Just how bad are things in America? Not great!

[Enchubben 5509]

If America is "not great", what does that make other countries? Zero perspective from the usual crowd.

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

I also am unaware of a flood of people from Denmark, Switzerland,  Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Germany, Japan, e.t.c. just dying to become Americans cuz we're so awesome.

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

3 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

If America is "not great", what does that make other countries? Zero perspective from the usual crowd.

Better? Edit: You need to pick countries when do that kind of comparison.

Also, "other places are worse therefore we aren't bad" isn't really a good argument.

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by MC Fresh Breath

[Hookah Horns 3081]

15 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

And yet.... people are still fucking killing themselves to get into our country....  Here's a wacky thought.. howz about giving them your spot ?

Merely acknowledging this country's serious problems doesn't mean one should leave. There's some kind of fallacy at work in your logic here. 

[Brisketexan 104624]

2 minutes ago, Hookah Horns said:

Merely acknowledging this country's serious problems doesn't mean one should leave. There's some kind of fallacy at work in your logic here. 

This.  I've acknowledged serious concerns with my marriage at times.  That could mean two things: "if you're not happy, GTFO and go fuck a skank from WalMart!"  OR...it could mean that those were something we needed to work on to make something very important to us better.

How silly of us.

[RomaVicta 29792]

2 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

IIRC, I think slugga was possibly the only poster against invading Afghanistan too? There were a few others against Iraq, but I think he might've truly been the only one that got it right on Afghanistan.

I was vehemently against the Iraq Invasion.

I think the military operation in Afghanistan was necessary. The US with local help did remove the Taliban which refused to cease giving refuge to Al Qaeda. Much damage was done to Al Qaeda in further operations. That was a clear enemy to strike back at. Now, how it was handled over time....

Our best chance of long term success there (whatever in the hell that would look like) was destroyed by the Iraq Invasion, IMHO. 

The success of Afghanistan was in the use of Special Forces trained to work with locals, build relationships, then influence the course of conflict and resolution. Those Special Forces have rarely been given so pure a mission for their design.

They were all pulled out of Afghanistan because Turkey, one of the neighbors so desperately threatened by Iraq, refused to join the invasion or allow staging for it from their homeland. Special Forces were used to create a northern front of attack in Iraq where conventional military could not be used. I have no idea if that was really even necessary, but there it is.

I don't know that Afghanistan could have avoided being a quagmire for us, but I do believe that we pissed away our best shot by removing the forces in place in order to deploy them in the Iraq fiasco.

Of course, all respect to HPSlugga.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11668]

2 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

The “but the defense budget is really a jobs program” always gets me for several reasons:

1. It’s basically admitting we have socialism but exclusively around the military because “they’re special” so it doesn’t count as socialism.

2. Nothing is preventing us from turning military jobs into healthcare, education, or public service jobs. It’s not about the money, it’s about prioritizing funding towards things that build better lives here instead of destroying them abroad.  But that would be socialism, lol. 

3. Obviously we need a military but I have to question how all the spending is making us safer?  Who exactly is all that money defending? Defense contractors and their employees?  It certainly isn’t protecting us from cyber attacks, pandemics, or foreign disinformation campaigns. Basically what I’m saying is the role of “defense spending” could use a paradigm shift to actually go towards DEFENSE. 

1. It is.  We've socialized a big segment of our economy.

2. This is not true.  The biggest thing preventing this is the great jump from one class of job to the next. The jobs program works because the jobs are technology-related. You can't turn Dr. Aerospace into healthcare/education/public service as easily as you can move within technologies.  Back to the original example with NASA, there's a chicken-egg issue with whether miniaturization got us to the moon, or going to the moon got us miniaturization. Basically a jobs program directed at high-tech gives us high tech spinoffs.  The current high tech socialized program is military.

3. You're right.  That's not optimal. Maybe have half of them working on coming up with free seamless wireless internet everywhere or something would be a better use of resources. D.D.E. says beware military industrial complex. 

