Steerpike

Sorry if I missed this earlier - are you over 65 and on Medicare?

civilservant

This is everything that is wrong with the older electorate, and the reason why the Republicans have any votes at all.

'I'm ok, so why should I care about anyone else? They just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps'

Ingles

Just to get this thread back on track :-
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/v...-video-profile

scrubbedexpat099

After Trump and Obama I would imagine many people would be hoping for someone less divisive.

dakota44

I am just stating the apparent obvious. Sorry if it hurts your delicate sensibilities.

Jerseygirl

Please take your disagreement to PM. Thanks

Leslie

Rahm Emanuel is not seeking another term as mayor of Chicago

scrubbedexpat099

Sanders: Not all migrants have credible claim

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/...newday-vpx.cnn

BEVS

That headline is misleading.

This man states " No I don't. I think you have to look at it case by case" which is quite normal procedure.

He also talks about comprehensive immigration reform, about the 2 mill young people that should not have to fear deportation & goes on to talk about not demonising desperate men, women and children.

The headline should read: Sensible Approach and Attitude to Immigration Reform.

I would have liked to have heard a question and answer about the USA accepting responsibility for its policies & manipulations that have effected ordinary people of countries other than their own.

robtuck

If I've been reading correctly, and not allowed my memory to become too impaired by the odd bottle of wine, the actual benefit of "Social Healthcare" programmes is not the taxation angle, or that a Govt. is somehow better at admin (it most certainly isn't), but that the Drug pricing falls significantly. When you have a near to, or actual, single purchaser of prescribed medicine, the drug companies lose the power they have in the USA system. It has been quite interesting the sheer disdain people have for the concept of the NHS since I have been in Georgia, but equally interesting has been the complete lack of knowledge that you can top up with Private Healthcare if you wish, and many companies even offer it as a benefit to employers. Usually you get someone mentioning how they saw a news programme showing people waiting in the corridors, or spending years on a waiting list for a routine surgery.

For me, the entire branding of what something like a Medicare for all looks like is what a party should be looking at. How do you make it seem like it isn't Big Government trying to tell you how to live, but in fact a system that provides cheaper care for all but allows Private citizens to make a choice and enough room for companies to make a profit. You'd imagine if you can crack that, you get a lot of the Mid Westerners onside where heavy industry has taken a beating (and no amount of changes in regulation are going to turn back the automation tide). The task is to show them you are making their lives financially better and still leaving the American Dream in place.

Steerpike

That's why 'Medicare For All' is a possible slogan for the future; "Universal Healthcare" scares people (the 'big government' fear you mentioned), but many people have a positive attitude towards Medicare because people have parents/grandparents, and parents/grandparents are typically 'on' Medicare and have an overwhelmingly positive view of it.

While the ACA has not been a runaway success, it has apparently changed the landscape relative to 10 years ago. It now seems to be political suicide to suggest any system that gives special treatment (read: more expensive) to Pre-Existing conditions. In AZ - a pretty solid 'red' state - the recent Senate victory by Sinema over McSally was fought almost entirely on healthcare, and Sinema prevailed to be the first Democratic Senator to be elected in 28 years. her ads on TV relentlessly bashed McSally for voting against ACA provisions. The next two years should prove interesting in this area.

Rete

Back in the 80's I worked for Bing & Grondahl Copenhagen Porcelain, Inc., the US subsidiary of the Danish porcelain company. Our president was a Dane and our vice president, who I worked for, was a Brit. It is from him that I first discovered that this is true. His mother required surgery. She was put on a waiting list even though the surgery was necessary and would correct a medical condition that was causing her disabilitating pain. After a month of waiting, he said the hell with it and got her surgery privately to fix the medical problem. So, yes, many Americans have heard of things such as this and this is what sticks in our heads when you talk about the NHS. From my husband, the Canadian, I know about the various medical schemes in the different providences and have first hand knowledge of those in Quebec (my in-laws) and Nova Scotia (my stepson). Yes, there are waiting lists in both for surgery. Even for surgery required because of cancer (my brother-in-law). Lung surgery took over 3 months of waiting for a spot to be open for his surgery at the "Jewish" as my sister-in-law calls one particular hospital on Montreal.

I would love to see a national healthcare scheme in the US and feel that it can be done so that it is fair to all and without costing citizens an arm and a leg. Medicine should not be a big business. Yes, it can continue to be a business and of course the profit margin will be lower and thus, salaries to the upper management will be lower, but still there would be a profit for the company.

National Healthcare should never be looked at like Big Brother is telling you how to live and for idiots who feel this way, it should be pointed out that Big Brother is not the one to do this to them but it is already the healthcare industry that is doing it to them. They are the ones that are telling them they can or cannot get treatment. The HI is the culprit who designates who lives or dies in the US based on who can and cannot afford private healthcare.

The biggest problem with getting national healthcare passed is the lobbyists in Washington who line the pockets and bank accounts of the elected officials that we, Americans, have put in office. They are voted in on platforms of promises and the public is too stupid to realize that that is all it is, a promise. Even the so called fair healthcare plan of ACA only helped certain people while the pockets of our elected officials were filled.

Lion in Winter

Well the way Wisconsin is dealing with it is to try to change the rules of government so that the newly elected governor can't fulfil his promise on the subject.

This is actually pretty mind-boggling. Lost the election? No problem, just change the government's structure...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...oting-midterms

The vested interests apparently do not want their interests threatened.

Steerpike

There's quite a bit of talk in that article of challenges to such actions in court. Do you think the challenges will prevail? It sounds like similar actions were challenged and overturned in 2016.

PS I happened to come across this interesting article about Governor Scott Walker and Foxconn ... a $4.1 Billion deal that can only be described as corporate welfare. https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/29/...r-scott-walker

Lion in Winter

I honestly don't know, I'm not a jurist. It seems that their voter suppression efforts may well end up challenged in courts, but I really don't know about the changing of the powers of the governor - it looks as though that bit can just be enacted by the State reps.

I'll read the article later - can't right now - but Scott Walker is a nasty piece of work all round.