And the Washington Post has an interesting compendium (that goes on and on and on and on) about the whole multi-faceted clusterfuck ... a couple (though not the only) of whose observations resonate where I sit:
THE BIG IDEA: The Trumps are congenitally unable to take personal responsibility....There was an era in which "parlous times" had some meaning.
In a sense, the Republicans fit Colin Powell’s Pottery Barn rule about Iraq: ‘You break it, you own it.’ Republican leaders, from Paul Ryan to Reince Priebus, allowed Trump to break the Republican Party and now they own the consequences.
It feels these days as if American political arena were far beyond that.
Is there a humane solution?
Rome fell, eventually benefiting the italians perhaps. We can hope for something like that, though it may still take time to hit bottom. We're propped up by other nations in support of a pirate economy. But climate and over population may make that impossible to maintain for long. When there's more disease than medicine, bodies in the street follow.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen much in the way of a serious, articulate Conservative / Republican argument why something like the Affordable Care Act is illogical or unfeasible. It's being presented as a given, "we were voted into office to undo 'Obamacare'." That probably is an outright lie. The truth is more like, "We got serious campaign contributions to get rid of Obamacare." Follow that money path, we should.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans have been treating ACA like it's evil when it is a very good thing for very many Americans.
To add further insult the Republican want to include a massive tax reduction for the ultra wealthy as part of their "Repeal and Replace (with as little as they can get away with)."
To the point there are endless Humane Solutions, but we have a perverse group of rich, powerful people who seem to have an agenda that does what olcharlie suggests: put dead bodies in the street.
These are likely the same people who exploit workers, call the poor lazy swindlers, demand that their taxes be reduced to zero, who lobby for massive government handouts in the form of government contracts and privatization of all government service.
Personally, I believe that a Single Payer Plan is the most comprehensive and cost effective way to go. But many Americans are brainwashed by the pro-capitalism propaganda that has been going on since the days of Franklin Roosevelt. Alternative social economics systems are rarely written about much less discussed in the so-called liberal media. In any case, other healthcare plans can be devised to preserve some aspects of "choice," and "profit," with the knowledge that by definition they will provide less care and cost more.
IMO, No health care plan should get involved with tax reform. This is where I draw the line with "Republicans" and hold every one in contempt of their oath of office to serve the people and not their rich donors.