Summations Only

Yes there are subsidies, but if, say, a family of two makes $48,000/year (after deductions) and cannot afford the $2500 for the cheapest possible ACA insurance, the penalty will be $1200, for which they receive nothing in return. About 6.5 million people paid a penalty averaging $470 for the 2015 tax year (How Many Americans Paid the Obamacare Tax Penalty in 2016).--Percy

Yes, my wife's hairdresser. The $2500 cost of insurance is after subsidies.I already understand everything you said. People who can't afford healthcare simply forgo healthcare as much as possible. It isn't right that they should pay money and receive nothing in return. They should get at least something, some kind of rock-bottom coverage perhaps. You might recall that there was a lot of argument in Congress over the penalty, and its constitutionality was challenged in court. Somehow fixing the penalty would do a lot to reduce objections to the ACA. It's worth noting that Trump has occasionally advocated a single-payer system, but it's hard to know how serious he is.--Percy

I understand all that, but to my mind there shouldn't be a penalty at all, because it's taking away money from the people who can least afford it. But the penalty is one of the major reasons there was so much push-back from Republicans. They need to find another way. Agreed. After all the campaign talk about having a better system that would be cheaper, fairer and cover more people, he had nothing. He just straight out lied, and continues to lie. I don't understand how the Trump constituency can't see this.--Percy

Most first world countries already provide universal healthcare. The US is an outlier. You misunderstand the criticism. The criticism is not that Trump failed to come up with a plan in less than two months. The criticism is that he lied during the campaign when he said he already had a better and cheaper health care plan. Turns out he had no plan and they had to cobble one together at the last minute.One wonders when the Trump supporters will finally learn that braggadocio is just the way Trump talks. Everything he says is better and bigger and more wonderful. It's always a nice fairy tale, but it's rarely the truth. It's way too early to tell whether the Democrats have the same silly rule, since no significant legislation has actually come to a vote. We'll probably get our first indication with the Gorsuch vote - we'll see if any Democrats vote in favor. It would be nice if we could begin to see more reaching across the aisle. The last enumerated power is very inclusive:

quote:

---

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

---

Combined with the "General Welfare" clause this casts a fairly wide net. You go on to discuss the clause as originally interpreted, but its interpretation has grown increasingly expansive over time, most notably about 80 years ago with the advent of social security, and later Medicare. The significant example that comes to mind is Bill Clinton's reformulation of the welfare laws back in the 1990's. A better bill meaning one that doesn't take healthcare away from 24 million Americans over the next decade?--Percy

Trump's approval rating is the lowest in modern memory thus far in a presidency (according to the Gallup Poll, so these are apples-to-apples numbers): What this doesn't show is that Trump has solid approval ratings from his base of supporters, which has barely weakened at all. One wishes for another polling category: I agree with the President politically, but he's a nut-case.--Percy

It isn't a matter of defending it but believing it. Most Trump claims are pure exaggeration and hyperbole. He doesn't know how to fix healthcare, he doesn't know how to make Mexico pay for the wall, he doesn't know he will reduce corporate taxes, he doesn't understand the legislative process and how to work with Congress, he doesn't know how to staff his administration, he doesn't know how to work with allies or trading partners, he doesn't know how he'll reduce the deficit while lowering taxes and increasing spending on infrastructure, he doesn't know how to make claims based on facts, it goes on and on. The real question is since little he says can be trusted (it's mostly just non-specific boasting and "selling glitter") how would anyone know what they were getting when they voted for him. I mean, besides the boasting and preening. I'm not an Obama supporter, but the contrast between Obama and Trump is stark. One is a calm and deliberate statesman, the other almost a raving lunatic. Of course the press has taken notice - how could they ignore the elephant in the room. Each event of the disaster of Trump's first couple months actually happened and was duly reported. Here's an interesting Obama factoid: per capita federal spending did not grow under Obama. The federal government spent $11,488 per capita in 2009, Obama's first year, and $11,927 per capita in 2016, Obama's last (source). Adjust for inflation and spending per capita declined. The increase in size of government that people are so worried about didn't happen - there was no call to put a madman in charge.--PercyEdited by Percy, : Delete spurious text.

