An American got sick in Taiwan. He came back with a tale of the ‘horrors of socialized medicine.’

[bojack]

@bojack

One, because Americans who have more intimate experience in dealing with government regulation directly, year in and year out, tend to be business owners and they tend to be Republicans. Have you ever paid quarterly income taxes, or collected/submitted FICA tax for employees, or had some building project you’re invested in heavily unilaterally shut down by a county building inspector for a code violation?

@hansioux

I find that entire sentence ridiculous.

I’m going to take it that your answer is “no,” you’ve never “partnered” with the US or local government in a business venture.

It is not exactly a pleasant experience. It’s also not an experience to be taken lightly.

@hansioux

I thought the whole idea of ACA is that since the Republicans won’t back a single payer system, so let’s model after the Massachusetts system (set up by Mitt Romney)

Yes, that was the Democrat idea. The one that was rammed through Congress without Republican input.

Keep in mind that Massachusetts is among a handful of the most liberal states in the US, and Romney is among the most liberal Republicans in the GOP. Massachusetts is to the US as NYC is to the US, important but nowhere near representative.

In the minds of Democrats they chose a compromise, but as events have shown the compromise they chose was not the compromise that would have been reached had Republicans been involved in the legislative sausage making.

@hansioux

If the political system is set up for failure, it’s time to do some modifications. We need to end gerrymandering, there are fair algorithms that can divide districts fairly.

It’s debatable. Keep in mind that whatever algorithm you use, a human will decide what defines “fair.”

I think that gerrymandering as a spoils of war forces Democrats to stay engaged in “flyover” states where, if they retreat, they will lose all input into control over redistricting. Control of redistricting forces Democrats to listen to Americans everywhere, or lose valuable Congressional representation.

The Atlas Of Redistricting

@hansioux

We also need to take money out of politics. That’s the least we can do, if we are serious about changing national politics.

Debatable. I think replacing the passion in politics with reasoned thought is far more important. In fact, taking the money out of American politics probably depends on taking the passion out first.