220 Comments

We look to you, Elizabeth Warren!

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Healthcare is absolutely available to you! Just climb over this hill of razor blades, take a nice swim through that vat of lemon juice, let us know which of your children you'll be giving us, and it's yours for the taking - easy peasy!

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I'm getting a little tired of norms.

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It went down 51-43 in the cloture vote (which needed 60). Interestingly, 5 GOPers voted for it: Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine)

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Could he have forced a vote on Merrick Garland?

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Definitely interesting. I wonder what those Republicans Senators have in common that other Senators don't?

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"the little-known rule requiring that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell be housed in a bed of warm sand, with a sun lamp and a ready supply of fresh lettuce." choked on my iced coffee.

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not to mention all the crap it makes OTHER non ACA plans do.

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I'm 99.44% sure he was named thus specifically to anagram Mr. Peterson.

Also: How is it that one of the funnest episodes of the entire series was centered around a character who never spoke a word; indeed, who was rarely seen doing anything other than walking down a corridor or sitting and having a drink?

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Careful, Ol' Mitch can take yer finger off

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Why are you being a jerk? I meant it as an honor to her. There are so many blazingly intelligent, take-no-nonsense women I would like to see in that position: Tammy Duckworth, Maisie Hirono, Kamala Harris, of course. Do you think I'm stupid and don't know they can be effective in any capacity. After experiencing the Trumpsterfire Travesty/Tragedy, wouldn't you like to see someone like Katie Porter as president someday? Excuse the fuck out of me for wanting to see our country run by actual adults, and I, for one, am so looking forward for that adult to be a woman. You can take that 'moron' shit and stick in a place completely lacking in solar radiation.

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The Senate is an arcane mess of rules but if I'm not mistaken the "rules" or rule changes are taken up when a new Senate comes in.

If that's the case and Democrats take over control of the Senate they could set or modify any rules they need to set.

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I employ 2,200+ employees and pay a ton in healthcare insurance cost.

I started gathering data and projected that Medicare-For-All/Universal Healthcare or whatever you want to call it would actually save around $550 BILLION annually or $5.5 TRILLION over 10 years. Those savings would accrue to businesses, individuals, state and local governments. Funding would use the payroll tax methods already in place.

Lo and behold, Yale and Kaiser Family Foundation both did indepth studies last year and Yale's study indicated savings of around $750 BILLION or $7.5 TRILLION over 10 years. Kaiser's study came in at over $450 BILLION or $4.5 TRILLION over 10 years.

If Democrats would sell businesses and individuals on the massive cost savings in a Medicare-For-All type healthcare system for them we'd have that type system PDQ.

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Right? You'd think that naked self interest of "it would save us money in the long run!" would be at least mildly interesting, but no. Its wild. Our stupid idolization of "personal responsibility" (i.e. every man for himself) means it's baaaaaaad to help your neighbors at large prevent issues via taxes/social programs (MY MONEY!) and even worse to give a crap about them when shit hits the fan (they made their choice, we can't be enablers or they'll never learn and just want free stuff forever!). Curious that there never seems to be a right time to do something.

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There are the things you mentioned and the capitalism anti-government solutions propaganda that's been programmed for over a hundred years that "free market" capitalism is the only solution. Anything else is socialism or God forbid, communism.

Of course healthcare doesn't lend itself to a free market solution. Ask a doctor for a price quote, provided you even know what condition(s), to get a price quote on and see what answer you get.

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He also managed to do it because most Republicans weren't around. Has there been a lot of chances in the past three and a half years where that's been the case? After all, he'd need a democrat majority to have pushed that covid bill through. Although, no idea why he didn't do that immediately after taking over the floor for this motion.

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