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[RedKing]

Would make the circular firing squad a lot easier.

[wobbly]

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

Vote trump or I'll bite your ear off?

Also I don't get the obama hate a lot of American's seem to have. From an outsiders views he seems to have been better then any other US president I can think of, though I can't say I've been paying a heap of attention.

[mainiac]

Political systems always look different from the inside.  It's especially hard to sympathize with the difficulties of the party you want to see out of power.

[Playergamer]

Uh.

Lincoln? FDR? Washington?

But, being serious...eh. Obama is kind of middle of the road, imo. Not great, not terrible, just average. I don't agree with everything he does, but the man's on a tightrope. Not like the greats were perfect, either.

*flashbacks intensify.*

[lemon10]

So...John Boehner pushed through a budget bill that eases some of the austerity measures and raises the debt ceiling to 2017. It also sets the Federal budget levels for 2016 and 2017, essentially removing the two biggest find the Tea Party had.

Boehner troll is best troll.

FINALLY.

Its a really good move for the republicans, given that it prevents a govermet shutdown closer to the election where it would really shoot the party in the foot.

[BFEL]

Also I don't get the obama hate a lot of American's seem to have. From an outsiders views he seems to have been better then any other US president I can think of, though I can't say I've been paying a heap of attention.

*I* think he's very meh. I literally wouldn't have noticed we even HAD a president for the last few years if Obamacare hadn't screwed us personally.

So its really more that he doesn't really have much visibility except when he screws up, which obviously skews the viewpoint.

[sluissa]

As someone who voted for him twice and was very excited to do so the first time. He is very meh.

Dropped a lot of his promises, Obamacare, while not being the disaster a lot of people make it out to be isn't the savior for everyone that it should have been. (Single payer is the way to go, plz.) And his record on accountability and protecting whistleblowers is bad. Not to mention all these trade agreements he's trying to push through secretly with no negotiation and no public vote.

He's not a bad president. I'm not happy with him, but I've never been happy with a president. I do think he was handed a lot of shit on his plate at the start and it never stopped coming the entire time he's been in office. So I'll give him some slack there. But he's just not lived up to any of the expectations I, or I expect many people going into his first term had.

He didn't ruin the country... yet... and I'll give him credit for that.

I think the worst thing he's done is that he's been a distraction. While the right has simply been tooth and nail holding him up as "the enemy" and fighting basically anything he's wanted to do no matter how moderate or how reasonable while pushing their own dirty politician stuff quietly, the left has simply stopped fighting and used him as a shield to keep their noses clean while they do their normal dirty politician stuff, also quietly.

Otherwise, meh.

Kinda sad that that's the best I can come up with for how to describe a president. "Meh." But I suppose we've had plenty of meh presidents that didn't leave all that much legacy behind. And Obamacare is... a step in the right direction at least, while not being anywhere near what we need. And taking that first step might be an okay legacy if we keep walking that path.

[TheBiggerFish]

He is rather "meh".
Can't believe I didn't norice that before.
He even sounds "meh".

[Arx]

He is rather "meh".
Can't believe I didn't norice that before.
He even sounds "meh".

...Barack Obameh?

[BFEL]

And Obamacare is... a step in the right direction at least, while not being anywhere near what we need. And taking that first step might be an okay legacy if we keep walking that path.

In the sense that its a step toward ACTUAL universal healthcare? Probably not. In fact I think it being as bad as it is probably made people wary of such plans in the future.

To explain my personal dislike of it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mom tried to get it when it first came out, spent 3 MONTHS being unable to access the website with all the info.
Finally she called on the phone, was TOLD which plan they were putting her on (Instead of looking/choosing like you're supposed to be able to on the site)
Said plan pretty much being "pay us 10 bucks and we won't take 300 for you not having any insurance. And you have a $6000 dollar deductible so you still don't actually have insurance you can use"
After the first payment went through, they called back and THREATENED legal action against her because she "was hiding the fact she smokes" even though they y'know DIDN'T ASK OR OTHERWISE IMPLY THAT WAS A FACTOR.
So she was then helpfully informed that the 10 bucks for no coverage was now 100 bucks for the same no insurance, and she promptly decided to just go without

Now luckily there is apparently a poverty line or such that means they can't charge her the 300 dollars for not having insurance, but that doesn't change the fact that the whole thing now strikes me not as a plan for Universal Healthcare, but as an extortion racket.

