The Partisan Divide on Issues

[Eric the Green]

(01-27-2020, 11:58 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(01-27-2020, 09:15 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I don't know what county you live in, but perusal of election records show widening gaps between the candidates and parties in recent years. In rural and smaller counties, Trump did better than Romney. In urban counties, Hillary Clinton did better than Obama. So if you live in a Republican bubble, it might seem like the outcome is going to be increasing Republican support and power. But for those who live in urban areas, the outcome would seem to favor Democrats.

And I expect the population of urban areas is growing and rural areas decreasing.

Socialist means public (government) ownership of the economy. Today's Democratic Party, including its left wing, is a long way from this basic definition. Such politicians as Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders favor moving toward the Scandinavian model, which is still capitalist but with higher taxes, more social and educational programs, some public ownership, etc; in other words, people in those countries get value for their tax money, while ours is wasted on military spending, pork, drug wars, and interest on the national debt, which is ballooned by tax cuts for the rich. All thanks to Republicans and compliant Democrats.

I know what country I live in, I live in the country that would view/recognize an attempt to completely take over American industries like healthcare and energy as socialist and directly associate it with socialism. I think Bernie and AOC should pack up and move to Scandinavia to help keep them from moving away from socialism like they're doing today. I agree that our trickle down economics doesn't work as well for the big government (nanny state) trickle down believers and most of their welfare recipients these days. You keep telling me that and I haven't disagreed with your views. Yes, you have a big problem that the other side doesn't have these days. As far as the big cities, I expect them to remain in liberal hands and continue to decay and decline like they're doing now. I also expect to see matters getting worse as the rest of America begins to crack down and address  issues related to do nothing  blue America.

Ha ha, no I said I don't know what county you live in. Are you in Hennepin or some more outlying county?

As your hero Reagan said, "there you go agin."

"crack down and address issues related to do nothing blue America."

In other words, "I don't want to give tax money to those lazy folks who don't work." Same o, same o, and yes it is racist.

You know what trickle-down economics is. It's the ideology you vote for. Reduce taxes and regulations on business and the wealthy, and wealth will trickle down from them to the rest of us. "freedom" and "free enterprise," "self-reliance" "get the government off our backs" "government is the problem" etc. It doesn't work.

Medicare for All is not socialism. I am on medicare now. I pay one fee to the government, and I get services, for free or reduced price, from a private doctor and a network of private doctors. These doctors are not government employees. Medicare works. Why not extend it to all? Private insurance companies are greedy, useless middle-men who deny coverage for no reason and jack up rates. Who needs 'em?

I wouldn't mind extending medicare in its current form to all, which includes private health insurance but under regulation. I pay Part B to the government, and a non-profit insurance company administers my account. I don't deal with any government employees directly.

Our private energy company is not being overseen well. It is going bankrupt. Municipal energy companies work well. Why not? I pay for my energy now to my city, in cooperation with the private energy company. I pay only for the renewable portion. It's working, although my energy company may be going bankrupt. The city may take over completely; our mayor is proposing it. With my solar panels, I may generate more energy and get more money back than the cost of energy from the grid.

I am not concerned that our health and energy companies going more public threatens the capitalist system. There are plenty of American companies doing well and supplying goods and services. Silicon Valley is alive and well, for example. So are amazon and microsoft up there in Seattle. They just need to be better regulated in some cases when they pollute or abuse people. An economy of smaller companies than our behemoth corporate giants would work better for all except a few bosses.