| Author | Message | ||
     Pwnzor |
H0gwash, I'm glad we can keep the discourse so civil, I really appreciate a good conversation with opposing views. I gather from what you've said that you have elected an alternative lifestyle, and while I have my opinions about that, they don't really matter because I support your right to choose whatever you want to do. Everybody's financial situation is different, and I know the delineation between gang infested neighborhoods and affluent ones can be as wide as a regional park right down to a small flood control ditch... day and night, with a razor sharp line in between. That being said, I don't think your situation with regard to finances are typical in the state. I lived there my entire life up until 6 years ago. My ex and I struggled quite a bit with two incomes well over $100k per year each. We literally had nothing going into savings and I had to engage in "alternative methods" of gathering income so we could do things like eat steak and lobster whenever we pleased. If it hadn't been for my unconventional methods, we'd have been eating balogna every day and living solely for the purpose of paying for an old house. Here in Georgia on my single income (my wife started working recently) I can afford everything without struggling. The difference is staggering. Every year since I've been here, my medical premiums have gone up, and my coverage has gone down. Obama, with the support of the lap-dog congress, found a way to dip farther into my wallet again, and progressively leach away my earnings. Next logical step is to just prepare for the inevitable collapse, and lay in supplies while I wait. | ||
| Court |
I'm in the same camp. There are some very thoughtful folks here, some I agree with and some I don't. But, I enjoy listening to the diverse opinions and my "goal" is not to convince you to think my way but rather to understand opinions that I am not exposed to daily. The classic, in the world of Buell, has always been Dave Gess' and my discussions. I love Dave like a brother and have nothing but the highest regard for him in every respect. But, we are widely divergent in our views. I know that Dave is smart, well read and articulate. Too many folks dismiss differing opinions by name calling and simply declaring anyone who disagrees and uninformed and stupid. Dave is brilliant and I've learned many things from him and , over many, many years, we've been a window into each others world. Thanks to all for stepping in here and sharing. Court | ||
| H0gwash |
I too value extended conversations with others with vastly different life experiences. The more access you get to different ideas the more chances you will find a set of ideas that work best for you. Common civility greatly improves the chances of having these extended conversations. If the best ideas you come across are totally conventional, then perfect, you should do that. Obviously this extends to political ideas. I have heard of great financial stress in the upper middle class tier, but never having lived it I don't know the details. Maybe it is incredible markups in the service sector especially things like day care? I wouldn't know. | ||
| Aesquire |
Actually food is a major inflation factor that is deliberately not counted in national inflation stats. Ditto energy. Both are considered too volatile to use. Because of tracking, energy costs have been generally good for the last decade. Barry takes credit for that but the truth is he's been anti-you on energy. If not for fracking on private land, much approved before his regime the economy would be in full blown depression. As is we are very slowly still recovering from the worst economy since the Great Depression and in real world unemployment, worse. Food costs are up partially from the food for fuel program & partly from the Kalifornia rules on water in the Imperial Valley. The rise in food prices from food to fuel alone cause world wide rioting & hardship. Poor folk as always get hurt most. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Our system is increasingly stacked to destroy the middle class and small business. That's me, and my work. The fact that I work for a yellow-dog democrat athiest who believes everything is ok and the economy is great just illuminates the hypocrisy inherent in the system. He just came back from Europe, where he wandered 14 countries in three weeks' time, and glumly smug about the tribulations of the little guys... What the heck... I can't really complain because God has always sorted out my problems as long as I keep my faith in him. | ||
| Macbuell |
I think Obamacare is really what is hurting many middle class families now. They have seen their health care expenses rise significantly based on bold face lies from Hillary and this administration. Coverage's are dropping, premiums are skyrocketing, deductibles are skyrocketing. If you have any health issue what so ever it can bankrupt you. Prior to Obamacare most of the middle class was confident they could at least get decent coverage through their employer or on the open market for a reasonable cost. That isn't true anymore. It is really hurting people and putting them in a horrible position about determining how to pay for it. They are caught in a position of having medical costs that they cannot afford and making too much money for subsidies. It's a horrible position to put a family in and all the Rs have done is give lip service to it and you have the Ds talking up Universal Health Care. Anyway, sorry for the rant ... | ||