[TheBiggerFish]

And Obamacare is... a step in the right direction at least, while not being anywhere near what we need. And taking that first step might be an okay legacy if we keep walking that path.

In the sense that its a step toward ACTUAL universal healthcare? Probably not. In fact I think it being as bad as it is probably made people wary of such plans in the future.

To explain my personal dislike of it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mom tried to get it when it first came out, spent 3 MONTHS being unable to access the website with all the info.
Finally she called on the phone, was TOLD which plan they were putting her on (Instead of looking/choosing like you're supposed to be able to on the site)
Said plan pretty much being "pay us 10 bucks and we won't take 300 for you not having any insurance. And you have a $6000 dollar deductible so you still don't actually have insurance you can use"
After the first payment went through, they called back and THREATENED legal action against her because she "was hiding the fact she smokes" even though they y'know DIDN'T ASK OR OTHERWISE IMPLY THAT WAS A FACTOR.
So she was then helpfully informed that the 10 bucks for no coverage was now 100 bucks for the same no insurance, and she promptly decided to just go without

Now luckily there is apparently a poverty line or such that means they can't charge her the 300 dollars for not having insurance, but that doesn't change the fact that the whole thing now strikes me not as a plan for Universal Healthcare, but as an extortion racket.

That plan sounds like a scammer.

[BFEL]

And Obamacare is... a step in the right direction at least, while not being anywhere near what we need. And taking that first step might be an okay legacy if we keep walking that path.

In the sense that its a step toward ACTUAL universal healthcare? Probably not. In fact I think it being as bad as it is probably made people wary of such plans in the future.

To explain my personal dislike of it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mom tried to get it when it first came out, spent 3 MONTHS being unable to access the website with all the info.
Finally she called on the phone, was TOLD which plan they were putting her on (Instead of looking/choosing like you're supposed to be able to on the site)
Said plan pretty much being "pay us 10 bucks and we won't take 300 for you not having any insurance. And you have a $6000 dollar deductible so you still don't actually have insurance you can use"
After the first payment went through, they called back and THREATENED legal action against her because she "was hiding the fact she smokes" even though they y'know DIDN'T ASK OR OTHERWISE IMPLY THAT WAS A FACTOR.
So she was then helpfully informed that the 10 bucks for no coverage was now 100 bucks for the same no insurance, and she promptly decided to just go without

Now luckily there is apparently a poverty line or such that means they can't charge her the 300 dollars for not having insurance, but that doesn't change the fact that the whole thing now strikes me not as a plan for Universal Healthcare, but as an extortion racket.

That plan sounds like a scammer.

That's because it basically is.
A Government sanctioned one no less.

[sluissa]

And Obamacare is... a step in the right direction at least, while not being anywhere near what we need. And taking that first step might be an okay legacy if we keep walking that path.

In the sense that its a step toward ACTUAL universal healthcare? Probably not. In fact I think it being as bad as it is probably made people wary of such plans in the future.

To explain my personal dislike of it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mom tried to get it when it first came out, spent 3 MONTHS being unable to access the website with all the info.
Finally she called on the phone, was TOLD which plan they were putting her on (Instead of looking/choosing like you're supposed to be able to on the site)
Said plan pretty much being "pay us 10 bucks and we won't take 300 for you not having any insurance. And you have a $6000 dollar deductible so you still don't actually have insurance you can use"
After the first payment went through, they called back and THREATENED legal action against her because she "was hiding the fact she smokes" even though they y'know DIDN'T ASK OR OTHERWISE IMPLY THAT WAS A FACTOR.
So she was then helpfully informed that the 10 bucks for no coverage was now 100 bucks for the same no insurance, and she promptly decided to just go without

Now luckily there is apparently a poverty line or such that means they can't charge her the 300 dollars for not having insurance, but that doesn't change the fact that the whole thing now strikes me not as a plan for Universal Healthcare, but as an extortion racket.

