No I really don't think it's funny. People who are willing to have taxes raised should just go ahead and start paying extra now. The government has no problems with you paying extra and it is for the good of the people so put your money where your mouth is.
Don't care about free health care to all Don't care about free public college for the children Don't care about Bernie's extensive plan to stop global warming. Don't care about Bernie's efforts to revive the middle class, and boost the quality of life for the lower class. Don't care about campaign finance reform. Don't care about breaking up the big banks, don't care about any of that garbage. If I'm paying more in taxes then you can GEITOUTAHEIRE! Even if I save money overall from paying less in healthcare deductibles, you know I would rather give more money to big pharma then to all that garbage Bernie wants for America.
I lived in a country where I paid far more in taxes, and my healthcare was near free. Medication was subsidized at the counter, so even before I had health care, my cost of medication was less than it was in the US with insurance. I could also buy things like lactulose (which my dog needed) and codeine (which my headaches needed) without a prescription, and both for a quarter of what I pay here. Food was also subsidized -- so when I went shopping and wanted to buy fresh produce, it was the cheapest thing in the market. So I and the rest of Israel's poors ate healthy because it was the cheapest way to go. I gained *70* pounds after moving back to the US. How much is that costing me? So yes, my tax rate was effectively double, but my standard of living was much higher, especially since I could afford to eat healthier and afford better health care. I paid a hell of a lot more in health care costs and student loan payments in the last two years than I did in taxes...but feel free to repeat more FUD about how subsidizing the commons is a slippery slope toward Bolshevism. The main advantage of Texas over Israel? Affordable home ownership, thanks to things like VA and FHA and USDA loans. You know, socialism.
The bottom line is the quality of life for the most voters. But the conservative side never thinks about maximizing the purchasing power of the public through numbers. That's why lobbyist always strive to limit it like outlawing drug price negotiation when legislating Medicare B. We the people could legislate any damn thing we want within the limits of the Constitution if we didn't have representatives owned by private interest.
If America would look to the person in the mirror to solve their problems instead of dreaming of some magical government that solves their problems we would be in a much better place. I like a lot of what Bernie says and even if I believed that he is the man to do all of that, he is one man in a sea of corruption and his plan only gives more power and money to the people I trust the least. Get the corruption and money out of Washington first and then I might start to feel the Bern.
Eh, I think the issue is a lot more complex than this. Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Dan Barber's The Third Plate are two great reads if you're interested in American eating habits and our access to food. I think if most people were given access to truly healthy food from an early age, and taught that certain foods are designed to be seasonal, we'd be a much healthier nation. But what encourages the current nutrition of people in America? I'd guess (and this is speculation, I don't pretend to know) things like food deserts, advertising toward toward children, ubiquity of the unhealthiest food and poor school lunches provided by monolithic companies like Aramark play a part. We should start another thread, this could be an interesting topic!
Israel's government is far more corrupt (and inept and ass-backward) than Texas or the US federal government. It still doesn't prevent them from taking care of it's veterans and pensioners, it's infrastructure needs, or the health care of the general population. I don't "trust" government or like bureaucracy, but I also like to think our lives are worth more than increasing the shareholder value of the private corporations that government is outsourcing to, and I trust those fat cats much less. I can't vote them out of their jobs. We are the least free people in the developed world and instead of doing something about it, we're putting our fingers in our ears and blaming each other rather than the monied interests shoving money into every pocket of every politician. They pretend it's free enterprise, and capitalism, when it's actually institutionalized corruption and bribery -- things that people would go to jail for anywhere else in the world. Our economic system has been optimized for cartels rather than small businesses, cartels that operate with far less oversight, and with sweetheart tax breaks. But we don't care. We're too busy getting excited about Mexicans and Muslims and abortions and guns and transgender pee-pee and gluten-free tortillas and safe spaces and celebrity t*tties and other stupid culture war bull****.
More like a million miles, and you're wearing shoes 3 sizes too small, and you're in a completely foreign land with no map and no one to help you. Bernie Sanders talks a great game and all the ideologues are out in force and lapping it up. Like Donald Trump (except human), he's a protest vote that outgrew itself. Occupy Wall Street on steroids. Every time someone asks him for the actual plan on breaking up the banks and getting us all into Star Trek we-don't-use-money Shangri La, he has nothing. Nothing. Sooooo....free healthcare for everyone. Even though they've been trying to dismantle Obamacare from the beginning, let's do something radical. "How you gonna break up the banks, Bernie?" (crickets chirping; deer-frozen-in-headlights expression) Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. Just needs a Sancho Panza and it will all be complete.
Ya can't get there if you don't start. You vote for your philosophical preferences not for capitulation to the practical intractability of your opposition.
Deckard, I am curious why you voted for Bernie Sanders. You seem like such a supporter of Hillary and so worried about Sanders and his supporters.
lol Quit watching Fox or pretending you make $100's of thousands per year. Better yet try to limit the number of hrs you fantsize about your weekly $1 lottery ticket winning.
Israel's population is smaller than Houston. I pretty much agree with the rest of your post except the least free part.
It also has been in a state of war for 60+ years and maintains one of the world's largest military forces. They still manage to keep their very divided society from crumbling and killing each other. They also live longer than we do despite being a nation of chainsmokers that don't look before they cross the street. I honestly think it has more to do with the subsidies for healthy food than anything else.
Don't get me wrong I admire Israel but things that work on their scale are a little more difficult on a US scale. We do subsidize our farming industry FWIW but somehow those subsidies don't end up as savings at the grocery store.
