Political dumpster fire Part III Greg and Kerry Vs CR

[greg1647545532]

What were the issues under Obama? Pretty terrible foreign policy, drone strikes, "red line" comment on Syria, overly aggressive anti-terrorism and general deportation policy. Lives were definitely ruined under Obama, and the careless attitude towards collateral damage in his continued "war on terror" was no doubt a grievous humanitarian crisis and a gross human rights violation. (If only the left and the right could have come together on this last issue, but the right will never criticize murdering Muslims and the left was never willing to eat their own).

 

What are the issues under Trump? Political divisiveness with no end in sight, leading to total political gridlock and an assurance that no important issues will ever get solved. Trump has engaged in a non-stop over-the-top war on Democrats (12/17 angry Dems, Dems are the enemy of the people, Dems want open borders so MS-13 can come in and rape your daughters, etc etc etc) that has continued to drive a wedge between the parties. He's used his authority to attack political opponents in a way that hasn't been seen in this country... ever (to wit, why are we still talking about prosecuting Clinton, a private citizen and political nobody, for crimes for which she was thoroughly investigated and cleared?) Trump has attacked his own government, growing hatred for a governing body which is supposed to be by the people, for the people. Instead, he's fomenting hatred of a "deep state" bogeyman by attacking the rule of law and justice (witch hunt!).

 

Conservatives used to claim that Obama was just too divisive a leader for daring to suggest that maybe transgendered Americans are people too, but holy shit, the divisiveness in this country has ratcheted up to 1000 ever since anyone gave Trump a platform to claim that Obama was really a Muslim Kenyan.

 

So what issues are we failing to solve while watching this trainwreck of an administration tear this country in two? Well, let's just start with the deficit. Our children are going to have to pay back all of the money that Republicans have handed out to the wealthy because, newsflash, tax cuts are easy and spending cuts are hard.

 

But it's going to get worse, because health care costs are continuing to skyrocket, a uniquely American problem because America has a uniquely stupid health care system, and Republicans will never agree to any kind of a solution because a) they have no ideas (Who knew health care was so complicated?) and b) their entire platform has been built on this notion that government sucks. Guess who's going to have to foot the bill when it all blows up? Again, our children.

 

But it's going to get worse, because climate change is the #1 issue affecting future generations, like it or not. Who's going to foot the bill for relocating whole cities of people as sea levels rise, or arable land becomes desert, or massive public works projects are necessary to combat natural disasters? That's right, our children.

 

So we're heading into a massive financial boondoggle that our children are going to have to deal with, but our leadership doesn't care. Instead, we're supposed to, what, freak out about immigrants? Worry about guns? Abortion? None of those issues are going to fuck us over in the future. Climate change, health care, and how we're going to pay to fix everything, those are the issues. And I may not like a lot of the Democrat's solutions to those problems, but I respect that they've at least identified the correct problems to solve.

 

Trump is a cancer on this country. He's a distraction, not a leader. And none of the above is the result of the "leftist media fabricating fear." These are real issues, but most of the country is completely uninterested in solving them.

[Geeto67]

....but most of the country is completely uninterested in solving them.

 

 

the only part I will disagree with is this one. I think MOST of the country have an interest in solving them, BUT they have not made the connection between the election cycle and government action on these issues. Trump takes a lot of heat for not having any solutions to these issues, causing some of them, and not believing others exist - but it's the american people who put him in office by not showing up to the polls. I feel like this is an education and managing expectations problem in this country - they cant connect cause and action when they are expecting fast change and the process is much slower.

 

I do agree that this ""Trumps not doing a bad job because I don't feel it right now" has to go. Political policy is the long game, not a short one. We currently are still feeling effects from President Reagan's time in office on some issues (mostly education and healthcare) and that was 30+ years ago. Brandon may not be feeling it now in his 20's but in his 40's or 60's? unless something is done it's gonna hurt, and will he even know why or make the connection to the origin of the problem?

Edited December 11, 2018 by Geeto67

[CRed05]

Columbus City Council passes ticket tax

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus-city-council-approves-5-ticket-tax/1651948906

 

Baah. Ticket prices will go up, but of course your precious buckeye games are exempt from this

[greg1647545532]

Pro tip from me to you, you can save money and avoid taxes by not having a social life

[10phone2]

Pro tip from me to you, you can save money and avoid taxes by not having a social life

 

pretty spot on there.

