When will the Republicans in Congress realize that single payer is just the kind of free stuff that they need to attract Democratic voters?
Single payer isn’t free stuff, it is a social welfare plan, like Social Security, that is paid by taxes.The modern GOP doesn’t want every vote, it wants a bare minimum needed to win elections. So, they only want as many Democratic votes as will be needed to win elections. The managed to snag the working class Democratic vote in the North, so they probably don’t need the others.With modern information management technology the GOP no longer needs to appeal to everyone, as people like Eisenhower or Nixon tried to do.
Will President Trump ever get his composite approval rating above 50%? How might that happen?
The question:Will President Trump ever get his composite approval rating above 50%? How might that happen?He could do it in one afternoon, at least in this fantasy scenario.Call press conference (he could have Spicer announce it, but I think he’ll want the credit personally.)Say, “When I spoke in January about ‘insurance for everybody’ as part of my Obamacare replacement plan, I meant insurance for everybody. Not the ability to buy insurance if you can stand the cost, but real insurance to protect the health of all Americans. I call on Congress to respect my pledge to the American people, and provide all of us with insurance that works for every citizen of this great nation. I will not sign a replacement bill that does not include taking care of all Americans. Thank you.”The left will still hate him as a person, but this could be his Nixon-to-China moment as far as reshaping policy, and that will bump his approval up on that side. The downtrodden and the insecure middle class GOP voters will understand he is looking out for them, and that Trumpcare will be way better than Obamacare no matter what, because it’ll be GOP-authored, so they’ll either stay in love or fall back in love. Movement conservatives and the health insurance industry will have heart failure about socialism. (But if movement conservatives were the biggest force in the GOP, the Donald wouldn’t be President. )Tah-dah! At least 50% approval, possibly as high as the low 60’s.For bonus points, we can make your federally-issued-to-all-citizens national health insurance card an eligible form of voter ID, and reassure the left (because it’ll end-run the voter suppression aspect of current voter ID laws) as well as the right (because only citizens are going to get those cards.)Of course, the only way that is going to happen is if the Donald decides he really believes in it, and is willing to both put his presidency on the line, and work like mad to do the necessary arm-twisting in Congress and the right-wing media. I have doubts either thing interests him.
Are Democrats out of power because they drifted too far left or because they drifted too far right?
They moved too far to the right, definitely. Or at the very least, they were too centrist and not left wing enough.Obamacare, for example. Obama had the opportunity to implement the first American single-payer system or even a public option. He didn’t pursue it and instead passed a conservative and unpopular healthcare system. Today, Obamacare is a weak point for the Democratic Party. Had Obama passed a single-payer health care system, it would be as popular as Social Security and Medicare, and would be an advantage for them to win more races.Furthermore, American left policies are very popular. (All of these figures are outdated and most of these policies have become even more popular)52% of Americans support a single-payer system (universal healthcare). 54% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats support it, to be exact.63% of Americans support free college. 47% Republicans support it while 45% oppose it (50% of Tea Party supporters support it, 49% oppose it), and 81% of Democrats support free college.74% of Americans support raising the minimum wage (54% of Republicans support a raise) although the exact increase is disputed.46% of Americans support universal basic income. 35% oppose it.61% of Americans want to decriminalize marijuana.52% of Americans want to stop invading other countries.Anyone claiming that the Democratic party has moved too far to the left has a narrow, America-centric view of which incapacitates them from realizing that the Democratic party will start to regain power by purging the right-wingers within their ranks and replacing them with left wingers.The most popular politician in the country is, you guessed it, left-wing. The biggest recent upsets have come from left-wingers challenging centrists.Additionally, seeing that minorities tend to vote for left-wingers (because left-wingers protect minorities) and that minorities are growing, it would be wise for the Democratic party to move further left.
Will American politics shift to the left as the baby boomers die off?
The Republican Party of the 2nd half of the 20th Century tacked far right due not only to the end stages of party consolidation and realignment which began with the Civil Rights act of 1964 and Nixon’s southern strategy, but also due to an asymmetric ideological polarization which has resulted from a feedback loop in the informal but messaged disciplined right-wing media (e.g. Fox News and AM Talk Radio) for which there is no left wing analogy. The Democrats, while experiencing a similar party consolidation tacked to the center (look up the DLC but also a bit with Carter to) neo-liberalism. Only now has the party begun to move significantly ideologically left. As far as party identification goes looking forward it looks good for the Democrats as population and Demographic trends (age, gender, race, orientation) begin to turn in their favor. (Millennials and GenXers passed Boomers in eligibility and turnout in 2016.) Republicans have continued to alienate these groups with policies and messaging. Moneyed interests, gerrymandering and voter suppression strain against these trends but I believe that the effectiveness of these strategies will begin to wane as the effects of diminishing marginal utility take hold. The exception will be the US Senate which due to the The Connecticut Compromise (also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Sherman Compromise) and self sorting over represents rural states. Millennials, not having experienced the cold war, have no compunctions about the word socialism like their Boomer or for that matter even Xer parents.
What can be done (besides voting) to prevent someone like Trump from ever attaining the U.S. presidency again?
