Support NeoGAF

[Pilgrimzero]

I'd like to try and get a bead on McConnell about this stuff

If he waits, I don't think he actually wants it to pass and we're can kicking
If he tries to force it, we're in real trouble



He's a fucking nonce who gets banned constantly for his shit but he's just like Medusa so every time you chop off his head 5 more pop up and they all merge to form an idiot

Hydra. Medusa turns people to stone.

 

[Cow Mengde]

What was it they were thinking?

They were thinking we're voting for Bernie in the primaries. If Bernie loses, we'll vote Hillary. I know that's what tons of people that I know did.

 

[BotoxAgent]

Yep, voted Bernie in the primary and once he was out showed up on election day gladly voting for Clinton.

Glad you were able to actually see the big picture and know the stakes of the election. Even though in hindsight, Hillary was a terrible abysmal campaigner...I still had the common sense to vote for her because she's experienced workaholic while Trump is one evil villain

 

[Fox Mulder]

I mean, again, all polling indicates that most GOP voters don't even want this.

They did during the election but are now finally realizing they don't.

Fuck them.

It's one thing to get lied to. The GOP is doing exactly what they said they'd do and people voted for it.

If America is getting ripped apart by divisive politics, I at least want the other side to fucking suffer.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

The question you should be asking yourself is if you are happy that you and your faction so zealously supported such a clearly disastrous candidate who everyone warned you was a bad candidate that nobody liked which found a way to lose to Donald Trump when a better one was available?

This famous line from FF Tactics is still the only response I have for you:

Who was the better one? Bernie? If Clinton was so horrible to lose to Trump, what does that say about Bernie who was dominated by Clinton?

How's that thinking going, btw? I guess those thoughts are going into bills and action as we speak.

 

[Arrogant Bastard]

They were thinking we're voting for Bernie in the primaries. If Bernie loses, we'll vote Hillary. I know that's what tons of people that I know did.

I think the majority did. The larger issue I have is the constant in-fighting that is still occurring. Focus on the threat, it isn't Pelosi or Clinton.

 

[Lowmelody]

When was the last time a primary utterly wrecked a party this bad?

 

[Kyoufu]

They were confident Hillary was going to be President too.

The reality is that GAF is a political inverse, everything GAF is confident about the opposite will happen with a 100% success rate.

GAF is confident the Democrats will retake the House in 2018. Let's see how that one goes!

i feel like you get a kick out of bad shit happening in American politics just because it goes against what most here believe in.

That's kinda shitty if you ask me. And your latest post is also kinda shitty too.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

I think the majority did. The larger issue I have is the constant in-fighting that is still occurring. Focus on the threat, it isn't Pelosi or Clinton.

That much is true. I sometimes can't help at getting pissed over bring up the primaries yet again and suggestion of rigging, etc.

Yes, the main enemy is the GOP. But they just don't give a fuck.

 

[diablos991]

That isn't the problem, the issue is he constantly drives by to troll and nothing happens. Be a Trump fan, but stick around and actually have a conversation. It's beyond BS that the answer to it is put him on ignore.

I've posted several times continuing the discussion on topic. My apologies for not responding to post calling for my job, my life, or my ban. I'd rather discuss healthcare in this thread.

I'm like many here and voted Bernie in the primaries. He was our shot at fixing healthcare. Here's to hoping single payer becomes a core belief for whomever the DNC decides to post up in 2020.

The healthcare insurance industry in this country has become virtually unrepairable in the last decade.

 

[Ray Down]

Lets not reignited the primary in a thread not even about it for fuck sakes, just put US on ignore.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Who was the better one? Bernie? If Clinton was so horrible to lose to Trump, what does that say about Bernie who was dominated by Clinton?

Let's not go there again.

If we must, all of the polls during the primaries had Bernie beating Trump by a much wider margin than Hillary. During the primaries, Hillary would have lost to pretty much any Republican candidate, except for Trump (lol, I know).

https://realclearpolitics.com/epoll...ump_vs_sanders-5565.html?_escaped_fragment_=#!

Anyway, let's get back on how to fight against this.

Call Democrats to obstruct if the state Senator is a Democrat.

