CB, From last night, market reforms are the exact opposite of regulations. That is the beauty of the free market. The market regulates, not the government.
1. Ryan”s Medicare proposal replaces current Medicare with a voucher. Recipients get to choose how to use that voucher.
2. The primary reason that healthcare is so expensive in the US is that people choose healthcare without regard to costs, pricing is hidden, and in most medical procedures the patient pays little or none of the costs.
3. I routinely talk to the family of seniors who incurred a bill for their last illness (in a very brief time) of over $250,000. If the senior had Medicare (the vast majority do) and a supplement (the vast majority do) they pay nothing even though the bill was $250,000. That is why the bills are so high!
4. Singapore has a higher per capita GDP than the US. It has an excellent healthcare system. It spends 5% of GDP on healthcare. We spend over 18%. The main difference in the Singapore system and ours is that in Singapore, the patient always has skin in the game by paying at least a small part of the bill. That is the free market.
Huge parts of our system were enacted by LBJ, who was just a chicken-fried Bernie Sanders. It will take many years, courageous and intelligent leadership and an intelligent and selfless public to make the needed reforms. In other words, it isn’t going to happen.
Picking up on yesterday’s conversation about media bias, ( just caught up). The first thing Trump and his supporters did to turn me away was to attack Meagan Kelly. She asked a fair question that was going to come up somewhere, sometimes. There are still Trump enthusiast who want to see her destroyed. We need to practice what we preach. She did her job fairly and they want her destroyed because she didn’t grovel at his feet from the start. That is such a lefty thing to do.
Rush used to say, “Nobody can destroy Trump but Trump”. You can say that abut Megyn Kelly. She can write her ticket. Whatever and whenever.
She isn’t my favorite, she talks too fast.
But Megyn has her following and they are firm.
There is no reason for a feud here.
Trump can be vindictive based on what we saw in the campaign. It’s not a good trait and we can hope he will be persuaded to put that behavior aside. Time will tell.
Meanwhile in California, now effectively a one-party state:
California, as Clinton Territory, Finds Itself a Political Outlier
Many residents feeling detached from nation; even rock-solid-red Orange County went blue
_____________________________
On Tuesday night, as most of the country turned red, rock-solid-red Orange County, Calif., went blue.
Southern California’s cradle of conservatism voted for Hillary Clinton, the first time the county supported a Democratic presidential candidate since it helped to elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936.
The historic flip is a powerful signal of California’s new rebel status. The nation’s most populous state, which has been in virtual lockstep with policies of the Obama White House, now stands again as the country’s political outlier….
… Some Californians now see the state as so politically detached from the rest of the country that a previously obscure proposal to place a secession measure on the ballot began trending on Twitter, under the hashtag #Calexit. …
… California has effectively become a one-party state in recent years, amid a surge in Latinos and other minorities who typically vote Democrat, political observers say. …
… Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat running for governor, saw the situation as an opportunity to highlight California’s divergence.
“Don’t feel despair where you are. If you don’t like what happened in your state, come out to California, incredible things are happening,” he said.
“Why would we walk away?” Mr. Newsom said, dismissing a potential California secession. “We have an obligation to the rest of the country. Now more than ever, they need us.”
_____________________________________
Well, I was the good kid, who would have righteously stayed in the classroom working on the assignment (or reading a book, if I’d finished it) even if every other kid walked out. And mostly the other kids wouldn’t even bother to invite me to come with them.
I have no where else to express this….I am ashamed of my country over this election. I am ashamed of the people acting life spoiled brats whose mommy told them they couldn’t have something. GET OVER YOURSELVES. Adults suck it up when they are disappointed in something and find a way to move forward. I desperately wanted more than one child. I am grateful I got one. STOP NAVAL GAZING AND BE AN ADULT AND PRODUCTIVE!!!!!
I can’t get away from the thought that these “children” are being riled up by their very unscrupulous adult handlers. :–( It looks bad for the Democratic party.
