US Midterm Election 2014

halfwise wrote:We were supposed to figure that all out by ourselves?  You give us a LOT more credit than we deserve.

Ally would have understood me. I miss that girl!

only the hardest of the hardcore in the GOP want to get rid of Medicare, which is a single-payer system, albeit one only open to those 65 years old or older. It's massively successful and wildly popular (though also very expensive)- Eldo


Ok. Let me get this straight. You have an NHS equivalent for over 65's that everyone thinks is a good idea except a few fringe folk. And which is very popular.
Obama Care is actually a right of centre devised health policy for under 65's that was only a 'bad thing' once adopted and enacted by Obama.
Since when the Republicans have tried to sabotage, repeal and demonise it.
And at the same time your health care costs are noticeably higher than most countries with a full NHS of some sort.
And when the Democrats are in charge the Republicans will do all they can to block free health care, and when the Republicans are in they can't enact it, even though it was their idea, because they have spent the last few years telling all their supports how bad it is.
But everyone agrees it would be a good idea, and almost certainly as popular as medicare.
You just cant have it, for very stupid reasons.

This is why I think it a bad idea to involve politics in the running of a country.


I miss that girl! - Dave

Indeed.

I think you summarized it nicely. Welcome to America, Lord help you if you didn't bring some kind of insurance plan with you.

Yeah, I think that's about right.

There have been some major improvements with Obamacare -- you can't be kicked off your insurance for having a pre-existing condition, insurance companies can't put a cap on how much treatment they'll pay for, young people can stay on their parents' plans until 26 -- but it's still a half-measure at best. A half-measure that has been hobbled and opposed at every step of the way.

I am glad Franken and Dayton won re-election, and both of them by solid margins. Not happy about everything else.