President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

I would put the term "free market" in the "stuff than gets under my skin" thread. Not that I am for or against the goal of such an economic arrangement, but for the sheer fact that the definition of "free" cannot be quite be nailed down.

 

This is so very convenient for the GOP. Most of those who will die because their health insurance is cut off are poor and minorities. So in stripping millions of their health insurance, the Republicans will effectively kill off those who wouldn't vote for them anyway. For all the talk of poor whites in Kentucky coal country, such people make up a minority of the affected population. Brilliant.

 

Mississippi should still be under the command of the U.S. Army, Gen. W.T. Sherman commanding.

 

Any serious GOP plan looking to uncouple health insurance from employment? That's seems to be one of those "up the creek because of government" parts of our health system.

 

Plenty of private companies are cutting farther and farther back on their HC coverage, decreasing employer contributions, increasing payroll deductions. That's been going on for years. Obviously more and more employers are taking the attitude that it's not their problem.

 

Which honestly makes sense. That's why the public option was the way to go.

 

Humans in the infancy of their existence rejected a totally free market (too many people getting beat up and killed) and decided to have rules.

 

I'm ok with it as long as employers aren't restricted in any manner from offering health benefits to attract the best employees.

 

Losers. The first social justice warriors.

 

That's what will happen to my niece in a few years.

Evie is a sophomore in high school, and for over a decade or so now she's been battling cystic fibrosis. Her father, when he was alive, never found a health insurance plan that would cover himself and his law firm's employees because of it. His wife the speech therapist kept working, even though she really did not want to, so that they could have continuous health coverage. As of at least a few years ago, they were still paying on Evie's very first hospital bill.

CF advances keep coming, maybe not as quickly as we'd all prayed, but there's been a decent bit of hope she can beat the clock long enough for some real game-changing breakthroughs.

But at the very least, Evie was going to be able to get her own health coverage when she finished college and started a career. And it wasn't going to be any bullshit about waiting periods she can't wait for and lifetime caps she would quickly exhaust.

That's not going to happen now. If conservatives get their way and things go back to the way they were, she won't be able to afford to try and join productive society and contribute all she can. She'll have to turn to disability, assuming that doesn't dry up too (and that is assuming a lot), and get the ass end leftovers of our medical system, all while society regards her as a worthless leech.

Oh and she's white and blonde and pretty and smart and comes from a ruby red Bible Belt state; none of which should matter in narratives like this but who is fooling who?

And if her life expectancy gets shortened by this, and her remaining years are undignified, the first person I meet afterwards who prattles on about self responsibility and the glory of markets and all that other bullshit, I will feed them their own teeth. That is hateful and irrational of me and I do not care.

 

I'm sorry to hear that, dixie. My son has long term medical problems from a car wreck, and bad as they are they pale compared to what their family is going through.

And then there's this.

Senate GOP Shoots Down Proposed Protection for Maternity Coverage, Free Contraception