It fits her perfectly. She's 'untainted' by any weird history, so she's got a blank sheet. She can always get more moderate in the future without too many odd stares (people expect you to mellow out as you age).

i think that's possible but unlikely. she started out too far left to crawl to center and get away with it. New Yorkers love a scandal, and will be happy to watch her burn. they're used to bullshit, and aren't actually depending on her as a messiah.

that would be compared to someone perhaps from Mining country in West Virginia, where the voters put a LOT of faith into their representative.

I was hoping someone would catch this. I had no hope that Fenderp would, of course.

not just that, in politics you will always have to compromise, so it's obvious to aim for your ideal scenario but expect that you will have to settle for less, rather than starting from a compromise and get nothing done.
the system needs an overhaul and no matter how hard certain lobby groups and politicians that are deep in the pockets of insurance and big pharma fight against it, no matter how much they exaggerate the expected costs of any proposal trying to change the current system - the reality of it is that healthcare is ridiculously expensive in america, while most other civilised countries DO manage to provide adequate healthcare for considerably LOWER costs. it's nothing but a cheap excuse to just state that the self-proclaimed 'greatest nation on earth' simply can't do it, without even trying it properly.

that brings us back to the point of double standards: when the MIC says there is a war to fight, when the economists say there is a new bailout on the horizon... no one asks how anyone could possibly pay for those - but when you want to spend tax dollars on education and healthcare, the establishment bubble suddenly becomes aware of costs - because they don't profit from that...

neither Bernie nor AOC has contested the cost forecasts, they both know that even if it isn't literally 2x the current federal budget its close enough to make no matter.

it would require an unprecedented tax increase, not by a bit, but rather an order of magnitude.

both know we can't implement their plans, but they wave them around to get votes all the same. you're of course right that corporate interests lie and are against them, but you miss that they lie too. they lie for votes with proposals they know won't ever even get to a vote. it might be a white lie by comparison, but it's a lie. if they wanted to make change they'd try to change the system incrementally rather than radically.

im a bit confused why you keep dodging these specifics in favor of generalities. her plans are untenable, period. you can lament a world in which they aren't, or in reality use them now being applicable to vaguely demonize the US, but u cant be surprised, or worse yet feign it.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Nov 14 2018 03:20pm

They work until they don't. Europe is facing a lot of challenges that actually make the positions you listed below highly problematic. Slowing growth combined with higher pension obligations, it's actually one of the bigger reasons why the UK wanted out.

A key difference between the US and the EU is our taxes are nowhere near the rape they are in Europe. I mean yeah it's nice to have all those kumbaya freebies when you're on the lower end of the earning spectrum but once you start making OK money it becomes unbearable to be taxed at 50% rates. I think I rather live in a country in which if I push myself hard enough I can keep most of the money I get from my hard work instead of having it redistributed to people that get gender studies degrees.

Europe is fast approaching a point where they will be between a rock and a hard place. Already hefty taxes, low growth, higher debt, aging population. Here i found an article for you.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2018/07/02/europes-pension-funds-are-running-low-as-boomers-retire/#4ec3207a63a0

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Nov 14 2018 03:17pm

How does it become unbearable when you get at higher rates? Are you not familiar with progressive taxation systems? You will always have more money left over than someone who earns less than you.

I'd rather live in a country where I won't be bankrupt if I get cancer or if someone sideswipes me on the highway.

The point is you guys have very little wiggle room in a growingly dysfunctional system so to say it's working is a stretch. At least in the US we are raising our interest rate and have relatively low taxes, so if shit hits the fan we can always use those levers to alleviate the issues. You guys have high taxes, low growth, a low interest rate, and an aging population. The yield on many euro sovereign bonds is negative or near that. Who wants to buy Italian or Spanish sovereign debt when that has higher risk and less return vs something like US bonds? Your only hope is for the ECB to write blank checks and that will work in the near future but like I said as some of these issues are exasperated like pension funding, the only real option is austerity.



Some of the Euro social policies are not as successful as you make them out to be. Look at the forest my friend.

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Nov 14 2018 03:36pm

it's not about wealth or bribes, it's about basic life experience and basic success at making a living. someone who is a failure at life imho is not qualified to run the country.

Not having a lot of money in savings after running a campaign isnt included in basic success at making a living though.