Re: 2016 Election
 

American Catholics tend to adhere less to papal teachings than do Catholics in general. For example, most use birth control.

Re: 2016 Election
 

One would certainly hope so, otherwise there'd be a damn sight more than 320 million of us here :lol:

Re: 2016 Election
 

Obama originally wanted ACA to be single payer but had no chance, in the administration's view, of getting that through, and so removed the single payer aspect. How do you imagine Sanders will get his plan approved, realistically, given the intense opposition that the current ACA faced?

On the education front - is he proposing free education for all courses / subjects / vocations? That is - a student could study 'history of art' for 4 years and have that paid for? I know that in some circles that is supported due to the 'benefits to society' of allowing people to study non-vocational subjects, but I think it would be more likely to fly in the US if they would say courses like engineering would be free.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Based on the current Congress, he has no chance. Just like Clinton's proposal to expand the ACA has no chance. That's why Sanders calls for political revolution. Whether that is any more likely is a different debate. But to me it reflects the political reality that the government doesn't help the people any more. I think more and more people are waking up to that fact, and sooner or later there is going to be a rebalance.

Re: 2016 Election
 

That explains why the ACA is basically shit, then. If the Democrats can regain control of the Senate, it may be easier.

The fact is, single payer is the only solution, otherwise ACA or not, people are going to continue going into debt trying to pay their medical bills.

I'm not sure how that would work. Education for education's sake is still beneficial though, even if STEM degrees are more useful in the long run. Perhaps they could make those ones vastly more affordable than they already are. I think everyone can agree that a four year degree costing near enough as much as a house is beyond ridiculous.

Again, it comes down to distribution. There is, as Boiler said, plenty of money floating around. Maybe Bernie is only a starting point, maybe he won't win but he has put forth these ideas and they won't be forgotten. Not by my generation and certainly not by that of my children. It might not be the president of 2016 or even 2020 that implements real and useful change, but I certainly hope it happens in my lifetime. Trump likes to wax lyrical about 'making America great'. Bernie Sanders is the only politician in the race who has policies that can actually achieve that. That's why I will be voting for him in the primary, whatever may happen after that.

Re: 2016 Election
 

I don't know about Bernie's specific proposal. I did however read an interesting thing recently about the ACA. While the insurers have been bitching about losing money on ACA coverage (can't drop that one family spending millions on a terminal illness) some have been minting it on Medicaid expansion plans.

Dirty little secret: Insurers actually are making a mint from Obamacare - LA Times

I could see a gradual expansion upwards of medicaid perhaps?

Re: 2016 Election
 

He's a latin american priest, and despite the church's very reactionary views on some things, in many cases the priests there have been in the forefront of the battles against a long series of right wing and military dictatorships (many put in place and supported by the US) and for human, civil and social rights . In many cases priests risked and lost their lives in this work. It's not at all surprising to me that this one would speak up. And while I don't want religion in government, this kind of activism by priests is about the most (only?) useful thing they do.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Some Evangelicals and Baptists refuse to accept that Catholics are Christian.

Re: 2016 Election
 

You raise an interesting point, and one I am inclined to agree with; many might argue that interference from religious leaders over the years has caused harm as well.

Serious question: should the Pope level the playing field and give us an assessment on the efficacy of each of the candidates Christian faith?

Re: 2016 Election
 

Probably the majority.

Their major issue with Catholicism being there is but one intercessor between God and mankind - Jesus Christ. The existence of an alternative 'head of church' doesn't quite fit into that equation.

Most evangelicals are somewhat suspicious of the Catholic Church. If anything, Donald might have won a few of them over.

Re: 2016 Election
 

I don't think he should, in tbe sense he has no obligation to be even-handed. Also, although he framed it that way this time, it doesn't have to be done in terms of measuring their christianity but rather commenting on their treatment of human values. Christianity scores would be problematic from many angles.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Anyone care to offer an explanation as to why Trump is scoring big with Evangelicals? This, to me, is utter craziness.

Trump back on top in national poll - POLITICO

Quote: "Trump leads among all demographic groups, including men, women, white evangelicals, moderates and those describing themselves as somewhat conservative. Among those describing themselves as very conservative, Trump holds a 5-point lead on Cruz ... "

He says many things to win support from many groups, but I can't imagine what evangelicals could read into his ramblings that would cause them to support him over the likes of Cruz or Rubio, who sound like they are preachers on stage.

This could set an interesting historic precedent; conventional wisdom has always been that a Republican candidate has to veer far right to capture the nomination, but here we see Trump not doing this at all. Very odd.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Because he's a xenophobe (or at least pretends to be one.)

To understand social conservatism among whites, you have to realize that it's ultimately an ethnic identity movement.

There are quite a few Hispanic and black social conservatives, but they tend not to align with the GOP because they realize that the social conservatives don't just favor prayer in school and abortion restrictions, but that they also want Jim Crow. They aren't natural allies in spite of some shared values.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Hillary thinks O Care is wonderful, she has been bought and paid, nothings changing.

Re: 2016 Election
 

She acknowledged in the Democratic debate that it needs to be worked on and improved.