It seems I recall Bush resisted but a democratic party stampeded by "if in trouble if ion doubt run in circled scream and shout" mentality steam rolled any one daring to suggest this is not a good idea

When the last private union worker is gone (you know those people who created the middle class and the weekend off work) will you be any better off?
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119272/labor-day-are-unions-dead-interview-rich-yeselson
If you don't want to read the link I offer this one graph says a lot

whether you choose to acknowledge it or not policies of the American left does far and away the most damage to blacks.

Let's start with paying girls to get pregnant. A brilliant move. Was that the original intent. Maybe. Maybe not. Law of Unintended Consequences never sleeps. Lyndon Johnson and his great society. May he burn in hell.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1rIDmDWSms

A labor union is a tool just as my gun is a tool.
It can be used to defend myself against a more powerful entity or it can be used to rob.
I agree gvt employee unions are a problem as there is no feedback loop to moderate negotiations. If a trade union becomes too greedy there won't be any work. Govts just reach deeper into our pockets. Also in the case of GM management created problems by short term thinking. When the auto market was booming 50 yrs ago they basically gave away their power by acquiescing to UAW demands without a fight as they were selling so many cars and making so much money they didn't really care what it took to avoid any interruptions. That bit them in the ass when the economy crashed and they failed to build cars that compete with the Asians - but that is a another kettle of fish.

"canes are heat engines that is why there are so many this season with all this global warming and such..... oh wait

The Wall Street Journal



This Democrat Is Giving Up on ObamaCare
The disastrous rollout of the Affordable Care Act was the catalyst for my party’s midterm thumping.

Burke Beu
Nov. 13, 2014 6:00 p.m. ET

I grew up in a Democratic family. I have been a registered Democrat since age 18, a Democratic candidate for statewide office in Colorado and a party precinct captain in that caucus state. I’ve volunteered for numerous Democratic candidates and contributed to party causes and campaigns. The 2014 election results were extremely disappointing for me, but hardly a surprise.

I voted for Barack Obama in 2008, then lost my job in the Great Recession. I was lucky; my brother lost his job and his house. I survived on part-time jobs while paying out-of-pocket for my health insurance.

I voted for President Obama again in 2012, then received a cancellation notice for my health insurance. This was due to ObamaCare, the so-called Affordable Care Act. However, I couldn’t afford anything else.

Midterm elections in the second term of a presidency are difficult on the president’s party, and the Obama administration’s crisis-of-the-month headlines weren’t helpful. Ultimately, though, ObamaCare was the catalyst for my party’s midterm thumping.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks about Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in July. ENLARGE
White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks about Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in July. Associated Press

ObamaCare is a failure. For anyone who thinks this is a misprint because no Democratic activist would make such a comment, let me add that it is too big, too complicated and too expensive. Without a public option within its network of exchanges, ObamaCare is a giant blank check to the insurance companies that pushed it through Congress. It punishes responsible consumers like me and treats younger individuals as fools who are expected to pay the bills while not paying attention.

Now we learn in videos that came to light this week that Jonathan Gruber, MIT economist and a key architect of the Affordable Care Act, proudly relied on his perceived “stupidity of the American voter” as the basis for designing ObamaCare. Such comments, along with the program’s notoriously dysfunctional website and false assurances that people can keep their previous health plans, are insults to every citizen regardless of party.

Contrary to Medicare, which was quickly accepted at a time of economic vitality as a meaningful complement to Social Security, ObamaCare was the sequel to an overpriced economic stimulus package that didn’t stimulate very much. Those least affected by the recession benefited the most from the stimulus. I think that’s called “trickle-down economics” when Republicans do it, and the economy continues to struggle for good jobs and a real recovery. ObamaCare is part of the problem, not a solution.

For most Democrats in Congress, Medicare was originally a model for health-care reform. Single-payer, universal coverage was the favored approach. Then Republicans let loose the “socialized medicine” boogeyman and Democrats panicked.

