The GOP Civil War and its Opportunities (25% of the GOP will bolt if Trump is the nominee)

[Relic]

She's an absolutely terrible choice, relic.  But that doesn't mean Trump wouldn't be worse.   You seem to be saying I should make no choice at all.  That's a cop-out.

I'm saying anyone who could vote for Hillary over almost anyone is mentally ill. Do what you will. Write in, stay home, get drunk, whatever you want to do. But anyone that would vote for Hillary, especially when they are aware of her lifelong track record of lying, deception, personal destruction, and speculation of worse, is either disturbed, or a flat out moron.

[Relic]

t.

On Taxes, Immigration, Trade, 2nd Amendment and wanting the USA to be Great Conservatives share an 80% agreement rate with Trump. To claim they would rather get 100% of what they claim to loath with Clinton rather then 80% of what they want with Trump is a statement of ego and spite, not reason

It is a childish temper-trantrum. not an act of "principal" or "reason". It the poltical equivalent of a child taking their ball and going home because they are losing a game.

It is a shoe on the other foot situation.

In 2012 when many said they wouldn't or couldn't vote for Romney, the very same people who are now talking about not voting, criticized those people.

The current crop that won't vote for the nominee aren't RINOs, they are HYPOs, for hypocrites. Maybe they can adopt a new mascot for the GOP?

[sinkspur]

t.

On Taxes, Immigration, Trade, 2nd Amendment and wanting the USA to be Great Conservatives share an 80% agreement rate with Trump. To claim they would rather get 100% of what they claim to loath with Clinton rather then 80% of what they want with Trump is a statement of ego and spite, not reason

It is a childish temper-trantrum. not an act of "principal" or "reason". It the poltical equivalent of a child taking their ball and going home because they are losing a game.

Sorry Johnnie.  On trade, Trump wants a 45% tax on imports.  In no way is that conservative.

On immigration, "it's all negotiable."

On taxes, who the hell knows what he wants. He's all over the place.

Trump will not "Make America Great Again" by insulting his way to the presidency.  He is even more divisive than Obama, and I never thought that possible. He's now threatening the Speaker of the House, a man who is his equal in our government.

He doesn't even know how a bill becomes law.

This is what you want?

[Jazzhead]

I'm saying anyone who could vote for Hillary over almost anyone is mentally ill.

And "almost anyone" is Donald Trump.   But thanks for labelling me a "moron" for choosing to reject fascism.     

[Sanguine]

I'll answer your question later today when I have more time.  I wasn't on the board last night - I'm in a dice baseball league and was playing a series.   I don't think I gave you a reason to be so snotty.

Okay, here's a very short answer -  your response addresses competition in the health insurance market and is fine as far as it goes,  but it doesn't address the access issue.  I'm speaking specifically about folks with pre-existing conditions.   How do they get affordable health insurance?   In the insurance world, the answer is guaranteed issue -  but how do you keep things from becoming unaffordable for everyone else?   The answer is an individual mandate - you need to expand the insurance pool so the less healthy don't cause rates to rise for everyone else.  RomneyCare's intellectual underpinnings, if you'd research the subject, are conservative - the idea surfaced, I believe, in the seventies as an alternative to single payer that would preserve the private insurance system.

Just a general statement about preexisting conditions and health insurance.  If it is a preexisting condition, i.e. we know that medical care will be required for it, insurance can't cover it.  Insurance is, by definition, something in place in case something currently unforeseen happens. 

So, it seems to me, that something entirely different needs to be in place, should we decide that the federal government should provide health care to citizens.

Including preexisting conditions destroys the insurance model that we are familiar with, and, as we have seen, will inevitably cause insurance companies to lose money and withdraw from the market or require bailouts to stay afloat.

There are some options, and Ben Carson's is the one I am most familiar with and that makes the most sense.   

[EdinVA]

Sorry Johnnie.  On trade, Trump wants a 45% tax on imports.  In no way is that conservative.

On immigration, "it's all negotiable."

On taxes, who the hell knows what he wants. He's all over the place.

Trump will not "Make America Great Again" by insulting his way to the presidency.  He is even more divisive than Obama, and I never thought that possible. He's now threatening the Speaker of the House, a man who is his equal in our government.

He doesn't even know how a bill becomes law.

This is what you want?

Understand your concerns Sink....

We have massive under/unemployment because companies are chasing/importing cheap labor and unregulated environments, so how do we solve it?
Continue to extend unemployment payments, more people living on lower wages or tax on imports and reduce the reach of government to bring business back to the US...

All things are negotiable, including immigration, that is politics.  Start from the ideal position knowing you will end up with something less but still better than you have.
The alternative is to take a position, one way or the other, and refuse to adjust.  That is what loses elections.

[Jazzhead]

Including preexisting conditions destroys the insurance model that we are familiar with, and, as we have seen, will inevitably cause insurance companies to lose money and withdraw from the market or require bailouts to stay afloat.

I agree, Sanguine - which is why folks can't be permitted to carry insurance only when they get sick.   That's the point of the individual mandate - to eliminate the free riders.   But if we must all purchase insurance,  the pool will be large enough to allow "guaranteed issue".   

The only other way to effectively address the access issue is single payer, like Trump apparently supports.   

[Bigun]

Understand your concerns Sink....

We have massive under/unemployment because companies are chasing/importing cheap labor and unregulated environments, so how do we solve it?
Continue to extend unemployment payments, more people living on lower wages or tax on imports and reduce the reach of government to bring business back to the US...

