US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7316

On April 11 2017 22:15 LightSpectra wrote:


It's disgusting that the US government pretends to care about kids harmed in a chemical weapons attack when the Syrians are using chemical weapons that Reagan and Rumsfeld sold to Saddam Hussein...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has the highest approval rating of any U.S. senator in a new poll.

The Morning Consult poll showed a 75 percent approval rating for the Vermont senator. Sanders, who lost the Democratic presidential primary to Hillary Clinton last year, has remained popular. He is now a vocal critic President Donald Trump.

Fellow Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D) came in second on Morning Consult's rankings of popular senators at 70 percent, and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) was third at 69 percent.
Pollsters found Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is the least popular senator, with a 47 percent disapproval rating.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at 43 percent and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) at 40 percent were second and third on the least-popular list.

Morning Consult surveyed 85,000 people in each state between January and March.

On April 11 2017 23:17 TheTenthDoc wrote:
Real question is what would happen if someone took photos of children blasted by U.S. drones trying to kill terrorists and sent them to Trump.

It was a cold, misty, gray, early spring day in Albany, New York – the kind of bone-chilling, turn-up-the-heat weather that encourages residents to flee to Florida.

But 500 New Yorkers were still out on the sidewalk lobbying for healthcare reform that has long seemed like a pipe dream: government-provided universal health insurance.

“I wanna make sure my children get healthcare,” said Minerva Solla, a 66-year-old organizer with the New York State Nurses Association. “It’s a right, not a privilege.” Moments earlier she riled the crowd with call-backs: “If they don’t pass it? Vote them out!”

Americans might know the liberal dream as “Medicare for all”. If it ever passed, it could be as comprehensive as the UK’s National Health Service.

Universal healthcare not a new idea, but one with fresh energy since Republicans’ disastrous attempt to reform the American health system. In Albany, a record number of people turned out to a rally for universal healthcare in New York, several activists and one lawmaker said.

“It’s an uphill battle, and the Republicans are in control of Congress, and there’s no signal they would be willing to let this pass right now,” said Clare Fauke, spokesperson for Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates for universal healthcare. “But we’ve been thinking in terms of the long game, and there’s never been more support for it than there is right now.”

In a universal healthcare system, New York would pay for every resident not covered by an existing federal health insurance program, like Medicare for the old or Medicaid for the poor. For-profit health insurance companies would be all but eliminated.

That would mean New Yorkers would be freed from “co-pays”, “deductibles”, and “premiums”, all insurance industry jargon for one thing: medical bills.

“We’re unanimous that this is the most logical system going forward,” said Phil DeSalvo, a 29-year-old medical resident from New York City. He and three fellow health workers traveled three hours north on their only day off to protest. Was universal healthcare gaining momentum?

“Absolutely, particularly with the collapse of the plan advanced by the Republicans,” he said. “This is the best solution going forward.”

Despite campaigning for seven years to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, Republicans’ first attempt at a reform bill sank like a stone.

Trump and the Republican leadership’s concessions to both hardline conservatives and moderate Republicans made the bill a mishmash. Tax credits would have helped Americans buy private insurance, but the gutting of insurance regulations would have made policies practically meaningless. It would have left 52 million people uninsured by the end of the decade, at last estimate.

It had an abysmal 17% public approval rating, and lasted two weeks before it was pulled. It is Trump’s single largest loss to date. In the vacuum of ideas, liberals have conjured hope.

“I think fear of the Republican bill, and fear that it will come back in even worse form, is sparking support,” said Richard Gottfried, a New York City Democrat who has sponsored a universal healthcare bill since 1992.

Advocates of universal healthcare are not missing an opportunity to make a fuss. Physicians for a National Health Program held their first day of national rallies to coincide with the Congressional recess on Saturday. Protests were planned from Florida to New Hampshire, Oregon to North Carolina.

Bernie Sanders plans to introduce a bill in the US Senate to support single-payer healthcare. In the House, there is already a single-payer bill with 93 co-sponsors.

LUCCA, Italy — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said on Tuesday that the reign of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was “coming to an end” and warned that Russia was at risk of becoming irrelevant in the Middle East by continuing to support him.

Mr. Tillerson, in comments made just before he traveled to Moscow for a high-stakes summit meeting, sought to clear up the United States’ position on Syria while also declaring that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia needed to choose whether to side with Mr. Assad or the West.

On April 11 2017 23:37 Mohdoo wrote:
t_d on suicide watch:

Syria’s Government ‘Coming to an End,’ Tillerson Warns Before Russia Trip



After TL educating on me on Russia's stake in Syria (naval base), I can't help but wonder what Russia has to gain by letting Assad get booted. I can't imagine a situation where the US allows Russia to keep their naval base there, right? Or perhaps we do?

On April 11 2017 23:40 a_flayer wrote:
Perhaps the US shouldn't get a say in whether Syria allows Russia to have a naval base in their own sovereign country.

On April 11 2017 23:41 zlefin wrote:

sounds like normal political bluster to me. tillerson saying it doesn't mean much. it's still just a bunch of talk.

that said, russia might be willing to let assad go, so long as the rest of the regime and their naval base stays.

On April 11 2017 21:47 Gahlo wrote:

Yeah, the auto loan landscape is a giant shit show. They're basically doing the exact same thing that the housing industry was doing a decade ago.

On April 11 2017 23:42 Mohdoo wrote:


Perhaps the US ended WW2 and is largely blamed for the world's problems simply because of the fact that they are tasked with managing everyone so things like WW2 don't happen again. No world wars since the US took the wheel.

Its easy to be cynical and tell the US to piss off, but the US not pissing off is the only thing that made Europe and other areas stop being shit heads.

On April 11 2017 23:17 KwarK wrote:
The problem with Tesla, and bull markets in general, is not whether they're overvalued but whether the rest of the market care. A lot of people have lost a lot of money shorting Tesla based on its fundamentals. And they may be right about those fundamentals but in the market it doesn't matter if you're right, it matters whether people think you're right. For the vast majority of the lifespan of a bubble the rational action for an individual who knows it is a bubble is to keep investing in it, not short it.
"The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."
- John Maynard Keynes