The (Nonexistent) Republican Health Care Plan

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Massachusetts (Blue) or Oklahoma (Red)? The Choice Is Clear.

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Usurious Health Care

Another American Revolution Needed

The United States has 13 of the world's top 20 billionaires. 

Let's stop pretending welfare, social programs, minimum wage, retirement plans, etc. are the true American budgetary issues. Living wages, health care, and pension plans are NOT the problem.

It's the fact that we've allowed a privileged few to avoid paying their fair share whilst amassing grotesque fortunes. 

It's time to start taxing these kings and queens and return the United States to a shared prosperity instead of the current plutocracy.

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Screenshots of Wisdom

 

Weekend Reading

How did Wisconsin get the largest telescope in the world?

Ron Johnson is a virus that infects the Wisconsin GOP

Mount Pleasant Pays For Foxconn Water Shortfall

Eating meat may not have been as crucial to human evolution as we thought

Bari Weiss and Bill Maher said it’s time to live with COVID. A local doctor fact-checked them.

Economist Paul Krugman explains why so many Americans are 'very down on' a booming economy

What to know about the battle over Wisconsin health care workers now playing out in court

The Dark History of Medicare Privatization

The Anti-Vaccine Right Brought Human Sacrifice To America

The Fed's War on Inflation Is Really an Attack on Workers

Why the COVID death rate in the U.S. is so much higher than other wealthy nations

Why Is Life Expectancy In The US Lower Than In Other Rich Countries?

 

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The Police

The Inappropriately High Cost Of Police

This Is How Much Major Cities Prioritize Police Spending Versus Everything Else

Growing calls to “defund the police,” explained

Why Rising Police Budgets Aren’t Making Cities Safer

Cities Spend More and More on Police. Is It Working?

How Much Do U.S. Cities Spend Every Year On Policing?

City Coffers, Not Police Budgets, Hit Hard By the High Cost of Brutality

What a World Without Cops Would Look Like

NEW YORK CITY AND LOS ANGELES SLASH BUDGETS — BUT NOT FOR POLICE

POLICE BUDGETS PUT OTHER RESOURCES IN JEOPARDY

The Price of Defunding the Police

SPENDING BILLIONS ON POLICING, THEN MILLIONS ON POLICE MISCONDUCT

Federal Programs and The Real Cost of Policing

Exploitative Revenues, Law Enforcement, and the Quality of Government Service

Police Misconduct Is Increasingly a Financial Issue

No More Cop Unions

Making Policing More Affordable

Measuring the Costs of Police Services 

Police and Corrections Expenditures

How Cities Offload the Cost of Police Brutality

The Burden of Municipal Police Costs

Bernie

Medicare For All

Top Economist Robert Pollin Answers Key Questions on the Emerging Divide Between Sanders and Warren on Medicare for All

'Majority of Americans Agree With Me and Bernie': Michael Moore Makes Powerful Case for Medicare for All on Post-Debate MSNBC Panel

Republicans and even some Democrats are out to scare you about Medicare for All

It's Time For Real Change

Nancy Pelosi Is Worried 2020 Candidates Are on Wrong Track

Those liberal ideas that fire up the party’s base are a big loser when it comes to beating President Donald Trump.

Pelosi believes most American don't want or don't support: improved health care (Medicare For All), improved infrastructure, public elections, taxing corporations and the rich, green (environmentally friendly) policies, getting rid of the electoral college, a higher minimum wage, and improved labor policies.  Just to name a few of the Sanders/Warren policy prescriptions.

Pelosi claims these are fringe, liberal, San Francisco, pipe-dream policies.  "What works in San Francisco does not necessarily work in Michigan,” Pelosi said.

Being a Midwesterner, I have to inform Pelosi she is way off.  In what has been referred to as the Rust Belt, deindustrialization has decimated many good paying jobs, left workers with less and less of a voice, and left many without decent health care or the hope of a stable retirement.

Most Midwesterners would be happy to see the playing field tilted in favor of workers rather than corporations and the rich.

As the article stated, "The speaker’s concerns reflect those of many Democratic leaders and donors who believe that left-wing policies will alienate swing voters and lead to defeat."

Translation - big moneyed donors like their power and wealth and they don't want to give any of either up.

Pelosi and the current Democratic leadership need to 'grow a pair' or get out the way.  We can't keep pushing climate change policies down the road; we can't keep taking from workers and giving to the already wealthy; all citizens deserve good health care; all citizens should be able to retire with dignity; we should all expect clear air and drinking water; our elections should be free, fair and representative.  If you don't have the spine or passion to fight for real change for the majority of Americans, you don't belong in politics.