| Airbozo |
I am glad my company offers a good medical plan, but... ...I have two friends that are alive today because of the "Affordable Health Care Plan". Both of them have been too poor to afford medical coverage and needed follow up care for previous issues. They just could not afford to get that follow up until plans were made available to them. Both were told that they come in at the right time because their conditions were becoming life threatening. At least they have some as opposed to no coverage. I won't work for a company that doesn't offer medical. 99.9999% of the companies in my field do offer it or they wouldn't get good employees. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
For every "2 friends" there are are 30+ others (including many seniors on fixed budgets) that now have to pay thru the nose and sacrifice their well being because of obamacare. But WTH. | ||
| H0gwash |
Our lead order taker in SF has been working homeless for the past 3 years. She is also paid $15/hr. She is a single mom raising 3 kids in elementary school, they must shuffle from shelter to shelter every couple of months. She is a very good employee. She does not want to pull her kids out of school and disrupt her kid's social lives and school work. She is the only of us 5 on Obamacare. | ||
| Macbuell |
Most companies offer medical coverage but you haven't been paying attention if you have not noticed that the list of things covered is shrinking, the deductibles are going up, the costs of the plans are going up and most companies now are either forcing employees to take high deductible plans or strongly encouraging it. No matter how you measure it, medical costs for middle class families have gone up under Obamacare. This is just a fact. It's great that some less fortunate people are getting coverage. It's absurd and just flat out wrong that the middle class is, once again, picking up the tab in a time when most can't afford it. | ||
| Sifo |
MYSTERY: What was going on with Hillary’s eyes during Philly speech? During a speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton appeared to have something quite off about her appearance. Check it out here: Hillary’s eyes appeared not in-sync with one another, as the left eye looked to be ••••-eyed and displaced, especially as she looked towards the left. A montage of Hillary’s eye-catching moments before a small group of Temple University students can be seen below in footage by The American Mirror. Do you see Hillary’s ••••-eyed moments? OK, that's just kind of creepy, but really needs to be explained. She's got some health problems going on that she's not disclosing. That certainly isn't pneumonia! | ||
| Sifo |
And Illary is suddenly canceling events! I've got to go with her being ill. Drain Bamaged? It would be a felony to have told the FBI that if it wasn't true! With Trump Regaining North Carolina Lead, Hillary Unexpectedly Postpones Local Fundraiser "Without Reason" | ||
| Pwnzor |
In Georgia your friend would not be homeless making $15 per hour. Just saying. | ||
| Airbozo |
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obamacare-pr emiums-20160919-snap-story.html ...Is one take. My costs are down (significantly) and coverage is actually better than my insurance ever was (even during the last .com boom), but again that is only because companies have to get creative to attract talent here in the Bay Area. I have no other plan to compare though, so I cannot comment on others costs. I also think that it was criminal that people had to vote on the health care act before reading it. That should have been a huge red flag and nullified any vote. Now it is being gutted by legal issues which has caused most of the problems. Legal issues that _should_ have been foreseen. I'm not happy paying someone else's bills, but we were doing it before, just in a different way. Now at least some people can actually go get treatment. How would you guys have handled it? What options would you like to see? How can we cover those that cannot afford insurance without breaking someone's budget? I am honestly curious as to what others feel could have been done different. Yes I am somewhat insulated from this, because of my job and the area I live in (and the preparations I have made since I was 30). | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/wikileaks-just- dropped-bombshell-hillarys-health-truth-revealed/# ixzz4KoxQaajv | ||
| Sifo |
From Ferris_von_bueller's link...  Less than 9% believe Hillary isn't lying! That's astounding given her political support. This is where I have real problems with Democrat supporters. They will support the worst of the worst, even when it's obvious that it's the worst of the worst. | ||
| Aesquire |
