I somehow read you as a reasonable voice in the wilderness... <g>
Well, I try to be reasonable. I’m an engineer with a math and physics background, and I have worked with GPS and other satellite systems for over 20 years. You can’t be unreasonable with the data, equations or the software for these systems. I have to “listen” to the data and constantly evaluate the results. Sometimes it will take a couple of years of teamwork to optimize a solution and get it to the customer.
Because we are discussing government programs, I would want to know whether there is a reasonably objective measure of success for a program. I would hope that this measure would be determined before the program starts. I’m OK with experiments as long as the successes and failures are fully documented and available to the public.
So, did ObamaCare get more people covered at a reasonable cost? I think there are many people who are grateful to finally have some kind of medical insurance, especially those with pre-existing conditions. I understand the desire to have a profit incentive for insurance providers to reduce costs, but the biggest cost savings was to just drop anyone as soon as they developed a serious health issue. After these people had run through all of their savings, they might then qualify for state assistance. I didn’t like that system.
I am for single payer. Both of us are against mandatory payments to insurance companies.
I think I am for single payer also. So, would you be against mandatory payments to a government single payer? This would basically work like a tax for healthcare. Given that ObamaCare was based on RomneyCare in Massachusetts, I like the idea of states creating different approaches to health insurance so that we can see what works and what doesn’t. I thought the ACA was created because we weren’t getting very far with this method.
Taleb is for local control of most things.
What does “local” mean in this context? State or county? There are some poor counties out there.
As far as Trump goes, I can’t think of him as anything but a swindler. According to some reports there are over 3500 legal proceedings against him, and many of these are for nonpayment of bills. The most recent and egregious swindle was for Trump University, and I simply can’t dismiss this. I can only think that it’s naïve that people can know that he has mistreated many people, and still believe that he won’t mistreat them in the same way.
Playing the lottery is a mathematically bad idea. For very few people a bad decision has good outcome. After the dot-com bust and people defaulted on their auto loans, the more common trash found in the glove compartment were old lottery tickets – as a last chance Hail Mary. Trump was a lottery ticket bought by the bottom third of the country. Hopefully, a bad choice as a good outcome for the bottom third. It’s not impossible.<g>
I agree with Taleb that globalization is a huge problem.
OK, I’ll agree. I think we need easier access and lower rates for student loans, with an option for government assistance if the grades are good. Something like this works in Canada, I was told. I also want state run vocational schools along with private ones.
Anyway, you will have to decide if I’m reasonable. |
