The Many Faces of US Politics...

[five points]

Incarceration is 8% of US GDP
Compared to.less than 1% elsewhere.
It is a  scam to.enrich the richest.

US healthcare is 17% of GDP
Compared to.c 10% elsewhere.
It is another scam.

Incarceration  plus sickness cost 25% of GDP
This is nuts

You are correct in relation to incarceration. It is a monumental scandal.

Healthcare less so, merely a restatement of the truism that the demand for healthcare is limitless and the more money you commit to it, the more money it will consume.

[J70]

The cost system of healthcare in the US is ridiculous and completely unpredictable, with astronomical ranges in what they charge for simple medicines, never mind procedures. People don't care until it personally bites them on the arse. You got charged 80 dollars for an aspirin? So what, the insurance company will pay them two under their particular negotiated rates and you're not on the hook for anything if you've got a 100% policy (although this will have massive premiums). Its all good though until the unpredictability hits and some doctor who is not covered under your policy (even though the clinic or hospital itself is) glances at your chart and throws down an invoice for five grand which you are then responsible for, even though you'd no clue it was coming. Doesn't matter that you were horribly ill or injured and your family desperate, you should have been checking every medical professional who entered the room to make sure you were still in network during your stay. And god help you if you have to go out of network, or worse, get caught with either no insurance or insufficient coverage for what you need. Hope you've got a handy hundred grand lying around to pay for that surgery you unexpectedly need or even more for the cancer treatment. Just bring the deed to your house with you, just in case. Assuming you own a house.

[easytiger95]

take a look at what are common diseases in Guatemala and see what u think,  but there should be a revolving door at the border according to eamon j70 and his fellow Democrats

Only an imbecile would be unable to grasp there is a vast swath of grey between a closed border and an open border.

Did you realise that by making it solely a civil, rather than also criminal offence - the US borderland security could more quickly remove illegals from US soil?

Doubt Fox News told you that.


What Castro is referring to is Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, which stipulates that anyone caught crossing the border illegally is to be tried before a judge and fined, imprisoned for up to two years, or both. At no point does it provide for deportation. Deportation is the penalty for the civil offense of illegal immigration. The criminal offense outlined in Section 1325 simply puts illegal immigrants through the criminal justice system and imprisons them for up to two years.

if u  cross border and surrender to border patrol u are released in the us and are given a court date to show up to court and plea your case (10% of people show up)for amnesty , if you enter illegally and are caught u are locked up and deported which is proper order , only a sick imbecile would be hoping the corona virus would be the reason a president lost an election.

Only 10 percent show up for hearings?

As soon as I read this, I knew it was completely wrong. And I haven't lived in the States for nearly 25 years.

It literally took me 10secs on Google to find this link - by using the search terms "percentage of illegal immigrants who attend hearings following catch and release"

https://www.vox.com/2020/1/10/21059924/trump-asylum-seekers-show-up-court-hearing

So if you're basic premise is wrong, why should anyone believe anything else you say re immigration? The vast majority of people who cross the border want to be there legally, want to obey laws and pay taxes (which they do whilst illegal and percentage wise are more law abiding than citizens) and are an economic boon to the communities they live in.

The information to educate yourself is keystrokes away. You should try it.

educate yourself says the guy quoting vox don't believe too much they report .
The acting dhs secretary McAleenan said at a may 23rd senate Judiciary Committee hearing that 90% of final deportation orders were given to absent parolees.  I live in the community you are talking about but you know more than me ? I would never start talking about Ireland like I know more than you do and base my claims from a google search.

No, I was linking to Vox who were quoting a report - you can do that on the internet now - here's the link https://trac.syr.edu/whatsnew/email.200108.html
The acting dhs secretary McAleenan said at a may 23rd senate Judiciary Committee hearing that 90% of final deportation orders were given to absent parolees
is very different from saying only 10 percent of immigrants turn up for hearings. Again pointing to a need to educate yourself - as does the basic lack of awareness that an acting DHS sec would have an inherent political bias whereas Syracuse University conducting an academic study would not. I didn't say I know more than you about this subject because I live in Ireland - I'm saying I know more than you because I have a decent respect for civics and maths.

If I were you, I'd try and google a bit more around this subject and also apply a bit of critical thinking to the sources that you use.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Healthcare less so, merely a restatement of the truism that the demand for healthcare is limitless and the more money you commit to it, the more money it will consume.

Yet by most headline figures - health care within the US is worse than most other 1st world countries - and those countries spend significantly lower proportions of GDP on healthcare.

[five points]

Healthcare less so, merely a restatement of the truism that the demand for healthcare is limitless and the more money you commit to it, the more money it will consume.

Yet by most headline figures - health care within the US is worse than most other 1st world countries - and those countries spend significantly lower proportions of GDP on healthcare.

