rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Longshadow, the U.S. Unfortunately, Covid 19 seems to be the focus of the issues at the moment.
--Bob

tca2267 Loc: Florida

I agree!

srt101fan

Bob, if you are talking about the pandemic specifically, I have a couple of thoughts about what to do. First would be to sort out the division of responsibilities and authority between the Federal and State governments. I think in our form of government that is an essential first step (should have been done months ago...). What we have now is the White House meddling in some situations and backing off in others but in an inconsistent, erratic and confusing manner. Off the cuff inconsistent guidelines and partisan application of political pressure don't help. Lock some smart people in a room and demand a plan of who does what when and how. Work with the governors and Congress to get it implemented. Prime examples of unjustified confusion is supply of personnel protective equipment (PPE) and testing.

Another is the use of masks. We need leadership to get politics out of this issue. There is a vast amount of factual knowledge regarding respiratory protection against contaminants including pathogens. Why can't we use this knowledge to maximize protection of all individuals, be they medical care providers or members of the public at large? Some dismiss the value of masks based on misinformation and concerns regarding personal freedom! We need to work on that with better messaging and a more conciliatory outreach.

I support Federal action to increase PPE production with a wartime approach to getting it done. Shortages of protection and testing equipment and materiel are absolutely inexcusable. I've posted on this in another thread - https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-655048-6.html#11385177

The issue of schools needs immediate and critical attention. Skip the ultimatums and threats to cut funding to schools that aren't ready to open. Look at the big picture and listen to all parties. Look at it as an opportunity for a "big picture" review of the way we educate our kids. With all the technology advancements are there evolutionary improvements to be gained? Can we build on and improve on online learning and home schooling to take the pressure off traditional classroom teaching?

Oh well......

DennyT Loc: Central Missouri woods

Churchill said - to paraphrase- america will always do the right thing after trying everything else..

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I'm in agreement with a great deal of this. As much as there is a vast amount of "factual" knowledge, there seems to be a vast amount of inconsistencies in that knowledge. The problem stems from anyone with a webcam can post whatever they like and sound authoritative. Hell, we've even had inconsistencies from the people, or person, at the very top, who's considered the expert. Then, we have disagreements from those above that person. There is a huge problem of leadership, but then the problem is what do we do with this issue which is apparently huge and killing people.

Somehow or other, I think there was probably the same amount of confusion when Pearl Harbor was bombed. What do we do and how do we do it. Fortunately, that focused on an enemy we could see. I think currently we have a lot of degreed people who are letting the status of their exalted degree get in the way of actually figuring out what is going on and how to combat it.

Another thing that would be quite useful is getting politics out of the equation. There seems to be too much of that involved to foster a united effort to combat and eliminate this menace.
--Bob

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

As srt101 stated..we need to keep politics out of the cover issue.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Trump is using the CCP, playbook aided by advice from Putin.
CCP, Chinese Communist Party
They use a formulated approach to controlling the people. Hong Kong and the military domination of free expression is the approach followed in DC by Trump/Barr.

Remember you will stay safe and out of prision if you chant: Long live our new Dictatorship, Long Live the Republican Party, Long Live the Trump Dynasty.

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

.

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

Your link, while confirming the numbers, in no way suggests that any fraud is taking place.
Life is like a sewer:
What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it.

Watash

Apparently they did not stop the "right" person. Also, where were the police? Oh, I know, they were in
social worker training. I'm not a rocket scientist, but that sounds a lot like armed robbery to me.

DePratt Loc: Stantonsburg, NC

The Earth will take care of itself the heck with the humans on it!

Tex-s

As soon as you say "end the Electoral College" you are actually proposing dissolving the Union. Folks in what the media deride as 'flyover country' have no desire to be ruled at the whim of people from the coasts. You MIGHT be able to sell the idea if MASSIVE amounts of autonomy were returned to the states. Education, marriage, abortion, individual freedoms to or not to associate via business, socially, or contract, etc. Then, you'd also have to end a lot of Federal mandates to alleviate the promise of folks in the middle of the country being mere drones to the greater population at the coasts.

The Founders were quite clear that the one evil they feared greatly was mob rule, and they clearly defined the Senate and the Electoral College to buffer against mob rule. And to that point, because the language for both is directly in the text of the Constitution, it is, by definition, "Constitutional". The proposal to eliminate the College with an amendment would almost certainly never garner the votes in the Congress, and with the lesser populated states more numerous than the higher populated, also never reach the ratification threshold.

As to your other thoughts, term limits have the exact same problem.
Education overhaul can only occur if the feds leave it to the States and states allow local choice. Only competition, both of physical school and of curriculum would end up with schools able to tout their successes and drive out the dysfunctional. Ban unions that protect the bad teacher and establish 'boot camp' schools for kids that choose to thwart the rules.