My point is the money can be shifted to be optimized for the welfare of the country, but to view defense money as wasted money is wrong.

[fattyflattie 4636]

12 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Programs that help educate parents on how to provide a nurturing learning environment for their children could also be part of a massive education budget. 

So a government sponsored class to teach people how to not be a piece of shit, and actually care for their spawn, after they’ve brought it into the world. Seems logical. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by fattyflattie

[DonkeyCigars 144]

2 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

I'm not ashamed or embarrassed about it, I'm angry about it. Like I'd be angry about some dipshit bragging about how many castles his king had.

I think you miss the point. Nobody is bragging and living vicariously through tycoons or kings or whatever, at least I'm certainly not. I am "bragging about" and encouraged by the framework that we have in America that makes it a possibility that a commoner can one day have a castle. 

It's encouraging and aspirational and it's the fuel that drives American exceptionalism in innovation, creativity, and next-gen technology, process, and product. In my opinion.

Edited March 25, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[Enchubben 5509]

21 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

Better? Edit: You need to pick countries when do that kind of comparison.

Also, "other places are worse therefore we aren't bad" isn't really a good argument.

It's about as good of an argument as we need to tweak XYZ so this country isn't great, while you ignore every single positive attribute and fail to compare it to others.  

Confirmed, no perspective. 

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

Just now, Enchubben said:

It's about as good of an argument as we need to tweak XYZ so this country isn't great, while you ignore every single positive attribute and fail to compare it to others.  

Confirmed, no perspective. 

 

You seem to be missing the, well a lot of points, actually.   What do you think  you've confirmed?   Do you feel like you just scored an internet point?

[BradInATX 9208]

1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

Do you want a country just a dick hair better than Nicaragua? Do you want a country filled only with technicians denied the opportunity for intellectual improvement that was once common to university education? Is this the best path? 

 

You just asked a Republican if they want a country that has a singular goal of wealth creation for the oligarchs, without bothersome things like science, art, or diversity of thought.

That's utopia.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

5 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

 

You seem to be missing the, well a lot of points, actually.   What do you think  you've confirmed?   Do you feel like you just scored an internet point?

It's a bit like the missing link to why a large enrollment FCS school schedules Nicholls State. Perspective apparently. A lot of positives will come out of a win, you see.

[ndawg 1242]

This thread is reminding me of my favorite George Carlin quote: "they call it the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."

[DonkeyCigars 144]

4 minutes ago, ndawg said:

This thread is reminding me of my favorite George Carlin quote: "they call it the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep to believe it."

I don't know man, on this very thread we are talking about a guy who comes from humble origins in lower middle class Oklahoma who, through some combination of good luck and wits and ambition and skill, he was able to become a multi-millionaire.

He isn't a celebrity CEO or some special, unique mind. He's just a guy (or gal). That is the dream.

As poker players say, all I need is a Chip and a Chair. That to me is the beauty. It's like the Maltese Falcon, a symbol for the dream.

Edited March 25, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[David Dennison 18658]

51 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

If America is "not great", what does that make other countries? Zero perspective from the usual crowd.

There are plenty of countries that are worse places to live than the United States.

There are also plenty of countries that are better places to live than the United States, especially if you are middle class or poor.

[David Dennison 18658]

1 minute ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I don't know man, on this very thread we are talking about a guy who comes from humble origins in lower middle class Oklahoma who, through some combination of good luck and wits and ambition and skill, he was able to become a multi-millionaire.

He isn't a celebrity CEO or some special, unique mind. He's just a guy (or gal). That is the dream.

It's mainly luck. 

[Nivek 16859]

55 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Absolutely.  It’s insanity.  

Edit:  90% of our docs are independent contractors - our value prop is navigating all that BS.  These days you really need to be a partner in a 5 person plus practice or just work for someone.  Hanging up a shingle doesn't work 99% of the time.  Unless you're doing private pay/cosmetic etc...

 

The article I linked earlier touches on the paperwork a bit.   I was hoping you or Sawbonz could comment.

