USA in melt down

[golach]

Can we all just take a minute to appreciate the fact that the largest government in North America just shut down essentially because about 50 white dudes don't want females to have access to free birth control?

[George Brims]

They also don't want the elderly to get free preventive care or babies to get inoculations. They basically don't want the country to have anything the scary black man thinks is a good idea.

[Kenn]

But The USA is the supposed to be The Land of The Free ! Some freedom when a bunch of right wingers can disrupt both their domestic and the world's running.

[Bruce_H]

It's not about birth control, it's about putting a stop to run away deficit spending for the most part, and trying to stop the government run health care take over, though it is a few years too late for that.

Birth control would not be free - someone would have to pay for it, either the person getting it or the rest of the tax payers. Many of us, while we support the options to use birth control or not by anyone, think that people with strong religious beliefs around conception should not be forced to commit what they believe is a sin.

The USA was founded on the back of a tax revolt in the late 1700s, so we have a history of getting crazy over taxes.

[golach]

It's not about birth control, it's about putting a stop to run away deficit spending for the most part, and trying to stop the government run health care take over, though it is a few years too late for that.

Birth control would not be free - someone would have to pay for it, either the person getting it or the rest of the tax payers. Many of us, while we support the options to use birth control or not by anyone, think that people with strong religious beliefs around conception should not be forced to commit what they believe is a sin.

The USA was founded on the back of a tax revolt in the late 1700s, so we have a history of getting crazy over taxes.

There speaks the voice of the Tea Party

[Bruce_H]

There speaks the voice of the Tea Party

Testify! Born free and never willingly subjugated.

Bruce H

[weezer 316]

It's not about birth control, it's about putting a stop to run away deficit spending for the most part, and trying to stop the government run health care take over, though it is a few years too late for that.

Birth control would not be free - someone would have to pay for it, either the person getting it or the rest of the tax payers. Many of us, while we support the options to use birth control or not by anyone, think that people with strong religious beliefs around conception should not be forced to commit what they believe is a sin.

The USA was founded on the back of a tax revolt in the late 1700s, so we have a history of getting crazy over taxes.

How is it even possible to be as ignorant in this day and age as this?

Your taxes are, frankly, a joke. Your religious right have led your entire country down a garden path since about 1980, with faith over facts in almost every field. Your ludicrous healthcare system has left you with an infant mortality rate worse than a banana republic, miles behind your peers, and only covers 80% of your population, and even then the govt, through medicare and medicaid provides cover for most of that. If its a govt takeoever of healthcare you care about why arent the GOP trying to get rid of medicare and medicaid?

Added to that, the fact your tax rates of went through the floor, yet you still demand more services from the govt, has left you in the situation where the like of bush can come in and spend trillions, literally, that you havent got, leave your economy in a mess, with a 1trn structural deficit.....and yet some 40% of your population (almost all GOP voters) still think Obama is to blame for this?

I would suggest you read about the collapse of the islamic empire in the 11th Century. This most closely mirrors the US struggles just now.

[secrets in symmetry]

How is it even possible to be as ignorant in this day and age as this?

Your taxes are, frankly, a joke. Your religious right have led your entire country down a garden path since about 1980, with faith over facts in almost every field. Your ludicrous healthcare system has left you with an infant mortality rate worse than a banana republic, miles behind your peers, and only covers 80% of your population, and even then the govt, through medicare and medicaid provides cover for most of that. If its a govt takeoever of healthcare you care about why arent the GOP trying to get rid of medicare and medicaid?

Added to that, the fact your tax rates of went through the floor, yet you still demand more services from the govt, has left you in the situation where the like of bush can come in and spend trillions, literally, that you havent got, leave your economy in a mess, with a 1trn structural deficit.....and yet some 40% of your population (almost all GOP voters) still think Obama is to blame for this?

I would suggest you read about the collapse of the islamic empire in the 11th Century. This most closely mirrors the US struggles just now.

It's very easy to live in America and be ignorant about the world. The American high school education system does a very good job in that respect.

[secrets in symmetry]

But The USA is the supposed to be The Land of The Free ! Some freedom when a bunch of right wingers can disrupt both their domestic and the world's running.

Indeed. It's another example of how the American system of government isn't fit for the modern world. It might have been adequate to prevent religious persecution in the 18th century, but it's not fit for purpose now.

[joxville]

The American government would rather spend trillions of tax dollars on weapons to kill people, all in the name of democracy, than spend it on their own people. But just like this country, it's run by the elite, for the elite. A government of the people, by the people, for the people, is a long and distant memory.

[secrets in symmetry]

This may appear naive, but I don't think the current American government is to blame for the current crisis. The problem is that Congress is often opposed to the president, and this renders him powerless on some issues. The system was set up to avoid abuse of power by the president, but it sometimes renders him powerless.

It is indeed ironic that some elements of the Republican party are happy for the state to spend many billions on defence, but then to argue that it's morally wrong for the state to spend money on the health of its people.

[George Brims]

It's not about birth control, it's about putting a stop to run away deficit spending for the most part, and trying to stop the government run health care take over, though it is a few years too late for that.

If you want to stop runaway deficit spending, don't elect Republicans. The deficit, up until this latest TP-led madness, has been shrinking fast (just like under the last Democratic president). The new health care plan is not "government run", it just mandates everyone getting *private* healthcare, with subsidies for those who can't afford it. A system first proposed by the right-wing Heritage Foundation in opposition to the Clinton healthcare proposals, and first implemented in Massachusetts by Governor Romney.

Birth control would not be free - someone would have to pay for it, either the person getting it or the rest of the tax payers. Many of us, while we support the options to use birth control or not by anyone, think that people with strong religious beliefs around conception should not be forced to commit what they believe is a sin.

Again, the taxpayers aren't paying for birth control, it's coming out of your health plan. And there is a religious exemption built into the plan for the likes of churches.

The USA was founded on the back of a tax revolt in the late 1700s, so we have a history of getting crazy over taxes.

Now you're being accurate. Crazy is the only word that applies here.

[George Brims]

Still, some good may come of it all...

[Kenn]

A government by the people for the people! Jox, that smacks of democracy and we all know what a myth that is!