Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

[MaizeRage]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

They have clearly come out heavily for deregulation of a lot of items. If that's moderate, I can't fathom what an extreme version of libritarian is- anarchy?

It's called Reddit and it isn't pretty.

Like I said in the last version of this thread, Johnson/Weld are Republicans that couldn't make any traction in the Republican party. I get some people may not like either of the two major choices, but let's pretend these other clowns are in any way qualified to be President.

[Kepler]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

In 538 NowCast NE-2, AZ and GA have flipped to blue. Next stop would be SC but it's pretty far off (R+1.5) so I have to think that's going to be the peak.

[ericredaxe]

It's called Reddit and it isn't pretty.

Like I said in the last version of this thread, Johnson/Weld are Republicans that couldn't make any traction in the Republican party. I get some people may not like either of the two major choices, but let's pretend these other clowns are in any way qualified to be President.

Couldn't get traction because they were socially moderate and the crazy right wouldn't support them perhaps?

I'd say they are both vastly more qualified than the two clowns that the major parties have presented us.

Check out Welds record in Mass and then tell me he wouldn't be qualified.

[The Rube]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

Couldn't get traction because they were socially moderate and the crazy right wouldn't support them perhaps?

I'd say they are both vastly more qualified than the two clowns that the major parties have presented us.

Check out Welds record in Mass and then tell me he wouldn't be qualified.

To Maize's point, Hillary is qualified to be president. Her history shows that, without a doubt. The stats of her duties/offices/experience supports that claim. Whether or not she'd be a GOOD president is what is up for debate.

[trixR4kids]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

Yeah sounds like he was awesome

In the early 1990s, then-Gov. William Weld decided to privatize many many of the human services that had been provided by public employees. Gov. Weld laid off thousands of employees. The ones who could take the financial hit were re-hired by the private-sector companies now providing the work, but at 30 percent less pay and drastically reduced health insurance benefits. The quality of care provided decreased as service was disrupted and many workers were forced to find other work. Now, more than a decade later, the human services community remains in crisis. Agencies can't afford to pay workers enough, more than half the workers can't afford their employers' health insurance plans, and the quality of care is still at risk.

State watchdogs and the media documented a pattern of abuse in Gov. Weld's push to privatize many state services. They discovered that private vendors with state contracts used taxpayer money to rent posh vacation villas, buy luxury cars, and pay for lobbying activities. Watchdogs also discovered that there was little or no competition for contracts. Lucrative contracts were being awarded to former administration officials and huge executive salaries were being paid to private vendors. In December 1993, Gov. Weld issued an executive order banning "revolving door" hiring by private contractors of the very state officials who gave them contracts.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Yeah sounds like he was awesome

Shocker to none: "free market" policies with no competition are bad for the public.

[trixR4kids]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

Well shocker to nobody except those who think government programs are always inefficient and ignore all evidence that isn't Cato.

[alfablue]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

Couldn't get traction because they were socially moderate and the crazy right wouldn't support them perhaps?

I'd say they are both vastly more qualified than the two clowns that the major parties have presented us.

Check out Welds record in Mass and then tell me he wouldn't be qualified.

Sorry, I can't buy privatizing everything is a good idea. That seems to be a terrible idea to me. I get the idea that public functions are not efficient, but anyone who honestly believes that private companies are any more efficient are delusional. Dilbert is so funny because it's true, for God's sake. Private companies hide mistakes better as they have far less oversight.

So anyone who complains that nobody is voting for the 3rd party, there's a good reason, and we checked.

I personally like clean water and air, I'm fine with all of us paying for roads and some basic infrastructure, I'm fine with public schools, etc. And I'm also fine with some degree of normalization from one state to another. Which brings up another subject, which is even farther from Lib's agenda.

[Scarlet]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

One of my Facebook friends who is a super Trump supporter just posted this:

You need to watch FOX news...its the only station that is not biased.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

[The Rube]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

One of my Facebook friends who is a super Trump supporter just posted this:

You need to watch FOX news...its the only station that is not biased.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

Oh good Lord.

