tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post1006339076665100663..comments2024-03-28T16:08:29.578-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: Paine v. Establishment Pains-In-AssesKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-67801868330683888462018-07-08T20:23:07.518-04:002018-07-08T20:23:07.518-04:00
About John Nichols , Gore Vidal said:
“Of all th...<br />About John Nichols , Gore Vidal said: <br />“Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols’s sword is the sharpest.”<br /><br />I assert that Karen Garcia has a blade equally sharp, slashing along side as well.<br />Erik Rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-29920927898274022392018-07-06T19:07:45.343-04:002018-07-06T19:07:45.343-04:00Tom Paine was an important element of what histori...Tom Paine was an important element of what historian/sociologist Charles Tilly studied as 'social movements' that arise in the wake of contentious politics. (Full disclosure: In addition to looking up Tilly in Wiki, I'm rereading his book "The Vendée," which tries to understand the counter-revolution in northwestern France after 1789.) Surprisingly, social movements are a relatively modern phenomenon, observed and defined by Tilly as first arising in late 18th Century Great Britain.<br /><br />On this side of the ocean, about the same time, Paine's medium in support for a budding social movement in the colonies was the pamphlet. Can we say that Paine's spirit and medium live on through blogs like Sardonicky and others listed in Karen's blogroll? The electronic pamphlet, or blog, isn't the only specialty needed for a latter day social movement to take off, but it is an important and indispensable element of a modern social movement. In other words: <br /><br />Paine : pamphlet :: Garcia : blog.<br /><br />Happy Independence Day, everybody, whether you celebrated last weekend, this Wednesday, or will this coming weekend.<br /><br />Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-49743935936369351252018-07-06T18:52:49.311-04:002018-07-06T18:52:49.311-04:00Re: Medicare For All
Every time I pass the local ...Re: Medicare For All<br /><br />Every time I pass the local State Farm Insurance office, I see the sign in front advertising their services for investments as well as health insurance. That always sobers me to the fact that the private health insurance racket that Saint Obama pushed through will never die. It's as immortal as corporate personhood. <br /><br />We can blame Bill Clinton first for screwing with Glass-Steagall, then Barack Obama for fighting tooth and nail to give our lives and health to the insurance industry to profit from. Now the insurance industry is a conglomerate of financial services, health insurance brokers, and home and auto insurers. Wealthy and powerful. <br /><br />An American Family Insurance agent told me years ago that post-9/11, Congress required the insurance industry to apply a small tax to every policy issued, presumably to hold in reserve to pay out for terrorist attacks so they wouldn't be bankrupted by claims. It was another bailout for rich corporations, although well hidden. Don't look for it in the small print on your policies. It's written in invisible ink. <br /><br />Congress will protect the insurance industry as if their lives depended on it. Our lives are meaningless unless it's to send campaign donations to Chucklehead Schumer and the rest of those corrupt PoS.Anna Radicalovanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-1906326823244223572018-07-06T18:15:39.805-04:002018-07-06T18:15:39.805-04:00Democrats desperately want AOC to join The Club. I...Democrats desperately want AOC to join The Club. I wonder what they'll promise her. <br /><br />Excellent post, Karen!Anna Radicalovanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-70849684132444849202018-07-06T10:21:11.642-04:002018-07-06T10:21:11.642-04:00The overreaction by neoliberals is too hilarious. ...The overreaction by neoliberals is too hilarious. The funniest I've read so far is an anonymous tweet on Krugman's thread from someone at the anonymous "PropOrNot" blacklist site, which became so notorious for linking progressive websites with the Russian Plot Against Democracy. They are apparently diehard Krugman fans, and are very upset that PK is being called out on his hypocrisy. They are already linking homegrown democratic socialists like Ocasio to Russia. Wow, who ever coulda seen that one coming? <br /><br />Corey Robin has a new post up about so-called public intellectuals like Krugman who are suddenly switching ideologies and positions according to how the wind blows on any given day. (see my blog roll).<br /><br />Some anonymous liberal sexist jerk named "Jack Be Quick" told me that I am irrational because I don't sufficiently appreciate Krugman's lifelong devotion to rationality and math. It must be my female hormones, I reckon. Meanwhile, we must defend Roe v Wade as if it was the only lifeline that women will ever need to ensure their economic survival. And support immigrant women and children by calling for the banning of ICE, but say nothing about their continued imprisonment in the "family detention centers" that mushroomed during the last Democratic administration.Karen Garciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-27228609202481883072018-07-06T09:21:49.595-04:002018-07-06T09:21:49.595-04:00@ JK
