DistrictDeacon
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2011
- Messages
- 13,054
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RJ's quickening slide towards BKF-dom is fascinating.
But my other thirty voter registrations in PA, MI, WI are all voting for whatever Dem is on the ticket. My singular vote in CA won't impact anything, but the ten in each battleground state could.
Pirsig, please don't cross any street that has traffic or might have traffic.
I don’t think that’s legal.
1) there's no such thing as the middle class
2) this is a facile CNN debate question, not a stated Sanders policy
3) we use tax money now to pay for things that overwhelmingly do not help the bottom 90%; if we did levy new taxes or raise taxes under a Sanders administration, they would be for the benefit of the many, not the few
Has Bernie not said that everyone’s taxes over the initial $29k will go up progressively?
What things will help the bottom 90%?
Someone's been reading their Grover Norquist!
IMO, one of the things the left (including me, probably) hasn't reckoned with enough is that - for all the talk about the need for big structural change, how broken things are, and the incredulity with which we've responded to the "back to the status quo" crowd - for the median American, things really are pretty much fine. They may think Trump is boorish and embarrassing, but many of the truly awful things he or his administration are responsible for just aren't that obvious in the day to day life of the average apolitical American.
Don't get me wrong, I think things *are* broken. And one of the things that appeals to me the most about Warren are what appears to be her first legislative priories, in her words: "My agenda would make our government and our economy work for everyone. It starts with anti-corruption reforms, democracy reforms, campaign finance reforms." I believe getting that right, and first, is essential to allow for us to then make the other big structural changes that would ultimately result in a more prosperous and equitable society. *I* find that super compelling, but I do get that the median voter may not.
IMO, one of the things the left (including me, probably) hasn't reckoned with enough is that - for all the talk about the need for big structural change, how broken things are, and the incredulity with which we've responded to the "back to the status quo" crowd - for the median American, things really are pretty much fine. They may think Trump is boorish and embarrassing, but many of the truly awful things he or his administration are responsible for just aren't that obvious in the day to day life of the average apolitical American.
Don't get me wrong, I think things *are* broken. And one of the things that appeals to me the most about Warren are what appears to be her first legislative priories, in her words: "My agenda would make our government and our economy work for everyone. It starts with anti-corruption reforms, democracy reforms, campaign finance reforms." I believe getting that right, and first, is essential to allow for us to then make the other big structural changes that would ultimately result in a more prosperous and equitable society. *I* find that super compelling, but I do get that the median voter may not.
Someone's been reading their Grover Norquist!
From what I can tell about his proposal, which is to raise the money to pay for M4A, take home pay would go up for the vast majority of Americans. Yes, you might pay more in taxes, but you'd pay less for healthcare and therefore less overall. That is one example, but he's got pretty detailed plans you can read about. I just used a Sanders tax calculator, and it looks like I'd pay about $900 more a year in taxes. If that meant no healthcare premiums or copays, I think I'd be coming out ahead, and I'm just outside the top 10% household income.
I get what he means though. Some of the most pressing problems facing the country aren't at the front door of many Americans. Trump keeping kids in cages with bags on their heads, trying to pop a quick Apartheid on the Gaza strip, and pulling out of Paris. That's not really making much of a difference to the day to day of the average Joe, no matter the level of tragedy.
Where I depart though is that things aren't really "pretty much fine" when you could face medical bankruptcy at the drop of a hat with an accident or illness. Most of the country is not immune from that at all, and for a lot of folks, it's when not if.
If you are just outside the top 10% of household income and you actually believe that Medicare For All would mean you wouldn't pay anything in healthcare premiums or copays, then either it should be much harder to become just outside the top 10% of household income, or you married a relatively high-earning individual.
IMO, one of the things the left (including me, probably) hasn't reckoned with enough is that - for all the talk about the need for big structural change, how broken things are, and the incredulity with which we've responded to the "back to the status quo" crowd - for the median American, things really are pretty much fine. They may think Trump is boorish and embarrassing, but many of the truly awful things he or his administration are responsible for just aren't that obvious in the day to day life of the average apolitical American.
Don't get me wrong, I think things *are* broken. And one of the things that appeals to me the most about Warren are what appears to be her first legislative priories, in her words: "My agenda would make our government and our economy work for everyone. It starts with anti-corruption reforms, democracy reforms, campaign finance reforms." I believe getting that right, and first, is essential to allow for us to then make the other big structural changes that would ultimately result in a more prosperous and equitable society. *I* find that super compelling, but I do get that the median voter may not.
If you are just outside the top 10% of household income and you actually believe that Medicare For All would mean you wouldn't pay anything in healthcare premiums or copays, then either it should be much harder to become just outside the top 10% of household income, or you married a relatively high-earning individual.