Fearful that doing nothing was worse than doing the wrong thing, Democrats gave up on Medicare for the masses and opted for a drastic alternative. ObamaCare is an outrageous combination of private-market inflation, government bureaucracy, excessive mandates and a ridiculously delayed implementation schedule. When the thing finally kicked in, it hit hard—and there is plenty more pain on the way.

Worst of all, ObamaCare looks and feels exactly like what it is: a health-care plan devised by lawyers and corporate executives rather than true health-care providers. Democrats are top-heavy with attorneys, and this hurts the party on many issues.

If Hillary Clinton is looking for an immediate opportunity to distance herself from the Obama administration, she should promise to appoint a licensed health-care professional, such as a physician or registered nurse, as her secretary of Health and Human Services if she is elected president. I know she hasn’t announced her candidacy, but the time has come to stop playing coy.

We Democrats need to get over ourselves, start anew on a national health-care policy, and return to our progressive principles. We claim to be the party of the underdogs, but on ObamaCare we simply catered to a different set of fat cats.

We resent Republicans who act morally superior and pretend to have a monopoly on patriotism, but an elitist attitude doesn’t look any better on us when we refuse to admit that ObamaCare is broken beyond repair. Measurable outcomes and actual effectiveness are the honest indicators of a successful program, not good intentions or high hopes.

We say that we are the party of the people, but “the people” too often become a singular, monolithic concept for us. We speak for the people, don’t you know, because we can decide what is best for them so they really don’t need to speak for themselves.

The people decided otherwise on Election Day. I hope my party is listening. When the next Congress convenes in 2015, Democrats need to work with the new Republican majority, repeal ObamaCare, override a presidential veto if necessary, and start from scratch on health-care reform.

Mr. Beu, a nonprofit professional and former hospital insurance coordinator, currently works as a counselor at a social-services agency in Denver.

you oppress when you destroy someone’s self-worth by telling them they are incapable of taking care of themselves. NOW that is EVIL!

There is a reason english (lc E) is so widely understood. english is quite adept at adopting words from other tongues and is able to communicate about a such a wide range of subjects. an antipodal example is saudade which cannot be truly understood without being able to think/dream in português. So anyone pigheadedly refusing to lean english in the USA is definitely self crippling .

153 yrs ago

Sometimes people will attempt to discredit another's assertion based upon the idea "Are you an expert?"
Example: "obama is a psychopath.
Having no way to disprove said assertion they fall back upon "And who are YOU to make that statement?" as if that disproves the original assertion.
.
In my younger days I fell for this argument until a friend (retired WW2 Bird Col) asked me a question after I offered an opinion followed by the disclaimer "of course I'm not an expert". "Mark can you fly a 747?" No says I. "Do you know what a crash looks like asks the Bird?" Yes says I.
Then do not assume you don't know something simply because you are not an "expert"
.
I am not a firearms "expert" with any formal "education" however if I offer the assertion "if you catch a deer slug square in the chest you will die" asking me if I'm an "expert" will not change the outcome.....

And how is that working out?
More and more doctors are refusing medicare and the ones who do are often the bottom of the barrel.

(1) "If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his
body will soon follow."

Nearly EVERYTHING touched by gvt cost more....

Example: Gvt grants monopolies to certain providers and guess what? In general W/O competition price goes up. Who doesn't know this?


(2) If you are downloading terabytes of video and I only check email why should you NOT pay more than me? Anyone subscribing to the idea everyone pays the same is expecting low bandwidth users to subsidize high band with users!

Now should I CHOOSE to make a group buy with others that is my choice.

While I don't disagree with you let us not forget "sickcare" if you wish is directly attributable to fedgvt interference in the labor marketplace.

So if there is ever to be any improvement repeal of osamacare must be the first step and while it may be unlikely the repubs will do so I'm damned sure the dems will not!

MV or SV?
People on sailboats tend to be a lot more laid-back.
Well at least we are.. 8-)
When I'm hanging on the hook I tend to read a lot but a board game that might really go over big especially on a MY would be Cash Flow by Robert Kiyosaki