 

The problem that Columbus is going to face down the road is that with the high taxes and increasing traffic... does the pay in relation to cost justify being here

[TTQ B4U]

Our health are system is a train wreck that can be fixed by the people if they would just step up and eat better and actually exercise.

 

Costs related to Acute illnesses are one thing but most of our costs are wrapped up in failed chronic disease treatments that would for the most part not be needed if people gave a fuck about what they put in their bodies.

 

Ditch the sugars and processed foods and step outside for some fresh air once in a while.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Note 8 using Tapatalk

[greg1647545532]

Our health are system is a train wreck that can be fixed by the people if they would just step up and eat better and actually exercise.

 

Costs related to Acute illnesses are one thing but most of our costs are wrapped up in failed chronic disease treatments that would for the most part not be needed if people gave a fuck about what they put in their bodies.

 

Ditch the sugars and processed foods and step outside for some fresh air once in a while.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Note 8 using Tapatalk

 

It's so simple, why didn't Republicans just replace Obamacare with "step outside for some fresh air once in a while" when they had the chance? Morans.

[10phone2]

let's move past the democrat vs repubclian debate. are you saying that people who are not active have less health issues?

[greg1647545532]

let's move past the democrat vs repubclian debate. are you saying that people who are not active have less health issues?

 

Yes, that's what I'm saying. Fat slobs are the healthiest motherfuckers in America. Do you disagree? The fat slobs are even healthier if they're wearing a sleeveless flannel and a trucker hat while taking about how much better they are than the east coast liberals and their "yoga" classes. God those fat fucks are so healthy that they never need health care and can comfortably vote against any policy that might make it easier for their own fat asses to get it. Sitting around, eating bacon and watching Duck Dynasty while hating on athletes is the best thing you can do for your health, everyone knows this.

 

 

Man, this thread is really confusing sometimes, I can't believe people think that a healthy lifestyle might reduce health care costs. Read a book!

[10phone2]

maybe it's not up to one political party to fix health care, but more of the individual to be active to avoid the traps of health care cost regardless of what political party is in control.

[greg1647545532]

maybe it's not up to one political party to fix health care, but more of the individual to be active to avoid the traps of health care cost regardless of what political party is in control.

 

Sure. But let's recap the Obamacare debate here as quickly as possible.

 

1) Medicare is never going to go away, because private insurers don't want to insure anyone over 65. Old people, regardless of their health, are a terrible bet for private health insurance companies, so our options as a nation are limited unless we're comfortable just letting senior citizens die from preventable causes. We've chosen, probably correctly, to solve this problem with Medicare, a single payer system.

 

2) Medicare is getting exponentially more expensive due to a large number of factors that Medicare administrators have no control over.

 

So, of course people need to take personal responsibility for their own health, but how does that relate to the ballooning cost of Medicare? Should politicians just do nothing while waiting for Americans to get healthy on their own?

[Geeto67]

Cancer doesn't care how healthy and fit you are. Sickle Cell, Huntington's disease, Crohn's disease, hemophilia, Muscular dystrophy, and the literally thousands of other genetic diseases that are out there don't care how healthy your lifestyle is - they will still fuck you up. collectively the rare diseases alone affect 30 million people in the US

 

Let's not forget that in addition to the elderly, there are a lot of people in need of expensive treatment that just prolongs life. Even if a "healthy lifestyle" did reduce costs (and I am not saying it does), it wouldn't be a significant enough reduction to "fix" healtcare costs.

 

greg is hitting all the high points here. I will just add living a healthy lifestyle is another one of those things that is good personal philosophy but lousy to try to use to make public policy.

[zeitgeist57]

What exactly is going so poorly right now in this country besides the leftist media fabricating fear? I mean nothing is ever perfect. There were A LOT of issues under Obama. Was he soooo bad? Or does he get a pass because he was the "cool" President?

 

Nothing is ever perfect, but it takes an amazing level of ineptitude by a President to:

1) Alienate his own cabinet and network of close advisors.

2) Divide a country and denegrate much of what makes the USA great on a global stage (diversity, human rights recognition, compassion).

3) Make economic and geopolitical decisions/comments that make his "short-term gain, long-term loss" wins not even that fruitful...while setting us up for imminent economic failure. (see below)

 

Stock market's going down...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-10/asia-futures-mixed-as-u-s-rebounds-on-tech-gains-markets-wrap?srnd=premium

 

Trump's moronic love-affair for "The Wall" is going to gridlock the Federal Government...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-11/trump-says-i-will-be-the-one-to-shut-down-government-over-wall?srnd=premium

[greg1647545532]

It's a lot easier to just call people NPCs and make "orange man bad" memes than it is to actually pay attention to the world. Or maybe Trump defenders are OK with long term damage to our country as long as it really pisses off the libs.