This thread needs traction. Hopefully it'll beat the Mia Covfefe streaming on Twitch thread.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Please stop with the nonsense that Bernie would have won the election.

Please.

 

[Maxim726X]

I think the majority did. The larger issue I have is the constant in-fighting that is still occurring. Focus on the threat, it isn't Pelosi or Clinton.

At this point, we may as well focus on the inner workings of the party- Since there is nothing Democrats can do right now but bitch.

So, it's worth asking how we can make the party stronger in the future.

 

[Psychoward]

here's what I sent to my fuckboy rep Leonard Lance

Hello Mr. Lance, my name is Neo GAF and I'm a very concerned citizen of your district. I'm only 20 years old yet I heavily rely on healthcare to keep me safe physically, mentally and financially. I had a liver transplant when I was only 13 years old, I was one of only hundreds that had to use the specific procedure they used at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital (you can look it up if you like). In addition I've had to live with Crohn's disease since I was 8 years old and more recently I was diagnosed with clinical depression. All of these medical issues are unsurprisingly expensive to treat even after the initial stages. The retail cost of the drug Tacrolimus is $399.52 for 120 1mg capsules. Currently I take 1mg twice a day, which puts the $400 cost at 60 days. Tacrolimus is a medication intended to suppress the rejection of my liver, in other words without it my body will reject my liver (even though it's been over 5 years since the operation) and I will either need to get a new transplant, go to the hospital and receive emergency care or die. Tacrolimus is one of just 9 medications I'm taking right now, sometimes I'll be taking more. Sometimes I'll be taking more than 2mg total a day, bumping up the cost even more.

Another drug I take is Humira, would you be willing to take a guess at the monthly cost of that without insurance? It's $6,600. I'm still in college working on my degree, I'm hard working and have held multiple jobs in my life and still don't know if my total income was even that much since the minimum wage in New Jersey is under a living wage. This is in addition to student loans that I won't even get in to. I live in a fairly upper class neighborhood, my parents both make decent money and I still feel the immense pressure that the repeal of the Affordable Care Act will have on me personally. I can't even begin to imagine how other people less fortunate than me will fare. Without insurance I'd be lucky to have a roof over my head.

A simple glance at any information at the AHCA shows that it's very clearly rushed and does not have this country's peoples interests at heart. There is no time for a conference about the act, the CBO score was brushed under the table and all analysis points to it increasing the burden on the poor dramatically. You would be condemning me and many others to a cycle of large-scale poverty, debt and even death. This repeal and its poorly thought out replacement are point blank inhumane and should not be allowed to happen.

If you do anything other than act/obstruct against this and voice STRONG disapproval of these actions by your fellow Republican congress men and women I will be absolutely shattered and remember your name until the day I die as being a signature on the American people's death warrant.

If you read up to this far then I would thank you - but commending you for listening and reading is not enough. That's the basic standard all government representatives should be held to. You need to act, and you need to act now.

could probably have tightened up the writing but just reading it back would probably make me shake in anger so eh

 

[Unknown Soldier]

i feel like you get a kick out of bad shit happening in American politics just because it goes against what most here believe in.

That's kinda shitty if you ask me. And your latest post is also kinda shitty too.

Send me a PM if you want to see what I have to show you.

 

[Azzanadra]

Who was the better one? Bernie? If Clinton was so horrible to lose to Trump, what does that say about Bernie who was dominated by Clinton?

How's that thinking going, btw? I guess those thoughts are going into bills and action as we speak.

That's... Not how it works.

Anyways my condolences to our American brothers and sisters, though if maybe this leads to single payer when people realize how shit they have it, this will be s blessing in disguise? Time will tell.

 

[shem935]

Hey everyone. Shut the fuck up about 2016. This is 2017 now. Deal with the problems as a whole or if you want to stroke your ego by mentioning how totally right you were go write fanfic you can jerk off to on your own time, not in this thread.

 

[ultron87]

Called Senator Portman's office here in Ohio. Got a voice mail, but I called a little later in the day. Definitely going to call tomorrow too. I've got various different ways I can come at this thing, so it won't just be repeats. Talked about Medicaid today, can talk about it adding in the max lifetime caps tomorrow, since those super affect my GF.

