Archive 2017-2019 Political Thread

[ghost]

No. Trump! You and Ghost are the liberals. You're just don't admit it.

I have become more liberal on some issues over the last few years, but I am still very conservative on several. The things I have changed on are a result of my understanding of Jesus and His teachings and mission and as my faith in Him has developed. I also can spot a con man and won't let myself be fooled by a fool.

 

[Matt]

Ask this 14 year old girl if there is an emergency at the Southern border ? There are thousands of stories like this. But some seem to be OK with all the rapes and murders at the hand of illegals. This Jesus would tolerate this ?


https://www.illegalaliencrimereport...as-raped-yet-another-child-in-north-carolina/

 

[Matt]

 

[skelly]

Only way to save ourselves really is to curb spending domestically and militarily. We won’t do it. Need a straight forward tax code that isn’t based on finding out information on people or some kind of convoluted reward/ punish system. Fair Tax was something I thought made sense it never gained traction. There is a corrupt partnership between corporations and government both parties are involved. Socialism won’t work here cause we already have it to a large extent where between retirees those in disability and welfare we don’t have enough people working to pay the bills the government keeps taking in record amounts of revenue but refuses to hold spending in check you can’t cut spending on anything heck if you just slow the rate of growth in any program then it’s called a cut and used on the campaign trail cause people think they can vote themselves a check. Richest corporations either get the breaks they want or take their money offshore. Overt socialist systems obviously fail because of corruption and greed as well as loss of incentive. Freedom means you do have the opportunity to fail so no corporations should be considered o big to fail as well.

 

[maroonedinhsv]

Ask this 14 year old girl if there is an emergency at the Southern border ? There are thousands of stories like this. But some seem to be OK with all the rapes and murders at the hand of illegals. This Jesus would tolerate this ?


https://www.illegalaliencrimereport...as-raped-yet-another-child-in-north-carolina/

Who commits more crime in the US, illegal immigrants or citizens?

 

[Matt]

Who commits more crime in the US, illegal immigrants or citizens?

Because there are more American citizens of course citizens do. But how many people would be alive are would have not been raped if the illegals were not here to begin with. You cannot morally equate the two. You seem to find it acceptable thousands of people are murdered and raped by illegals every year, That's quite a stance there!

 

[Matt]

Circumventing congress to spend more money makes you pretty liberal.

He is not spending money. He is using money that has already been allocated and is currently in accounts. Just moving it around and directing to a new purpose.

 

[gangstonc]

Notice that the trump pick for labor secretary Acosta is now implicated in breaking the law. I think people think he was not vetted properly. I believe Acosta was chosen because of decision such as this.

We also know Trump, Bill Clinton, and Alan Dershowitz have partied with Epstein and flown to his parties on his plane.

Matt, what do you think about Trump’s work here?

 

[Kory]

Because there are more American citizens of course citizens do. But how many people would be alive are would have not been raped if the illegals were not here to begin with. You cannot morally equate the two. You seem to find it acceptable thousands of people are murdered and raped by illegals every year, That's quite a stance there!

When looking at rates, per 100,000 people in the state of Texas, native-born in the U.S. are twice as likely to commit crimes than illegal immigrants (that takes out the argument of more people = more crime). Legal immigrants are nearly 3 times less likely to commit crimes as native born in the U.S. and half as likely to commit crimes than illegal immigrants.

https://www.cato.org/blog/murder-mollie-tibbetts-illegal-immigrant-crime-facts

I don't like crime. No one in this thread is promoting crime. But is it any less evil if an American does it than a illegal immigrant? Or is it any worse if an illegal immigrant does it than an American? Crime is crime. I want everyone prosecuted to the fullest extent regardless of citizenship status.

 

[gangstonc]

When looking at rates, per 100,000 people in the state of Texas, native-born in the U.S. are twice as likely to commit crimes than illegal immigrants (that takes out the argument of more people = more crime). Legal immigrants are nearly 3 times less likely to commit crimes as native born in the U.S. and half as likely to commit crimes than illegal immigrants.

https://www.cato.org/blog/murder-mollie-tibbetts-illegal-immigrant-crime-facts

I don't like crime. No one in this thread is promoting crime. But is it any less evil if an American does it than a illegal immigrant? Or is it any worse if an illegal immigrant does it than an American? Crime is crime. I want everyone prosecuted to the fullest extent regardless of citizenship status.

Fake stats. trump has stats. Just ask him.