[Geeto67]

It's a lot easier to just call people NPCs and make "orange man bad" memes than it is to actually pay attention to the world. Or maybe Trump defenders are OK with long term damage to our country as long as it really pisses off the libs.

 

As long as they can pretend to call themselves libertarian without actually knowing anything about libertarian-ism they are perfectly fine with everything. Nothing going on is "bad" if you think the government is the problem. :dumb:

 

You would think a government benefit recipient would care more about the .gov but hey, this is america - we have all kinds of ignorance.

[BStowers023]

So the 40 whatever year old morbidly obese man who shoved his family in an apartment calls everyone who disagrees with him ignorant. You cannot make this shit up :lolguy:

[Geeto67]

So the 40 whatever year old morbidly obese man who shoved his family in an apartment calls everyone who disagrees with him ignorant. You cannot make this shit up :lolguy:

 

No, just you. because you are.

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignorance

 

Definition of ignorance

: the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness

 

checks out.

[BStowers023]

No, just you. because you are.

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignorance

 

 

 

checks out.

 

What's your excuse for being morbidly obese? Ignorance to health?

[greg1647545532]

So the 40 whatever year old morbidly obese man who shoved his family in an apartment calls everyone who disagrees with him ignorant. You cannot make this shit up :lolguy:

 

My BMI is normal and I live in a 4 bedroom house, and I gotta say you seem pretty damn ignorant.

[CRed05]

I'm an American kid. I just had fries and ketchup for lunch, which means I got 2 servings of vegetables!

 

The issue goes much, much deeper than just going outside and eating healthy. In this country, you don't know all the shit that is allowed to go into, or is considered healthy food. American food is like a Jeep in a roll over test.

[BStowers023]

My BMI is normal and I live in a 4 bedroom house, and I gotta say you seem pretty damn ignorant.

 

Did I say anything about you, Greg?

[greg1647545532]

How's Kansas doing?

[TTQ B4U]

It's so simple, why didn't Republicans just replace Obamacare with "step outside for some fresh air once in a while" when they had the chance? Morans.

 

 

Can't force fatties to do much now can we. My point is the best solution for those concerned about their health lies within themselves.

[TTQ B4U]

So, of course people need to take personal responsibility for their own health, but how does that relate to the ballooning cost of Medicare? Should politicians just do nothing while waiting for Americans to get healthy on their own?

 

 

I think the question for people is to reverse the above. I'm glad we agree that people need to take personal responsibility. That said, should we the people continue to wait around for politicians to do nothing or perhaps begin taking action to get healthy on our own? Regardless of anyone's answer, the truth is WE have more control over our own health, that of our family and the costs that impact us than politicians. Not full control but quite a bit.

[TTQ B4U]

Cancer doesn't care how healthy and fit you are. Sickle Cell, Huntington's disease, Crohn's disease, hemophilia, Muscular dystrophy, and the literally thousands of other genetic diseases that are out there don't care how healthy your lifestyle is - they will still fuck you up. collectively the rare diseases alone affect 30 million people in the US

 

Let's not forget that in addition to the elderly, there are a lot of people in need of expensive treatment that just prolongs life. Even if a "healthy lifestyle" did reduce costs (and I am not saying it does), it wouldn't be a significant enough reduction to "fix" healtcare costs.

 

greg is hitting all the high points here. I will just add living a healthy lifestyle is another one of those things that is good personal philosophy but lousy to try to use to make public policy.

 

Nearly 75 percent of all deaths in the United States are attributed to basically ten causes, with the top three of these being Heart Disease, Cancer and Lower Respiratory Disease and account for over 50 percent of all deaths and all of which are GREATLY influenced by the choices we make about what we put in our bodies and expose ourselves to.

 

Will it "fix" healthcare, no and not one is claiming it would. The Agency for Healthcare research and Quality (AHRQ) estimates that the direct medical costs (total of all health care costs) for cancer in the US is over $80B per year. Treatment for heart related diseases account for nearly $1 of every $6 spenton health care in the United States. So, if you seriously don't think individuals could work to better themselves and put a significant dent in the cost of healthcare for everyone then I'm just going to LOL and go detail another cool car, continue to care for myself and my family while you and others enjoy waiting around for politicians and public policy. Don't hold your breath regardless of who is in office though.