LeBrok, do you really think the average voting American gives a darn whether global corporations, often hiding assets abroad, and whose profits go to their shareholders, did well or badly? Or whether the stock market has gone up, when most of them have little or no investments on Wall Street?
They care about how much money they take home, its purchasing power, how long their wages have stayed stagnant, how well they're doing economically compared to their parents, how long they stayed out of work if they lost a job, what kind of job their kids get when they come out of college, whether they or their friends and relatives have to work 2 and 3 low paying service jobs to substitute for their once high paying industrial jobs. They want to know how secure that job is if they happen to have a decent one, or if they'll lose it to someone from Mexico who will take less pay, or they'll lose it to automation in the next couple of years. Even trucking, one of the few high paying blue collar jobs remaining, may become obsolete.
Are they supposed to happily contemplate they and their children living the next twenty to fifty years on welfare benefits until some Utopian transformation of society suddenly manifests itself where money will grow on trees and everyone will suddenly and magically get enough to live a prosperous, work free life?
Or, let's take health care. I happen to believe that a single payer system is probably the best option, although it's certainly not perfect, as can be seen from the fact that there is still a "paying" system for the rich. One of my specialists in the city stopped taking insurance of any kind five years ago: $250.00 just to get in his door, and then it goes up every half hour or so. He's doing very well regardless, thank-you. I used to tell him he should be taking me along on all his trips to Italy. Even with the discount he gave me, and the respect I had for his knowledge, I could no longer afford him, but then I don't really need his level of expertise any longer. What about the people who do, however?
When Obamacare was proposed, Republicans screamed and ranted and raved that it was a fraud, could never work as set up, and on and on. Confirmation bias? Typical partisan analysis? I closely read the bill, and looked at the numbers. and said I thought they were onto something. After it was passed, the creator of it was filmed saying it could never work as sold, that they had to lie to get it passed, and that only the "stupidity of the American people" allowed them to get it through.
See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adrdmmh7bMo
Now the insurers are pulling out because, indeed, it doesn't work. Younger people, who were supposed to be paying for the health care of the sick and elderly, are choosing to pay the $700 fine for not enrolling rather than paying $250 a month for "coverage", a coverage which doesn't kick in until they've paid thousands out of pocket. All of this was perfectly predictable by anyone with a modicum of common sense, a small amount of knowledge of economics and human behavior, and even just a small degree of honesty and objectivity. It was , in fact, predicted. The solution proposed now? Let's try to use tax money to give breaks to the people who are suddenly going to pay this extra money. That isn't going to work either.
@Sparkey,
Exactly. I vote out of duty, and for the down ballot seats; my vote has never counted in terms of national politics. For that I'd have to permanently move to Florida.
It's hard for people to grasp the repercussions of the electoral college system given the regional differences in voting patterns.
I've been thinking about McMullin too, but haven't checked whether he's even on the ballot or available as a write in if he's not.
Ed. Whoa Nellie! Is the bombshell about to drop? The FBI director has sent a statement to Congress saying he's re-opening the investigation into Secretary Clinton's handling of classified e-mails.
In investigating Anthony Wiener for possible criminal charges with regards to his "sexting", the FBI may have found e-mails from or to Uma Abadin, top aide to Clinton, which have something to do with classified material.
Who knows whether it really will say anything about Hillary Clinton's use of classified information? Also, people don't seem to realize that if it's part of a criminal prosecution of someone else, the FBI can't reveal much about it.