All things are negotiable, including immigration, that is politics.  Start from the ideal position knowing you will end up with something less but still better than you have.
The alternative is to take a position, one way or the other, and refuse to adjust.  That is what loses elections.

The current Tax Code puts everything made in America at a severe price disadvantage right off the bat! If enterprises that make things wish to remain competitive in the world market place they MUST find some way to overcome that!

[Relic]

And "almost anyone" is Donald Trump.   But thanks for labelling me a "moron" for choosing to reject fascism.   

If the shoe fits, wear it proudly.

[EdinVA]

The current Tax Code puts everything made in America at a severe price disadvantage right off the bat! If enterprises that make things wish to remain competitive in the world market place they MUST find some way to overcome that!

Not a expert in tax codes bigun but had not heard that before.
I am aware of the severe burden put on manufacturers in the US to comply with labor laws, EPA and the like.
And that is what my point was...

[sinkspur]

Understand your concerns Sink....

We have massive under/unemployment because companies are chasing/importing cheap labor and unregulated environments, so how do we solve it?
Continue to extend unemployment payments, more people living on lower wages or tax on imports and reduce the reach of government to bring business back to the US...

All things are negotiable, including immigration, that is politics.  Start from the ideal position knowing you will end up with something less but still better than you have.
The alternative is to take a position, one way or the other, and refuse to adjust.  That is what loses elections.

We will never be able to compete with countries that utilize cheap labor.  We have to let those jobs go, just as we let the textile industry go in the 1990s.  Taxing imports will start a trade war that will cost more jobs than it saves.  In addition, the poor and middle class will be most hurt by a trade tax.

There is an estimated $3 trillion in money socked away in foreign accounts. Every politician (including Trump) wants that money repatriated, but at a price:  a tax on it.  Why can't we just declare a one-year holiday on that cash?  Why does the government have to put its grubby hands on money these companies have already paid tax on?

Remember: when you tax something, you get less of it.  There's a reason we don't tax imports; it would hurt our exports as well.

[Sanguine]

I agree, Sanguine - which is why folks can't be permitted to carry insurance only when they get sick.   That's the point of the individual mandate - to eliminate the free riders.   But if we must all purchase insurance,  the pool will be large enough to allow "guaranteed issue".   

The only other way to effectively address the access issue is single payer, like Trump apparently supports.

I disagree that single payer is the only other way.  Carson's plan includes a health savings plan, and there are welfare options like Medicaid (as imperfect as it is) for those with no ability to pay.

Before the advent of 0bamacare, you could individually purchase a catastrophic plan with a high deductible,  You just needed to make sure you could pay the deductible if needed.  And, the fact of the matter is, that most standard health costs can be paid out of pocket.

Normal health care, checkups, x-rays, mammograms, simple stitches, etc., are very affordable in a free market system, as in the government isn't artificially inflating and adding red-tape costs to healthcare.

The myths surrounding healthcare and insurance are many.

[Bigun]

Not a expert in tax codes bigun but had not heard that before.
I am aware of the severe burden put on manufacturers in the US to comply with labor laws, EPA and the like.
And that is what my point was...

The Corporate income tax functions as a subtraction method VAT and the compliance costs it imposes far exceed the actual taxes paid in many instances!  ALL of that finds it's way into the price of everything made in this country today.

[EdinVA]

We will never be able to compete with countries that utilize cheap labor.  We have to let those jobs go, just as we let the textile industry go in the 1990s.  Taxing imports will start a trade war that will cost more jobs than it saves.  In addition, the poor and middle class will be most hurt by a trade tax.

There is an estimated $3 trillion in money socked away in foreign accounts. Every politician (including Trump) wants that money repatriated, but at a price:  a tax on it.  Why can't we just declare a one-year holiday on that cash?  Why does the government have to put its grubby hands on money these companies have already paid tax on?

Remember: when you tax something, you get less of it.  There's a reason we don't tax imports; it would hurt our exports as well.

Let jobs go?
That requires me to be like you (not literally, figuratively) and I don't like you enough to want to be like you.
I work to live, not live to work.  I want to do my job for 8 hours a day, live within my means and focus on my family, that is what floats my boat.
I do not want to spend 10 to 14 hours a day working but you tell me there is no longer a place in the country I fought for because you decided that we need to let my job go overseas rather than solve the problem?

What ever happened to "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" or is that just a campaign slogan?

[EdinVA]

The Corporate income tax functions as a subtraction method VAT and the compliance costs it imposes far exceed the actual taxes paid in many instances!  ALL of that finds it's way into the price of everything made in this country today.

But based on what we are being told, Apple, Microsoft et al pay no taxes... I am confused...

[Bigun]

But based on what we are being told, Apple, Microsoft et al pay no taxes... I am confused...

That is probably true but that does not mean that they don't spend TONS of money getting around the tax and the compliance costs are still there whether they actually owe any tax or not!

EXACTLY what I was talking about above!

[HonestJohn]

I amswered Jazzhead's question to me about healthcare.  Notice how he didmt even dignify my reasoned answer with a response.  Or maybe it got deleted just as the presidential candidate he's voting for deleted her emails? 

What a joke.

You are quoting yourself... and writing out an insult... to your own post?

[HonestJohn]

Have you read the thread?  Or are you simply hellbent on sounding clever?

Either way, you look foolish.   

Whose posting the 'buh-bye' pics?  Classic zot patrol behavior.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Whose posting the 'buh-bye' pics?  Classic zot patrol behavior.

You're wrong John.  Honest..