The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    What Nation Are We? This Way Lies Death and Ruin. Killing Medicaid (Patients)

    By librewolf on Sun, 06/25/2017 - 4:20pm |

    On Friday June 23, 2017, Ari Melber, sitting in for Lawrence O'Donnell on, facilitated the best and most extensive examination of Medicaid and the potential consequences of the Senate (and House) Affordable Care Act replacement - aka "Trumpcare". Medicaid is the single most important component of American healthcare, directly impacting 70 MILLION people, and indirectly impacting virtually ALL of us. From infants being born, to many of the disables, to the elderly fighting to stay in their homes (or in nursing homes) to the poor (rural and urban), it is the bedrock upon which virtually all of us count. This is critical, and what the Republicans are proposing will drop a bomb on the overall healthcare system, and it will result in the deaths of tens of thousands. I cannot urge you strongly enough to take 23 minutes and watch the video clips from the program. Anything this critical deserves you time - and your voice.

    First let's hear from Trump on healthcare and Medicaid:

     
    Now let us hear from a family who has an integral story of what Medicaid does, and their view of the politics driving the transfer of lives to cash for the top 1%. Mike Phillips and his mother Karen Clay share their stories and insights into the impacts of the proposed Trumpcare legislation: Mother and Son: "Medicaid isn't about politics, it's about lives".
     
     
    As was repeated several times in the videos, "What country are we that we can even consider legislation that has such a devastating impact on so many solely to give a huge tax cut to the top 1% ? It is obscene that such legislation is even put forward. I am saddened and sickened.
     
    Please speak out. Contact every Senator that you can, and also the President. Tell them "Not in my country." With over 100 million people directly impacted by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare, including medicaid and medicaid expansion) we can damn well do our best to ensure that every Senator that votes for this bill will not be elected to another term.
     

    Here is the link [Senate access site ] that gives you access to every US Senator. Call or write every one of them. Flood the system. Let them know that what they are doing is known and that you will watch how they vote.

     

    Clips courtesy of The Last Word June 23, 2017 Ari Melber in for Lawrence O'Donnell

    Aka Rowan Wolf of UncommonThought

    Comments

    Republican's Better American Health Care Act

    "Everyone will have coverage".........millions with dirt.


    by NCD on Sun, 06/25/2017 - 11:33pm

    I just fundamentally don't get how Republicans can get so orgasmic over the stuff they are pushing - whether it is a devastating tax cut dressed as "healthcare access:, or the selling off of our legacy, or corporatizing everything (even national intelligence and security). The vision these legislators are promoting is dystopic.


    by librewolf on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 8:57am

    The thing that drives current Conservatives is that they hate Liberal ideas. They don't care about Russian interference or climate change because those are Liberal concerns. Conservatives hate anything and anyone that is not considered Conservative. Republicans in Congress are not going to oppose their fanatical base.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 9:35am

    The Republican Base does not have the ability to connect even two dots, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) uses magic words in the NYT today:

    A truly moral and compassionate society does not impoverish future generations to bestow benefits in the here and now.

    Ron....a truly moral and compassionate society does not impoverish future generations by bestowing $800 billion in tax cuts (the only point of the AHCA), or trillions (GW Bush in 2001), on the richest 2% in the nation.

    Conclusion: the Republicans are neither moral nor compassionate, and they do not give a damn about denying affordable decent health care to Americans, or impoverishing this and all subsequent generations to further enrich the wealth and power of plutocrats who control their Party.


    by NCD on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 11:22am

    There is no modern society that allows the free market to be the sole determinant of health care. Insurance companies want profit. Profit comes by not delivering health benefits. Funerals are cheaper than medical care because the family foots the entire bill.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 11:27am

    I think the ideology of the Republican party has been split, schizophrenic, since The Moral Majority movement, into moralistic and amoral. Before that, they were libertarian and basically amoral, thinking that capitalism is the way that will sort everything out if everyone follows certain basic societal rules. Moral Majority was a reaction against liberal morals, so naturally they couldn't go with the Dems.

    The libertarian side of the equation does not like any nanny state stuff, conservative or liberal. Moral side wants to impose its morals on everyone. Libertarian side believes trickle down works, many buy into this as they get older and have had to pay more taxes as they get higher income, from anger seeing tax dollars go to dubious stuff. They see constant evidence of the government not working well for the amount it spends, it's neither about kindness nor meanness.