Oh and how is that adult adoption going?

[RomaVicta 29792]

1 hour ago, Mdhorn said:

 

Literally go to any pharmacy abroad or either in Mexico or in Canada since they're closest and check out drug prices.  It has shit to do with regulation dumbfuck.  I don't know why idiots enjoy calling other people names but this board thrives on them.  Do you remember the cases of individuals buying up pharmaceutical companies and then inflating prices 600 percent?  Because that happened dumbshit and it's real easy to google.  

Hmmmmmm....

Google or radio-delivered dogma?

Google or radio-delivered dogma?

Google or radio-delivered dogma?

Not an easy choice. But I'll choose ease. Dogma it is!

[DonkeyCigars 144]

2 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

It's mainly luck. 

As poker players say, all I need is a Chip and a Chair. That to me is the beauty. It's like the Maltese Falcon, a symbol for the dream.

I agree luck and timing are more important than skill and ability. But you also need to exist in a society that would allow life (8 Figure wealth adult Chitowndoc) to crawl out of the primordial soup (lower middle class Oklahoma) with a lucky combination of atomic particles. Not many countries provide that ability and America is the most optimized.

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[RomaVicta 29792]

1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

Strong to Charlie Strong.

Hmmmmm...neg for irony deafness or not?

Hmmmmm...neg for irony deafness or not?

Hmmmmm...neg for irony deafness or not?

Nah. The irony deaf can't help it.

[David Dennison 18658]

3 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

As poker players say, all I need is a Chip and a Chair. That to me is the beauty. It's like the Maltese Falcon, a symbol for the dream.

I agree luck and timing are more important than skill and ability. But you also need to exist in a society that would allow life (8 Figure wealth adult Chitowndoc) to crawl out of the primordial soup (lower middle class Oklahoma) with a lucky combination of atomic particles. Not many countries provide that ability and America is the most optimized.

 

So the story goes. 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

Just now, David Dennison said:

So the story goes. 

Poo-tee-weet

Poo-tee-weet

Poo-tee-weet

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

8 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

As poker players say, all I need is a Chip and a Chair. That to me is the beauty. It's like the Maltese Falcon, a symbol for the dream.

I agree luck and timing are more important than skill and ability. But you also need to exist in a society that would allow life (8 Figure wealth adult Chitowndoc) to crawl out of the primordial soup (lower middle class Oklahoma) with a lucky combination of atomic particles. Not many countries provide that ability and America is the most optimized.

 

You're actually really close to defining one of the main issues with the American myth.  Hunter S. Thompson used to refer to the "Horatio Alger" stories a bunch.  Others have and can phrase it better than I will.  But the essence is people are afraid of "being mean" to the rich because of the belief that they too will one day win that lottery.   This goes into behavior and attitudes towards economic policies.  This also contributes to the correlated attitude of the poor are only poor because they didn't try hard enough (pretty much said by a poster on this very thread).

Edited March 25, 2021 by MC Fresh Breath

[ndawg 1242]

4 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I don't know man, on this very thread we are talking about a guy who comes from humble origins in lower middle class Oklahoma who, through some combination of good luck and wits and ambition and skill, he was able to become a multi-millionaire.

He isn't a celebrity CEO or some special, unique mind. He's just a guy (or gal). That is the dream.

As poker players say, all I need is a Chip and a Chair. That to me is the beauty. It's like the Maltese Falcon, a symbol for the dream.

The presence of individual "rags-to-riches" stories does not tell us anything about whether it is getting easier or more difficult for Americans to increase their lot in life.

I get it. You're bought in to a nice feeling. It's easy to love the stories of Americans like Henry Ford (though, the actual Henry Ford was a fascist). The trouble is that feel good stories don't inform us about the actual conditions in the country. At best they're a harmless fantasy to indulge in, at their worse they lead us to draw all sorts of dubious conclusions, such as the belief that America is still great because at least one person we know "made it."

