The Politics Thread

[Wales2004]

I have no sympathy for anyone who voted for Trump and now regrets it.  He didn't present himself as some sort of charismatic guy who has now turned into an ogre.  He is WYSIWYG 100%. Those people just need to admit that their selfishness and total disregard for other humans has stung them as it should.

 

I didn't even read that and am not going to, but seriously, how do you justify at 55 voting for the first time in your life for a vile man like that?

[Juliajms]

I'm steeling myself for chaos in the area of healthcare. It seems to me that it will take the Republicans a couple of years to do whatever terrible thing they are going to do. With any luck Trump won't be reelected and the Democrats will come along and undo it. It's going to be years of people knocking down other people's sand castles, while most of the American people are screwed in such an important aspect of life.

[GregNYC]

 

With the economy the strongest its ever been, Trump's chances of being reelected are very high. February economic records:

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-08/adp-says-companies-in-u-s-added-298-000-employees-in-february

 

Key Points

-Private payrolls climbed by 298,000 (forecast was 187,000), the most since April 2014, after a revised 261,000 gain in January
-Goods-producing industries, which include manufacturers and builders, increased headcounts by 106,000, a record in data going back to 2002, after a 55,000 gain
-Service providers boosted payrolls by 193,000 after a 207,000 increase

Big Picture

The U.S. labor market is continuing its strong run as demand chugs along, potentially benefiting from increased optimism about the economic outlook under President Donald Trump. Claims for unemployment benefits are the lowest in almost 44 years, signaling employers are keeping firings at a minimum. The ADP figures provide some insight ahead of Friday’s release of the Labor Department’s monthly employment report, which is projected to show a 190,000 increase in private jobs.

The Details

-Hiring in construction was 66,000, the most in 11 years
-Factories added 32,000 workers, the most since March 2012
-Employment gained in service sectors tracked by ADP, including trade, transportation and utilities; education and health services; and professional and business services
-Companies employing 500 or more workers increased staffing by 72,000 jobs; payrolls rose by 122,000 at medium-sized businesses, or those with 50 to 499 employees, the most in three years; while small companies’ payrolls gained 104,000, an eight-month high

[marceline]

 

Chaos is pretty much going to be par for the course with this shitshow until Donnie's out of office. However that happens.

[Vee]

And the second it does happen (likely before four years IMO) and not a moment too soon, Greg will instantly change his profile picture to [Insert Flavor of the Month Republican Here] and never mention Trump again.

[JaneAusten]

 

It's interesting. I have a friend who lives in Vancouver and one who lives in the Edmonton area. They both have asked me why Americans are so satisfied with subpar healthcare service. My friend Amy just had knee replacement surgery(she had a bad injury as a teenager and the knee never really regained full function) and talked about how easy it was, no worries there. And she hears about how awful Americans talk about Canada's healthcare system but when she hears about the stories here, the costs, the fact so many people still don't have insurance, she doesn't get why there is no push for a better healthcare system. And no she wasn't singing the praises of the ACA, but that it's the insurance industry and the healthcare industry here that drives so many of the problems, issues they don't have in Canada. Why don't Americans push for reform? How do you say nicely how dumb Americans are, how they don't read, and let pundits tell them what and how to think, how we have allowed the narrative that the poor people and people who are sick are the problems and the drains on our society to drive the narrative.

 

I had to shake my head at Ryan talking about why healthy people should pay higher premiums to pay for sick people. It's not right. Does he not understand that's how the entire insurance industry works? And the healthy people pay anyway regardless as the sick people go back to using emergency rooms for their healthcare and who on earth pays for that. ALl of us with higher premiums.

[GregNYC]

 

I related to my previous avatar, Stacy Dash. Like her, I voted for Obama in 2008, but voted for Trump in 2016. The last 8 years opened my eyes to how corrupt DNC is, just like how it did to Stacy Dash.

[marceline]

 

You don't say it nicely. You say it just like that because that's the truth. We've become a country that not only embraces ignorance, we aggressively pursue it.

[dragonflies]

Oh this is exactly what's going to happen. I truly hope we get someone just like Obama in office in 2020. Someone who actually cares about the American people.

[Juliajms]

@JaneAusten Well, I think we've talked before about how the working poor tend to hate the non working poor, but think the rich are wonderful and to be admired. That mindset is deeply ingrained in our culture. I was reading Hillbilly Elegy the other day. Kind of an interesting read, but midway through the author goes poor white person's Bill Cosby and starts talking about how awful food stamp recipients with cell phones are. How much he resented them when he was a checker and couldn't afford the steaks they were buying. He just goes on and on about all the bad choices poor people make because that's the problem and not the gross income inequity in this country.

 

It reminds me of when I was interning at the ACLU during grad school and expressed some sympathy for some of the downtown prostitutes who were being rounded up and my boss told me they made choices.

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That always stuck with me as an asinine comment because I'm pretty sure she and I never actually chose not to be prostitutes. I know people think the ACLU is our salvation right now, and maybe they are, but I've never been their biggest fan since working there.

[Vee]

 

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[Wendy]

 

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As for the Tweet regarding the Trump voter, I love the buyer's remorse from some Trump voters. You SAW what this idiot was about, yet YOU voted him in, anyway. Reap what you sow.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Wendy

[DRW50]

 

I think apathy and a need for quick fixes is what brings us down as a country more than anything else. Both Obama and Hillary assumed voters understood that things take time. Most people simply don't want to hear that. They want lies. 

[marceline]

 

That's an anomaly from my experience with the ACLU. I was on the board of the ACLU for nine years and there was none of that victim blaming even when our clients were...let's say...problematic. I've been in love with the organization ever since.

 

There are always people who look for reasons to blame other people for their problems because it reassures them that they will never be in the same position. Just like Trump voters on food stamps and welfare don't consider themselves takers because they think they deserve help while "those people" don't.

[Juliajms]

Me too. It's really the best case scenario, but it's a terrible way to run a country.  If only Hillary had won I think the ACA would have been entrenched too deeply to be undone. Then it could have been fixed instead of the uncertainly that's about to come our way. I think we can realistically hope that the bill as it stands won't pass, but if it does I feel really bad for people approaching old age who don't have employer health care.

Edited March 9, 2017 by Juliajms