FEDERAL AGENCIES
Tears, angst as workforce braces for Trump takeover
____________________________
U.S. EPA employees were in tears. Worried Energy Department staffers were offered counseling. Some federal employees were so depressed, they took time off. Others might retire early.
And some employees are in downright panic mode in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory.
“People are upset. Some people took the day off because they were depressed,” said John O’Grady, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, a union that represents thousands of EPA employees. After Election Day, “people were crying,” added O’Grady, who works in EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago. “They were recommending that people take sick leave and go home.”
EPA employees stand to see some of the most drastic changes under the Trump administration, and they may be taking things a bit harder than other government workers. …
________________________________
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Michelle King urged students Monday to stay in class and not “derail their education” by participating in walkouts during school hours in protest of Donald J. Trump’s election as president.
Around 150 students walked out of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles around before 9 a.m. Monday.
The LAUSD tweeted: “L.A. Unified is taking all steps to ensure student & staff safety during post-election activities,” along with a link to a statement on its website from King.
A couple FB friends are probably about to become “un” friends to one another.
First one wrote:
“Too late to change your vote, but if you are still a Trump supporter after the appointment of Alt Right leader Steven Bannon to the position of Chief White House Strategist, never try to tell me you are not racist. White supremacy is now officially a corps value of the Trump administration. May God have mercy on us all.”
Other friend commented: So you are calling me a racist…thanks, (person’s name) …
Original poster replied: If you support him after this decision, yes. He has revealed beyond any shadow of a doubt who he is.
Anyone hear about the safety pin thing. The left is asking white people to wear a safety pin to signal to minorities that they are safe with them. It occurred to me that I could wear one because they are safe with me. The worse thing I would do is disagree with them. So I thought about wearing two pins in the shape of a cross. Could that be something that would catch one.
“Oddly enough, it is an American who came up with the small but mighty gesture for those looking to support immigrants in the U.K. As Mashable reports, a Twitter user named Allison proposed the simple idea of wearing a safety pin to show solidarity for immigrants. …”
Kim — good link. I keep telling my leftist friends, economics first. A good leftist should know that but cultural issues are easier and give you warm fuzzy feelings. When the left doesnt address economic issues, they risk losing support to right wing populists.
The safety pin is symbolic of the feel good fuzziness of the cultural left.
The appt of Bannon was not a good move. It will motivate the protests to continue.
Chatted with my neighbors tonight — the lifelong Democrats, working class, labor supporters, who switched parties this time to vote for Trump — and they’re glad he won but are also glad it’s OVER.
They’re exactly the kind of voter Trump managed to tap into.
What she said she liked about Trump: “He said all the things us regular people want to say but can’t.”
Rick – we have a philosophical disagreement on health care and the markets. Markets rely on a rational actor. Sickness of one’s self or loved ones tends to make actors not rational. So people will pay higher and higher prices; take out loans, second mortgages, etc. I think its a pipe dream to believe the markets will fix U.S. health care woes.
kbelss – on safety pins, you could wear one because you would not bully or harass an African American, Muslim, Jew, Hispanic, etc. on account of their race, religion and so forth. From what I know of the folks who post here, all of you could wear one, if you were of a mind to do so. The safety pins did come from Brexit and were in reaction to the rise in hate crimes toward immigrants after the vote — in the case of the UK primarily Eastern Europeans being attacked, harassed, their shops vandalized, etc.
Bob – I don’t know of a single tribe that does not celebrate their veterans. Natives on a per capita basis have the largest ratio of service among the ethnicities in the U.S. (including Caucasians). Natives believe in defending the land.
To all on protests – these will go on for sometime, that’s my prediction. Regular Americans who didn’t vote red are genuinely troubled and not because they lost but rather they are genuinely fearful of the direction of the country vis-a-vis civil rights. This is one of the hardest areas to explain to my conservative friends whether they are in the ether or standing right next to me. I think over time, if President-elect Trump demonstrates leadership on civil rights, it will calm down. In that regard, the appointment of Bannon is not entirely encouraging.