    Very schizophrenic, therefore always bound to eventually blow up.

    Has always interested me because conservative Catholics throw a wrench in this, they do want people to care about the poor as well as the unborn and supposed sexual license. (The predator priest scandal was devastating to this group, they want to believe an organization can be good and do good. They always expected it out of evangelists, as they are not following the true faith from the getgo. Coalition with them was doomed.)

    Another thing that has interested me since my first days in the blogosphere is how much liberals complain about government bureaucracy. Doesn't seem to fit. Either government works or it doesn't. If you don't think the elected will ever be to your liking, why do you believe so hard that government nirvana could happen one day? Maybe what big government naturally does is bad stuff? Seems to be the case from a lot of what I read from lefties. Either you're libertarian or you are happy with the social worker that you may get, or with the military and CIA that you get....

    To be clear: I say all this as someone who thinks a national health service is the best of all possible health care systems, way preferable to single payer. I think the profit motive is as devastating to health care as it is to fire fighting, building inspection, accounting or appraising, for that matter.


    by artappraiser on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 2:26pm

    Coalitions are a natural part of life. What is your ideal political system?


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 2:57pm

    First apologies to Rowan for highjacking the thread topic, I was just responding to NCD's comment, don't want to get too deeply into this discussion here.

    it's not the system, it's that our parties no longer fit our electorate and the coalitions within them are cross-purposes so that they have no overriding common ideology

    In U.S., New Record 43% Are Political Independents

    and I think more people will opt out as time goes on

    Look at what Bernie did. Look at what the Tea Party did. Etc.

    It is bound to happen with the internet as a tool, it allows for the formation of tribes spanning geography.

    One effect that Obey and I have discussed on other threads, is both and upside and downside: makes for individualistic charismatic leaders to gain a following. Look at how Trump can just use tweets to keep the followers faithful, Corbyn becomes Mr. Popular out of the blue when everyone least expected it...even go back to how Obama can mesmerize the world and end up with a Nobel prize before he's even done anything except run for office.


    by artappraiser on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 3:29pm

    The Tea Party was created by millionaires and billionaires to appeal to gullible white voters.

    http://time.com/secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 3:28pm

    That was no secret, I think most politically savvy knew it at the time. Doesn't prove that there weren't the angry people out there who were glad to get the backing of funders and felt the GOP were not going where they wanted it to be. If you think those people so "gullible", it should be easy to turn them into liberals with some smart Hollywood money.


    by artappraiser on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 3:34pm

    They are gullible in that they blame "others" for their economic problems. As noted in the article you supplied about what is wrong with the Democrats, the blame falls on blacks and immigrants. The Tea Party founders keyed in on those biases. They are willing to put their own healthcare at risk because they feel dark skinned people are stealing from the system. 

    Edit to add:

    People may not realize how much racial bias effects their politics 

    http://www.npr.org/2016/07/14/486063689/study-explores-links-between-pol...


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 4:33pm

    Hijack away. All discussions can have multiple threads, and certainly where the US political system has evolved, it is a critical component to the issue of healthcare - as well as responding to numerous other crises we face.


    by librewolf on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 7:54pm

    I don't know about "ideal", but the Brits seem to be more responsive that ours.

    We have an entrenched two party system and it has become incredibly polarized, forcing a polarization among the voters, and a growing number who are either apathetic or increasingly angry. The Republican strategy since at least the 1970s was to shrink those participating politically (and particularly voting) to the smallest number possible. They are getting ever more open about the mechanisms being used to deny the vote, skew the vote, and steal the vote. It has virtually become a bragging point.

    I think we need to open the political party system up and allow proportional voting and proportional representation. There needs to be a recall mechanism, or a way to force votes of confidence and a more rapid way for citizens voices to be heard and changes to be made.

    There is problems this way as well as a dominant majority could force their solutions (and definition of problems) on all. Minority voices are important too, as are the rights of minorities (and I am not simply speaking of racial or ethnic minorities).

    Problematically, Democrats have their issues as well for they are as beholden to corporate interests at this point as the Republicans. Both as lobbyists writing their own legislation, and as pay to play entities through such farces as Citizens United, and money=free speech. These are atrocities in my opinion.