A talking point I really like is that Trump totally promised cheap insurance for all, so why can't they try and do that? Maybe if I call him President Trump they'll think I'm a Republican who might actually be a vote he'd be losing.

 

[madstarr12]

Hope enough Republicans go against this and actually have a heart for once.

Though, I would like to see Bernie vs. Trump polls in a universe with constant attack ads from Republicans against Bernie.
Hint:

Spoiler

they don't exist, so it's a pointless comparison

 

[Maxim726X]

Hey everyone. Shut the fuck up about 2016. This is 2017 now. Deal with the problems as a whole or if you want to stroke your ego by mentioning how totally right you were go write fanfic you can jerk off to on your own time, not in this thread.

I mean, it's worth discussing what happened six months ago... Particularly when the Democrats keep losing, and members of the party want Pelosi and the old guard out.

Is it status quo or do they make sweeping changes?

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Here's MY political hot take.

Y'all wanna know why you guys aren't winning? One simple word.

Disorganization.

There's barely any sort of unity here whatsoever. Yeah, you guys all hate Trump and Republicans together but I'm seeing a lot more infighting and time-wasting than actually addressing the issue and doing everything possible.

I mean shit. Why do you people bother responding and dogpiling on diablos? He doesn't care, and you know what? Neither should you! He made his choice, he's sticking to it, move on and get back on track with what's actually important here!

We constantly bring him and these kinds of people up and how meaningless it is trying to change their minds. Why do we still waste time talking about it?

Then we have defeatists here arguing with the rest of us and constantly raining on everyone's parade and throwing nightmare scenario after nightmare scenario, trying to convince others that everything people here do is meaningless, and more time and effort is wasted on them! And I'm as guilty of this as ever!

This whole situation regarding our side is a mess. This isn't unity. It's chaos.

People need to set all this petty squabbling aside and crank up the resistance efforts and energy here to full throttle. And yes I know most of you are doing everything you can, but it's clearly not enough when I walk into any Trump thread and I'm seeing all of the above brought up yet again.

GAF and Democrats are disorganized, through and through.

So if you guys want some real change, maybe the first thing we can do is work to change that.

GAF isn't representative of anything but an echo chamber often aligned with a subset of the college age zeitgeist.

The major problem with Dems right now is that they managed to lose the electoral college to the worst person possible, energizing and empowering the worst dregs of humanity, and even though they have fundamental values which won them the popular vote but put forth a candidate half of their base under 25 hated as much as their parents did, they now see themselves as a chicken with their head cut off and somehow think grabbing the nearest populist head is going to give them back control whether it fits or not.

 

[TheCochese]

Can someone explain this diablos991 character to me?

He pops into these threads to post what amounts to drive-by, as he ignores everyone who even begins to question him or point out the absurdity in his post.

Then he posts again in the thread, pretending that he never made the original post, still ignoring people. And I've seen this happen multiple times over the past... forever, pretty much.

Should be bannable.

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Called Senator Portman's office here in Ohio. Got a voice mail, but I called a little later in the day. Definitely going to call tomorrow too. I've got various different ways I can come at this thing, so it won't just be repeats. Talked about Medicaid today, can talk about it adding in the max lifetime caps tomorrow, since those super affect my GF.

A talking point I really like is that Trump totally promised cheap insurance for all, so why can't they try and do that? Maybe if I call him President Trump they'll think I'm a Republican who might actually be a vote he'd be losing.

He also promised not to touch Medicaid. He doesn't know what the hell is going on, the same bill he held a big party for in the rose garden he later called mean.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

That's... Not how it works.

Anyways my condolences to our American brothers and sisters, though if maybe this leads to single payer when people realize how shit they have it, this will be s blessing in disguise? Time will tell.

I mean, you either win the primary or you don't. And he didn't. And he wasn't even close even when just looking at votes.

How else does it work?

 

[Azzanadra]

I mean, you either win the primary or you don't. And he didn't. And he wasn't even close even when just looking at votes.

How else does it work?

