I didn’t say a poorly functioning economy, I said an economy that continues to sputter (growing at 1-2% with jobs for anyone who wants a job) along, but unsurprising you don’t know the difference. Unless there’s a downturn or a recession, there’s no compelling reason for voters to switch , especially as the Democrats are offering nothing in terms of proposals that actually appeal to voters. Their options are to stay with the old leadership and stay irrelevant, or move to the left under Sanders or new leadership.
Utterly bizarre logic regarding “opposition” out of you. A functioning democracy needs an alternative to the party in power, especially in a two party system. You haven’t a notion mate, stick to Liverpool 2017/18 predictions.
A sputtering economy is one that is not growing at what is regarded as a good pace historically (>2%) but is growing and at or near full employment. It’s a basic economic term for anyone who knows anything about economics, which clearly you don’t.
By opposition, I mean offering credible alternatives. The Democrats are solely interested in attacking Trump, which will not gain them many new voters. If they aim to win the 2018 midterms, they need to come up with a platform, but no sign of it yet.
McCain is opposed to the Republican (Senate) Health Care plan, but don’t let that get in the way of your argument. I’m not a fan of McCain, but he has called for a bipartisan approach to health care reform, which is the only way anything can get done, but sadly won’t.
Republicans in bipartisan shocker?
It’s gas how the Repubs after 7 years of frothing at the mouth about Obamacare, still haven’t come up with an alternative. Destroy, destroy - oh shit, sorry? We have to replace it as well?
They have come up with an alternative, actually two, a House and Senate version, but haven’t had the votes to pass it. The Health Care system in the US is extraordinarily complex, and has no easy solutions. The fundamental issue is totally out of control costs. In what other industry do people get away with charging $1 - 2K per hour for their services? There simply isn’t enough supply to match the demand for high quality health care in the US, so the medical profession essentially is a monopoly. Same with drug companies and biotech. The second issue is younger people are not buying health insurance, even though it was mandated in Obamacare, they would prefer to pay the penalty than buy insurance, which drives up the premiums for those buying insurance.
Obamacare has a few good features, like covering preexisting conditions, but didn’t address any of the cost issues.
McCain returns briefly from his private hospital bed to vote to deny the working poor of American access to a public one, you couldn’t make it up.
Now he’s only allowing it to go to amendment stage at which point it will be substantially changed, but still doesn’t look great.
I’m not sure why the Republicans are so intent on pissing off the people that vote for them. The idea of small government sounds good in practice but when it means you can’t afford to go to hospital when you’re sick you wouldn’t be long become a little socialist
The issue isn’t so much the size of government (although that is an issue), it’s what government are actually focused on. The role of government supposedly is to serve the interests of their citizens, but in reality is to serve those who spend most on lobbying, in this case the medical industry, the drug companies, and the insurance companies. None of the fundamental issues that drive up health care costs were addressed by Obamacare, nor by any Republican proposed replacement.
The health care industry in the US is essentially a monopoly (something government is supposed to prevent), and arguably the one that causes most harm to the population. Until that’s addressed, attempts at “fixing” health care are just pissing in the wind.
How much does it cost to go through medical school in the US? Id imagine a lot when you take fees, loving expenses , long term cost of student debt etc.
Also med students close to top of pecking order of quality of students entering university system in first place so there is an opportunity cost to salary foregone for all the additional years you spend training and in residency over and above a peer who might have gone to wall street or become a corporate lawyer. It is a long long road to becoming an expert.
The supply side could be fixed a lot more easily than some other areas surely. Cost and the prospect of a decade or more of training in a pressurised environment is a detterant. Supply isnt an issue in Ireland we end up exporting meds because the system is so poor they dont want to stay and work here and we dont offer a good enough career opportunity, quickly enough, for ambitious meds, which is a harder issue to fix IMO
I’d expect one of the issues is that the majority of candidates entering med school are female and a large proration of them retire early/work parr time after a few years for lifestyle reasons.