Pelosi, Bill Clinton and the triangulation-gang got us to this point.  Always capitulating and cutting deals, slowly moving the Democratic party more and more to the right.  So much so, that the difference between the parties became almost indistinguishable.  Many former Democrats started voting for the Republicans - "Heck, they're not so different and the Republicans will cut taxes, so I might as well vote for them."

These triangulators made the Democratic party the Republican-light party.  Yet, we're supposed to let them keep driving the car?  These Pelosi Democrats are the ones who've been in power as wages have stagnated, unions have been destroyed, elections have been stolen and the standard of living for most working Americans has stagnated.  They have betrayed their Democratic base and the liberal policies that made this country great in the first place.

It's time for real change.  A new generation of Democratic leaders needs to take the wheel.

Medicare For All Would Cost Less, Not More

Pundits and other candidates keep claiming that Elizabeth Warren's and Bernie Sanders's Medicare For All plan is too expensive, a pipe dream, just not realistic.

Yet ...

It Won't Matter, But Medicare For All Would Cost Less And Cover 30 Million Americans

According to the Mercatus model, total health spending would actually come in about $303 billion lower in 2031 than under current projections, with $7.35 trillion going to healthcare that year versus $7.65 trillion expected now. Total national health spending would be $2 trillion lower from 2022 to 2031 under the plan, the report found. While the price tag for the federal government would increase significantly, decreased spending by other groups would lower total healthcare spending over that 10-year period. Meanwhile, the model also assumes that 30 million more people would get access to healthcare, and many people would get more robust services. The savings would come from a variety of places, such as the government's ability to leverage its bargaining power into lower prescription-drug costs and mandating all healthcare providers take the lower Medicare payment rate.

The next time you hear someone repeat the 'Medicare For All would cost too much' talking-point, immediately call bullshit. 

What Socialism Really Looks Like

Weekend Reading

Republicans Have Rigged The Maps And Manipulated Elections - Why Won't Democrats Talk About It?
Gerrymandering Is Built On Lies
100-Year Bonds Can Fund Big Infrastructure Projects
No, You Don't Get To Keep 100 Billion Dollars For Yourself
The Green New Deal Is Cheaper Than Climate Change
Vape Safety Requires Legalizing Marijuana
Our Food Is Killing Too Many Of Us
The Looser A State's Gun Laws, The More Mass Shootings It Has
"Unions For All": The New Plan To Save The American Labor Movement
How A Trump Tax Break To Help Poor Communities Became A Windfall For The Rich
The Real Reason General Motors Workers Are On Strike Nationwide
The Future Of U.S. Jobs Look Bleak. Unions Are The Answer.
Trump Just Asked The Supreme Court To Let Him Fire The CFPB's Head. The Implications Are Enormous.
Why Rigged Capitalism Is Damaging Liberal Democracy

A Few Words On Socialism

So·cial·ism /ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/ (noun)
A political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Republicans and conservatives, and even some moderates and Democrats, have been demonizing the idea of socialism in the media as of late. (All while bitching about billionaires not being given billions in corporate welfare - socialism for the rich.)

Some of the Democratic 2020 presidential candidates have been talking of taxing the rich, fighting climate change, getting off of fossil fuels, providing Medicare for all and providing free college tuition.

The status quo, pro-business, free marketeers are up in arms over this.

Earth to douchebags - America is already a socialist country.  And conservatives are more than happy with socialism for the rich.  This is the predominant socialism (for the rich) in the U.S., hence rising income inequality over the past few decades.

But let's take a look at some examples of all the "socialist" policies America has:

Health Care (Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration)

Research & Development (NIH, Pharma)

Police and Fire Fighters

Public Education

Public Transportation (Buses, Air Traffic Control, Roads, Etc.)

Water & Sewer

Public Airwaves

The Military

Corporate Welfare (Farm and Oil Subsidies, Etc.)

Tax Breaks (Tax Cuts, Tax Incentives, Tax Credits)

Deregulation

The crux of the recent call for higher taxes and re-investment in our public goods is not some wacko commie scheme, it's the same plan of action the United States took after World War II, with high marginal tax rates, which led to our greatest period of growth and prosperity.  A rising tide lifted all boats. Our infrastructure was world class. People who worked were able to pay their bills and save for retirement.  

Republicans always reminisce about the great days of yesteryear.  But they forget to mention the fact that taxes on the rich were much, much higher then, too.  