I’ll add one more thing. Yesterday I read that the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America had signed a mutual protection of civil rights pact. This is a good thing but that it is motivated by swastikas showing up on mosques and temples is not a good thing.
Coyote, I’m a lifelong Republican who didn’t vote for Trump partly because of that hostile rhetoric. I have black friends who are family to me, and friends in multi-racial families, and I’m a woman and didn’t like the way he spoke about and treated women. (There are other issues that concern me too. I don’t think he’s a conservative.) But he won and I’m willing to accept that he may be a better president than he was candidate–the same would have been true if Hillary won. We had about the worst two candidates ever, and one of them had to win.
But I believe God is sovereign, and I trust Him even when I don’t trust people. That doesn’t mean I think only good things will happen to this country; I don’t. But it means nothing can happen that surprises Him or causes Him to have to make a new plan.
Yes, he won in a democratic process, I am most certainly not arguing with that. For better or worse he will be our President. But that doesn’t mean that folks should not protest that which they believe to be wrong.
Wandering Views 
CB, From last night, market reforms are the exact opposite of regulations. That is the beauty of the free market. The market regulates, not the government.
1. Ryan”s Medicare proposal replaces current Medicare with a voucher. Recipients get to choose how to use that voucher.
2. The primary reason that healthcare is so expensive in the US is that people choose healthcare without regard to costs, pricing is hidden, and in most medical procedures the patient pays little or none of the costs.
3. I routinely talk to the family of seniors who incurred a bill for their last illness (in a very brief time) of over $250,000. If the senior had Medicare (the vast majority do) and a supplement (the vast majority do) they pay nothing even though the bill was $250,000. That is why the bills are so high!
4. Singapore has a higher per capita GDP than the US. It has an excellent healthcare system. It spends 5% of GDP on healthcare. We spend over 18%. The main difference in the Singapore system and ours is that in Singapore, the patient always has skin in the game by paying at least a small part of the bill. That is the free market.
Huge parts of our system were enacted by LBJ, who was just a chicken-fried Bernie Sanders. It will take many years, courageous and intelligent leadership and an intelligent and selfless public to make the needed reforms. In other words, it isn’t going to happen.
LikeLike
Picking up on yesterday’s conversation about media bias, ( just caught up). The first thing Trump and his supporters did to turn me away was to attack Meagan Kelly. She asked a fair question that was going to come up somewhere, sometimes. There are still Trump enthusiast who want to see her destroyed. We need to practice what we preach. She did her job fairly and they want her destroyed because she didn’t grovel at his feet from the start. That is such a lefty thing to do.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Rush used to say, “Nobody can destroy Trump but Trump”. You can say that abut Megyn Kelly. She can write her ticket. Whatever and whenever.
She isn’t my favorite, she talks too fast.
But Megyn has her following and they are firm.
There is no reason for a feud here.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Chas, We know why she talks too fast, but I view her as one of the good ones.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stepping away from Facebook–where all I want to do is write “not helpful,” on posts.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Trump can be vindictive based on what we saw in the campaign. It’s not a good trait and we can hope he will be persuaded to put that behavior aside. Time will tell.
Meanwhile in California, now effectively a one-party state:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-shift-hillary-clinton-won-californias-orange-county-1479038403?mg=id-wsj
California, as Clinton Territory, Finds Itself a Political Outlier
Many residents feeling detached from nation; even rock-solid-red Orange County went blue
_____________________________
On Tuesday night, as most of the country turned red, rock-solid-red Orange County, Calif., went blue.
Southern California’s cradle of conservatism voted for Hillary Clinton, the first time the county supported a Democratic presidential candidate since it helped to elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936.
The historic flip is a powerful signal of California’s new rebel status. The nation’s most populous state, which has been in virtual lockstep with policies of the Obama White House, now stands again as the country’s political outlier….
