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And that, right there, is a huge part of the problem.
To be clear: we're all fucked. Congress has devolved into something resembling pro-wrestling*, where everything is a simple black-or-white matter, and there are only two sides to every matter, and if you're not 100% for us, then you're obviously 100% against us, and if it looks like things are finally getting better, well... just wait until next week when a whole new controversy erupts!
And it's our fault.
We the People require sort of bizarre theatrics of our elected representatives, for precisely the reasons you illustrate.
Oh, God! What would happen if a newly-elected Republican majority in the House of Representatives DIDN'T immediately impeach the President purely out of spite? What would the people who voted for them think? What would political-opinion-show hosts say?
Sadly, it is all too true though. It is like waking up and realizing we're actually in a real version of the Idiocracy movie. It is not a flattering revelation about us by any means. The concept of rising above it is long gone, for now at least. Perhaps we'll have to wait for a younger generation to come along and realize we're disgusting and swing the pendulum back again. Not sure if I'll get to see that in my lifetime.
You said "Currently the system works for the democrats."
But you were missing the bigger picture. Currently, the system works for the republicans and the democrats. They're the same thing; politicians.
At one point in time you weren't this abrasive. It's a little off-putting, although maybe you two have history.
One thing conservatives have HATED about Washington Republicans is that they have no backbone. Look at the Democrats--they'll spend four years spinning a tall tale about Russian bed-wetting, all paid for by the DNC and Hillary's campaign. The Clintons will brazenly sell access to themselves in the form of $250k speeches, and when Biden comes along he says "hold my beer." What do the Republicans do? They bitch. That's it.
If they don't impeach then I guess it's too much to ask for a kangaroo court and a pock-marked brick wall, because at this point what difference does it make?
Personally, I’m skeptical it will amount to anything beyond campaign material.
Good to see. I'd like to see stronger sanctions and tariffs where China is not reciprocating on trade. Would be nice if we stopped allowing their "research students" to come over here and drain our intellectual data, although I think our universities are "hooked" on the higher tuition charged to foreign students.
A 2017 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that the average tuition increase associated with expansion of student loans is as much as 60 cents per dollar. That is, more federal aid to students enables colleges to raise tuition more. Salaries rise; bureaucracies expand; more courses — from “History and Analysis of Rock Music” to “Ultimate Frisbee” — are offered; dorms, dining halls, and recreational centers become more lavish. Even with all this spending, employers don’t find that new grads are well prepared for the workplace.
While it's a little complicated, the amount of money guaranteed for student loans is mandated by Congress .
When government-guaranteed checks keep rolling in, there's no incentive for colleges and universities to lower their prices. In fact, they do the opposite.
Just another example of our fine capitalist society feeding of the public through (and I'm not in any way condemning the concept of capitalism). Our nation has become one where the populace, whatever the politics, accepts the slurping of the public money so long as it's about them. Not so much when it's about "them others". The politicians are there to direct the feeding frenzy...
The current solution for the problem is to further upset the balance of the free market supply/demand and alter individual's choice by giving and loaning more.
Say an album on iTunes costs $10 to download normally.
Now let's say a third-party thought that was too much to pay, and wanted to give more people better access to music, and subsidized $5 of the purchase, making an album $5 to the consumer. Demand will increase, music producers will be ecstatic and urge more musicians to make more albums, and sales will increase.
But then, iTunes, remembering people used to pay $10 for a download, begin to raise the prices back up a little--because they know that same consumer was willing to pay $10 for the same album. So they make downloads $11 with a $5 subsidy, then $12, then $13, then $14, then $15. So now the cost to the consumer is still the $10 they were used to, but there's an extra $5 profit from the subsidy.
But, what happens is, the consumer, got used to the lower prices, so they campaign to the third-party. They tell them that their standards of living have fallen. And of course the music producers campaign with them, because sales have started to decline a little. So everyone, consumer and producer want the third-party to subsidize a little more.
and the cycle beings.
So, now replace downloads, with tuition. producers with colleges. third-party music subsidy with gov't.
It's no different.
