Usa Thread

[waerth]

I am FORCED to pay for this, so I will use it or give me all the money back, with interest...WTF!!

The railroads have a far BETTER retirement plan then SS!!!

 

So start working for the Railroads then .... will be a bit more peacefull than the SchutzStaffel (SS)

[robaus]

Interesting item from the BBC about US primaries... a few things I didn't know. Mind you as Donald Rumsfeld once said..."because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."

 

...from the Beeb..

 

"The primaries, coming round every four years, are so familiar that it is easy to lose sight of the fact they are unique, alien - an experiment in ultra-democracy that somehow has stuck.

 

A process so extraordinary that it would be laughed out of court if you suggested it today.

 

The voters choosing their party's candidate need not be party members. They do not need to pay any fees, or attend any meetings. They simply register as Republicans, or Democrats.

 

Some states go even further. You simply turn up and vote.

 

Just think. In the United Kingdom (however much lip service is paid to the principle of one member one vote) the power to choose a party leader still has not really been prised out of the hands of the party elite - the men in dark suits, the MPs or the unions.

 

This is designed to stop "ordinary party members" making a naive, shallow, choice, by plumping for their heart throb, however extreme and unelectable he or she might be.

 

As for the very idea of allowing mere voters who just happen to prefer one party over another to choose - unthinkable. And when a British party chooses a leader it is well before an election and it is over in a flash.

 

The rolling, rollicking American campaign lasts for more than a year, a travelling circus, moving from prayer breakfast to BBQ, from town to town, debate to debate, before a series of votes spread out over months as one state votes, then another, in a cascade of cliff-hangers.

 

Journalists gorge on the red meat of this dramatic narrative, gnawing on the bare bones of the result, chewing over their implications. The candidates' flaws and foibles, abilities and indiscretions are put under a blazing spotlight. Who will sweat and crack?

 

Political puzzle

 

Some tough questions are already out there.

 

 

Rick Perry (L) and Michele Bachmann ® are facing some tough questions

Opponents are asking how close Michele Bachmann is to a very right-wing Christian philosophy called Dominionism, one proponent of which even argues for the death penalty for homosexuals and adulterers.

 

Why has she, in the past, recommended a book in which the author appears to endorse the argument that slavery could not be abolished until the slaves became Christians?

 

What about the controversy over Texas Governor Rick Perry's backing for the death penalty in a case where the evidence of guilt was so scant, critics say, that one Perry supporter is supposed to have told a focus group "it takes real guts to execute an innocent man".

 

It is perhaps a puzzle that this system, so wide open to allow anyone, or at least anyone with the money to enter has not produced a more glittering field.

 

Even those who know no other system are a little worried. I ask every senior Republican I come across the obvious question: "Who do you want as your presidential candidate?"

 

Just about all of them reply "none of the above". Some are beginning to say so in public.

 

While even that old cartoon favourite of mine had a clear starting line, this wacky race can be joined at just about any time.

 

Many hope that the mists will part and a new champion, perhaps looking a little less like a cartoon caricature, will ride in, scattering and smashing the others out of the way.

 

It may not be the most sensible way to choose a potential leader of the free world, but as theatre it is hard to beat."

 

..whole article link

[Redbaron]

I am FORCED to pay for this, so I will use it or give me all the money back, with interest...WTF!!

The railroads have a far BETTER retirement plan then SS!!!

 

Great news for the railroad workers. Not sure what it's like in the US, but any Superannuation/Pension scheme should be better than social security, as the aim of SS is to give those on hard times something to fall back on, NOT to fund a retirement scooting about southern france on holidays.

 

Re SS. What would you propose happens to the sick, the weak, the poor old people who lost all their savings/pensions when some lunatics flew into the Twin Towers? Let 'em rot?

[allistar]

1. Do not use Medicare.

 

I pay for this. It is not free, so of course I will use it!

 

2. Do not use Social Security

 

I am FORCED to pay for this, so I will use it or give me all the money back, with interest...WTF!!

The railroads have a far BETTER retirement plan then SS!!!