My point was one's success in the primary does not directly translate to the broader electorate. You're point, as I understand it was that Bernie would also lost to Trump if he lost to Clinton.

 

[Cow Mengde]

GAF isn't representative of anything but an echo chamber often aligned with a subset of the college age zeitgeist.

The major problem with Dems right now is that they managed to lose the electoral college to the worst person possible, energizing and empowering the worst dregs of humanity, and even though they have fundamental values which won them the popular vote but put forth a candidate half of their base under 25 hated as much as their parents did, they now see themselves as a chicken with their head cut off and somehow think grabbing the nearest populist head is going to give them back control whether it fits or not.

Basically, Democrats are in a disarray with no clear strategy or direction.

 

[carlos]

The budget of the US Government is about $3.7 trillion.

The wall was projected to cost around $20 billion to $70 billion to build depending on who's counting which is literally a rounding error in the US Government's budget.

Puerto rico could use just a fraction of that rounding error as a loan to deal with their liquidity crisis, but good luck with that, I guess.

Anyway, boo to medicaid cuts and tax breaks for the rich, boo, hiss!

 

[shem935]

I mean, it's worth discussing what happened six months ago... Particularly when the Democrats keep losing, and members of the party want Pelosi and the old guard out.

Is it status quo or do they make sweeping changes?

Whether or not the ACA survives is dependent on our organizing and effort in contacting our representatives. It is not dependent on naval gazing about whether bernie would have won or not, or a particular electoral strategy over another. It's self aggrandizing bullshit that doesn't belong in this thread.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

I mean, it's worth discussing what happened six months ago... Particularly when the Democrats keep losing, and members of the party want Pelosi and the old guard out.

Is it status quo or do they make sweeping changes?

These special elections were there because Trump picked extremely safe GOP seats to pull from. Dems had no business getting as close as they did in these races. The GOP should not have had to spend 20 million dollars to defend a seat not held by a Democrat in over 40 years and was home to Newt Gingrich.

Yes it's frustrating to lose at all. But to perform at that level in those districts is a good thing. There were also some state level races won by Democrats earlier this year that had never seen a Democrat in that seat before 2017.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Basically, Democrats are in a disarray with no clear strategy or direction.

Someone like Jeremy Corbyn would be rejected wholeheartedly by the "centrists" and "moderates" who run the Democratic Party. That says a lot about what the cause of the disarray and lack of strategy is, and what the solution has to be.

 

[Arrogant Bastard]

I'm like many here and voted Bernie in the primaries. He was our shot at fixing healthcare. Here's to hoping single payer becomes a core belief for whomever the DNC decides to post up in 2020.

The healthcare insurance industry in this country has become virtually unrepairable in the last decade.

So you actually believe the path to single payer is to repeal a progressive policy that was our best step towards single payer, repeal it by voting in Republicans who despise the idea of single payer...and that is somehow going to get us closer to single payer how?

Explain the logic to me.

Over half the country is against single payer, you aren't going to get it in one go, that isn't how politics works. Progress is SLOW. Homosexuals didn't just get marriage equality, blacks didn't just immediately get the right to vote, etc.

 

[Sou Da]

This thread is pretty much just drive-by sports punditry at this point.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

My point was one's success in the primary does not directly translate to the broader electorate. You're point, as I understand it was that Bernie would also lost to Trump if he lost to Clinton.

That's fair. But my main point was that Bernie couldn't get past Clinton. So his performance in the general is a non-starter and impossible to even speculate on. But even then, I was more saying that if he didn't get past Clinton, what actual evidence is there to show he could have went through a full campaign and taken down Trump?

 

[Psychoward]

Someone like Jeremy Corbyn would be rejected wholeheartedly by the "centrists" and "moderates" who run the Democratic Party. That says a lot about what the cause of the disarray and lack of strategy is, and what the solution has to be.

I forgot the US and European overton windows and politics were exactly the same, thanks for the reminder.

Edit: anyway I understand the dem's overall strategy needs to be looked at but holy shit this is not the time or place

 

[Koomaster]

Your alternative was Trump. Nope.