And the entire notion of "making it" -- when looking at society as a whole, in aggregate -- has perverse undertones of narcissism and sociopathy. Plenty of people who build wealth are wonderful people who used their imagination, ingenuity, and empathy to envision ways of creating value for others. But the shared collective fantasy of "making it" is more about the outcome than the journey. It's not success, it's a counterfeit of actual success. It's as different from what folks like Henry Ford accomplished as selling fantasy knives on QVC is different from building, say, an automobile manufacturing empire.

[RomaVicta 29792]

11 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I don't know man, on this very thread we are talking about a guy who comes from humble origins in lower middle class Oklahoma who, through some combination of good luck and wits and ambition and skill, he was able to become a multi-millionaire.

He isn't a celebrity CEO or some special, unique mind. He's just a guy (or gal). That is the dream.

As poker players say, all I need is a Chip and a Chair. That to me is the beauty. It's like the Maltese Falcon, a symbol for the dream.

The Maltese Falcon as sought was as illusory as the libs the right loves to hate and fear. The stuff dreams are made of turns out to be painted lead. Dashiell Hammett was not a fantacist, apologist, nor fearful of a cold hard look at something.

 

[SydneyCarton 47884]

15 minutes ago, ndawg said:

The presence of individual "rags-to-riches" stories does not tell us anything about whether it is getting easier or more difficult for Americans to increase their lot in life.

I get it. You're bought in to a nice feeling. It's easy to love the stories of Americans like Henry Ford (though, the actual Henry Ford was a fascist). The trouble is that feel good stories don't inform us about the actual conditions in the country. At best they're a harmless fantasy to indulge in, at their worse they lead us to draw all sorts of dubious conclusions, such as the belief that America is still great because at least one person we know "made it."

And the entire notion of "making it" -- when looking at society as a whole, in aggregate -- has perverse undertones of narcissism and sociopathy. Plenty of people who build wealth are wonderful people who used their imagination, ingenuity, and empathy to envision ways of creating value for others. But the shared collective fantasy of "making it" is more about the outcome than the journey. It's not success, it's a counterfeit of actual success. It's as different from what folks like Henry Ford accomplished as selling fantasy knives on QVC is different from building, say, an automobile manufacturing empire.

wonderful post. 2 minor points:

1.) Lets also not forget Henry Ford was a colossal racist. And everyone should read David Halberstam's The Reckoning, if they can find a copy. What a truly wonderful and fascinating book (it's not primarily about henry ford being a racist). 
2.) Just for the chef's kiss I would have suggested substituting selling pillows on QVC as opposed to knives. But I'm a petty man. 

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by SydneyCarton

[BradInATX 9208]

18 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

But you also need to exist in a society that would allow life (Chitowndoc) to crawl out of the primordial soup (lower middle class Oklahoma) with a lucky combination of atomic particles.

This would be a hell of a lot easier for more people if the top few percent of uber-elite rich families weren't hoarding a large majority of our country's wealth and resources. 

And let's be real, while lower middle class white Oklahoma is a tougher starting point than most of Surly's kids will have, it's not really that big of a setback. I came from a similar social strata and becoming upper middle class was not difficult at all. Being white helps. Being male helps. Having access to technology and decent public schools helped. Let's not compare those experiences to the starts a black kid in the poor areas of Michigan or even a poor white kid from rural Mississippi have. They're worlds apart.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/social-mobility-upwards-decline-usa-us-america-economics/

The whole social mobility thing is great, and we should all embrace it. But the deck is stacked and it's becoming worse. In prior generations working class man could buy a little house in the burbs and support an entire family, have two decent cars, and live relatively well. Working class. The professional class struggles for that in 2021. 

 

If you are an advocate of social mobility then you should also be an advocate for un-rigging the game.

Edited March 25, 2021 by BradInATX

[Biff Tannen 45495]

2 hours ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

Also, "other places are worse therefore we aren't bad" isn't really a good argument.

This is my BIL's argument every time and it's infuriating.  Yeah, we fucking better be better than Afghanistan.  That's a really low fucking bar.

