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comment by OftenBen
OftenBen  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Donald Trump

Sanders can't get half of what he wants passed, passed. Not with a Republican congress.

If he manages to make universal healthcare a reality I'd be very happy. And it actually makes more sense economically than the system we have now. We spend more $$$/Person than any other 'civilized' country, and have worse quantifiable public health outcomes.

https://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz

Try that quiz out, see what happens.





user-inactivated  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

89% Gary Johnson. Fucking shocker since I work with the Libertarians in St. Louis. And I took all the little side questions too.

You're totally right about Sanders being hamstrung by Congress. He won't get anything substantial passed. Look at what happened with the ACA. Instead of being a single payer public option like Obama and the Democrats wanted, the Republicans basically said, "We'll let people with Cancer get insured with prior conditions if you make everyone in America buy insurance from normal companies under penalty of law." Good deal everybody.

OftenBen  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The point of 'Sanders being hamstrung' is that I'd rather it be him, trying to do the right thing and being opposed, than Hillary 'Business as usual' Clinton.

user-inactivated  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Fair enough. We just have different versions of the right thing.

OftenBen  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm mostly libertarian, with certain exceptions. We probably agree on more than we disagree.

Healthcare being the biggest exception, in this example.

user-inactivated  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's something I'm interested in seeing changed. You're right that costs are too high for what we get, and that this would be changed for the better if there was a governmental body negotiating with all the companies for health care costs. Medicare/Caid often gets the best prices on medical devices for example based on its power and customer base.

What I would like to see is a government plan offered in tandem with the private options. Like when Google Fiber goes out and says, "Hey, we're going to undercut AT&T to force them to beef up their network and lower prices." I want the government to do that. It would be cool if you just had the option to join Medicare as it stands and not just be paying a private company because you're forced to give them your business or pay a huge fine.

OftenBen  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

All of which is mIles better than what we have now.

With regard to healthcare/cost management, I think of it as a tool that the species needs to refine. Right now the US has a flint knife and Europe has a crude bronze blade. Sure the bronze blade might not be great, but it's better than the flint. The US has the choice of making a bronze knife, or trying to sharpen a flint blade past it's useful tolerances.

user-inactivated  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

83% Bernie Sanders

81% Gary Johnson

81% Jill Stein

I'm kind of surprised about the wide range parties showing up as high percentages (Democrat, Libertarian, Green).

66% Hillary Clinton

59% Ted Cruz

Does that mean I'm 66% authoritarian and 59% serial killer? :S

33% Drumpf

I'm sad it's not zero.

user-inactivated  ·  3248 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah. The problem with that test (not that it isn't good enough at what it does) is that there are certain deal breakers for candidates. If my candidate is racist then it's a deal-breaker for me no matter what other tenets I hold with them. When Rand Paul went Pro-Life in the pres. run I knew I was done. You can't run as the 'Libertarian' Republican and run Pro-Life, even if your foreign policy and domestic spying stances are well aligned with mine.