 

[gangstonc]

He is not spending money. He is using money that has already been allocated and is currently in accounts. Just moving it around and directing to a new purpose.

Wrong.

 

[ghost]

Only way to save ourselves really is to curb spending domestically and militarily. We won’t do it. Need a straight forward tax code that isn’t based on finding out information on people or some kind of convoluted reward/ punish system. Fair Tax was something I thought made sense it never gained traction. There is a corrupt partnership between corporations and government both parties are involved. Socialism won’t work here cause we already have it to a large extent where between retirees those in disability and welfare we don’t have enough people working to pay the bills the government keeps taking in record amounts of revenue but refuses to hold spending in check you can’t cut spending on anything heck if you just slow the rate of growth in any program then it’s called a cut and used on the campaign trail cause people think they can vote themselves a check. Richest corporations either get the breaks they want or take their money offshore. Overt socialist systems obviously fail because of corruption and greed as well as loss of incentive. Freedom means you do have the opportunity to fail so no corporations should be considered o big to fail as well.

Good post. I agree with a lot of what you're saying

 

[gangstonc]

Only way to save ourselves really is to curb spending domestically and militarily. We won’t do it. Need a straight forward tax code that isn’t based on finding out information on people or some kind of convoluted reward/ punish system. Fair Tax was something I thought made sense it never gained traction. There is a corrupt partnership between corporations and government both parties are involved. Socialism won’t work here cause we already have it to a large extent where between retirees those in disability and welfare we don’t have enough people working to pay the bills the government keeps taking in record amounts of revenue but refuses to hold spending in check you can’t cut spending on anything heck if you just slow the rate of growth in any program then it’s called a cut and used on the campaign trail cause people think they can vote themselves a check. Richest corporations either get the breaks they want or take their money offshore. Overt socialist systems obviously fail because of corruption and greed as well as loss of incentive. Freedom means you do have the opportunity to fail so no corporations should be considered o big to fail as well.

Agree on all counts.

I think the military spending needs to be cut on conflicts and foreign base support. We need to maintain our research and development.

 

[Mike S]

Who commits more crime in the US, illegal immigrants or citizens?

https://www.politifact.com/californ...-true-undocumented-immigrants-less-likely-co/

 

[maroonedinhsv]

Because there are more American citizens of course citizens do. But how many people would be alive are would have not been raped if the illegals were not here to begin with. You cannot morally equate the two. You seem to find it acceptable thousands of people are murdered and raped by illegals every year, That's quite a stance there!

Hey, look... i cast the bait, but other people reeled in the fish. Looks like the national emergency should’ve been declared to make citizens leave the country instead of preventing immigrants from coming in.

You probably don’t even realize how bad that post made you look.

 

[roadtonowhere08]

Hey, look... i cast the bait, but other people reeled in the fish. Looks like the national emergency should’ve been declared to make citizens leave the country instead of preventing immigrants from coming in.

You probably don’t even realize how bad that post made you look.

But taking the bait is far easier than rational discussion. And where have I heard such talk before?

Oh yeah:

 

[Kory]

Only way to save ourselves really is to curb spending domestically and militarily. We won’t do it. Need a straight forward tax code that isn’t based on finding out information on people or some kind of convoluted reward/ punish system. Fair Tax was something I thought made sense it never gained traction. There is a corrupt partnership between corporations and government both parties are involved. Socialism won’t work here cause we already have it to a large extent where between retirees those in disability and welfare we don’t have enough people working to pay the bills the government keeps taking in record amounts of revenue but refuses to hold spending in check you can’t cut spending on anything heck if you just slow the rate of growth in any program then it’s called a cut and used on the campaign trail cause people think they can vote themselves a check. Richest corporations either get the breaks they want or take their money offshore. Overt socialist systems obviously fail because of corruption and greed as well as loss of incentive. Freedom means you do have the opportunity to fail so no corporations should be considered o big to fail as well.

The best way to tackle our unsustainable spending to reform and completely turn on our head how we handle entitlements (medicare, medicaid, social security, etc), because that accounts for more than 60% of our yearly budget and CONTINUES to grow. But no one will touch that (Trump already said he wouldn't consider medicare and social security reforms) because it will piss A LOT of people off.

So, we will continue to kick the can down the road til it completely collapses.

 

[KoD]

The best way to tackle our unsustainable spending to reform and completely turn on our head how we handle entitlements (medicare, medicaid, social security, etc), because that accounts for more than 60% of our yearly budget and CONTINUES to grow. But no one will touch that (Trump already said he wouldn't consider medicare and social security reforms) because it will piss A LOT of people off.