[David Dennison 18658]

4 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

This would be a hell of a lot easier for more people if the top few percent of uber-elite rich families weren't hoarding a large majority of our country's wealth and resources. 

And let's be real, while lower middle class white Oklahoma is a tougher starting point than most of Surly's kids will have, it's not really that big of a setback. I came from a similar social strata and becoming upper middle class was not difficult at all. Being white helps. Being male helps. Having access to technology and decent public schools helped. Let's not compare those experiences to the starts a black kid in the poor areas of Michigan or even a poor white kid from rural Mississippi have. They're worlds apart.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/social-mobility-upwards-decline-usa-us-america-economics/

The whole social mobility thing is great, and we should all embrace it. But the deck is stacked and it's becoming worse. In prior generations working class man could buy a little house in the burbs and support an entire family, have two decent cars, and live relatively well. Working class. The professional class struggles for that in 2021. 

 

If you are an advocate of social mobility then you should also be an advocate for un-rigging the game.

Fifty years of neoliberalism has been devastating.

Socialism for the rich; capitalism for the poor.

[DonkeyCigars 144]

7 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

You're actually really close to defining one of the main issues with the American myth.  Hunter S. Thompson used to refer to the "Horatio Alger" stories a bunch.  Others have and can phrase it better than I will.  But the essence is people are afraid of "being mean" to the rich because of the belief that they too will one day win that lottery.   This goes into behavior and attitudes towards economic policies.  This also contributes to the correlated attitude of the poor are only poor because they didn't try hard enough (pretty much said by a poster on this very thread).

I've long said and believed (and could be wrong) that absolutely there is an aspirational component to people and how they view their potential and future. I think this is what people get wrong when they say "poor people are voting against their interests! They are so dumb!" because they are missing that poor people are actually aspirational voting to a dream and hope and, I agree in most cases, a delusion that they can be a wealthy 1%er too.  They are voting for that great green valley to still be there for them if they can ever get there

The reality as we all know, is there will be a minute number of folks who can actually grab the brass ring.

As with all things politic, it boils down to a set of values and beliefs and views and how you choose to see the world and your place in it. For some, a middle class or upper-middle class decent life with a modicum of creature comfort but rich in family and love and relationship is fantastic (I fall in this camp). For others, the desire to be mega-rich and awesome in this life is great.

I think America is great in that it offers opportunities for both and by saying this, I want you to really hear me here, I am NOT saying that America is without flaw or gross imperfection. 

[Biff Tannen 45495]

1 hour ago, BradInATX said:

The whole social mobility thing is great, and we should all embrace it. But the deck is stacked and it's becoming worse. In prior generations working class man could buy a little house in the burbs and support an entire family, have two decent cars, and live relatively well. Working class. The professional class struggles for that in 2021. 

So much this.  And the Boomers (some, not all) that benefitted from this system completely destroyed it and don't understand why the youngin's don't just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make it work!

[BradInATX 9208]

9 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Fifty years of neoliberalism has been devastating.

Socialism for the rich; capitalism for the poor.

It's a rigged game. Corporations can't fail, and when they do, it's not the rich whose taxes prop them back up.

A single-member S-Corp (doctors, lawyers, consultants) got more in a single PPP loan than a service industry worker got in both bailouts/stimmies combined. That's fucked up.

 

"Too big to fail" means the rich get to eat up market share within their industries with subpar companies, while people out there who could probably do it better can't get their small businesses a foothold in the same industry, because the barely solvent companies owned by the uber-elite aren't allowed to fail and create market share for better companies.

I'm a capitalist. That's not fucking capitalism. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by BradInATX

[lemonlime 5503]

3 hours ago, Incredulity said:

And the solution to reducing bureaucracy is...

***Checks notes***

 

government run healthcare?

What makes you think the government isn't running things now?  They currently pay for about half of healthcare costs in the U.S.  And we have to deal with state and federal government bureaucracy and that's in addition to  the bureaucracy from all the insurers.