LOL. Troll alert! Droll mischief in the fo...@ JK<br /><br />LOL. Troll alert! Droll mischief in the form of fat neolib ducks too easy to shoot down, like ...<br /><br />--UNH's obese bottom line and its fat stockholders are dispositive proof of US healthcare's superiority;<br /><br />--then let's poke the Bernie Bros hornets' nest by mocking their pet senator and his fantasies; add false equivalence between Bernie and Trump here;<br /><br />--"good hearted doctors" (let's talk down to the PNHP crowd) "good hearted doctors" should stick to their prescription pads. They don't know nuthin 'bout economics, statistics and the arcane technicalities of private health insurance premiums and reimbursement.<br /><br />All red meat tossed at us single payer naifs for to waste our time responding. But it was funny! <br />[slaps knee and begins to curl into modified fetal position while laughing]Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-57767111556771506222018-07-05T21:55:33.903-04:002018-07-05T21:55:33.903-04:00OK, here's my take on where we are in this cou...OK, here's my take on where we are in this country. Karen is correct in calling out and detailing the way neoliberalism works and how the Democratic party has embraced it for decades, shunning Bernie, Warren, and others who strongly push a progressive or populist message. But our main alternative is the GOP which has lost its mind and any interest in governing, working to let the rich and powerful loot the country while tossing a few biscuits to passionate single-issue voters.<br /><br />The Supreme Court will be very conservative for decades by the time Trump finishes his appointments. I see no chance for Citizens United to be reversed either in the Court or by Constitutional amendment.<br /><br />So we have what Sheldon Wolin called inverted totalitarianism. Where do we go from here? Do I figure I'm old enough to probably be OK and to be thankful that I'm not in high school and looking at a grim future, as I watch the world and our country come apart in terms of environment and politics?<br /><br />P.S. Amazingly, here in the Live Free or Die state, our four members of Congress are all women. But they are all Democrats and with no power to undertake real change (not that they all would necessarily want to).<br /><br />voice-in-wildernessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-57852840190767945082018-07-05T18:31:19.712-04:002018-07-05T18:31:19.712-04:00JK says
Your PNHP link reads "A single-payer ...JK says<br />Your PNHP link reads "A single-payer system would be financed by eliminating private insurers and recapturing their administrative waste. Modest new taxes, based on ability to pay, would replace premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently paid by individuals and business". <br /><br />Fantasy. Written by good hearted doctors, not financiers or economists.<br /><br />Currently UNH (United Healthcare) is trading at $250.0/share, up $182/share from 5 years ago. They have $241 billion in market capitalization, 88% of which is owned by institutional investors. So, when the good doctor writes that single payer will be "financed by eliminating private insurers", just how does that come about - peacefully? <br /><br />At some point the Sanders camp chanting "single payer for all" is about as meaningful as a trumpbot chanting "build the wall and make Mexico pay for it". Its all instrumental political speech meant to put people into camps, not figure out a way forward. Sanders message can be summarized as 'we doing it wrong, and the healthcare costs are outrageous'. They are, but that isn't a plan to transition a for-profit system into a non-profit system. Who are the investors in UNH? Many of them are Sanders campers chanting for single payer - they don't know where their 401k money is invested. Until someone can dewonkify the transition plan I'm calling bullshit on every stripe of politician who is using moral outrage as the be-all and end-all of their message. No plan - no vote.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-78316070950858668412018-07-05T00:05:32.429-04:002018-07-05T00:05:32.429-04:00Thank you sooo much for your (#2 rated!) NYT comme...Thank you sooo much for your (#2 rated!) NYT comment about Krugman's slimy reversal. I stopped reading him regularly during the Clinton campaign after years of near-adoration. It will be interesting to see if he bothers to explain himself. I give him credit for admitting he was wrong now and then in the past, but it's hard to imagine any believable explanation other than craven scribbling of propaganda in this case. Keep up the good work, Karen.Bachelardnoreply@blogger.com