For Further Reading:

Democratic Socialism? We're Already Living In It

5 Ways America Is Already Socialist

The Great Wealth Transfer

The Great Divergence

Wealth, Wages and Politics

Politics, Policy and Inequality

Graph: The Great Divergence

The United States Of Inequality

Disclosing The Costs Of Corporate Welfare

Where Is The Outrage Over Corporate Welfare

Taxpayers — not Big Pharma — have funded the research behind every new drug since 2010

U.S. Investments in Medical and Health Research and Development

The Public Airwaves as a Common Asset and a Public Good

Corporate tax breaks cost U.S. schools billions of lost revenue

Massive Spending Cuts: The Tax Act's Hidden Costs

Did Deregulation Work?

Still Bernin'

Good Riddance, Scott Walker

It was a good night for Democrats. Not a great night, but a good one.

Sad so many in Wisconsin (and around the country) are still voting Republican after all we know and at this point in time. Those of you clinging to your sexism, racism, parochialism, or whatever other pet cause makes you still vote Republican, you truly are the worst of us.

For those of you (that normally vote Republican) that put country before party to help elect Democrats, kudos to you. Well done.

Remember, though, this is just the start. Keep talking, keep campaigning, keep pushing Democratic policies. We need to carry this momentum into the 2020 election.

Even though this was a record-breaking turnout for Wisconsin, it was still only 60 percent of the voting-age population. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Based on state population estimates from earlier this year, turnout was equal to almost 60 percent of the voting-age population, though that number is likely to change when the official count is complete."

It's just ridiculous to think that 40 percent of the voting-age population is just sitting on the sidelines. If Democrats could get these people to the polls, Republicans would never win another election.

Good riddance, Scott Walker. Now you can lick the boots of your paymasters full-time. Burn in hell, you selfish and corrupt tool.

Scott Walker Is A Creep

Scott Walker says Wisconsin needs a break from 'massive new interchanges in Milwaukee'

Isn't it odd how Wisconsin has $5 billion for Foxconn, but we can't find any money to fix our roads?  We have millions for sport stadiums, but there's not money available for our transportation needs. We have corporate welfare for any business that comes along with their hand out. But when basic infrastructure needs to be upgraded or repaired, Scott Walker can't find the money or the project just isn't a priority for him. 

The Republican party has been the party of road building (over other forms of transportation) for decades. They have to learn there are ongoing expenses with any investment - roads are no different. To love the ribbon-cutting for new roads (or any project, for that matter), but to then skip town when repairs are needed is irresponsible and a dereliction of duty. Also, Republicans shouldn't continue to support sprawl and the roads needed to get there, if they don't want to pay to keep those roads in working condition.

Scott Walker isn't a leader. He's a crony. A crony who continually funnels public dollars to his contributors, whilst short-changing the state and the needs of the citizens. His contradictory opinion of the Affordable Care Act, preexisting conditions and his involvement in the lawsuit regarding such perfectly illustrates this. Cost of Wisconsin's stance on the Affordable Care Act: $1.1 billion through this fiscal year.

Aside: Funny how an article supposedly about Scott Walker not wanting to fix Wisconsin roads turns into a hit piece on Tony Evers wanting immigrants to have drivers licenses.

Reality: A Bitter Pill For Republicans To Swallow

Esteemed and world-renowned commentator Tomi Lahren rightly blasted Michelle Obama for claiming her husband, Barack Obama, was a great president.

Kidding.

Tomi Lahren is a right-wing mouthpiece with the depth of a Dixie cup.

Barack Obama, indeed, was a great president and Michelle Obama a great first lady.

Here's Tomi's tweet:

Here's Kathy Griffin's response to Tomi:

Let's take a look back at some of what was accomplished during the Obama administration. You know, as Democrats like to focus on, the facts.

Barack Obama is officially one of the most consequential presidents in American history

He signed into law a comprehensive national health insurance bill, a goal that had eluded progressive presidents for a century — and built it strong enough to withstand assaults from the Supreme Court and avoid repeal from a Republican administration. He got surprisingly tough reforms to Wall Street passed as well, not to mention a stimulus package that both blunted the recession and transformed education and energy policy. 

He's put in place the toughest climate rules in American history and signed a major international climate accord. He opened the US to Cuba for the first time in more than half a century, and reached a peaceful settlement to the nuclear standoff with Iran.

Barack's Increasing Stock

Labor Market Progress and the Employment Situation

Obama’s Top 50 Accomplishments, Revisited

The Republicans will, no doubt, continue their cognitive dissonance, but that doesn't change reality. Barack Obama's record is exemplary. He accomplished much for this country and did so with great dignity and statesmanship. 

Republicans' continual denial of reality and the accomplishments of the Obama administration are the last gasps of the Republican cabal of racists, nazis, bigots, hypocrites, sexists and frauds. The Republicans have done nothing for this country. They've done only for themselves and their donors. They are partisan cranks and abject failures as public servants. Their moans and cries denying this do not change that fact.