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/09/is_hil lary_setting_a_trap_for_trump_.html Sure, she's brain damaged... Sure she's got pneumonia, sure she's got deep vein thrombosis & a thyroid problem... So what? I'm sticking to this all being a distraction from her campaign's theft. Her absolute corruption as Sec State. The total lack of anything resembling honesty in her life... I'm sticking to it's all a trap. ( read that in a gurgling squidlike voice ) WHEN, not if, the next leaked memo shows her ordering her minions to break the law, even assassinate Bernie, the Clinton's will just have her pretend to faint and it's all forgotten. | ||
| Aesquire |
Airbozo, well, my rates doubled. Coverage is so far decent, but I'm having issues with physical therapy coverage. That may get straightened out... or I just pay out of pocket. No one here is trying to keep employees. Way more workers than jobs. HOgwash, If the GOP withdrew support North Carolina's HB2 law that would be a good start. First, still waiting for the discussion on that. We probably agree, but until we talk? I was raised a feminist. Women should be legally equal in all ways. I'm not blind or stupid. There's a reason there are men & women's classes in the Olympics. There's a reason the gal who tried to pass Green Beret training failed. Most guys who try, fail. Someday a woman will pass every test the men do, and she will be exceptionally bad ass. Could be Marine Officer hell, or BUDS, or Ranger Hell Week. Most men can't hack any of those. I'm solidly against pervert males hanging out in the little girl's room. I don't see any need for any legislation on the matter. I'm not talking about the tiny minority of trans-whatever folk. The balkanization of human sexuality lately is clinically insane. We're humans. It's all on a curve. I do have serious issues with the crazy parents that go off the deep end with a pre-adolescent child who hasn't figured out all the shifting dynamics of sexuality and will push them into a really bad place. That's not new, it's just that the parents are now vocally insane and politically vicious. You gotta take that stuff on a case by case basis. Making laws about sex has always been a rolling disaster. I run on one basic principal. Consenting adults, none of my damn business. Children? Bury the adults, dead or alive I don't care. ( I admit to a bit of possible hypocrisy when it comes to teenage boys and female teachers... I know I wanted to be seduced by my English Teacher in 7th grade. She was Hot. ) Second.. What IS the GOP? Today the most hated man by the Grand Olde Party leadership is the R candidate. The REASON Trump is the candidate is the almost unanimous rejection of the Party Leadership. If you paid attention all the Establishment candidates, like the "Favorite and sure to win, and already raised million$ " Jeb Bush got zip traction. It was the rebels who won races, and the Establishment went ballistic. Still are. High Party Loyalist A%%holes are left & right supporting Hillary. Not because Donald is a bad guy, but because he'll overthrow their money changing table at the Temple. Asking the "GOP" to do anything is futile and ignorant. It's a small group of rich jerks up top that run things, and this is the election to screw them. The same has been true on the D side. Small group rich men, screwed Bernie. It's pretty much a given that he was cheated out of the job. He might not have won, but when you get multiple cases where a polling place had solid Bernie leads going into the primary and the results were exactly the same percentage Hillary won after? If we were monitoring this election in a third world country? We'd have already had a full do over. The "fraud! Damn it! Fraud!" link here. https://electionfraud2016.wordpress.com/ the "you're all crazy and my support for the team that pays me doesn't influence me at all" link here. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/28/upshot/exit-poll s-and-why-the-primary-was-not-stolen-from-bernie-s anders.html?_r=0 Me? I suspect fraud. I know statistics. I did them for a living. A lot of this election stinks like week old fish on your front step. I think we Need a full investigation, and it's not going to happen with the current Social Justice Dept. | ||
| Aesquire |
http://hubpages.com/politics/Election-Fraud-Report -Seeks-to-Decertify-Primary-Results-for-Hillary Obviously biased. Undoubtedly sponsored by the Latvian Secret Police.  | ||
| Hootowl |
Rut row. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/09/20/clinton -email-wiper-appears-to-have-asked-online-how-to-h ide-vip-info.html | ||
| Slaughter |
FL Governor debate. Asked if he's endorsing Hillary, Hilarity ensues when he endorses her honesty. Spontaneous audience laughter. | ||
| Torquehd |