… Some Californians now see the state as so politically detached from the rest of the country that a previously obscure proposal to place a secession measure on the ballot began trending on Twitter, under the hashtag #Calexit. …
… California has effectively become a one-party state in recent years, amid a surge in Latinos and other minorities who typically vote Democrat, political observers say. …
… Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat running for governor, saw the situation as an opportunity to highlight California’s divergence.
“Don’t feel despair where you are. If you don’t like what happened in your state, come out to California, incredible things are happening,” he said.
“Why would we walk away?” Mr. Newsom said, dismissing a potential California secession. “We have an obligation to the rest of the country. Now more than ever, they need us.”
_____________________________________
LikeLike
Yes, Donna, we need California. Y’all make the rest of us look good.
Here’s a story on busses taking anti-Trump demonstrators into Chicago: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-13/blocks-anti-trump-protest-buses-caught-tape
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are apparently walk-outs scheduled in LA schools today. At some point will people feel they’ve vented enough?
LikeLike
Donna, I wonder how many will participate just to get out of class for the day? My Kid would do that.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Well, I was the good kid, who would have righteously stayed in the classroom working on the assignment (or reading a book, if I’d finished it) even if every other kid walked out. And mostly the other kids wouldn’t even bother to invite me to come with them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have no where else to express this….I am ashamed of my country over this election. I am ashamed of the people acting life spoiled brats whose mommy told them they couldn’t have something. GET OVER YOURSELVES. Adults suck it up when they are disappointed in something and find a way to move forward. I desperately wanted more than one child. I am grateful I got one. STOP NAVAL GAZING AND BE AN ADULT AND PRODUCTIVE!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t get away from the thought that these “children” are being riled up by their very unscrupulous adult handlers. :–( It looks bad for the Democratic party.
LikeLiked by 3 people
But I’m very satisfied with the way Trump is handling himself right now. :–)
LikeLike
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060045642
FEDERAL AGENCIES
Tears, angst as workforce braces for Trump takeover
____________________________
U.S. EPA employees were in tears. Worried Energy Department staffers were offered counseling. Some federal employees were so depressed, they took time off. Others might retire early.
And some employees are in downright panic mode in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory.
“People are upset. Some people took the day off because they were depressed,” said John O’Grady, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, a union that represents thousands of EPA employees. After Election Day, “people were crying,” added O’Grady, who works in EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago. “They were recommending that people take sick leave and go home.”
EPA employees stand to see some of the most drastic changes under the Trump administration, and they may be taking things a bit harder than other government workers. …
________________________________
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is an interesting read about the “working class” in America
https://hbr.org/2016/11/what-so-many-people-dont-get-about-the-u-s-working-class
LikeLiked by 2 people
This somewhat surprise me (from City News):
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Michelle King urged students Monday to stay in class and not “derail their education” by participating in walkouts during school hours in protest of Donald J. Trump’s election as president.
Around 150 students walked out of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles around before 9 a.m. Monday.
The LAUSD tweeted: “L.A. Unified is taking all steps to ensure student & staff safety during post-election activities,” along with a link to a statement on its website from King.
LikeLike
Stay in school children. Success is the best revenge.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I participated in a walk out from school over the Roe vs Wade issue. I did not really know what we were doing but I knew it was important.
LikeLike
They aren’t going to change the way they do business…
CBS criticized for holding Trump clip demanding an end to any violence in his name
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/11/14/cbs-criticized-for-holding-trump-clip-demanding-end-to-any-violence-in-his-name.html
LikeLike
A couple FB friends are probably about to become “un” friends to one another.
First one wrote:
“Too late to change your vote, but if you are still a Trump supporter after the appointment of Alt Right leader Steven Bannon to the position of Chief White House Strategist, never try to tell me you are not racist. White supremacy is now officially a corps value of the Trump administration. May God have mercy on us all.”
Other friend commented: So you are calling me a racist…thanks, (person’s name) …
Original poster replied: If you support him after this decision, yes. He has revealed beyond any shadow of a doubt who he is.