What happens is gov't programs mask the true costs of college for students. Grants, loans and direct subsidies lower the apparent price of education and this leads to the higher demand. The colleges ALWAYS then feel justified in increasing the cost of tuition to meet the demand and the cycle is born. Raise tuition; give out more aid; raise tuition again. wash, rinse, repeat.
You forgot to mention that student debt, which was hard to discharge in bankruptcy as early as 1976, was virtually sealed in a new tightening of the bankruptcy laws in 2005 by Congress.
So to expand on the tuition/itunes analogy, wouldn't you say that about the ACA? And that affects everyone, not just those involved in "higher learning".
But to get to the heart of the matter is that "We the People" are responsible for this. It's not the politicians since we voted for them. They then go and make laws we told them we wanted, so it's not the laws either. We the People have the government We deserve. And of course once elected, politicians give the People some of what they wanted and pay back those that paid for their campaign with all the other stuff written into laws/bills/amendments that no one can understand and which politicians themselves have told us didn't read before voting on.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you I am a well informed voter. I'm as ignorant as they come which is why I pass on all new laws/amendments no matter how great they might seem on paper. Things are good enough for me and I see no reason to keep fixing what isn't broken. But then of course how would campaign promises of getting everyone what they want go if we were all just satisfied with things how they are and we all managed to get ahead and get what we want anyhow. What would the state of politics be like then? Going back to the pro wrestling analogy, what if all the good guys and bad guys became friends? Well, in front of the cameras anyhow. We all know these guys are all good buddies backstage, just like the pro wrestlers. But We the People want our Friday Night Smackdown.
But to get to the heart of the matter is that "We the People" are responsible for this. It's not the politicians since we voted for them. They then go and make laws we told them we wanted, so it's not the laws either. We the People have the government We deserve.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you I am a well informed voter. I'm as ignorant as they come which is why I pass on all new laws/amendments no matter how great they might seem on paper. Things are good enough for me and I see no reason to keep fixing what isn't broken.
Sorry to cut out a lot of text…
”We the People” share in the blame game but as Joe alluded to previously, it’s a rigged game. Big money owns this entire political establishment and uses “You the person” only to get it’s slate of politicians.
It used to be polling drove a lot of the laws written/passed. Think clean energy, voting rights, desegregation etc… those things happened because the public sentiment was right and enabled the legislation. Today the polling shows a majority of people support “common sense” gun control & leaving Roe v. Wade alone but look at which way the states are driving things.
I try and stay informed about new laws especially as they affect my taxes and savings. I make it a point to drill down and find out the real story on things that can affect my life. So should you. My stance is if you aren’t that informed nor care to be then maybe you shouldn’t vote… just a point, not meant to offend.
Anyway, while we all have differences on certain issues it seems to me we tend to agree around the premise that the political system is fucked and needs to be fixed.
RE the ACA…I don’t think the comparison is correct. The ACA was an attempt to make sense of a screwed up health care system that had come to rely on private insurance companies. Back in the 70’s - 80’s medical coverage was essentially major medical (catastrophic coverage) & if you wanted to take Jonny into the doctor for a sniffle you had to pay out of pocket. Then over time, and to gain customers, insurers started to include minor medical coverages and the co-pay became a driver of who you picked for an insurer. Over time the same insurers started to deny coverage for repeat events (think heart surgery, cancer etc) to increase profits. The ACA was supposed to take that pool of high risk people and put them into a pool of subsidized coverage. Does it work? Meh… I got insurance through the ACA because when I started my business I had a pre-existing condition that made me uninsurable through the normal route. So in that sense it helped me. It also cost me $17K/year for that ACA sponsored insurance & I got no subsidy because of my income. Could it be better? Probably…
My description of the ACA is probably oversimplified…
To be clear: we're all fucked. Congress has devolved into something resembling pro-wrestling
Funny you should mention pro-wrestling, are you familiar with the concept of Kayfabe? Here's an interesting mini series exploring how "pro-wrestling" modern politics has become.
Easy tuition money and overwhelming social pressure to continue school means more demand. Schools remove barriers to "higher education" by removing qualification testing and reducing academic rigor. Universities now have more students (supply), and they pull in more money. Since education is "free" because student loans are so easy to get, schools jack up their rates. They also add administrators and ridiculous curricula, because easy money.
