2020 Democratic presidential primary

Thanks Pete, I'm going to save that quote for the next time someone tells me no one knows what neoliberalism means

“I trust you to figure out your own health care.”

this is something James Bond says when dumping a guy out of a medical helicopter

My work offers 4 or 5 insurance options and the pros and cons of them are totally opaque.

lol

so otm

The last time I had insurance I called the first 10 GPs listed on my insurance as accepting new patients, none were, I gave up.

lol PK

Pretty sure that sentiment is why 80% of our consumer economy is essential oils and huckster health supplements.

"anti-PC populism" is at BEST code for "the new deal consensus was cool, before all the minorities and women left out of postwar prosperity got all uppity"

gotta say that the biggest appeal by far to the idea of leaving the US sometime in the future is the option of being adopted by a system with socialized medicine

Are there any direct descendants of Huey Long left to be our standard-bearers?

xp
honestly in his case, it just means "the entire nation is sick to death of me, Andrew Sullivan, being bullied for talking about the link between IQ and race"

The last time I had insurance I called the first 10 GPs listed on my insurance as accepting new patients, none were, I gave up.

― Greta Van Show Feets BB (milo z),

took me about 6 calls to find one that was accepting new patients. Note that the first five I called were all listed as "Currently Accepting New Patients" on the Aetna insurance website.

One of the five failed calls resulted in someone on the phone just laughing at me for how dumb my question was, before clarifying that she had no idea who I was talking about, then transferring me to another number where I was on hold for 45 minutes before getting hung up on.

before that i was on medicaid, which led to several calls where i was put on hold for over an hour, none of which ever led to solving my problem

but hey, we have the best system in the world and there's no way to improve it, so no complaints

i trust you to spend a week of your life on hold every year

hospitals and medicaid call centers should use second language instructional recordings as the hold music instead of heavily distorted, clipping classical music. by the time someone picks up to help i could ask in swahili

Then they'd put you on hold for another hour while they got a translator.

I'm not that positive that socialized medicine would result in fewer hold calls. try calling any government office ever.

It's amazing when you go to other developed countries and have a medical emergency and doctors see you for free/a nominal fee despite not residing in the country.

I'm not that positive that socialized medicine would result in fewer hold calls. try calling any government office ever.

you just walk into the doctor, dude

i mean right now we have hold music and bureaucratic hassles for doctors, and then also for insurance. be nice to at least eliminate one of those.

I'm not that positive that socialized medicine would result in fewer hold calls. try calling any government office ever.

where does the phone even come into it, let alone a government office

not even worth acknowledging dude

Bernie takes back his Cenk endorsement

Kind of a mess

Akm, you just show your health card when you walk in. I have experienced both.

Both systems, that is, and you definitely don't spend the same amount of time figuring stuff out with bureaucrats under single payer.

Cenk is terrible. we don't need personalities like that in congress.

I feel bad for the people in CA25 having to deal with carpetbaggers like Cenk, Papadopoulous and Cernovich parachuting in

now that's a sleazy lawfirm

Did we see the Dec debate cancelled because of strike/candidates refusing to cross the line. Warren was first out

Is it canceled or just contingent on settling the dispute?

I'm not that positive that socialized medicine would result in fewer hold calls. try calling any government office ever.

― akm, Friday, December 13, 2019 3:33 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

i spent 30 years on the NHS, 1 year in australia, 5 years in germany and 5 years on the US system. in the US i have fancy tech company health insurance that comes with a "concierge" whose actual job is to help me avoid making phone calls to my insurance company -- that's literally the job!

i have *easily* spent more time on the phone to my insurance company here in the US in the calendar year 2019 than i have interacting in any way with any government organization in *total* in 35 years outside the US.

IME the average american person takes it as axiomatic that government-run services are and, and so they refuse to use them (if they have a choice) and many refuse to fund them (when they vote). ironically this means that these services are in fact bad.

At the urging of Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, eight Democratic presidential candidates, and Mr. Booker, have signed a letter urging Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee chairman, to lower the thresholds to qualify for the party’s January and February debates.

If people don't want to vote for Cory Booker, you can't stop them.

xpost yeah US govt agencies are under funded by design to make them look bad in comparison to marketplace competitors

yep -- it's been the GOP's strategy since Reagan.

Today in "Fuck Pete Buttigeig":

Undeniably fair, though I’d be skeptical of anyone who ever claims to not still be learning on that front.

— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) December 16, 2019

Sorry, meant to link this tweet:

He has been mayor of a town with a 26% black population for two terms.

At what point is a 37 year old white man expected to move beyond the "still learning" phase?https://t.co/owu7lzjjdM

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) December 16, 2019

I can see why black voters would be heavily reluctant to turn out to vote for a fresh-faced white-bread young guy from a corn-fed state who cheerfully admits he still has a heck of a lot to learn about the lives and concerns of black people in America. He might as well have "not your president" tattooed on his face.

eight Democratic presidential candidates, and Mr. Booker

lol, the shade

lol

not surprised to learn that twitter's favorite wealth humblebragger donated the individual donor max amount to mayor pete 👀

— miss beehive 1963 (@anaees) December 13, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/magazine/pete-buttigieg.html?te=1&nl=on-politics%20with%20lisa%20lerer&emc=edit_cn_20191217?campaign_id=56&instance_id=14598&segment_id=19652&user_id=f0ef51a738774f8c6d037c5c6beb7573®i_id=10110661520191217

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/magazine/pete-buttigieg.html?te=1&nl=on-politics%20with%20lisa%20lerer&emc=edit_cn_20191217?campaign_id=56&instance_id=14598&segment_id=19652&user_id=f0ef51a738774f8c6d037c5c6beb7573®i_id=10110661520191217

Having worked for McKinsey is a Kissinger-grade war crime, as opposed to something all Harvard kids seem to do after graduating.

Hmmmmmmmmm

this "he was just doing what kids like that do" argument might be more effective if it wasn't also around the time mr brightside came out.

coming out of my cage and i've been doing just fine

Well nowadays he has money in the bank, he’s got skin in the game

shooting for the stars when he couldn't make a killing

email subject line:

"Can you help Bernie match Pete's wine cave fundraiser?"

this is probably the sharpest version of Biden's pitch I've seen (it's full of shit but of course it is)

In a new ad airing in the early states, Joe Biden embraces Schlesinger-style New Deal historiography rather than the neo-whig view of Miranda, Howe, and Chernow that’s currently in style among progressives. https://t.co/8vBBmCzce5

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) December 17, 2019

email subject line:

"Can you help Bernie match Pete's wine cave fundraiser?"