LikeLike
Anyone hear about the safety pin thing. The left is asking white people to wear a safety pin to signal to minorities that they are safe with them. It occurred to me that I could wear one because they are safe with me. The worse thing I would do is disagree with them. So I thought about wearing two pins in the shape of a cross. Could that be something that would catch one.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, the safety pins — a lot of people are changing their profile photos to that. It came from the Brexit movement (maybe the anti- side?) I think.
LikeLike
“Oddly enough, it is an American who came up with the small but mighty gesture for those looking to support immigrants in the U.K. As Mashable reports, a Twitter user named Allison proposed the simple idea of wearing a safety pin to show solidarity for immigrants. …”
https://www.good.is/articles/safety-pin-solidarity-immigrants-uk
LikeLike
It is hard to be from California. However I have to think that we are needed there.
LikeLike
My CA county was the only coastal county that went for Trump over Hillary.
I know it is different when the Native Americans are proud of their Veterans.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kim — good link. I keep telling my leftist friends, economics first. A good leftist should know that but cultural issues are easier and give you warm fuzzy feelings. When the left doesnt address economic issues, they risk losing support to right wing populists.
The safety pin is symbolic of the feel good fuzziness of the cultural left.
The appt of Bannon was not a good move. It will motivate the protests to continue.
LikeLike
Apparently one group is happy with the Trump win;
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/world/trump-militant-groups-isis-al-qaeda-1.3849486
LikeLike
Chatted with my neighbors tonight — the lifelong Democrats, working class, labor supporters, who switched parties this time to vote for Trump — and they’re glad he won but are also glad it’s OVER.
They’re exactly the kind of voter Trump managed to tap into.
What she said she liked about Trump: “He said all the things us regular people want to say but can’t.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rick – we have a philosophical disagreement on health care and the markets. Markets rely on a rational actor. Sickness of one’s self or loved ones tends to make actors not rational. So people will pay higher and higher prices; take out loans, second mortgages, etc. I think its a pipe dream to believe the markets will fix U.S. health care woes.
kbelss – on safety pins, you could wear one because you would not bully or harass an African American, Muslim, Jew, Hispanic, etc. on account of their race, religion and so forth. From what I know of the folks who post here, all of you could wear one, if you were of a mind to do so. The safety pins did come from Brexit and were in reaction to the rise in hate crimes toward immigrants after the vote — in the case of the UK primarily Eastern Europeans being attacked, harassed, their shops vandalized, etc.
Bob – I don’t know of a single tribe that does not celebrate their veterans. Natives on a per capita basis have the largest ratio of service among the ethnicities in the U.S. (including Caucasians). Natives believe in defending the land.
To all on protests – these will go on for sometime, that’s my prediction. Regular Americans who didn’t vote red are genuinely troubled and not because they lost but rather they are genuinely fearful of the direction of the country vis-a-vis civil rights. This is one of the hardest areas to explain to my conservative friends whether they are in the ether or standing right next to me. I think over time, if President-elect Trump demonstrates leadership on civil rights, it will calm down. In that regard, the appointment of Bannon is not entirely encouraging.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll add one more thing. Yesterday I read that the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America had signed a mutual protection of civil rights pact. This is a good thing but that it is motivated by swastikas showing up on mosques and temples is not a good thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Coyote, I’m a lifelong Republican who didn’t vote for Trump partly because of that hostile rhetoric. I have black friends who are family to me, and friends in multi-racial families, and I’m a woman and didn’t like the way he spoke about and treated women. (There are other issues that concern me too. I don’t think he’s a conservative.) But he won and I’m willing to accept that he may be a better president than he was candidate–the same would have been true if Hillary won. We had about the worst two candidates ever, and one of them had to win.
But I believe God is sovereign, and I trust Him even when I don’t trust people. That doesn’t mean I think only good things will happen to this country; I don’t. But it means nothing can happen that surprises Him or causes Him to have to make a new plan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheryl,
Yes, he won in a democratic process, I am most certainly not arguing with that. For better or worse he will be our President. But that doesn’t mean that folks should not protest that which they believe to be wrong.
LikeLike