[Kepler]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

Well shocker to nobody except those who think government programs are always inefficient and ignore all evidence that isn't Cato.

Even Cato isn't Cato anymore. The Kochs set it up but they allowed it some independence until a few years ago when it started saying things like "come to think of it, Koch Enterprises is a huge recipient of corporate welfare." Then they fired the editors and staffed up with their own monkeys. It's a shame, because 20 years ago Cato had integrity. They were wrong, but they were sincere. Now they're just another house organ like Fox.

c.f. NRO

[Kepler]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

Huh. Somebody on the right has principles. Sucks who it is, though.

[trixR4kids]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

The reason Libertarians are gaining ground with this, though, is that regulation can be just as corrupt. Take a look at the insanity surrounding the Toilet Seat Administration, or how you can lobby to ban a drug that actually works because it'll eat into the profits of the pharmas' "treatments" that cost ten times as much and don't do a gosh darn thing. I'm sure some form of equilibrium will be met eventually, though.

If anything the deregulation of pharmacy drugs is a huge problem. Now I would agree that there's probably corruption and lobbying there but they're lobbying for less regulation not more.

A lawsuit claims that, beginning in 2001, the company was selling the acid reflux medicine Protonix directly to hospitals at a big discount. It then “knowingly concealed” that low price when reporting to the government, overcharging Medicaid at times more than double what they were charging the hospitals.

"You have taxpayers out there paying for a drug at a much higher price than they should have paid which was a rip-off to the taxpayer,” said Swanson.

RELATED: KARE 11 Investigates: Prescription price shell game

Minnesota and 36 other states sued. This summer, the drug company agreed to pay nearly $800 million to government programs across the country including $10 million to Minnesota, which Swanson says will go into the state’s general fund.

But it’s not only drug companies accused of cheating the system.

Twin Cities attorney Jim VanderLinden has been fighting prescription drug overcharges for years.

"Our wonderful country is being taken advantage of,” he said.

He points to a recent court ruling involving Kmart Pharmacies where a federal appeals court ruled a suit could move forward claiming that Kmart charged Medicare Part D participants “far in excess" of what others were charged, "sometimes as much as 30 times more” for prescription drugs.

“Drug companies are supposed to report on their federal quarterly reports what their best price is. So it’s somewhat of a self-regulatory system,” she said

[MaizeRage]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

Couldn't get traction because they were socially moderate and the crazy right wouldn't support them perhaps?

I'd say they are both vastly more qualified than the two clowns that the major parties have presented us.

Check out Welds record in Mass and then tell me he wouldn't be qualified.

I'll re-up what I said in the last Campaign thread in regards to that:

No offense to Jane Steen and the Green Party, but while her specific goals and policies may vary, she's running as Pretty Much a Democrat. If she has to stand outside the building and try to siphon off Bernie supporters because she can't make it inside the convention hall full of people that largely agree with her on many issues, what is she going to do when she has to face an opposition party that doesn't agree with her ideas, or a foreign nation that is hostile to them? Same goes for Atlas Shrugged on the Libertarians ticket on the right. Voting for a third party isn't just a problem because they won't win, it's also the fact that they'd probably be a pretty crappy President.

This election, more than most, has shown how elastic the two major parties can be in terms of where they end up on their side of the spectrum. There are lots of legit third party candidates that people always yearn for, they just lose out in the primaries. If you don't like the final two options available because they don't match your views perfectly, tough luck. If you show up five minutes before dinner is on the table, you don't get much input in what is on the menu.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Campaign 2016 Part XVI: KICK THE BABY!

I'm no fan of Rachel Maddow (yet, I guess) but she was on fire tonight. I was listening to her on the drive home tonight and she had some great analysis, or at least highlighting, of the bizarre choices Trump had made over the last 24 hours. Especially as it relates to his campaign stops.