Those first 3-6 months or so were messy... I won't deny that. And I'm even someone that falls outside of the window of people it helps so I really have no reason to defend it personally. I don't make much but I had insurance before obamacare. Absurdly expensive insurance which is currently my single largest expense in my life every month, but still insurance, yay. And I went to check out the website, and the best price they could give me was 50% more than what I'm currently paying for a much larger deductible and in general worse coverage. Because my income falls outside of the expected window of use for the ACA.

But... people I know have used it, it has worked for them, people who had NO insurance before, have it now. and if you think about it, that $6000 sounds terrible, but considering a catastrophic illness that requires surgery could run into the tens of thousands upwards of millions of dollars for anything that requires extended treatment or care, $6000 ain't so bad to save your life on occasion.

Everything else sounds like typical health insurance bullshit that happened before obamacare. Which is why we need to get rid of insurance companies. They're the problem.

[TheBiggerFish]

And Obamacare is... a step in the right direction at least, while not being anywhere near what we need. And taking that first step might be an okay legacy if we keep walking that path.

In the sense that its a step toward ACTUAL universal healthcare? Probably not. In fact I think it being as bad as it is probably made people wary of such plans in the future.

To explain my personal dislike of it:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mom tried to get it when it first came out, spent 3 MONTHS being unable to access the website with all the info.
Finally she called on the phone, was TOLD which plan they were putting her on (Instead of looking/choosing like you're supposed to be able to on the site)
Said plan pretty much being "pay us 10 bucks and we won't take 300 for you not having any insurance. And you have a $6000 dollar deductible so you still don't actually have insurance you can use"
After the first payment went through, they called back and THREATENED legal action against her because she "was hiding the fact she smokes" even though they y'know DIDN'T ASK OR OTHERWISE IMPLY THAT WAS A FACTOR.
So she was then helpfully informed that the 10 bucks for no coverage was now 100 bucks for the same no insurance, and she promptly decided to just go without

Now luckily there is apparently a poverty line or such that means they can't charge her the 300 dollars for not having insurance, but that doesn't change the fact that the whole thing now strikes me not as a plan for Universal Healthcare, but as an extortion racket.

Those first 3-6 months or so were messy... I won't deny that. And I'm even someone that falls outside of the window of people it helps so I really have no reason to defend it personally. I don't make much but I had insurance before obamacare. Absurdly expensive insurance which is currently my single largest expense in my life every month, but still insurance, yay. And I went to check out the website, and the best price they could give me was 50% more than what I'm currently paying for a much larger deductible and in general worse coverage. Because my income falls outside of the expected window of use for the ACA.

But... people I know have used it, it has worked for them, people who had NO insurance before, have it now. and if you think about it, that $6000 sounds terrible, but considering a catastrophic illness that requires surgery could run into the tens of thousands upwards of millions of dollars for anything that requires extended treatment or care, $6000 ain't so bad to save your life on occasion.

Everything else sounds like typical health insurance bullshit that happened before obamacare. Which is why we need to get rid of insurance companies. They're the problem.

[wierd]

What bit me recently, was a recent bout of unexpected unemployment. During that time, I did not have health insurance through an employer, and could not afford my own insurance, either from a primary insurance provider, OR through the obama care health insurance marketplace, because I had made waaaay too much money in the first part of the year. It was way cheaper to eat the penalty for the year, than to consider the financial consequences of getting an insurance package through the affordable care act market.

This indicates to me that this is NOT a system geared toward ensuring that people who are suffering misfortune are able to adequately get health care, but rather a clusterF@$k that seeks to penalize people who have sudden misfortune strike.