Irish oddsmaker gives 33% chance Trump will be impeached

[Black Aeronaut]

And while we're asking questions, how the hell is "socialism" communism? Even Marx thought they were different things.

That one is easy.  Their parents grew up hearing nothing but COMMIES COMMIES COMMIES during the Cold War and that anything that smacked of "Socialism" was the Enemy.  McCarthyism at its worse.

I think Walt Kelley, cartoonist of the infamous Pogo, said it best when he misquoted Oliver Perry: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Thank you BA, that was half my answer to that, so i'll give you the other half, Socialism inevitably leads to revolution, at that point it is a toss up whether it will try to go capitalist, or communist, with the odds leaning towards communism.

BA, to answer your questions

True capitalism stays the hell out of the public services sector. And this is pretty much what the Democrats want - for the corporations to get the hell out of the public services sector.

I agree with the first half but point out that the second half is not completely correct, they want the corps out, but they want the government to control the corps. That is socialism/communism aka central planning which the soviets showed does not work. Also, remember how "business" became a problem in government in the first place, the federal government unionized.

Well of course they want to regulate the damn stock market.  The last thing we need is a repeat of the Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis.  This free-wheeling attitude towards corporations is part of the problem.  I don't think Capitalism is a bad thing, but it needs some hard and fast rules to it so that corporations actually benefit the public at large, and not just a few already wealthy people.

I don't mind the idea of other people becoming wealthy.  Neither do the Democrats for that matter.  BUt that's the thing: Other people need to have that honest, legitimate shot.  Because the way things are right now?  You have to be a combination of highly educated, lucky, and even a little bit sociopathic in order to make it big in our economy.  (Sociopathy in this case simply meaning that you're not bothered by consequences.)

They just want some rules in place so they can put the kibosh on activity that is going to be harmful to the economy.  Is that so horrible a thing to ask for?  We're looking more at the Nordic Model here, not the Chinese Model.

So, how the hell is it "socialism" when we want a federally-funded public schools option for higher education?

How the hell is it "socialism" when we want affordable healthcare without insurance companies jacking up the prices?

because all this public funding seems to do is encourage the colleges to raise their prices on tuition to the point that all you can afford to do is take the government's school which at the lower level education has done nothing but dumb down the population by teaching to the lowest common denominator. Same for healthcare or have you not noticed that since the passing of the Affordable Care Act that the cost of healthcare has done nothing but go up while your choices get fewer and fewer.

Uhm....  wat.

No.  Really.  What?

Seriously.  You're gonna have to draw a diagram for me to make sense of that.

First: Rules of Competition.  If a competitor is offering the same product/service at a lower cost, then you need to lower your costs to match them.

OH.  Now I get what you're talking about.  You think that I mean we should increase subsidy funding for private schools.

No.

I mean we should stop subsidizing private schools and focus on funding public schools.

And private schools are not magically better than public schools.  The thing about Private Schools is that they get to pick and choose who attends.  So of course they're gonna look better than the public option - the private schools want nothing to do with 'problem children'.  You know it, I know it, so please do not pretend that public schools are 'worse' - they only look that way because they have to deal with 'The Worst'.

Now, in regards to Health Care, that's not what Democrats wanted, and you know it!!!  They system that's in place now still has the healthcare system fully in control of the insurance agencies, and that's why the costs have been getting jacked up more and more.

At the very worst (by your reckoning) Democrats want a system where the entire system is operated and administered by the Government so that any citizen can have any procedure they need done, no questions asked.  "Can I see some identification?  Thank you, Mr. Smith, we'll triage you right away and get you into the queue."

Yes, private enterprise will be involved in the form of manufacturers of drugs and medical equipment, but the Democrats would like it if these corporations had to negotiate directly with the government over pricing.

The REAL cost of proper Healthcare is nowhere nearly as expensive as the health insurance companies would like you to believe.  A lot of it is unnecessary medical tests that are prohibitively expensive.  That's mostly demanded by the insurance companies, otherwise they refuse to allow certain procedures done.  FFS, let the damn Doctors decided what's necessary and what isn't!  (Trust me: if you ask your doctor point-blank, the answer will always boil down to, "The insurance company demands it.")

How the hell is it "socialism" when we want fair living wages?

its not, the socialism there is how you go about it. Here is where we are going to seriously disagree as we have in previous threads. You want to be able to afford to live on your wages then CLOSE THE FUCKING BORDER to immigration! stop the cheap immigrant labor from coming in and then you can bargain, collectively or individually, for better wages without the boss being able to go "No, i'll just hire some immigrant who doesn't know any better or will work under the table because they are illegal." Forcing companies to raise their wages artificially has always forced inflation higher and done nothing but fuck everyone over

Uhm...  Not seeing it.

Seriously.  When was the last time you saw an illiterate Mexican working in something other than an orange grove over there?  Maybe you've seen a few working janitorial jobs or yard maintenance work.

Seriously.  How many do you see each day, gainfully employed, that you honestly believe are immigrants?

Short answer: Probably a lot less than you thought once you stop to ACTUALLY think about it.

Now, here's where I'm gonna stop you from crying about migrant labor.

You know the thing about Migrant Labor?

THEY PAY THEIR FUCKING TAXES.

It's not much.  A pittance, really.  But they do.

These people come here to work.  To make money.  To have a shot at a better life.

See, this is what I don't fucking get about you.

You sing praises to the almighty gods of capitalism all the fucking time.

But the moment migrants enter the picture?  The moment someone else want's to get in on THE ALMIGHTY CAPITOLISM OF AMERICA?

SHOOT THE BASTARDS!  SEND THEM BACK! THEY AREN'T EVEN WORTHY OF BEING CALLED HUMAN!

I'm not exaggerating.  Those are pretty much your reactions.  You legitimately act as if they are not human.

You know who else thought certain other people weren't worthy of being treated as Human beings?  I don't think I need to say it, but I will say this:

I find your thoughts to be disturbing and you should probably seek professional help.

No, I am not kidding and I am not trying to be insulting here.

You legitimately worry me.