POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

[aparch]

On the day the last man to walk on the moon leaves us, it would be good for everyone to realize that we we're all human beings, just as Dr. King so eloquently said it.

From the late Astronaut Edgar Mitchell: "...From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you [censored].'"

[walrus]

I'm not saying the right didn't have its lunatic fringe, but from my side of the fence it seems the "typhoon" comes from every left-leaning group out there. Obviously you feel differently, so be it.

They celebrate diversity

[burd]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

I'm not saying the right didn't have its lunatic fringe, but from my side of the fence it seems the "typhoon" comes from every left-leaning group out there. Obviously you feel differently, so be it.

I'm not saying Donald Trump never lied, but Abe Lincoln told a mistruth or two in his life too, so there you go: one's the same as the other.

[SteveP]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

From the late Astronaut Edgar Mitchell: "...From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you [censored].'"

That quote should be prominently displayed in every office on Capitol Hill.

[Slap Shot]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

From this weekend's SNL Weekend Update:

"It seems like every decision Donald Trump makes starts with, "You know what would be hilarious?".

I would have accepted, "Hold my beer".

Also:

"While criticizing the intelligence community for the leaked Russia dossier Trump tweeted, "Are now living in Nazi Germany?". Of course not - Nazi Germany had the guts to take on Russia"

[dxmnkd316]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

That's viscous.

[Handyman]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Anonymous is Going After Hair Fuhrer

Meanwhile i am sure Julian Assange is going to release even more information about Hillary's emails...expect his press conference in 2 weeks which will then be cancelled because of "death threats"

[Drew S.]

I'm not saying Donald Trump never lied, but Abe Lincoln told a mistruth or two in his life too, so there you go: one's the same as the other.

And Lincoln was the reason Hillary lied.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

And Lincoln was the reason Hillary lied.

Or Donald Trump, well, exists.

[Jimjamesak]

Anonymous is Going After Hair Fuhrer

Was honestly wondering if they were going to go after him. Didn't think they would.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Anonymous is Going After Hair Fuhrer

Meanwhile i am sure Julian Assange is going to release even more information about Hillary's emails...expect his press conference in 2 weeks which will then be cancelled because of "death threats"

Good.

[Rover]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Regarding health care, it would be nice if my fellow lefties would concentrate on solutions that actually have a snowball's chance in hell of being enacted before we achieve warp speed and make first contact with the Vulcans some time in the 24th(?) century. Who, I understand, have a far superior health care system than our own.

So, single payer will never happen in one big bold swoop. Give it up and stop expecting it to happen. Employer based coverage will not go away overnight.

IF! you want to get closer to a single payer system, you do it gradually and start with people currently not covered by employers or over the age of 65 or below 18 years old. I'd attack this two ways....

1) People 55 and over can buy into Medicare. This is important because a lot of older Americans get turfed from their jobs before they reach 65 and struggle to find another one with benefits. I'd only open this up to people without access to employer coverage for starters.

2) People at the income levels where they qualify for ACA subsidies can purchase into Medicaid for same or similar contributions based on income.

So the question becomes how many people are we talking about? Of the approx. 29M still uninsured in this country, figure 1/3rd of those are illegal immigrants specifically barred from coverage under current law. So we're looking at 20M people. Not a small # but allowing people subsidized care should bring that # down quite a bit. Of course people are free to purchase private insurance if they'd prefer or if they make too much to qualify for the buy in (the self employed, etc). Also don't forget there's a lot of Flaggy type cranks out there who would refuse to have insurance even if it was free as they'd be worried about some govt conspiracy to steal their brain waves.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Regarding health care, it would be nice if my fellow lefties would concentrate on solutions that actually have a snowball's chance in hell of being enacted before we achieve warp speed and make first contact with the Vulcans some time in the 24th(?) century. Who, I understand, have a far superior health care system than our own.

So, single payer will never happen in one big bold swoop. Give it up and stop expecting it to happen. Employer based coverage will not go away overnight.

IF! you want to get closer to a single payer system, you do it gradually and start with people currently not covered by employers or over the age of 65 or below 18 years old. I'd attack this two ways....

1) People 55 and over can buy into Medicare. This is important because a lot of older Americans get turfed from their jobs before they reach 65 and struggle to find another one with benefits. I'd only open this up to people without access to employer coverage for starters.

2) People at the income levels where they qualify for ACA subsidies can purchase into Medicaid for same or similar contributions based on income.

So the question becomes how many people are we talking about? Of the approx. 29M still uninsured in this country, figure 1/3rd of those are illegal immigrants specifically barred from coverage under current law. So we're looking at 20M people. Not a small # but allowing people subsidized care should bring that # down quite a bit. Of course people are free to purchase private insurance if they'd prefer or if they make too much to qualify for the buy in (the self employed, etc). Also don't forget there's a lot of Flaggy type cranks out there who would refuse to have insurance even if it was free as they'd be worried about some govt conspiracy to steal their brain waves.

Serious?

You don't go measured into negotiations with the Trolls. What you're saying here is the compromise not the initial position.

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Serious?

You don't go measured into negotiations with the Trolls. What you're saying here is the compromise not the initial position.

What I learned in the last thread was you need to take an extreme stance and then negotiate...this was in regards to global warming, I asked if it could be applied elsewhere and never got a response.

[Rover]

Re: POTUS 45.0: It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Serious?

You don't go measured into negotiations with the Trolls. What you're saying here is the compromise not the initial position.

To some extent but your initial position can't be so ridiculous that its detrimental to what you're trying to accomplish. On this issue if you campaign on abolishing private insurance and everybody goes single payer, and then you negotiate to something lesser than that, hard core lefties are going to go berserk. This is the exact problem Congressional knucks' are facing. They told their people the ACA could be repealed no problem, and then once it is selling insurance across state lines will solve all coverage problems. That's obviously absurd, but it appeals to simpletons. Now they've got to do something. This is because of the extreme position they've opened with and held ever since.