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[mainiac]

It's kinda funny because most of the time Trump was in the lead the narrative was that last time people rose and fall so dont put too much faith in him.  Then everyone finally gets tired of that meme and a couple weeks later his numbers decline.

[redwallzyl]

Theres already a thread for that though redwallzyl. Though yeah, the hell was up with being that violent?

Also: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/27/politics/ben-carson-donald-trump-cbs-poll/index.html

I think it's just the whole 'flavor of the month' effect that is trying to enforce itself.

then is burred deep and I'm not going to dig it up. we have threads for lots of things but they tend to disappear back into the main ones after a wile.

[Arx]

Only been dead a month and a half, practically still fresh.

[Frumple]

... so today I was told that the ACA has killed off all but three health insurance companies in the US. Does... does anyone know who has (/when people) started saying that, and how (if) they're supporting the statement?

[Reelya]

Police brutality is an issue that will keep flaring up with new stories. For that reason, it's better to necro the thread rather than see repeated debates and outrage in other threads. So, I'd say if derails over a few posts go on, then they should probably be in the police brutality thread.

... so today I was told that the ACA has killed off all but three health insurance companies in the US. Does... does anyone know who has (/when people) started saying that, and how (if) they're supporting the statement?

Sounds like B.S., since formalized exchanges should tend to help smaller companies compete with the larger guys. The only articles a quick google reveals are ones pointing out that middle-men who provide the same services that the new exchanges provide are dying out.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/09/23/obamacare-killing-traditional-employer-insurance/
http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/obamacare-killing-off-insurance-broker-industry/
Here, conservatives are lamenting that insurance brokers (middleman companies that negotiate between employers and health insurers) are closing up because they can't compete with the health exchanges, basically. And that's a bad thing some how. I thought the free market was meant to weed out obselete companies, making things actually better, but that's just me. You don't stop the automobile coming in because blacksmiths will go out of business. Conservatives switch to being protectionists when it suits their rhetoric.

[smjjames]

Didn't industrialization put blacksmiths out of business rather than the automobile industry? Granted, it was a slow proccess over time.

Blacksmithery as it was historically for millenia is a dying skill, yes, but in some ways it's still alive in those that still work with metal, just with advanced tools rather than a fire, tongs, anvil, and hammer.

I do get what you're getting at though Reelya.

Also, @Frumple, which three companies are they saying aren't shuttered?

[Reelya]

I was thinking of horseshoeing specifically, since that would be a service you'd still need to provide locally even if blacksmiths as a whole had already declined. Today there is a niche trade of farriers, but originally it was basically synonymous with the town blacksmith.

[Frumple]

Also, @Frumple, which three companies are they saying aren't shuttered?

Didn't really say. Mentioned blue cross blue shield, but didn't manage to get the other two out before changing subjects.

[wierd]

I was thinking of horseshoeing specifically, since that would be a service you'd still need to provide locally even if blacksmiths as a whole had already declined. Today there is a niche trade of farriers, but originally it was basically synonymous with the town blacksmith.

Hand smithed goods still have a niche luxury market as well. Similar with artisinal coopersmithing and whitesmithing.

[mainiac]

... so today I was told that the ACA has killed off all but three health insurance companies in the US. Does... does anyone know who has (/when people) started saying that, and how (if) they're supporting the statement?

This is the sort of thing that is so far removed from the situation that I dont know how to point out where the inaccuracy is.  No, there are more then three insurance companies left.  The industry was already very oligopolic before Obamacare and is still oligopolic now.  A big problem is that in a given place there are unlikely to be more then three insurers but that's a pre-existing conditions and something that Obamacare went to a lot of trouble to lessen.

[Frumple]

Yeah, m'mostly just curious where the message was coming from... know the guy in question gets most of his exposure to stuff of that nature via news, but dunno which one this bit is coming out of. Fellow was dead certain having to cover preexisting conditions has been bankrupting insurance companies left, right, and center, with only three left nation wide. How he ended up at that conclusion I've got zero clue.

[smjjames]

Yeah, m'mostly just curious where the message was coming from... know the guy in question gets most of his exposure to stuff of that nature via news, but dunno which one this bit is coming out of. Fellow was dead certain having to cover preexisting conditions has been bankrupting insurance companies left, right, and center, with only three left nation wide. How he ended up at that conclusion I've got zero clue.

I haven't heard anything on CNN and the only thing that I've seen are some Obamacare Co-Ops collapsing.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/obamacare-kentucky-coop-governors-race-215126

http://townhall.com/columnists/devonherrick/2015/10/21/health-insurance-coops-fail-at-gaming-the-system-n2068546/page/full (just something I grabbed off of google news search)

I still don't see how your friend would get to that conclusion. There were a couple of mergers earlier this year, but theres still a lot of them around.

[Kearn]

sanders' support in iowa seems to be collapsing. two polls out today with clinton +38 and +41

i figured the debate wouldn't change much, but apparently it did. his support is down almost 20 points from his previous average and clinton is up about 15

obviously biden dropping out can explain clinton's gains, but sanders losing half of his support seems a little weird to me

[Bauglir]

if polls meant anything i could finally breathe easy at everything making sense as trump's popularity wanes and clinton's recovers in their respective primaries

but any given poll is basically meaningless so the same lack of confidence in their results that saved me from doomsaying earlier will now prevent me from smug self-satisfaction

what a cruel irony

[RedKing]

Celebrity endorser would like to chew your ear off about Donald Trump.