Doesn't really change the fact that the demand for healthcare is limitless. They more money you have the more you will spend on it. And the more you spend on it, the more of this will be wasted.

[whitey]

Healthcare less so, merely a restatement of the truism that the demand for healthcare is limitless and the more money you commit to it, the more money it will consume.

Yet by most headline figures - health care within the US is worse than most other 1st world countries - and those countries spend significantly lower proportions of GDP on healthcare.

Doesn't really change the fact that the demand for healthcare is limitless. They more money you have the more you will spend on it. And the more you spend on it, the more of this will be wasted.

My cousin lost a 4 year old to brain cancer.  After she exhausted her insurance, I think they had a $3M lifetime cap, she then went on Medicaid in order to get a $700K stem cell transplant. The numbers are simply staggering

[RadioGAAGAA]

Healthcare less so, merely a restatement of the truism that the demand for healthcare is limitless and the more money you commit to it, the more money it will consume.

Yet by most headline figures - health care within the US is worse than most other 1st world countries - and those countries spend significantly lower proportions of GDP on healthcare.

Doesn't really change the fact that the demand for healthcare is limitless. They more money you have the more you will spend on it. And the more you spend on it, the more of this will be wasted.

Yes, you will be well into the realm of diminished returns. But you should not be seeing a worse outcome!

So, going by spend as a function of GDP, the USA should have the best (or one of the best) healthcare systems in the world. Instead it is very mediocre.

[five points]

Yes, you will be well into the realm of diminished returns. But you should not be seeing a worse outcome!

So, going by spend as a function of GDP, the USA should have the best (or one of the best) healthcare systems in the world. Instead it is very mediocre.

Yes, but that just suggests that they're well into the realm of diminished returns. Essentially people, individually and collectively, are throwing all the money they have at healthcare.

[johnnycool]

Yes, you will be well into the realm of diminished returns. But you should not be seeing a worse outcome!

So, going by spend as a function of GDP, the USA should have the best (or one of the best) healthcare systems in the world. Instead it is very mediocre.

Yes, but that just suggests that they're well into the realm of diminished returns. Essentially people, individually and collectively, are throwing all the money they have at healthcare.

OR US healthcare is vastly overpriced to line the pockets of big Pharma and the various other providers with no sign of a functioning market economy to keep the prices competitive.

[five points]

Yes, but that just suggests that they're well into the realm of diminished returns. Essentially people, individually and collectively, are throwing all the money they have at healthcare.

OR US healthcare is vastly overpriced to line the pockets of big Pharma and the various other providers with no sign of a functioning market economy to keep the prices competitive.

Both could easily be true.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Yes, you will be well into the realm of diminished returns. But you should not be seeing a worse outcome!

So, going by spend as a function of GDP, the USA should have the best (or one of the best) healthcare systems in the world. Instead it is very mediocre.

Yes, but that just suggests that they're well into the realm of diminished returns. Essentially people, individually and collectively, are throwing all the money they have at healthcare.

You do realise a dimished return means you still have a positive return yes?

The performance of the US system would indicate significant negative returns (or an extremely inefficient system) when compared to other first world countries.

[J70]

Healthcare less so, merely a restatement of the truism that the demand for healthcare is limitless and the more money you commit to it, the more money it will consume.

Yet by most headline figures - health care within the US is worse than most other 1st world countries - and those countries spend significantly lower proportions of GDP on healthcare.

Doesn't really change the fact that the demand for healthcare is limitless. They more money you have the more you will spend on it. And the more you spend on it, the more of this will be wasted.

My cousin lost a 4 year old to brain cancer.  After she exhausted her insurance, I think they had a $3M lifetime cap, she then went on Medicaid in order to get a $700K stem cell transplant. The numbers are simply staggering

Jesus. Don't even want to imagine what that was like for them. And having to deal with all the ridiculous insurance bullshit on top of watching your tiny child go through that. My condolences.

[J70]

Yes, you will be well into the realm of diminished returns. But you should not be seeing a worse outcome!

So, going by spend as a function of GDP, the USA should have the best (or one of the best) healthcare systems in the world. Instead it is very mediocre.

Yes, but that just suggests that they're well into the realm of diminished returns. Essentially people, individually and collectively, are throwing all the money they have at healthcare.

That's a good point, and a topic of at least some debate, albeit not much publicly. Where do the doctors and families draw the lines when it comes to treatment for advanced cancer or keeping extremely sick patients with no hope of recovery alive for another few weeks or months?

[J70]

There needs to be some transparency and standardization of pricing for healthcare in the US.

It is literally all over the place, with orders of magnitude between costs in different states and even within.

And instead of fee-for-service, they should all be doing what the likes of the Mayo Clinic do and put doctors on salaries.

[Eamonnca1]