Jump to content

Sonea

Members
  • Posts

    344
  • Joined

Posts posted by Sonea

  1. 36 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

     

      My employer already does that. We can opt out of health benefits and get a salary premium added back. It's mostly used by people who get coverage through their spouses elsewhere.  

     

       The history is interesting, in that healthcare originally became an employment "benefit" because wages were capped due to the labor shortage after WW2 and employers had to offer other incentives to attract workers. Now we are looking at the opposite side of the coin. The spiraling cost of healthcare packages is probably a major factor in keeping wages from increasing for many. I'm sure a lot of employers would prefer getting away from having to offer healthcare and just going to straight wage compensation. The costs of wage increases are a lot more predictable than healthcare increases. I'm not sure that medicare for all is the  right answer, but getting healthcare uncoupled from employment would definitely be a good thing IMO.

      

    Mine does as well. Spouses with better coverage at other companies tend to opt out and get a 300 to 400 boost. 

  2. 1 hour ago, Póg mo said:

    P.s. I wasn't around back when slavery was a thing, but some of people here, kind of the give the impression that they were, just going by their old fashioned views.

     

    P.p.s. the Democratic party of the 19th century is significantly different from the 21st century version. Same goes for the party of Lincoln. 

    I'll put a twist on the landowner idea - net tax payers maybe? That would mean 16 year olds could vote if they work. 

  3. On 12/31/2018 at 12:41 PM, Ban Hammer said:

    first you must understand what a wall is.  let's take the military definition here, from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obstacles_to_troop_movement

     

    yes, a wall can be dug under, etc etc.   that is time and labor intensive

    any barrier will channel movement of those wishing to cross to another area where manpower can be concentrated to capture them. 

    additionally, ground penetrating radar can detect tunnels and some sensors can detect digging.

    i believe it will cut down considerably on the flow of drugs and illegal border crossings into our country.  furthermore, the real concern

    to me is that it is not just central/south americans being caught - there are nationals of countries that have used terrorism against us

    in the past and will use such against us in the future too.

     

     

    I've seen all the conditions of the current system. There are basically three fence / wall styles - vertical steel that is see through, metal panels repurposed from the vietnam war, and lower vehicular barricades. The only wall work I see needing to be done is replacing the vietnam metals with something more open. They hide movement on the mexican side. I also think its important that future barricades allow native wildlife to migrate properly.

  4. 41 minutes ago, Neonred said:

    Wait a minute.  Are you combining efficiency and our government into one concept?  LMAO

    Well that is the elephant in the room isn't it. Can the US government (or state government) run things as efficiently as other countries have? That I am not sure. I can say that a country like the UK can provide healthcare for half the cost of the US.

  5. On 12/17/2018 at 10:29 AM, Lil bear said:

    The problems with the Australian system are small compared to the problems with the US system 

    IMO, for the US to transition to any form of system like the Australian, it would take the total dismantling of the “ health care industry “ and would result in approximately 7 out of 10 who are currently employed in the sector to have no job moving forward. That just can’t  happen as the consequences of 

    such huge changes in employment couldn’t be managed without massive economic hardship for too many people .. therefore it won’t happen. It’s too late. The web created by the health  care industry here is too big, too entangled to be dismantled 

    It can't be an overnight transition thats for sure. I think the best approach would be to start a core government system that only applies to something like 5% of a persons healthcare. Over a period of a decade it would grow to 100%. This would allow a slow transfer of employer based funding to transfer from private healthcare companies to the system. 

     

    For instance in year one, the payroll tax might be .05% and then eventually grow to 4 or 5%. As that happens, health insurance incomings would start to tail off as they cover less and less.

     

    The roadmap is to shift the health funding going from employers and private contractors to transfer over to a payroll tax dollar for dollar with the idea that that money can cover the entire population based upon the higher efficiencies of UHC versus the private system. Its true this efficiency would cause job losses in the industry, but at least by spreading them out over a decade, the labor market could adapt.

  6. 1 hour ago, JimandChristy said:

    But still astronomically higher than any other 1st world country. Problem is the NRA and their supporters will not allow the CDC to do any meaningful research into the causes of gun violence.

    Referring to 1st world countries, I assume you mean the list of industrialized nation? I can identify one difference right away - social / racial justice and relations. The only country that may have handled this more poorly than the US, is Japan. But of course their racial minorities are such a tiny percentage of the population, their effects are muted.

     

    I'm not sure how long you've lived here or been in American cities, but the US has more in common with a country like South Africa then say Belgium or the UK. I would argue that the way minorities were treated in this country does NOT qualify the country as truly 1st world.

  7. https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/health/gun-deaths-highest-40-years-cdc/index.html

     

    So gun deaths are at a new high apparently. But a little digging reveals why.

     

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/06/07/u-s-suicide-rates-rise-sharply-across-the-country-new-report-shows/?utm_term=.901c4dc3191a

     

    Suicide rates have really been spiking. A little more digging reveals why.

     

    https://desertcoverecovery.com/blog/suicide-and-opioid-addiction-linked-epidemics-dual-diagnosis-treatment/

     

    The opioid epidemic has spiked suicides which in term has increased gun suicides.

     

    Would be nice if CNN had done their due diligence and dug a bit deeper rather than publish propaganda.

     

     

  8. If you are in a co-tenant situation its only logical to lock your firearms when not in possession. In many states, you would be held liable if a prohibited persons acquired the firearm and misused it if they were invited in to the apartment by a roommate or if one of the roommates are prohibited. Obviously, when home a firearm could be unlocked for use (or kept in a biometric safe).

     

     

×
×
  • Create New...