBalam wrote: Hell yeah! It's only the old, crippled and people stupid enough to get sick who need health care. The sooner we let them die off the better off we will all be. There is an amount after which it becomes necessary to let people die off. If we can't talk about that, then healthcare is on a trend toward infinite cost, full stop. In addition: - How much of your money would you spend on saving your own life? - How much of someone else's money would you spend on saving your own life? - How much of someone else's money would you spend on saving a group of people that includes you? The solution to the healthcare problem isn't "pay for everyone's bills" nor is it "pay for nobody's bills". The former is a fiscal landmine, the latter is just heartless. --- Separately, the bigger problem in my eyes (as I've stated a few times ITT) is that the price keeps jumping every year. Seems like a confluence of things: this principal-agent problem, hospitals that don't post prices, the secret handshake deals that cause a huge delta between individual pricing and group rates, and of course, better hospitals that charge more for better service. I don't mind paying for other people's bills when they're cheap. At the moment, just paying for basic checkups and minor incidents for myself and my family is already a huge amount of my income, so asking me to pay for someone else's health as well is a large ask. Sure I care about the old, crippled, and sick. I'll statistically be one some day, so I'll skip eating out once or twice a month instead to pay it forward. I'm not going to skip a mortgage payment to pay for it, though. If someone ran on the position of "you'll pay the same percentage of your income toward health every year, but I'll bring down costs (targeting some of the less controversial problems listed above) and use the same amount of funds to cover more people", I'd vote for them. Sadly, no party in the USA is running on that platform. Seemingly regardless of country or what system that country uses to determine who pays the bills, the trend is upward and exponential. How did the rest of us have universal health care without breaking the bank? It must be MAGIC.	Posted by deathflower#0444 on Aug 11, 2017, 1:54:09 AM Quote this Post
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/346108-trump-thanks-putin-for-expelling-us-diplomats-we-want-to-reduce-our " President Trump thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday for ordering the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff by 755 people, his first public comments on the extraordinary move by Moscow in response to new sanctions legislation that Trump signed into law. Trump said he was thanking Putin because the decision allows the U.S. government to "cut down our payroll." BTW, it's not like those people got fired. I think they are still getting paid...	Posted by soneka101#4659 on Aug 11, 2017, 1:54:54 AM Quote this Post
" soneka101 wrote: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/346108-trump-thanks-putin-for-expelling-us-diplomats-we-want-to-reduce-our " President Trump thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday for ordering the U.S. to cut its diplomatic staff by 755 people, his first public comments on the extraordinary move by Moscow in response to new sanctions legislation that Trump signed into law. Trump said he was thanking Putin because the decision allows the U.S. government to "cut down our payroll." BTW, it's not like those people got fired. I think they are still getting paid... ARE YOU sure Trump isn't thinking about retrenching them to cut cost?	Posted by deathflower#0444 on Aug 11, 2017, 2:21:38 AM Quote this Post
" deathflower wrote: ARE YOU sure Trump isn't thinking about retrenching them to cut cost? No one is sure about what he is thinking. But it would amazing if the "Golfer in Chief" thought that the best way to cut costs is by getting rid of diplomats. "We don't have money to waste with that!" I can even hear his voice...	Posted by soneka101#4659 on Aug 11, 2017, 2:44:49 AM Quote this Post
Earlier: BTW Malcolm Nance disagrees with the idea that everyone is ready to jump into a conflict.. Also, as Tammy Duckworth says here, trying to sound more crazy than Kim Jong-Un is a wasteful effort. Last edited by soneka101#4659 on Aug 11, 2017, 9:27:24 AM	Posted by soneka101#4659 on Aug 11, 2017, 9:25:49 AM Quote this Post
" deathflower wrote: How did the rest of us have universal health care without breaking the bank? It must be MAGIC. It is breaking the bank currently and the cost is only increasing, at least in my opinion. The USA is doing the worst, but the cost problem is not just a USA problem. When you remove USA from the dataset, there is a problem of healthcare costs trending up globally. Maybe this graph will make a better point since you skipped the other one? In 1960, we paid ~5% GDP to healthcare. In 1970, ~6%. In 1980, ~8%. In 1990, ~12%. In 2000, ~13%. In 2010, ~16%. If we switched to single-payer tomorrow and that managed to cut costs in half (big hypothetical), then in the current trend, we'd be back to where we were within a single generation. I'll reiterate, I'm not against that, but I don't see it as solving the larger problem. Technology and productivity increases should be bringing costs down everywhere, not increasing them.	Posted by pneuma#0134 on Aug 11, 2017, 1:02:08 PM Alpha Member Quote this Post