[SydneyCarton 47884]

Yeah. I'm sure a bunch of poor folks completely understand all the issues and are going to themselves "You know what, I can vote for universal healthcare and college debt elimination, OR I can let it ride on the fact that I might get to the 1% one day. Because we both know that I can't have A and B." What a deliciously fucking stupid false choice you've set up in that post. You are the Michael Jordan of being a  piece of shit. 

Edited March 26, 2021 by SydneyCarton

[Michael Knight 12898]

Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. - Abraham Lincoln

[DonkeyCigars 144]

29 minutes ago, ndawg said:

The presence of individual "rags-to-riches" stories does not tell us anything about whether it is getting easier or more difficult for Americans to increase their lot in life.

I get it. You're bought in to a nice feeling. It's easy to love the stories of Americans like Henry Ford (though, the actual Henry Ford was a fascist). The trouble is that feel good stories don't inform us about the actual conditions in the country. At best they're a harmless fantasy to indulge in, at their worse they lead us to draw all sorts of dubious conclusions, such as the belief that America is still great because at least one person we know "made it."

And the entire notion of "making it" -- when looking at society as a whole, in aggregate -- has perverse undertones of narcissism and sociopathy. Plenty of people who build wealth are wonderful people who used their imagination, ingenuity, and empathy to envision ways of creating value for others. But the shared collective fantasy of "making it" is more about the outcome than the journey. It's not success, it's a counterfeit of actual success. It's as different from what folks like Henry Ford accomplished as selling fantasy knives on QVC is different from building, say, an automobile manufacturing empire.

You make a good first point, but I would argue that the conversation (at least as I understand the OP) is staked not around the trend line or trajectory, but rather relative to the 206 other sovereign countries in the known world.

I also think it is odd and would be interested in hearing your follow-up, on why you chose Henry Ford as an example for the American Dream, in a conversation we are having in 2021. The rags to riches stories are plentiful of just this year, and many are rich in diversity (e.g: Girl Billionaire, Bumble IPO) indicating it being easier for more traditionally marginalized Americans (URG/URM) to achieve the dream.

If your last point is that capitalism, or maybe more accurately American Capitalism, has subtext and is tied-in with mental illness (narcissism and sociopathy), I would challenge you on thinking about your views and why you feel like your definition of success is a definitive one. What makes you, or anyone outside of each individual, an authority on how to define success (versus an ersatz feeling). 

That is what made America great. It's a land of individuals, for individualism. We think, therefore we are. Each and every one of us. At least in my opinion.

Why it's not great anymore to me is because technology has advanced to the point where the weight of individualism cannot be held anymore; there is no shared ethic or politic. We all want and believe and strive for different things and technology has given every person agency to influence and entrench, for better or worse. And with 5G/increased speeds, it will only get worse.

Edited March 25, 2021 by DonkeyCigars

[DonkeyCigars 144]

4 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. - Abraham Lincoln

This. This. So much this. Misattributed or not.

[Foosters 17733]

Edited March 25, 2021 by Foosters

[fattyflattie 4636]

I see a lot of posts using @ChiTownDoc as an example on many things.   IIRC he’s actually from W TX, not OK. And also POC, iirc.  Or has alluded to such.  
 

21 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

So much this.  And the Boomers (some, not all) that benefitted from this system completely destroyed it and don't understand why the youngin's don't just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make it work!

You can also understand then, when other generations are weary that y’all have all the answers this time around. We fucked up college education, let us fix it by govt paying for it.  We fucked up healthcare, let us fix it by govt paying for it.   How about y’all just sit this round out and think about how we got here. 

[Satchel 6908]

Last year, (2015) it cost Parkland Hospital a staggering three quarters of a billion dollars to provide what is called uncompensated care - mostly treating patients without health insurance. Parkland is hardly some 90-pound weakling, but $765 million of red ink will strain any-sized hospital. Dallas County judge, Clay Jenkins, oversees the county hospital. He says it doesn't have to be this way...

A huge chunk of that could be paid for. It's about $580 million a year that would be brought in by the Medicaid expansion monies.