So, we will continue to kick the can down the road til it completely collapses.

I wonder if there's something we could do to lower healthcare costs that don't necessarily involve who and what is covered by Medicare/aid? A change in billing practices or making the medical supply industry a more open & competitive market so simple (and what should be relatively cheap) supplies don't cost an arm and a leg. We have some sterile gauze ~4"x3" with some adhesive on the sides for easy application. I asked our supply man if we could get more and he said no, they're $27 each. Box of 20 costs $540? I'm sure they're expensive to make and ship but that's a bit much IMO. The prices of everything else is pretty much unknown to us. The few things I have heard are strange though. C-MAC Blades costing $3-4,000 each. We intubate patients with it and it has a video camera & screen so we can see the vocal cords. Sounds fancy and helps rationalize the price. Until you consider it's resolution is 320x240 pixels.. less than our old heavy box CRT TV's (640x480)
And the wires that connect the three to five electrodes on a patients chest to the heart monitor? $100 each. Isn't that just copper wiring?
Those costs get passed on to patients (and I imagine are inflated), then on to insurances - where they can bargain a much cheaper bill of course ... But I wonder what impact would be had if the medical supply industry was more competitive. I usually only see the same 2-3 brands making virtually everything we use.

 

[maroonedinhsv]

I wonder if there's something we could do to lower healthcare costs that don't necessarily involve who and what is covered by Medicare/aid? A change in billing practices or making the medical supply industry a more open & competitive market so simple (and what should be relatively cheap) supplies don't cost an arm and a leg. We have some sterile gauze ~4"x3" with some adhesive on the sides for easy application. I asked our supply man if we could get more and he said no, they're $27 each. Box of 20 costs $540? I'm sure they're expensive to make and ship but that's a bit much IMO. The prices of everything else is pretty much unknown to us. The few things I have heard are strange though. C-MAC Blades costing $3-4,000 each. We intubate patients with it and it has a video camera & screen so we can see the vocal cords. Sounds fancy and helps rationalize the price. Until you consider it's resolution is 320x240 pixels.. less than our old heavy box CRT TV's (640x480)
And the wires that connect the three to five electrodes on a patients chest to the heart monitor? $100 each. Isn't that just copper wiring?
Those costs get passed on to patients (and I imagine are inflated), then on to insurances - where they can bargain a much cheaper bill of course ... But I wonder what impact would be had if the medical supply industry was more competitive. I usually only see the same 2-3 brands making virtually everything we use.

I can't say this with certainty, but I would imagine a significant portion of the cost associated with the electronic medical supplies is in reliability (and in the insurance associated with it). If the copper wire running to your tv breaks or even gets pinched to the point that the current flow is altered, it can be an incovenience. If the same thing happens on medical equipment, it can lead to death. I'm sure much of the stuff can be manufactured in a much cheaper fashion, but do you want to take the risk?

 

[KoD]

I can't say this with certainty, but I would imagine a significant portion of the cost associated with the electronic medical supplies is in reliability (and in the insurance associated with it). If the copper wire running to your tv breaks or even gets pinched to the point that the current flow is altered, it can be an incovenience. If the same thing happens on medical equipment, it can lead to death. I'm sure much of the stuff can be manufactured in a much cheaper fashion, but do you want to take the risk?

I'd say your view point is 1,000% accurate. This is vital equipment and seriously important. I'd hate to see a hospital buy shotty equipment because it's cheaper and it ends up failing at a bad moment when we need it most.
At the same time, I've had the existing cables & modules fail at reading telemetry and blood pressure on critical patients at the perfectly wrong time (albeit very rare) and more frequently (but still rare) on stable patients.
It's absolutely necessary that all of our equipment is 100% free of defects and working constantly. It should be NASA precision and that's what we seem to be paying for but not what we're getting.
I definitely don't want to give the idea that a more open and competitive medical supply market is the right avenue for us, but I do want a healthy discussion on the pros, cons and impact. Maroonedinhsv that's by far the biggest concern I'd have regarding this idea. You and I both know that businessmen/women would likely see the cheaper alternatives as the more attractive option. There would have to be a rigorous standard in place (such as how we treat generic formularies in pharmaceuticals) to ensure the durability and accuracy of each and every product.
I would hope the cost of regulation (should it be effective) would be more cost effective than our current closed market. Especially if someone capitalizes on the reliability hospitals seek by making truly better products.