"Hillary was bad"

OK but here's Trump

"But she was so bad what you were thinking"

OK but Trump was the alternative

"It's actually your fault for keeping me from voting for her because she was so bad"

Is she worse than Trump

"Stop deflecting"

It's sexism, doofuses. It started with the targeted campaign in the 90's and swept up the "liberal" dudes right along with it, because it's still REALLY. FUCKING. EASY. for them to believe that a woman is the source of all their problems.

Pretty much my thoughts as well. People turning their backs on Hillary for whatever reason, staying home or protest voting knew the alternative and well, ya got it.

Like I said, too much Dem infighting for a coherent strategy to form. People crying it's not progressive enough or it's too progressive. Dems need to learn to Fall. In. Line like the republicans no matter what/who is on the menu. Till that, enjoy Trump and GOP control from here till our deaths.

 

[shem935]

This thread is pretty much just drive-by sports punditry at this point.

Shows peoples priorities pretty well.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Someone like Jeremy Corbyn would be rejected wholeheartedly by the "centrists" and "moderates" who run the Democratic Party. That says a lot about what the cause of the disarray and lack of strategy is, and what the solution has to be.

He was rejected by Labor too. Even went through a No-confidence vote. He just said fuck it and stayed on. And he was ultimately proven right - to an extent. The UK just has a better system in place that is more able to adapt to current political forces in the electorate.

There is no opportunity for a new general US election outside of the standard schedule.

 

[Zubz]

I can only hope they stop the AHCA, but there's no way those grubby fucks in the GOP aren't going for it. I can only hope they're destroyed next election, but even if we get that miracle, people are going to die from lack of access to first-world healthcare in the interim.

 

[diablos991]

So you actually believe the path to single payer is to repeal a progressive policy that was our best step towards single payer, repeal it by voting in Republicans who despise the idea of single payer...and that is somehow going to get us closer to single payer how?

Explain the logic to me.

Over half the country is against single payer, you aren't going to get it in one go, that isn't how politics works. Progress is SLOW. Homosexuals didn't just get marriage equality, blacks didn't just immediately get the right to vote, etc.

Inching our way to single payer is a bullshit strategy because the establishment politicians will just keep the status quo and tweak it ever so slightly for political gain.

I prefer the fix it or collapse it strategy. If this fails and the whole thing collapses then single payer will come sooner and in a more pure form.

That or it forces the public support to shift and therefore one hopes the DNC would align with their voters.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

He was rejected by Labor too. Even went through a No-confidence vote. He just said fuck it and stayed on. And he was ultimately proven right - to an extent. The UK just has a better system in place that is more able to adapt to current political forces in the electorate.

There is no opportunity for a new general US election outside of the standard schedule.

I don't necessarily think the UK system is working out better for them. They are still going to Brexit even though the Tories no longer have an absolute majority of the Parliament.

Corbyn being ultimately vindicated - to an extent - is more or less the point I was trying to make. The Tories calling the snap election was a pretty glaring mistake on their part but to the credit of Corbyn, he exploited his opportunity absolutely perfectly and forced the hung Parliament when everyone was expecting the Tories to pad their majority. And he did it by saying and doing Democratic Socialist things instead of pandering to a "moderate" and "centrist" Labour voter base that didn't exist.

There is no "moderate" and "centrist" Democratic voter base either. Maybe the Democrats can still figure this out and salvage something out of 2018.

 

[xxracerxx]

I'm like many here and voted Bernie in the primaries. He was our shot at fixing healthcare. Here's to hoping single payer becomes a core belief for whomever the DNC decides to post up in 2020.

The healthcare insurance industry in this country has become virtually unrepairable in the last decade.

Anyone who changed their vote from Sanders to Trump must not have actually listened to anything the candidates said or they just actually don't care what-so-ever.

 

[Arrogant Bastard]

Inching our way to single payer is a bullshit strategy because the establishment politicians will just keep the status quo and tweak it ever so slightly for political gain.

I prefer the fix it or collapse it strategy. If this fails and the whole thing collapses then single payer will come sooner and in a more pure form.

That or it forces the public support to shift and therefore one hopes he DNC would align with their voters.