The only salvation of the medical system, to me, hinges on three precepts.

1) Tort reform. Today's medical practitioners begin their professional careers with 100's of thousands in debt. Not only do they need to earn enough in their career to repay that debt, but they also are faced with astronomical costs of malpractice insurance because of the threat of litigation. Only by limiting the threat of liability, or by reducing the cost of medical training will you get doctors ABLE to charge a little less. ***

2) Markets. The cost of lasik surgery is currently about 15% of what it was as a new procedure. Why? Simple. When the procedure was new, meaning few practitioners, long lines, and high demand per practitioner. As time went on, more and more practitioners could provide the service and a price war ensued, but the greatest reason is that there are no pharmaceutical companies, ad agencies, or regulatory agencies taking a major cut. All of those agent are at work gouging prices in a typical hospital or out-patient environment.

3) Government intervention. My cousin worked for an insurance provider. There were many positions in her offices that were dedicated to exactly ONE task. Government regulation compliance, and these folks worked with folks in doctors offices, clinics and hospitals whose only job was compliance. That makes 10's of thousands of people nationwide who are on the medical payroll, but never provide a single service to patients.

But the real problem in medical, to me, is anyone who, given a choice, wants lesser quality at a lesser price instead of higher quality at a higher price. It is not possible for everyone to have the highest quality at a low price. No doctors can survive financially. No hospitals. No one. And if you let the government take it over, the access and quality will not change much, but the overall cost, waste, graft, fraud, ad corruption will skyrocket.

srt101fan

Thought-provoking comments....Thank you....

Zooman 1

Ending the electoral college does not mean ending the union. What it does mean is the president and vice-president will be elected by popular vote. The argument I have heard frequently against this, is that the more populated states will control who is elected. But, that is what is happening right now under the electoral college system. The states with the most people have the most electoral votes. Which is why we end up with 'battle ground' states.

Changing the health system must start with the cost of education and work upwards.

Tex-s

Yup to the education part. I had a *** in my comment to remind me to address that issue, and forgot. LOL

Wanna know the reason education costs have skyrocketed? Guaranteed student loans. Government intervention caused it. The cycle is simple. Kid is guaranteed a loan, and is guaranteed that the loan will be given for any major at any university. So, kid looks for the university with the best combination of education and 'perks'. Perks include fancy housing, recreation and or aquatic centers, on site bowling alleys, arcades, theaters, etc. Perks also will include competitive sports being successful, and to THAT end, one example is Baylor. Baylor has spent in excess of 150 million updating its athletic facilities. Now, in Baylor's case a large portion was donated, but it's a local example with which I'm familiar. Other universities are spending similar amounts, but those amounts are recaptured when tuition goes up.

University has become a version of the Vegas strip, with shiny stadiums, sexy clubs, and even pretty girls showing you the 'town' when you come for a campus tour, and no matter the cost of tuition, the government (pronounced 'tax payers') guarantee the loan will be made. End that promise and the cost of college will drop 30% overnight, as universities will have to sell their education and compete for fewer students, meaning they'll be forced to lower rates. It might even get so bad that universities stop offering useless degrees like gender studies...... One can hope.

I think the electoral college could be modified to resemble the actual Congress and make EVERY state a battleground, but still somewhat protect against coastal tyranny. Here is a copy/paste of the last time I mentioned it.

The Electoral College had one primary goal: create and maintain a Union of the States. Without it, there would not have been a Union. Without it, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania could have written all the laws for everyone, effectively mob-ruling the lesser populated states. Since no State would be interested in joining a group in which they had no effective representation (a tenet precipitating the Declaration of Independence, by the way) no small state would have joined. Simple. The senate apportionment of 2 Senators and the Electoral College were NECESSARY then, as now. I can assure you that (excepting Illinois) the middle of this nation has NO interest in having their citizens and concerns mob-ruled by the coasts.

I've tossed around an interesting modification to the Electoral College that would be more democratic, but still give voice to the smaller states. A President could still be elected with fewer overall votes, but it would be less likely, and would make EVERY state a swing state.

The plan, simply.

State vote winner gets the 2 "Senate seat" electors
"House" electors are proportioned by percentage.

So if CA went 60/40 to the Democrats the first 2 electors and 60% of the remaining 53 electors (31.8 = 32) for a total of 34 electors. The Republicans then would get 40% of the 53, or 21 electors.

Imagine the battles for just 1 or 2 percent of the vote in TX, in CA, in NY, in FL .......For 1% a party could flip an elector and effectively change the count by 2 electoral votes......