I was raised a feminist Why is "feminist" ok, but "malist" not ok? if it's all about equality, shouldn't it be "equalist"??? For the last 20 years or so, the media has been all about making men look like dull, couch potato buffoons and making women look like the intelligent sophisticated champions. Someday a woman will pass every test the men do, and she will be exceptionally bad ass. Could be Marine Officer hell, or BUDS, or Ranger Hell Week. Most men can't hack any of those. that's a nice little picture... sure there are some strong women. (by the way, there's a reason that APFT standards for men and women are different. Yes, some women are stronger than average women. There are also some men who are stronger, or weaker, than average. Our biologies are DIFFERENT. WE ARE NOT THE SAME) BUT I've spent my fair share of time operating in small cells in remote locations with little oversight. I "play well with others" but there's a certain point where dudes have just had too much time with eachother and tempers and attitudes manifest themselves. Now put a woman into that mix. How long until a false accusation is made? A single word spoken by a woman will destroy a man's career. It can often further destroy his marriage, his future employment options, his chance to be a father to his children. In America, we have this ideology of "innocent until proven guilty". UNLESS a woman accuses a man of rape (especially in the military). THEN, he's guilty until proven innocent, which is practically impossible in most cases. I have an in-law who is currently in prison for being falsely accused of touching a girl inappropriately. His wife and kids had to leave the state, and up until a month ago, he was not allowed to contact them. He lost his job, his family, his life is over until something drastic changes. Until this condition changes, women and men will not be equal. What about chivalry? A man holding a door open for a woman or giving up his seat for a woman? If a woman slaps a man, he's supposed to shrug it off but if a man backhands a woman he goes to PRISON. Men and women are not equal. Yes we should have the same basic rights and protections but this whole "feminist" crap is just crap. | ||
| Aesquire |
Torquehd Your complaints are valid. "Equalist"? Good enough. Hillary is one of the rad-fem-libs that embraces the "sex with man is rape by definition" lunacy. That's a pi$$ed off at men rant from a Lesbian radical. Now a whole branch of self absorbed perpetually outraged folk. Many of your peeves, including the above lunacy is a natural reaction against the olde And to a large extent totally justified. Men can be pigs. Whole Cultures on the planet today treat women as property and sex objects. Some of the messed up social crap is an over reaction to past idiocy. Some IS the past Idiocy. And some is deliberate manipulation of people to divide them and get power & wealth from that. I take a balanced approach that annoys a lot of people. If you take the stand that an adult women is no one's property, then you also have to take the stand that she is then as responsible for herself as the male traditionally has been. Some folk get really torqued at that obvious to me concept. I embrace Chivalry. A Man is supposed to protect the weak, the oppressed, the children and the women. If the women want to suit up and kick butt as well, More power to them. Happy to have a Partner in Life. Don't need a slave. I bought a Roomba. So I open doors for folk. It's a courtesy. We need those. The being nice bits are the lubrication in the gears of society, a mechanism that doesn't run all that well to begin with, and some people love to throw grit in the gears. ( with apologies to R.A. Heinlein ) | ||
| Aesquire |
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clinton-gave-sta te-department-appointments-to-194-donors/article/2 602272 back to our regularly scheduled corruption. | ||
| Reepicheep |
My beef with the ACA (Obamacare) were that it was based on fantasy and lies. If the government had been honest about what it was and what it meant, and if we as a people had accepted it, I would take one for the team and live with it. But they lied, and most of the people supporting it (we didn't get to vote for or against it) were under gross misapprehensions about what it really was. And even about how insurance actually works and what it really is (a bet and hedge essentially). 1) It is a tax. Period. 2) Everyone buying insurance will pay more to get less 3) Everyone who didn't have insurance is forcing others, mostly middle class, to buy it for them. 4) Everyone who has been buying coverage will have less access to doctors and medical procedures 5) The government (not you, your doctor, or your insurance company) will now be dictating what is and isn't covered and what is and isn't allowed. The concern with the ACA isn't that the previously uninsured and uninsurable are now insured. That part is awesome. The concern is that there isn't enough money on the planet to give all the medical care the planet needs. There are still winners and losers, but now the federal government gets to pick them. For example, I will have to pay the medical expenses for a homeless mother with three kids who wants to live in California, when I choose not to live in California because it is too freaking expensive, because the government chooses to force me to pay but chooses not to tell her where she can live based on what she can afford. I'm glad she and her family have medical care. I don't want the federal government to tell her where she can live (or infringe on any other part of her freedom). But the money taken