Statewide, Texas hospitals had to eat 5.5 billion dollars in uncompensated care last year. The reason is this - after the Affordable Care Act passed, the amount of money the federal government provides to hospitals for uncompensated care was significantly reduced. It's cause and effect; if 9 out of 10 Americans have health insurance, the amount of uncompensated care hospitals have to provide goes down. But when the U.S. Supreme Court gave the individual states the option to opt out of part of the Affordable Care Act, then-Texas Governor Rick Perry could not opt out fast enough

 

 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11668]

6 minutes ago, Foosters said:

 

 

one easy fix seems to be for us to just put a cross in our flag.

[wildcat09 29256]

35 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

So much this.  And the Boomers (some, not all) that benefitted from this system completely destroyed it and don't understand why the youngin's don't just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make it work!

Don't "not all boomers" this shit. 

[Michael Knight 12898]

13 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Don't "not all boomers" this shit. 

all boomers are bastards

[gmr548 16513]

And the solution to reducing bureaucracy is...
***Checks notes***
 
government run healthcare?

Medicare is so much more efficient than private insurers it’s laughable.

[gmr548 16513]

Last year, (2015) it cost Parkland Hospital a staggering three quarters of a billion dollars to provide what is called uncompensated care - mostly treating patients without health insurance. Parkland is hardly some 90-pound weakling, but $765 million of red ink will strain any-sized hospital. Dallas County judge, Clay Jenkins, oversees the county hospital. He says it doesn't have to be this way...

A huge chunk of that could be paid for. It's about $580 million a year that would be brought in by the Medicaid expansion monies.

Statewide, Texas hospitals had to eat 5.5 billion dollars in uncompensated care last year. The reason is this - after the Affordable Care Act passed, the amount of money the federal government provides to hospitals for uncompensated care was significantly reduced. It's cause and effect; if 9 out of 10 Americans have health insurance, the amount of uncompensated care hospitals have to provide goes down. But when the U.S. Supreme Court gave the individual states the option to opt out of part of the Affordable Care Act, then-Texas Governor Rick Perry could not opt out fast enough

 

 

Fiscal responsibility!1!1!1

[ChiTownDoc 21101]

2 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

Negged for being off point and inventing an argument not made. No one has come near suggesting or alluding to a hostility towards attaining wealth.

I'm not negging you for the absurd notion that leading the world in female billionaires somehow balances even a single point that Hugo makes. You likely truly believe it.

My second inclination to neg you further for your usual mealy mouthedness (I understand and don't actually disagree blah blah blah) is balanced by your rare directness in (of course, without explanation or attempt at arguement) in negging my post about guys like you needing illusory liberals to hate. 

I don't believe that you do understand. I certainly doubt that you "don't actually disagree." 

But a world where a few percent of billionaires are just about totally self-made justifies or balances the op must be a very nice world to live in. The word illusory comes again to mind.

Nobody needs a billion dollars.  I’m maybe 10% there.  I’d say half that is liquid and I have zero clue wtf I need.  Tax the living hell out of it one way or another.  You should not be able to pass on billions across generations.  Easy for this guy w no kids and no billion dollars to say, but I maintain I’d have that stance even with the extra zero tacked on. 

[Michael Knight 12898]

There is no such thing as a self made billionaire and every billionaire got their money by robbing someone else. Elon Musk got his money from fucking emerald mines in Africa so don't tell me he's a self made altruistic man who only wants to do good.

[elfenix 34171]

1 hour ago, BradInATX said:

A single-member S-Corp (doctors, lawyers, consultants) got more in a single PPP loan than a service industry worker got in both bailouts/stimmies combined. That's fucked up.

they also cheat like hell on their taxes

[Guest Lobo]

3 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

There is no such thing as a self made billionaire and every billionaire got their money by robbing someone else. Elon Musk got his money from fucking emerald mines in Africa so don't tell me he's a self made altruistic man who only wants to do good.

Serious question---who did Oprah steal her billions from?  Or did she inherit it all?