USA Presidential Politics - 2008

[StewartG]

Originally Posted by Seakony

Is there something wrong with the economy??? It's been a banner year for us..in fact the last 6 years hacve been our best. Slim works in the freight business and they had to buy more trucks and hire more drivers to keep up with all the business. Slim has had the best year ever in sales.

Congrats! This may explain your support of the Prez!

Sadly, over the past six years, the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer. I think John Edwards' "two Americas" concept is ringing truer and truer.

(BTW, this may be my last political post for a while. I think I'm going to give it up for lent.)

[znett]

The economy is very strong. There is no denying that!!

[roni]

I see the two Americas, but it has been a good 3 years for us, thanks in large part to our unions and our investments. The day will come though, when the piper will have to be paid and the bill has been run up by Presidents and Congresses who have run up the debt so much.

[znett]

everthing is cyclical.

[Seakony]

the rich always get richer and the poor always stays poor...when has that ever changed? The difference I saw was the middle got richer this time.
Are you one of those people who resent the rich and want to penalize them for being successful? I hope you are not that shallow.

[kirbyfan]

My wife and I are middle class and we have never made as much money as we do now. The last 6 years has been excellent and virtually every person I can think of is better off right now financially than they were 6 years ago...

I dont think the economy is going to be a major issue.

[roni]

Originally Posted by kirbyfan

My wife and I are middle class and we have never made as much money as we do now. The last 6 years has been excellent and virtually every person I can think of is better off right now financially than they were 6 years ago...

I dont think the economy is going to be a major issue.

You could be right, but there is a lot of anxiety out there. Corporations switching from defined benefit to 401k retirement accounts, employees having to pay a larger amount for their portion of health insurance - when it is a benefit, and it is a primarily employer-paid benefit for a smaller proportion of the work force with each passing year.

Jacob Hacker calls it the Great Risk Shift, and the shift is onto the shoulders of the individual or the family. No wonder there is great anxiety.

Even the relatively well off, who maybe want to retire early feel locked in solely due to the cost of health care.

Meanwhile we have the daily reports on the carnage in the subprime mortgage market, the dollar continues to weaken and there is uncertainty.

A candidate who can tap into those issues may find that it resonates with a pretty good part of the electorate.

[MikeW]

I look at the last 6 years.
Taxes are higher.
Health care costs are higher.
I've had plenty of raises to keep up.
Adjusted income is about the same.
That hurts.
Basically I'm poorer than 6 years ago.

[Seakony]

Originally Posted by roni

You could be right, but there is a lot of anxiety out there. Corporations switching from defined benefit to 401k retirement accounts, employees having to pay a larger amount for their portion of health insurance - when it is a benefit, and it is a primarily employer-paid benefit for a smaller proportion of the work force with each passing year.

Jacob Hacker calls it the Great Risk Shift, and the shift is onto the shoulders of the individual or the family. No wonder there is great anxiety.

Even the relatively well off, who maybe want to retire early feel locked in solely due to the cost of health care.

Meanwhile we have the daily reports on the carnage in the subprime mortgage market, the dollar continues to weaken and there is uncertainty.

A candidate who can tap into those issues may find that it resonates with a pretty good part of the electorate.

Mortgage companies are in trouble due to their dumb creative financing and giving too big of loans to people who should have not qualified for that amount. That's their fault, not the govt. People bite off more than they can chew.
Yep..our health care went up some...but so did our income...more than adequate to cover inflation.

[kirbyfan]

Originally Posted by roni

You could be right, but there is a lot of anxiety out there. Corporations switching from defined benefit to 401k retirement accounts, employees having to pay a larger amount for their portion of health insurance - when it is a benefit, and it is a primarily employer-paid benefit for a smaller proportion of the work force with each passing year.

Jacob Hacker calls it the Great Risk Shift, and the shift is onto the shoulders of the individual or the family. No wonder there is great anxiety.