Wow. Scary chart. Censored.	Posted by kolyaboo#7295 on Aug 11, 2017, 1:28:16 PM Quote this Post
" soneka101 wrote: Spoiler I tought Trump was Putin's puppet? What happened, why is the US gov extending sanctions to their overlord? RU will now nuke the white house? Sounds scary and totally Trumps fault. 7D underwater russia collusion backstroke technique ---- I hope the you were so outraged for the past 20 years, during which "diplomacy" (you know, the thing that we should try more of) allowed the NK regime to develop nuclear weapons and delivery systems, as you are outraged now that Trump is posturing and sabre-rattling. Obama regime: "all options are on the table" -> crickets + Nobel peace prize Trump regime: "the military is in place" -> OMG, THE WARMONGER!!! HE'S INSANE!! When night falls She cloaks the world In impenetrable darkness Last edited by morbo#1824 on Aug 12, 2017, 2:20:05 AM	Posted by morbo#1824 on Aug 12, 2017, 2:19:36 AM Quote this Post
" morbo wrote: " soneka101 wrote: Spoiler I tought Trump was Putin's puppet? What happened, why is the US gov extending sanctions to their overlord? RU will now nuke the white house? Sounds scary and totally Trumps fault. 7D underwater russia collusion backstroke technique Yeah Trump is totally NOT Putin puppet, he was being sarcastic when he thanked Putin, he is eager to retaliate. Also, he was totally happy to sign those sanctions, not reluctant at all. Everybody knows how hard Trump is on Russia... " morbo wrote: I hope the you were so outraged for the past 20 years, during which "diplomacy" (you know, the thing that we should try more of) allowed the NK regime to develop nuclear weapons and delivery systems, as you are outraged now that Trump is posturing and sabre-rattling. Yes, 20 years ago the world was just as close of seeing a nuclear strike conducted by NK as we are today. I don't even know how could they hold themselves for so long... (Maybe it has to do with the fact that they hadn't get their hands on a ICBM until recently, but who cares, let's pretend things have been the same for the past 20 years!) " morbo wrote: Obama regime: "all options are on the table" -> crickets + Nobel peace prize Trump regime: "the military is in place" -> OMG, THE WARMONGER!!! HE'S INSANE!! Get out of here. If Obama had threatened NK with "fire and fury" you would have it tattooed on your body, just so you remember to hate him whenever you look at it. Also, you wanna argue that donald isn't insane? Why the fuck is he threatening Venezuela then? Iraq 2.0? You can keep feeding your religious belief that donald is a good POTUS, but ask sane people around the world and they will say he is cray. (I wonder if a war will make even this President more popular, or if his approval ratings will dive even more...) Purple heart don, itching to send your kids out there so he can raise his poll numbers: Spoiler --------------- Honestly, I don't get how there are people still fangirling over donald. Whatever one believes, he failed to be the symbol of it, but if people still want to cling to him, so be it. Just be careful so your cause won't die with him(before anyone's tits go crazy, I mean figuratively, he has a good doctor(or does he?) so I don't think he will be dying soon).	Posted by soneka101#4659 on Aug 12, 2017, 3:14:53 AM Quote this Post
" soneka101 wrote: Everybody knows how hard Trump is on Russia... So, be hard on Russia, but don't criticize poor Venezuela? " soneka101 wrote: Yes, 20 years ago the world was just as close of seeing a nuclear strike conducted by NK as we are today. I don't even know how could they hold themselves for so long... (Maybe it has to do with the fact that they hadn't get their hands on a ICBM until recently, but who cares, let's pretend things have been the same for the past 20 years!) Their development was gradual (and obvious), from a rudimental bomb, to a delivery system, to a possible miniaturized warhead for ICBMs... All while "diplomacy" did nothing to prevent it and will do nothing to prevent further nuclear development. "Diplomacy" also didn't prevent NK from proliferating their nuclear tech to other insane regimes, like Iran. NK will have to be dealt with sooner or latter. It would be easier 15 years ago, but now the shit is done and the regime is more emboldened than ever. In the future they might develop ICBMs capable of reaching all US and then you won't have any choice. " soneka101 wrote: If Obama had threatened NK with "fire and fury" ... Yeah, Obama was a lot more subtle and tacit when selling useless wars to plebs. Syria, Libya, Yemen... not much "fire & fury" just lots of dead bodies & millions fleeing. Also, don't forget that the US is supposed to protect Japan in exchange for their "exclusive hospitality" and promise that they wont develop a competitive military force. NK regime is shooting missiles around Japan all the time and now is even threatening US bases directly. What would you do about it, if you weren't The Insane Donald? When night falls She cloaks the world In impenetrable darkness Last edited by morbo#1824 on Aug 12, 2017, 4:09:55 AM	Posted by morbo#1824 on Aug 12, 2017, 3:51:58 AM Quote this Post