The Politics Thread

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

No one mentioned this yet:
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/03/827195027/president-trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-michael-atkinson

[Tim]

One thing that I've been kicking around in my head is that this whole ordeal has the potential to really highlight and make popular the demand for Universal Health Care.

But I think the one thing that isn't going to be popular with the current M4A proposals is the whole "pay doctors medicare/medicaid rates" when this is all said and done. Even though that argument lacks tons of nuance I think it will be a pretty effective rebuttal to the average voter. That was probably already a hard sell and now people will be even more emotionally tied to the benefits of doctors. So if there is any UHC in sight is it via a much more expensive or less generous plan that still aims to control long term growth, but short term keep reimbursement rates similar to the private markets (and really just pass on some immediate administrative costs savings)

Personally, I'd be fine with doctors earning less (especially if their college costs were reduced). Reallocate some of the money way from the doctors, pharma executives, insurance executives, pharma shareholders to the nurses, orderlies, emt workers, etc.

[The Logan]

This horsefeathering guy seriously just mentioned he banged models while he was in the middle of saying thousands of people are going to die.

[CyHawk_Cub]

This horsefeathering guy seriously just mentioned he banged models while he was in the middle of saying thousands of people are going to die.

Just tellin' it like it is. You mad bro'?

[CubinNY]

No one mentioned this yet:
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/03/827195027/president-trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-michael-atkinson

The only way we survive this is if he gets voted out. Four years from now Democratic politicians will be a fractional minority representation of big big cities in the North and East.

[Derwood]

This horsefeathering guy seriously just mentioned he banged models while he was in the middle of saying thousands of people are going to die.

I heard him say that yesterday. Did he say it again today?

[The Logan]

This horsefeathering guy seriously just mentioned he banged models while he was in the middle of saying thousands of people are going to die.

I heard him say that yesterday. Did he say it again today?

Was that yesterday? Thought it was today. Still it's horsefeathering unreal

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

No one mentioned this yet:
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/03/827195027/president-trump-fires-intelligence-community-inspector-general-michael-atkinson

The only way we survive this is if he gets voted out. Four years from now Democratic politicians will be a fractional minority representation of big big cities in the North and East.

I don't understand why you think this.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

[UK]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-4yqn3bye8

He probably thought an OAN reporter snuck in to throw him a lifeline.

His advantage of running on fake crises (immigration and pre-Trump economy) will be tested this November.

[Regular Show]

This horsefeathering guy seriously just mentioned he banged models while he was in the middle of saying thousands of people are going to die.

[CyHawk_Cub]

[CyHawk_Cub]

OMG I can hear this in the voices of (too damn) many family members.

[Regular Show]

"What really do we have to lose?"

WTF man...

People will lose their lives when bad medical advice is proffered by an idiot. Yes, I know the majority of people dying (or could die) from this bad medical advice are Republicans and Trump supporters.

EDIT:

[CubinNY]

The new conspiracy theory is that deaths from COVID-19 are being inflated by the CDC (????) to make Trump look bad.

[CubinNY]

"What really do we have to lose?"

WTF man...

People will lose their lives when bad medical advice is proffered by an idiot. Yes, I know the majority of people dying (or could die) from this bad medical advice are Republicans and Trump supporters.

EDIT:

The worse thing about Trump touting the med is that it is helpful for a variety to conditions unrelated to COVID-19. He's going to make it harder for people who actually need it to get it.

[scarey]

Granted this is an editorial, but I'm trying to understand how much this is a Republican deflection point and how much of it is actually concerning in terms of how the WHO has handled this pandemic. Thoughts?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.co ... 1586122093

[The Logan]

So now the possible narrative is that Trump keeps pushing hydroxychloroquine because it was shown that Novartis paid $1mm for access to Trump a few years ago and people think he has a vested interest in the success of the stuff now.

This is just the most absurdly Trumpian thing if true.

https://lawandcrime.com/covid-19-pandem ... ssion=true

It just so happens that one of the largest manufacturers of the drug, Novartis, previously paid Trump’s now-incarcerated former personal attorney Michael Cohen more than $1 million for healthcare policy insight following Trump’s election in 2016.

Also from the Reddit thread:

And now they’ve donated 29 million pills. Hmmm

Donation which will be a tax credit, for sure. I wouldn't be surprised to find a 2x multiplier bonus in some of the legislation the GOP pushed through

.

A 2x multiplier actually already exists for donations of pharmaceutical products.

Using co-pay charities to support high prices is good for business, but charitable contributions foster healthy profits in another way, too: they are tax-deductible. The corporate tax codes of most countries allow companies to deduct the cost of any charitable giving from pre-tax profits. But in America the system is more generous, says Jason Factor, a tax lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton. Companies that give products for the benefit of the “needy or ill” can deduct up to twice the cost of donated goods.

https://www.economist.com/united-states ... -companies

Is that manufacturing cost, or retail cost?

Not a tax expert, but the context of the article is in reference to co-pay cards which suggests its based on retail. So for example if a drug is $1000/month your insurer might have a $150 co-pay, which people aren't willing to pay. The pharmaceutical company offers a co-pay card (through a wholly owned charity) and the patient pays nothing. The pharma company pays the co-pay for you but gets 2x the tax break. So they end up netting $850/month from the drug and $300/month in tax deduction.

[NonProfitCow]

Boris Johnson has been transferred to the ICU.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Boris Johnson has been transferred to the ICU.

[NonProfitCow]

[Regular Show]

Boris Johnson has been transferred to the ICU.

Why couldn't this have been Trump instead? WHY???

[gflore34]

"What really do we have to lose?"

WTF man...

People will lose their lives when bad medical advice is proffered by an idiot. Yes, I know the majority of people dying (or could die) from this bad medical advice are Republicans and Trump supporters.

EDIT:

The worse thing about Trump touting the med is that it is helpful for a variety to conditions unrelated to COVID-19. He's going to make it harder for people who actually need it to get it.

Honestly, why won't we just set him up in lab with all the necessary equipment, samples, etc. and say give us a vaccine? Seriously, a so called "genius" would know enough NOT to make such ignorant comments.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Supreme Court decided that elections don't matter. Pretty insane.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html?via=taps_top

[WrigleyField 22]

Supreme Court decided that elections don't matter. Pretty insane.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-wisconsin-absentee-ballots.html?via=taps_top

God horsefeathering damnit