Even the relatively well off, who maybe want to retire early feel locked in solely due to the cost of health care.

Meanwhile we have the daily reports on the carnage in the subprime mortgage market, the dollar continues to weaken and there is uncertainty.

A candidate who can tap into those issues may find that it resonates with a pretty good part of the electorate.

I'm not sure that the average voter would even understand a word you just said.

[kirbyfan]

Originally Posted by MikeW

I look at the last 6 years.
Taxes are higher.
Health care costs are higher.
I've had plenty of raises to keep up.
Adjusted income is about the same.
That hurts.
Basically I'm poorer than 6 years ago.

*shrugs*

Maybe you need to move up here. My taxes are about the same, my healthcare costs are about the same and I have had nice raises...oh and i also work another job on the side so that i can have those extras in life as opposed to mortgaging myself to death like many people do. Theres a big difference between working hard and working smart....some of the hardest working people i know have never figured this out and are always broke because of it.

[roni]

Originally Posted by kirbyfan

I'm not sure that the average voter would even understand a word you just said.

I am sure a lot of average voters are touched by the great risk shift and feel some anxiety about the future based on that and based on other current events. Other than that, I am uncertain that there is such a thing as an average voter. The modal behavior of US citizens is to not vote.

[MWC]

Whether it's justified or not, I do sense a lot of anxiety among my family and friends. I know we've been in an economic holding pattern for years, but that could be attributed to office politics/salary distribution at my husband's law firm as much as anything.

I think our investments have been doing fairly well over the 6-year period.

I think another big issue is going to be American esteem issues. I want to feel good about my country again, and I want to be comfortable in the knowledge that America is considered once again a "good neighbor" in the world community. We are going to need American "can-do" creative energy to help solve so many problems -- especially energy and education issues.

[jscarbor]

Originally Posted by StewartG

Nope. I think the main issues will be the war in Iraq and the economy, in that order.

As far as health care goes, I don't think its insured vs. uninsured only, I think its also the COST of insurance and the costs of health care. By the way, where did you get the figure of 15% uninsured? I would think it would be higher than that...

I had just heard that was the number at some point? Either way healthcare is a distant 3-5 issue.
The economy? Really? Two Americas? How about several americas. This economy is so diverse and dynamic its really amazing. Will there be hiccups? Sure. The national debt some might say? Well, the debt in terms of percentage of overall economy is very strong. I believe our debt ratio is in the top quarter of all countries? In many cases debt is good.

[kwagner99]

The Hearld News in northern New Jersey is currently running an excellent series on the healthcare issue. He is the link to the latest installment:

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?...d2cWVlRUV5eTU=


Here is the money quote:

Contrary to some stereotypes, most people without insurance do work. Nationwide, according the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, about 80 percent of those without insurance live in a family where at least one person has a job, and the vast majority live in a family with a full-time job.
In New Jersey, just one out of five people without health insurance is unemployed, according to the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy.
The assumption that landing a job means getting health coverage no longer holds true. More companies than ever are forgoing health insurance, restricting what's covered, or upping workers' share of the premiums. In addition, New Jersey workers are increasingly employed by small companies, which are less likely to provide health insurance than large companies. Those who become self-employed are pushed into the individual market, where premiums can be prohibitively expensive.

Our healthcare system(?) is a national disgrace. It unduly burdens business, leaves too many people behind, and costs far more and delivers far worse outcomes than any of the other industrialized nations. Please, do not respond with tirades against "Hillary Care" or socialized medicine, because, frankly, those arguments are bullsh*t propaganda manufactured by the insurance industry to maintain the status quo. Ask anybody who is not insured what they would prefer: Waiting a month to see a doctor, or not seeing a doctor at all. (Besides, propaganda about long wait times is designed to get normally rational, thinking people to vote against their own self-interest.) Sure, the health systems of other country's have their problems, but dammit, this is America! We can do anything if we put our minds to it!