Graduate students with ridiculous degrees, magna *** laude in basket weaving and not ready to order food at a drive-thru, because easy money.
RE the ACA…I don’t think the comparison is correct. The ACA was an attempt to make sense of a screwed up health care system that had come to rely on private insurance companies. Back in the 70’s - 80’s medical coverage was essentially major medical (catastrophic coverage) & if you wanted to take Jonny into the doctor for a sniffle you had to pay out of pocket. Then over time, and to gain customers, insurers started to include minor medical coverages and the co-pay became a driver of who you picked for an insurer. Over time the same insurers started to deny coverage for repeat events (think heart surgery, cancer etc) to increase profits. The ACA was supposed to take that pool of high risk people and put them into a pool of subsidized coverage. Does it work? Meh… I got insurance through the ACA because when I started my business I had a pre-existing condition that made me uninsurable through the normal route. So in that sense it helped me. It also cost me $17K/year for that ACA sponsored insurance & I got no subsidy because of my income. Could it be better? Probably…
My description of the ACA is probably oversimplified…
This administration has chosen Big Pharma over the little people.
Easy tuition money and overwhelming social pressure to continue school means more demand. Schools remove barriers to "higher education" by removing qualification testing and reducing academic rigor. Universities now have more students (supply), and they pull in more money. Since education is "free" because student loans are so easy to get, schools jack up their rates. They also add administrators and ridiculous curricula, because easy money.
Graduate students with ridiculous degrees, magna *** laude in basket weaving and not ready to order food at a drive-thru, because easy money.
A consequence of the 2005 legislation is student debt is all but impossible to be discharged in a bankruptcy. So… with the recent run up in real estate values it’s become popular to cash out increased equity to pay back student loans which in turn leaves the debtor with no equity but at least lower borrowing costs. A consequence of this will be more foreclosures in the next real estate downturn and an increase in personal bankruptcies to discharge debt that once was impossible. Congress will again step in to bail out the big banks with a couple trillion $$$ because after all it’s just play money.
The 2030’s aren’t going to be pretty… buy farmland! (my Nostradmus moment)
A consequence of the 2005 legislation is student debt is all but impossible to be discharged in a bankruptcy. So… with the recent run up in real estate values it’s become popular to cash out increased equity to pay back student loans which in turn leaves the debtor with no equity but at least lower borrowing costs. A consequence of this will be more foreclosures in the next real estate downturn and an increase in personal bankruptcies to discharge debt that once was impossible. Congress will again step in to bail out the big banks with a couple trillion $$$ because after all it’s just play money.
The 2030’s aren’t going to be pretty… buy farmland! (my Nostradmus moment)
Converting debt that can't be discharged...who could have seen that coming? Not me. Very smart observation.
According to multiple, reliable sources, those exact words were spoken by US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor this past Friday, during oral arguments concerning whether an agency of the US Federal Government (in this case, OSHA) should have the authority to over-rule the Ohio state legislature with regard to workplace vaccination mandates. Because, you know, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution kinda says that, no, they cannot.
This, ladies and gentlemen and nonbinary persons, is where we're heading.
According to multiple, reliable sources, those exact words were spoken by US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor this past Friday, during oral arguments concerning whether an agency of the US Federal Government (in this case, OSHA) should have the authority to over-rule the Ohio state legislature with regard to workplace vaccination mandates. Because, you know, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution kinda says that, no, they cannot.
This, ladies and gentlemen and nonbinary persons, is where we're heading.
There's speculation that the liberal justices know exactly what's going on, but continue to forward bad facts in order to throw shade on the current administration. Sotamayor, Kagan and Breyer had their Covid "facts" very, very wrong.
Funny you should mention pro-wrestling, are you familiar with the concept of Kayfabe? Here's an interesting mini series exploring how "pro-wrestling" modern politics has become.
(video)
I was not familiar with the term. Nor did I know that Donald Trump was in the WWE Hall of Fame. So that's two things I've learned from you today. Thank you.
That's a tremendously interesting video, and pretty much the exact evolutionary process a sense of which I'd attempted to convey.
01-04-2022, 10:43 PM
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