    Back to the situation at hand, even if we hit the streets in the tens of millions every day, and flood all lines of communications with our representatives, we have no way to stop these fools from making legislation that will be devastating and hard to repair - whether that be the immorality of tax cuts for the 1% from the lives of those needing healthcare, or the sale of all our national parks, or the destruction of the public education system, and on and on. Assuming we can bring the system to sanity it will take decades to repair even part of the destruction that will have been enacted even by the 2018 elections.

    All I know to do is to resist the destruction to the best of our ability and the push for what we really want. In the case of healthcare, I say the hell with it. Let's push for UNIVERSAL COVERAGE - the hell with "single payer."  There can be an additional private system, but damn it, everyone should have access to quality healthcare and that essentially means the equivalent of either Medicaid for all or Medicare for all. IMHO.


    by librewolf on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 8:15pm

    If the country comes to its senses, the Republican healthcare plan may actually lead to single payer or universal healthcare as citizens realize they lose coverage and grandpa has to come home from the nursing home.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 9:47pm

    On hijacking, have all seen Raoul Peck's movie, rights bought by Amazon and available on Prime, I am not Your Negro?

    It centers on James Baldwin's speeches and writing. 

    It ends with a quote from Baldwin on video saying, from NPR review:

    "What white people have to do," Baldwin said once, "is try to find out in their hearts why it was necessary for them to have a nigger in the first place. Because I am not a nigger. I'm a man. If I'm not the nigger here, and if you invented him, you the white people invented him, then you have to find out why. And the future of the country depends on that. Whether or not it is able to ask that question."

    Trump has now expanded the fear and racism to Mexicans and Muslims, and as Baldwin prophesied, the future of this country has never been more in doubt.


    by NCD on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 10:22pm

    Thanks NCD, I have the movie and plan to watch it this weekend. I read the accompanying book when it first came out. Trump led the Birther movement. At rallies, Trump instructed supporters to attack protesters. He appointed Steve Bannon as an adviser and Sessions as AG. People cannot claim innocence regarding Trump's views on race.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 06/26/2017 - 10:47pm

    Rowan, our political system could certainly be improved by proportional representation, but I'm skeptical of structural solutions to the problem at hand. Political polarization and xenophobic populism also afflict countries with multiparty and proportional systems. Think of Israel, Austria, Hungary. If the U.S. suddenly adopted a proportional multiparty system, we'd probably get four parties like many European countries: far-left, center-left, center-right, far-right.

    What do you think our governing coalition would look like in that case? If we were lucky, the two centrist parties would cooperate, as has happened in much of Europe. But these centrist parties are faltering around the world, and in America's current political climate, I'd predict a coalition between center-right and far-right, similar to Israel where the left is even more impotent than in the U.S.

    PS Thanks for provoking such an interesting thread


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 11:51am

    I had a whole complex response that for some reason disappeared in the midst of writing; just as I was almost ready to publish. Oh well, shit happens with computers. Probably for the best. Here is the short version.

    There are too many of the dominant and privileged (white, male, wealthy, 'native born', heterosexual, Christian) who feel they are being disadvantaged so that others LESS DESERVING than themselves are GETTING STUFF - stuff like education, training, housing, healthcare - they DON'T DESERVE. And they are getting it at the EXPENSE of "hard working Americans." They elected Donald Trump because he can (and does) throw temper tantrums and screams and "breaks things" and doesn't care how it effects anyone else. His acting out is an expression of their own rage at being "disadvantaged" by these worthless people.

    Out of this we get policies that are issues of life and death where too many think that is really is OK to say that 22 Million can dies so that THEY get THEIR money back. And that millions more will be in precarious health situations as the insurance that they get will not pay for emergency rooms, hospitalization, chronic conditions, or a hundred other things.

    It's "OK" because in this world view -the Trump, Ryan, Rand, Crew, Mitchell, etc. - those excluded really have nop value. Their are plenty to take our places and those people have no value either. In fact, given the state of their rage it would be best to just line all these worthless people up and vaporize them. How dare they (and the lousy liberals) take up everyone's time arguing that they have a "right", a RIGHT, to healthcare.

