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President Biden: The NEW one and only politics thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Moderator1, Jan 20, 2021.

Page 1601 of 8814
  1. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    I abhor Trump, but I bet you he has a better record over the last five years in supporting GOP primary winners than McConnell.

    I don't know what's worse, McCarthy's open slurp job or McConnell's spineless off-the-record attacks.
     
    wicked, Sep 23, 2021
    #19201
    OscarMadison likes this.
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    BTW, you also brought up Daraprim (and there are other orphan drugs like it), where that shithead was able to raise the price to the moon. Producing a generic version of that drug would be a snap -- there are factories all over India that could produce small amounts and sell it for virtually nothing here -- but again, the massive costs to jump through the regulatory hoops made it so cost prohibitive to produce a generic version that it wasn't worth it for anyone to step in and incur that much cost to try to get the approvals. ... to service a market that small. You'd never make your money back. So that gave a government-created monopoly to Shrkeli, and he was the absurd extreme of what can happen when you fuck up a market that way. But to suggest that this was a "free market" (your quotes) problem gets it exactly backward. An actual free market would have made it so that he could never have cornered the market on a small orphan drug that way because of the regulatory mess we created.
     
    The Big Ragu, Sep 23, 2021
    #19202
    SFIND likes this.
  3. Neutral Corner

    Neutral Corner Well-Known Member

    Ragu, BCBS negotiates drug prices and rebates with Pharma in every bit as bare knuckled a way as Walmart squeezes their suppliers. BCBS of Alabama has probably 80% of the market here. If a drug company does not bend enough on the price, their drug isn't in the formulary and their market share goes to hell. They suck it up and try to make it up on volume and selling other more profitable drugs. I think that Pharma lobbyists are as effective or moreso than granny calling her Senator and bitching about drug prices.
     
    Neutral Corner, Sep 23, 2021
    #19203
    OscarMadison, 2muchcoffeeman and Fred siegle like this.
  4. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Considering one of his primary projects the past several years has been to forment the overthrow of the Pope, I'm surprised some faithful warrior hasn't stepped forward to pump bullets into his head.

    Bannon's emerging anti-Francis movement threatens church unity
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2021
    Starman, Sep 23, 2021
    #19204
  5. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Medicare Part D (when they changed it under Bush) is administered through private plans that compete based on costs and coverage. ... They negotiate their prices exactly the same way that Blue Cross / Blue Shield does. With Pharmacy Benefits Managers as go betweens and all of the wrangling and shady things, like the rebates they wrangle for (and the cuts each take), and the concessions they make to get their drug on a tier of the formulary. And in fact, those companies are forced by law to set their Part D premiums based on the rebates they are able to wrangle (if they collect more, they have to lower premiums). Regardless, Blue Cross doesn't have the drug companies by the short hairs. They are co-conspirators that (along with a PBM) work together. Medicare drug prices are negotiated the same exact way, because the drug benefit is administered privately, not as a direct prescription drug benefit, the way the program covers hospitals and physicians.

    What "negotiate prices" means, is that they would change it so that it becomes a direct benefit, and the government (DHS) would try to put in price controls to bring down the costs. The way the Veteran's Administration (and some other countries) does it, for example. The outcome of that is predictable. Prices would come down. ... so would access to a lot of new drugs, and because Medicare has taken over such a large percentage of the market, it would make it less beneficial to do the kinds of R&D expenditures its in the interest for the drug companies to do right now.
     
    The Big Ragu, Sep 23, 2021
    #19205
  6. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    You don’t have to pay attention to my moral proclamations at any rate. Do I make any?

    The situation in Del Rio was created specifically by Biden. It’s not a residual of Trump, or even Obama. They’re here because they believed Joe Biden would let them in.

    So - should he? That’s all that really matters. He has the power to do so - no one’s going to stop him. Should he do it? It’s fine to theorize about who loves and respects who and calls out evil and whatever. I don’t vote GOP very often, and the guy in the WH is the guy I voted for. Surely you did, too.

    So - is it evil If Biden deports them? Is it xenophobic? And if it is - what wouldn’t be? It’s pretty clear - very clear - that our southern border, while strained by many fleeing persecution, also includes many for whom “I’ve lived in Chile for the last 5 years and Joe Biden said I could come” is not much of a refugee status.
     
    Alma, Sep 23, 2021
    #19206
  7. Driftwood

    Driftwood Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
     
    Driftwood, Sep 23, 2021
    #19207
  8. Justin_Rice

    Justin_Rice Well-Known Member


    What should he do?
     
    Justin_Rice, Sep 23, 2021
    #19208
  9. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    Why put your opinion out there when you can just shit all over everyone else's opinions?
     
    Regan MacNeil, Sep 23, 2021
    #19209
    SFIND and Fred siegle like this.
  10. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    How about we roll back the emergency order from spring 2020 that says they can be sent back immediately without going through the usual steps of asylum interviews and hearings? We can test them as they arrive and if anyone pops a positive case we can turn them away. Otherwise give them a chance to state their case (and give them their first vaccine shot if needed, since we have a bunch that will apparently go to waste otherwise.) If they go through the system and their claim is deemed invalid, at least they had their chance to be heard.

    Now on a parallel track with that, we do need to reform the immigration laws more broadly so that we are realistically meeting our need for population growth and vitality in the face of an aging population. And we need to make sure there aren’t bad actors in the system hell bent on denying entry to anyone who isn’t whiter than a Tylenol capsule.
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
    dixiehack, Sep 23, 2021
    #19210
    OscarMadison likes this.
  11. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    ??
     
    Starman, Sep 23, 2021
    #19211
  12. Della9250

    Della9250 Well-Known Member

     
    Della9250, Sep 23, 2021
    #19212
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