That isn't the way politics has or ever will work man. Not a single policy since the new deal has been summoned out of the ether like that. It is naive and delusional to think it is going to happen in such a hyper partisan era. You are wanting something that is impossible. Not even the majority of democrats support single payer. You are fucking people over, because of one issue that has zero, zero chance of happening. What about immigration, civil rights, climate change, infrastructure, education, etc. etc.

 

[cdyhybrid]

The question you should be asking yourself is if you are happy that you and your faction so zealously supported such a clearly disastrous candidate who everyone warned you was a bad candidate that nobody liked which found a way to lose to Donald Trump when a better one was available?

This famous line from FF Tactics is still the only response I have for you:

You sure? I checked, and only one of us seems to be deriving any sort of pleasure from the current state of affairs:

It's funny now to look back at how insane GAF was in 2016 the way they tried to bury Bernie. They got their comeuppance a lot more quickly than anyone expected when Trump was elected though.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Anyone who changed their vote from Sanders to Trump must not have actually listened to anything the candidates said or they just actually don't care what-so-ever.

I think it's just that special kind of sheltered pragmatism where you play politics like a game to a certain imagined potential end and fuck the details and people in the middle. The fact that this is an indistinguishable MO between a sheltered internet pundit, a comic book villain, and a GOP senator says all that needs to be said about the times.

 

[Opto]

here's what I sent to my fuckboy rep Leonard Lance



could probably have tightened up the writing but just reading it back would probably make me shake in anger so eh

First thing: Love your dedication to write out a very personal story to your rep.

Second: You should really call your rep's local office. Not sure if this was sent by email (in which case it will not be read) or snail mail (which has a higher chance of being read, but not for certain). Calling them means you talk to someone whose job it is to listen and report to the representative on what's being said.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

I don't necessarily think the UK system is working out better for them. They are still going to Brexit even though the Tories no longer have an absolute majority of the Parliament.

Corbyn being ultimately vindicated - to an extent - is more or less the point I was trying to make. The Tories calling the snap election was a pretty glaring mistake on their part but to the credit of Corbyn, he exploited his opportunity absolutely perfectly and forced the hung Parliament when everyone was expecting the Tories to pad their majority. And he did it by saying and doing Democratic Socialist things instead of pandering to a "moderate" and "centrist" Labour voter base that didn't exist.

There is no "moderate" and "centrist" Democratic voter base either. Maybe the Democrats can still figure this out and salvage something out of 2018.

But there aren't enough leftists in the US. The US is a center to center right country. Centrists are required to build a coalition.

Going full on leftists may work in California. And wellness see with their single payer healthcare proposal. But such a thing failed miserably in Colorado.

Not enough people understand the benefit of higher taxes but a robust safety net on big ticket items like healthcare or transportation. They see a tax hike and shut down.

Just like they don't understand the true expense of insurance in general. They think the $0-$300 a month in premiums on their paycheck is the full cost not realizing the true cost is closer to $1,000+ monthly for plans not on the ACA.

 

[Neuromancer]

I live in MD, a fairly liberal state. My senators and representative are already opposed to this so calling them won't accomplish anything.

I hope when the dumbfuck Trump voters lose their insurance and get sick, that they remember this moment.

 

[Keri]

In case anyone is interested in the specific and very particular ways this bill affects women's health, there's a pretty good summary here

Basically, it cuts access to Medicaid, which pays for half of all births in the U.S., defunds Planned Parenthood (making it harder for women to receive numerous forms of care), punishes individual and small employer plans that include abortion coverage and (here's where it gets good) makes "maternity coverage" optional.

Before the ACA, only 11 states required maternity coverage on the individual and small-group markets. And this is what we may be looking at if the GOP gets its way on health care reform. If the Better Care Act passes, it could mean we could turn back to a time before the Affordable Care Act, when some 88 percent of plans on the individual market did not provide maternity coverage.

So, basically, no abortion coverage and no maternity coverage.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

I live in MD, a fairly liberal state. My senators and representative are already opposed to this so calling them won't accomplish anything.

I hope when the dumb**** Trump voters lose their insurance and get sick, that they remember this moment.

There won't be anything to remember because they'll likely be dead.