    Let me be clear that THIS IS NOT HOW I FEEL. However, it is definitely the tenor of what is coming down from Washington, and within our own communities. The whole thing hurts me (and million of others), physically-emotionally-psychicly hurts me; hurts me beyond the fact that I am being judged as one of these 'worthless' people and therefore DESERVE to die since I can no longer "serve" amd "pay my own way."

    This nation's inability to address the structured inequalities in our society have brought us to this place of governmental crisis. We have built our hoe upon the shifting and untrustworthy sands of lies and denials. I can only hope that the baring og this morass of ugliness at the core of who we are as a nation can aid us in cleaning the wounds and building something stronger and truer.


    by librewolf on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 8:02am

    I'm sorry about the lost comment. I wonder if drupal has a comment-autosave plugin. I'll check when I get a chance.

    To your comment, I agree with everything you've written, but I don't feel that these factors fully explain today's political dysfunction. First, the fear that "undeserving" minorities take advantage of white people goes back almost half-a-century, beginning with Nixon and George Wallace and reaching the mainstream with Reagan. Why now, four decades later, does Trump come to power? Second, while the U.S. is in worse shape than other countries, our situation is not unique. The rage you speak of is echoing across the western world, even in countries with stronger social nets and multiparty systems. In short, this sickness runs deep, and I don't think anyone truly grasps its source.


    by Michael Wolraich on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 7:29pm

    Autosave's available, but for a later version update - https://www.drupal.org/project/autosave_form

     


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 07/01/2017 - 8:15pm

    I agree, I don't know of any sources straight off who examine the relationship of white nationalism in the US and Western Europe, but sociologically speaking I suspect it goes way back to at least colonialism if not the Crusades. Colonialism and racism have been linked for sure, but I have never seen anything in that regard to the Crusades. However, my reading into the Crusades is hardly worth mentioning. On the more "recent" history, I wold imagine that the connections tie to the WWII era - particularly the Nazi Diaspora.

    My life span goes back to desegregation. Growing up in the relatively racist Midwest (Missouri - the buckle of the Bible Belt) it seems that from a white supremacist perspective there were a number of blows where the "government abandoned white people". Namely we have desegregation, equal opportunity, fair housing, the suppressing of Jim Crow, expansion of voting rights (and particularly the Voting Rights Act), and the big one, Affirmative Action. I believe that AA was the turning point for many. From discussions I would have in my classes, many white students (even those who felt they were "liberal" and "not racist") became angrily activated on the topic of Affirmative Action. That certainly ties directly to the election of Barack Obama who many felt was AA writ large and the final assault on the "dignity" of the nation.

    I believe that Europe has been more impacted by the mass migrations of the last few decades that the US. Global warming and environmental destruction partnered with war is driving what is likely the largest human migration in the history of the world. The combined US-Western European actions (militarily and politically) in Asia (Afghanistan and Iran), Middle East, and Africa have obviously caused a stead flood of people into Europe. In Western Europe, immigration from Eastern Europe has been a particular sore point. In the US, much of the focus has been on southern immigration. It was EE immigration that drove the Brexit vote - or so said the BBC news. Interestingly, much of the US chatter was that it was Syrian and North African immigration, but that fits the US white nationalist narrative - not necessarily WE.


    by librewolf on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 9:15am

    American classrooms do a poor job of telling the complete history of the country. Most of the education involving blacks revolves around slavery. We fought the Civil War, problem solved. There is mention of MLK Jr and then we move on. When Affirmative Action is criticized, few are ready to respond that social programs like the Far Deal, New Deal, Social Security, and the GI Bill excluded blacks. For much of recent history, Affirmative Action was white.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/books/review/when-affirmative-action-w...

     

    Edit to add:

    An article in the Atlantic looks at the battle over health care as an ongoing fight over Civil Rights. 

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/the-fight-for-healt...


    by rmrd0000 on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 10:30am

    Thanks for sharing these articles. They illuminate the long term structural nature of inequality in healthcare, and in doing so added reason why the new right is so eager to get rid of "Obamacare" at any cost. When you start putting the whole story together it starts sounding more and more like a dystopian political novel.


    by librewolf on Tue, 07/04/2017 - 7:56am

    Thank you, artappraiser.  This is, perhaps, the most clear-eyed analysis I have ever seen in Dagblog (aside from my own, of course!)


    by Lurker on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 3:40am

    A significant number of "Independents" actually leans towards either Democratic Party or GOP.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/11/independents-o...


    by rmrd0000 on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 8:21am

    I think there will always be a fight between gov & private sector to do things better/worse. But I also live in a country where we're not trying to make government fail at every step. The US approach is quite exhausting - it's not so extreme elsewhere.