I have followed this whole election and its aftermath closely, but from quite a distance geographically. This question has been on my mind since Trump first went on the campaign trail. Not that I ever would have expected him to win then, because - well, how could he?But his rhetorical 24/7 agitation of utter negativity and hatred was clearly having a profound effect on an enormous amount on people. These were frustrated people, and he agitated them into a blinding wrath, and told them where to aim it. Muslims, Mexicans, the Clinton's, and - of course - Obama.Even the slogan he ran with was a lie by implication: Make America great again emplies that America is not great to begin with, and the truth is that America in 2016 was in the best shape she had been in for ages, and certainly far better than the Bush years. This despite the fact that Obama entered the oval office in the middle of an economical crises. But Trump harped on and on until the people listening actually believed that he was the only one who could save them from the horrible existence they were groomed to believe they were forced into by Obama.A lot of things should probably be changed in the entire US election process, but this one is the really clear one to me:The Republicans should have gone with their first instinct: They knew that Trump was not a Republican by any stretch of the imagination. He ran with and from the base of the Alt-Right movement, who publicly renounces the conservatism that is so dear the Republicans. There must have been some serious bargaining in the back room for them to let someone who renounces their values run from their platform. Lesson learned, I hope?If Trump has to run as Independent, he would never have won. The Republicans would then have had the option to vote for one of their own. With that option gone, a lot of them voted for Trump simply to vote against Clinton.The Republican voters are the ones who really should be hopping, steaming mad. They are the ones who ended up without a candidate from their party. You can paint stripes on a donkey and call it a zebra, but everybody knows it's still a donkey.The supporters are so programmed to be angry after almost a year of angry rants and terrible lies (or alternative truths as they are now called), that they are angry that they won. Talk about sore winners!?
Why aren’t jobs coming back to the USA?
Those jobs are gone. They don’t exist anymore. They haven’t gone to China. They’ve just gone.Manufactured goods aren’t built by people any more. They’re built by machines. The people in factories are only there because, in China, a human being is cheaper than a robot for simple pick & place tasks. If you moved manufacturing back to the US, a robot would be cheaper, and there would be no humans in the factory, and thus no jobs.Computation isn’t done by rooms full of clerks with green eyeshades any longer. It’s done by computers (that are made in the USA). Ditto with filing.Five years from now long-haul trucks will all be robots, and a million jobs will disappear without moving anywhere at all.There are some new jobs opening up in the USA. They are for software engineers and technicians. Do you remember your friends Alice and Bob from high school. The ones who cut math class and gave stupid answers in biology? Do you think Alice and Bob are cut out for four years of college and a Computer Science career? What are Alice and Bob going to do?Other reasons why jobs aren’t coming back to the USThe US has laws against slavery, but some other countries do not.The US has laws requiring employers to protect workers from obvious sources of harm like carcinogenic chemicals, rotating machinery, and emotional trauma. There are countries that will still permit people to do these jobs. Are these the jobs you want to bring back to the US?Some employers offer a wage below the subsistence level in the United States. They must scour the world for places where living conditions are so poor, and people are so desperate, that they will do these jobs just to delay their death by starvation. You would think that desperate, needy people would be grateful for this work, but instead, they frequently revolt, torching the workplaces and slaughtering the managers. What ingrates!
How is voter ID laws unconstitutional?
You need an ID to buy a beer You need an ID to buy cigarettes You need an ID to get into a club You need an ID to open a checking account You need an ID to get a job You need an ID to legally operate a motor vehicle (drivers license) You need an ID to buy porn You need an ID when questioned by police You need an ID to make a purchase with a credit card You need an ID to travel to a foreign country You need an ID to get a marriage license You need an ID to buy insurance You need an ID to get on a plane You need an ID to get on a train You need an ID to buy a car You need an ID to cash a check You need an ID to apply for welfare You need an ID to take a timeshare tour This is 2013.............no reason why you shouldn't be required to show a valid ID in order to vote for the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth too!
What about Mitt Romney do you like so much that you'd vote for him in November?
it's the little things that reveal a lot about who he is/how he will lead...and here's what I've noticed.... 1. mitt has the strength of conviction to do the right thing regardless of opposition. consider his veto of a MA bill allowing creation and destruction of human embryos. his veto was overturned --- but he showed that he would follow what he believed was the best course, in spite of strong opposition. and @the same time, he admitted he is not always right and was open to hearing other viewpoints. haven't seen THAT w/obama. 2. based on remarks he has made - he has a strong command of what it takes to turn our country around. notice I said remarks he has made.....because unfortunately, many have misrepresented his words and his record. 3. mitt knows finance - and we NEED that. AND he took no pay when serving as MA's governor...that is commendable - especially in a world where experience indicates that politicians make careers out of "serving" in office only to fatten their own pockets. And it show that he is vested in the US and in making things better for it's citizens, not just himself. 4. he actually understands how destructive obamacare is to america’s freedom and economic stability. AND has laid out a clear plan so that the bill is not destructive while the long process of repeal is taking place. AND even more importantly -- he has been clear from day one that he would never impose a national health care plan, but would allow the states to take the lead...putting the power back in the hands of the people instead of the fed gov. 5. he understands that, even as president, his powers are limited. IMHO, a refreshing change from the last 4 years attitude. 6. mitt is not a washington Insider....he hasn't been playing this game for the last 30 years. we need a POTUS who can turn our economy around, put us back to work, and will lead with stability and integrity.
Do you support bipartisanship?
I tend to vote Democrat, but usually vote on a candidate-by-candidate basis. There are Republicans for whom I've voted. Not only am I for bipartisan ship, I'll take it one step further: I'm for "divided government" i.e. power split between the parties. I like it when the White House and at least one chamber of Congress are held by different parties. Such arrangements force leaders to make bipartisan compromises. The U.S. government usually performs at its worst when under one party rule, for the checks and balances that keep our government from behaving badly are pretty much suppressed under one-party rule. I prefer leaders who become masters at the art of compromise: Bob Dole and Tip O'Neill come to mind. Compromise is both a sign of respect towards duly-elected members of the other party (and respect towards the citizens who elected them) and a sign of recognition that the electorate is split, and therefore so is any mandate for action by our government.