from me at the point of a gun (literally, if I didn't pay taxes, eventually people with guns would come for me) to pay for her is infringing on a other decisions I make. I don't like that. I'm not in the camp that says the old system was awesome, and the new system is awful. I think the old system was jacked up one way, and the new system is jacked up another way, and the new jacking up is less cost effective than the old jacking up because it adds another layer of bureaucracy. I think it goes the wrong direction. The more layers you add between service provider and service consumer, the worse things get. I work for a company. The company pays an insurance company for my insurance. The insurance company pays for my medical services. The medical services are provided to me. An obvious recipe for disaster. So what do we do? Add yet another layer of opportunities for defects and misaligned accountabilities by wedging the whole federal government into the whole mess. So now, what is covered, may be directly traceable to who gave the most to the Clinton Foundation and had the best access to regulators during the time new legislation was being framed. As opposed to what I think I want, and what my doctor thinks I need. | ||
| H0gwash |
That was really well written. I don't agree with all of it but that means I agree with the rest of it. My main objection comes from being a GenXer who does not expect to get out of the government nearly as much as I have paid into it anyway. The payouts are lopsided and I am frankly happy to see some people who deserve it get that money before it is gone. IMHO posts like this are so much more effective than cartoons. | ||
| Sifo |
That was really well written. I don't agree with all of it but that means I agree with the rest of it. My main objection comes from being a GenXer who does not expect to get out of the government nearly as much as I have paid into it anyway. The payouts are lopsided and I am frankly happy to see some people who deserve it get that money before it is gone. IMHO posts like this are so much more effective than cartoons. So let me get this straight. You understand that Big Government is a lousy investment. On a whole, you never get out what you pay in. No doubt there are individuals that get more out than they put in, but those people are not productive people, and are being subsidized to not be productive. Essentially, those people are incentivized to be non-productive members of out society. And it is with this understanding that you say you will vote for the party who is fighting for yet bigger government? You really need to do a lot of explaining of that before I will ever begin to see how that makes any sense at all. I do agree that discussion is better than political cartoons. Yet political cartoons can convey a huge amount of information very quickly. It's a great way to spark the inquisitive mind to look into the details of the subject matter. That paves the way to intelligent conversation. Often I will hear a comment about a cartoon, that is is completely fictional, when in reality, the person making the comment simply hasn't been informed on the issue. Many will just ignore the cartoon as fiction. Someone with an inquisitive mind, who understands the purpose of a well done political cartoon, will then search out information to find out why the cartoon was worth publishing in the first place. In the end, it's all your choice. Lacking honest and intelligent conversation (that requires more than one party), cartoons get posted. The supporters of BO and Hillary have been pretty silent for a long time now. Frankly, I don't blame them. I just question the unwavering support. | ||
| Sifo |
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| Reepicheep |
Excellent and valid point. That's pretty much where I am at with social security as well. The fact that most of it will be pissed away is a given, so if I can get even a little of it doing something good, well, that's good. | ||
| Airbozo |
Thanks Reep, well written indeed. I agree, discussion like this is 1000% times better than cartoons. I am also concerned about my money being pissed away. Taxes, SS, etc. I was raised to work for what you get and have refused to take handouts when I am healthy and able to work, even if it is a low wage job to survive (I have done it several times). Social security is another sore point for me, mainly because of how it affects my wife. She worked 3 jobs to put herself through college and because she chose to be a teacher, she cannot ever collect the SS money she paid into the system. She also worked a stint as a high tech headhunter and paid a huge amount into SS she will never be able to see. Even if I died tomorrow, she would not be able to collect a dime of my SS. I've been working full time since I was 13 to support myself so I have accumulated a good bit of SS too. EDIT: I found some of this is changing (has changed) and she might be able to collect my SS, but not hers depending on how much she contributes to CalSTRS. OK, back to ACA. How can we fix it? Despite the GOP's useless efforts, it will not be repealed, so how can we adjust it to make it more fair? |