All of it true and caused by his own incompetence. The press didn't force Trump to make absurd claims about inauguration crowd sizes or voting by illegals or wiretapping by the Obama administration. The press didn't force Trump to insult allies and trading partners. The press didn't force Trump to fail to develop a healthcare plan before claiming he had a healthcare plan. Etc., etc. Trump was the force behind all the negative press.The poll numbers seem an accurate reflection of Trump's performance thus far. Only if and when Trump begins having some successes will his poll numbers rise.--Percy

You mean like Rick Perry for Energy, Betsy DeVos for Education and Scott Pruitt for the EPA? With unemployment at 4.9% we're already at full employment. Increased employment from here would cause inflation. We're going to live with the consequences of reduced attention to the environment for a long, long time. The longer it takes to get in place the better. What is strange is how Trump supporters seem blissfully unaware of the Trump lying and incompetence factor. He has policies he'd like to put in place that I'm in favor of too, such as a reduction of the corporate income tax, removal of tax loopholes (the big one is a tax break for fat cats that allows them to have interest taxed at long term capital gains rates), and tax reform. The border tax seems like a good idea, too, though I need to understand it better.But the fact that Trump supports some policies I favor doesn't blind me to the glaring lying and incompetence displayed in his first hundred days, and I don't understand why Trump supporters don't see it. Not angry - aghast, disturbed, concerned. But it wasn't because of spending. It was because of the most severe recession since the Great Depression. As a percent of GDP, the national debt rose rapidly during the recession, then leveled off.--Percy

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 was a bipartisan effort. It was part of the Republican Contract with America and one of Clinton's campaign promises. Welfare and poverty rates both declined in the latter half of the 1990's, and the bill was deemed a success. Headlines like you suggest wouldn't reflect reality and hence never happened.--Percy

Trump is running government from a self-serving business perspective. He has failed to disclose his tax returns, refused to divest himself of his businesses, and filled his administration with like-minded cronies. But he's not doing the things he was elected to do - he's doing the opposite. He ran as a populist, and now he's pursuing policies that run counter to the interests of the people who elected him by paring back programs for those in need (see, for example, In Ohio County That Backed Trump, Word of Housing Cuts Stirs Fear). Trump is a typical trickle-down Republican: help the rich and it will trickle down to the poor. Your dilemma is that it isn't possible to provide evidence for things that never happened.--Percy

There are two problems with this. First, it isn't true. The emission standards in effect for a truck's model year are the ones that apply. Second, there are assistance programs for those interested in an engine retrofit or replacement, especially for diesels. Irrelevant and likely untrue. The lower the unemployment rate the greater the inflationary pressures. That's because you haven't seen it before. I've already said several times that it's unprecedented, but Trump has brought it all on himself. It's not like a constant barrage of lying attacks doesn't have consequences. That's right, he hasn't, but the country very much needs him to change from campaign mode to governing mode.Also, you seem to have become caught up in the Trump misdirection concerning his false wiretapping claim. If you phone a Russian who is under surveillance, then you'll become surveilled yourself during that phone call.--Percy

Hi Mark,You sound like a one-man environmental wrecking crew. Insulate your house, get an efficient furnace, get a newer truck, save money on fuel, and reduce your pollution of the air we all breath. A few years ago I switched our home heating system from oil to high efficiency propane and am spending about half as much to heat the house now. The new system will pay for itself in a few more years, and after that it's gravy.We can't really talk about TV news because I don't watch any. I get nearly all my news from the print media. I rarely watch videos. TV news is obnoxious in the way it blares for attention both in style and the types of stories it chooses.--Percy

Inquiring minds want to know.I thought I'd be posting more often to this thread, but the disappointments piled one upon another so rapidly that I couldn't keep up. It's a new screw up every day. The latest is that Trump Shared Classified Data With Russians. It just doesn't end. What we have is an incompetent and autocratic White House unfamiliar with handling the reins of government.--Percy

The jobs report that came out a couple days ago said that job growth in May slowed to 138,000. A number around 185,000 had been expected. In addition, the job numbers for March and April were revised sharply downward.--Percy

I think probably most people share my own reaction to this of, "The maple syrup comment makes no sense, and DrJones* wasn't implying anything like that anyway." According to Wikipedia, the Unite the Right rally protesters were a mix of "white supremacists, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis and militias." While marching or protesting they were chanting phrases like "Jews will not replace us" and "Blood and soil," waving Confederate and Nazi flags, and holding placards saying things like "the Goyim know" and "the Jewish media is going down." It wasn't like it would have been easy to unknowingly get mixed in with these protesters.We should all condemn violence, but the violence in Charlottesville shouldn't serve to distract us from the primary message. The Unite the Right protesters are wrong independent of any violence their members may or may not have committed. They're wrong because their message of hate is wrong, and it is important that we make clear how strongly we object to this message.In this our leader failed us. Miserably and spectacularly. No.--Percy