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 3:58am

    This comment adds little if anything to the above but I feel like a should at least go on record.

    I feel sad and disheartened about my country that we should be in this position: on the verge of passing a bill which would be a death sentence for great numbers of our fellow citizens. 

    And that  this is being done by their Republican representatives with almost no dissent.We all know Republicans who are nice people.Ones who offer me a seat on the subway. My relatives , good people.Sensible, get on with their lives.One married to a black , which is no problem for the rest of us.  No "birthers" . Almost to a person

    they spoke well of Obama altho usually followed that with a  "but......" the deficit ,defense or some  issue

    which they don't really care about but just throw out as a  good enough explanation.

    And of course the men "couldn't vote for Hillary" (some of the women did). But then some of the attitudes

    to her here ....well that's off topic.

    I' ve complained here that Obama's administration didn't do a good job of "selling" Obamacare. Making concrete the abstract phases about "coverage". But really why was that really needed? What part of

    "I went to the hospital and they found a cancer" couldn't be understood.

    My poor country. It's sad.

     


    by Flavius on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 6:07am

    Flav on this

    I' ve complained here that Obama's administration didn't do a good job of "selling" Obamacare. Making concrete the abstract phases about "coverage". But really why was that really needed?

    You shouldn't feel guilty about that! I think they did do a bad job. From the complexity of it, people feared things would change for the worse with their health care!  It took a year or more for the majority to start believing it was better. Still some things like "you can keep your doctor" were not true, so people were and are right that you can't trust what politicians promise on this. They found that maybe having to give up your doctor is not so bad, if you get other things with that trade off, that doesn't mean that they trust politicians are going to make it better. It's fear pure and simple because one's life is involved. There is always going to be a sales job involved and the more people trust the sales person the more can get done quicker.

    Comes to mind there's sales jobs and arguments going on every day at the National Health Service in the UK and people don't trust all the bureaucrats involved and it's basicaly the most popular system in the world. Because you can't totally remove the money angle! A big part of the economy goes to it even if it is non-profit, peoples' lives depend on it, so it needs to be "sold" and well.

     


    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 9:22am

    If we don't have an informed electorate, the country is toast. Our default position now is that citizens don't have time to inform themselves because life is too busy. If citizens have to be spoon fed rather than making their own decisions based on looking at what both sides are saying, the people with the most money can lie their way to victory. This is not just an American problem, British voters had remorse after Brexit. Many said that they did not understand the consequences of the vote. Our problem is the lack of attention to detail by our fellow citizens.


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 9:34am

    According to data from Google Trends, the searches for "what is the eu" and "what is brexit" started climbing across Britain late into the night. The polls had closed at 10 p.m. local time.

    NPR.

    They didn't know what the EU was, after 20 years or it.

    How could they know what Brexit was?

    No wonder no competent politician wants to be Prime Minister.

    So they get "money doesn't grow on trees" May, 'churchill bust/Obama Boris, and 'never misses and opportunity to troll for votes' 35 year fixture of the establishment Corbyn, who made a career out of criticizing and collecting a  check from the 'flawed' establishment.

    _____________________________________________________________________________

    There was a survey when Obama was Prez that asked the simple question of which Party controlled the Senate and which the House.

    35% got it right. It was Dems Senate at the time, GOP House.

    As there is a 50-50 chance guessing on each question, random guesses give 0.5 x 0.5 = 25% would be right by sheer guessing.

    Now 62 million vote for an obvious liar and con artist who says he, and only he, can fix everything.

    About half of Republicans think the FBI Director should swear allegiance to Trump. Democracy dies when the people are so stupid or tribal to trust a rabble rousing self aggrandizing press attacking sleazy lying demagogue and his Party.


    by NCD on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 10:32am

    It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried ~ Winston Churchill
     
    You up for poll testing? Caused a lot of ruckus in the U.S. in the past.

    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 10:31am

    AA, you know that literacy tests are not under discussion. You should know enough history to understand how they were used to suppress black voters. Here is an example from Louisiana.

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_su...