How will you use medicare while living in LOS? Easy to use if you come down with cancer and go back to the U.S. for treatment. But if you have an emergency illness, like heart attack or are hit by a bus while on your motorcycle, you can't go back to the U.S. for short term treatment. Concerning SS, I'm sure all the people retired over the last 40 years appreciate your contributions to the system. If it were me, I would be thankful to have enough money saved for retirement that I didn't have to count on SS.

[kamui]

New subsection:

On the campaign (trail):

Today: Mitt Romney

 

ROMNEY TO QUADRUPLE SIZE OF $12 MILLION CALIFORNIA HOME |

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who in June told voters that he was “also unemployed,†has applied for a permit to bulldoze his 3,000-square-foot, $12 million home in La Jolla, California, and replace it with one nearly four times its size. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the new home will be two stories and more than 11,000 square feet. Romney also owns a $10 million estate in New Hampshire. His campaign declined to comment on the renovation plans.

 

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/21/300363/romney-to-quadruple-size-of-12-million-california-home/

 

 

[Hugh_Hoy]

New subsection:

On the campaign (trail):

Today: Mitt Romney

 

ROMNEY TO QUADRUPLE SIZE OF $12 MILLION CALIFORNIA HOME |

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who in June told voters that he was “also unemployed,†has applied for a permit to bulldoze his 3,000-square-foot, $12 million home in La Jolla, California, and replace it with one nearly four times its size. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the new home will be two stories and more than 11,000 square feet. Romney also owns a $10 million estate in New Hampshire. His campaign declined to comment on the renovation plans.

 

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/21/300363/romney-to-quadruple-size-of-12-million-california-home/

 

It'll also have a name: "White House West". 11,000 sf isn't all that big when you'll need to host foreign diplomats/have state dinners. (BTW, I'm only guessing that the $12 million is largely based on the location and amount of land upon which the current house is located.) Sounds like it'll be nice.

 

HH

[Steve]

Its his money so I have no issue with any of it.

[Steve]

According to the polls http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/president_obama_vs_republican_candidates.html

Obama would win against all the candidates but polls swing in a campaign. It did in his. Romney stands the best chance from what it looks like. I actually think Huntsman is a good candidate. Probably the best one. Perry would lose. Bachmann would lose big. Romney could win.

 

Obama could be like Bush was in '84. Not popular but win by default because the opposition couldn't come up with a candidate that got people excited and effective strategy used.

[Hugh_Hoy]

Romney will win the GOP nomination and will beat Obama. Obama has been a failure on so many fronts and for so many useful idiots who believed his "hope and change" bullshit. The enthusiasm that was there for Barry 3 years ago has certainly waned, while the all-important "independent" crowd has moved away from him in droves. What's better, Obama doesn't have enough time to turn the economy around. Better, cuz he's gonna be a punching bag in the gym this time next year, with unemployment still sky high, foreclosures continuing, the dollar devaluing more. Remember the "it's the economy stupid"? (Thank you James Carville. LOL. )

 

Hang in there Steve. We're gonna liberate you from the pod before you're completely and irreversibly transformed. DON'T GO TO SLEEP !!!

 

HH

[cavanami]

How will you use medicare while living in LOS? Easy to use if you come down with cancer and go back to the U.S. for treatment. But if you have an emergency illness, like heart attack or are hit by a bus while on your motorcycle, you can't go back to the U.S. for short term treatment. Concerning SS, I'm sure all the people retired over the last 40 years appreciate your contributions to the system. If it were me, I would be thankful to have enough money saved for retirement that I didn't have to count on SS.

I live in LOS, so I have no use for Medicare but when I return to the USA for a visit, then if needed,

I will use Medicare.

I carry my own insurance in LOS.

 

There is Medicare Part A, Part B, etc.

Part A is free. You must pay every month for Part B and none of Medicare

covers all the expenses so you have to pay for insurance coverage, so for me,

Medicare is not needed.

The only free healthcare in the USA is if you are on welfare, then you are given

a card that will allow you free medical care, however, many doctors/hospitals will

not accept the card as what they are paid is considered too little so they are supposed

to get the person stabilized and then ship them off to another doctor/hospital.