    Literacy tests had nothing to do with understanding the issues on the ballot. They were the product of white supremacy.

    Many fellow citizens don't feel the need to be informed. That makes these voters susceptible to the folks spending the most money. I'm arguing that the problem is ill-informed, gullible voters. The solution is voters taking the time to educate themselves. Literacy tests were an abomination.

     


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 10:52am

    yes I know.

    And I disagree with you that they didn't have to do with the type of things NCD likes to complain that the electorate doesn't know about. I've read some of those actual tests at length. Some were like the citizenship tests, complex questions about our government.

    The fact that they didn't give them to white people in the South back then, many who were barely literate,  doesn't mean that they weren't betting on many southern blacks being barely literate as well.

    Do you yourself think that barely literate or barely educated people shouldn't be allowed to vote? Just do it non-racially this time? I don't, but that is the only solution I can see to complaints like NCD's. Otherwise, more elite educated complaining in public about all the stupid people out there just backfires when they hear about you doing it and then they go out and vote against whatever the more educated are advocating because they are clearly interested in insulting the less educated.

     


    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:07pm

    AA, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 did not see literacy testing as benign.The bill banned the use of tests for everybody.

    The voting rights bill was passed in the U.S. Senate by a 77-19 vote on May 26, 1965. After debating the bill for more than a month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 333-85 on July 9. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, with MLK Jr.and other civil rights leaders present at the ceremony.

    The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50 percent of the nonwhite population had not registered to vote, and authorized the U.S. attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local elections (in 1964, the 24th Amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal elections; poll taxes in state elections were banned in 1966 by the U.S. Supreme Court).

     

    If people can't be shamed into educating themselves before voting, the republic is already lost


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:33pm

    as I said, I don't think it's a good idea.

    And I think that the kind of shaming that often goes on is counterproductive. There's got to be a better way than to publicly state that all who vote for Republicans (or to leave the EU) are stupid fucks, or deplorables for that matter. Hasn't seemed to help liberals very much so far.


    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 1:51pm

    If 40% of the public sticks with Trump and vote against their own interests.it might be wise to tell the other 60% that they need to get off of their behinds when it is time to vote. Midterms, General, and special elections are all important. I don't expect any message to get through to the 40%.

    The 40% benefits from the ACA even though they don't realize it is Obamacare. They will support destroying Obamacare, then have a Brexit moment when they realize they are losing health care benefits. As I noted, the grandparents will be kicked out of the nursing home. The 60% needs to know the threat they face because of the 40%.

    Edit to add:

    Suggesting that literacy tests were benign does not jibe with the historical record. If people aren't motivated to read and educate themselves, then there is no way to have a sensible discussion. Climate change is real, violent crime is trending down, etc. If you are not arguing facts, debate is worthless.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-reading_us_5952728be...


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 2:41pm

    The elite educated and rich who own the Republican Party sell snake oil to the GOP base while acting to make their lives worse, while also working to destroy our democratic institutions, public education and social cohesion.

    That is insulting and immoral.


    by NCD on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 12:51pm

    There were ads for a cream that you rubbed on your forehead to treat headaches. There are people who will not vaccinate their children. They people who buy the cream only deceive themselves. The people who do not vaccinate children pose a risk to all of us. We don't pretend that not vaccinating does no harm, we educate the population.We broadcast why not vaccinating is harmful. We don't sugarcoat the message. We force smokers outdoors to prevent being exposed to second hand smoke. If people don't accept climate change we don't lie to them. People are threatening our health care and we are told "Be nice".

    Edit to add:

    Anti-vaxxers targeted the Somali community in Minnesota. Vaccination rates plummeted. Somalis are responding with community members providing the truth about vaccines. Somalis are educating Somalis.

    http://www.startribune.com/in-measles-outbreak-a-misconception-about-vac...

    Until the Conservatives find a moral code, they will continue to represent a clear danger to the republic. Only Conservatives can address the political malady in their ranks. They don't trust the rest of us.


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 4:22pm

    Well stated.

    It appears Trump and the GOP are failing again on their Prime Directive, tax cuts for the 2% they serve.

    Every new better choicy patient centered moral plan they concoct to balance the transfer of wealth to those who don't need it winds up like a brick upside the head when the millions and millions losing healthcare comes out.

    The reality of what they voted for must be dawning on many who were suckered by the Orange Con.


    by NCD on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 5:57pm

    Donations to the Montana Republican who body slammed a reporter doubled after the event.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/gianforte-fundraising-doubled-after-body-sl...

    ​The current crop of GOP supporters are not nice people. We have to admit that we are a deeply divided country. I have friends who are white who are equally disgusted with the modern GOP. Republicans are willing to see people die to give tax cuts to the wealthy. Current Republicans are no different from those who supported politicians who practiced Jim Crow. If we don't speak the truth about Republicans, we risk encouraging authoritarians.

    It is not our responsibility to educate Republicans. They don't trust us anyway. They have to search their souls and find a moral compass.


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 8:09pm

    New Republcan tactic for TeeVee News time and money raising?

    Assault the press reporters, "enemies of the people"?

    If the Cheeto Mussolini fails maybe the next Republican demagogue will surround himself with uniformed enforcers to carry out the violence, to add entertainment value for the mob.


    by NCD on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 11:22pm

    I think this is really complex, and not I don;t think there should be tests for people to vote - nor poll taxes either.

    We are at a bad place where almost 40 years of overt and covert attacks on our institutions have left so much in shambles. These attacks include the education system which has had fund scattered all over the place, and particularly pertinent to voting and citizenship, the removal of civics from most curricula. I was in public school and we had civics, social studies, and current affairs, and had to pass tests on both our state and federal constitutions in order to graduate. (We also had to take world geography).

    It is hard to be "informed" if you don't even know how our system is supposed to work.

    Over the same period, "news" went from an station obligation to entertainment. Likewise, the obligation for the various stations were required as part of their licensing of OUR airwaves to provide FREE air time for political campaigns and for community service bulletins and even programming. We also had fully funded National Public Broadcasting that filled a broader need to non-commercial news and programming.

    Then the government started selling OUR airwaves, and with that sale went a lot of control.

    The move towards money-speech began long before Citizens United.

    We have been fairly passively watching the shredding of our democracy and a nuking of the foundations that (invisibly) held it all together.


    by librewolf on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 11:51pm

    My favorite poll (not) has been done by Gallup since the 1960's. the poll question:

    In your opinion, which of the following will be the biggest threat to the country in the future - big business, big labor or big government?

    The poll reduces the financial/money/campaign/legislation/regulation feedbacks/influences, political patronage and operation of the interacting power structures of the country to a pre-K level. Frames it that way.

    Which is the level the powers that be seem to want to keep the voters.

    3 threats. Scary.

    Two, unions and government, are supposed to be controlled by the 'little people', voters, workers.

    No "Do you think big business should be allowed to control big government?"

    No "Do you think government is necessary to regulate big business?"


    by NCD on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 11:03am

    This is an important and valuable addition to the discussion librewolf. Thank you.  We on the left must continue to discuss the moral/ethical imperative of medicaid/health care expansion.


    by HSG on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 11:05am

    time for everyone to work on the whole family over the 4th:

    Opposition Within Party Forces Retreat by Senate Leader

    By JENNIFER STEINHAUER and THOMAS KAPLAN 2:11 PM ET @ NYTimes.com

    • Senator Mitch McConnell, facing mounting opposition, announced that he will delay a vote on his legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act until after the Senate’s Fourth of July recess.
    • The delay deals President Trump an embarrassing setback on a key part of his agenda.

    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 4:01pm

    P.S. helpful allies if you happen to be the black sheep liberal:

    Key Constituency Against Bill: Governors of Both Parties

    By ALEXANDER BURNS 1:56 PM ET @ NYTimes.com

    The Republican effort to overhaul the health insurance system has inspired extensive bipartisan cooperation — in an attempt to defeat it.


    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 4:04pm

    This is not the end of the Republican assault. Now is when we need the real push for Universal healthcare and the hell with a $trillion tax cut primarily for the 1%.

     


    by librewolf on Tue, 06/27/2017 - 11:54pm

    Krugman sums up the Republican assault on healthcare in two charts. One shows the percentage of people targeted for tax cuts. The second shows how much of the tax cut goes to the 1% at the cost of taking healthcare away from over 20 million people.

    https://thedailybanter.com/2017/06/krugman-sums-up-senate-health-care-bill/


    by rmrd0000 on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 9:20am