Tuesday, February 04, 2020

Iowa

A few quick thoughts...

* There is absolutely nothing a computer can't screw up.

* There is no tech that can be made absolutely secure from tampering or hacking.

* You can't hack paper. Paper is not effected by viruses. Paper ballots are impervious to technological whims and failures. You can hold an election with paper ballots without electricity if necessary.

* These are the same people who think we should trust them to run the nation's health care system.

4 comments:

Det. John said...

YOU ARE 100% RIGHT!!!


DETJOHN

Dana said...

Points one, two and three are absolutely right.

On point four, the Iowa caucus leaders have absolutely no chance of ever being the health care administrators for this country. Come on, John.

I lived in Germany for a year in my youth. The health insurance systems in Germany, Switzerland and France are similar. People pay about 8% of their income to insurance companies that are overseen by the government, are all non-profit, and basically manage the paperwork. So there is no gouging customers with impossible-to-pay premiums, or restriction of coverage by a middleman.

What do you get for that relatively small tax increase? You see any doctor you want (doctors are not government employees as in England, so this is not "socialized medicine"), without any co-pay for the doctor visits. You have surgeries and procedures when you need them, again with no co-pay. Prescriptions range in price from $1-2 to about $30. This is actually much better coverage than "Medicare for all".

Do the math. I bet if you add up all your health insurance expenses for a year, it would come out to way more than 8% of your income. I'd trade any day.

Dana

The Anti-Gnostic said...

To add to Dana's point, universal medical coverage is electoral low-hanging fruit. Of course, when Atlanta's public hospital had the temerity to suggest $5 co-pays for office visits and $10 for prescriptions, a mob shut down the debate at the City Council. We also believe in getting hip transplants for our Golden Retrievers. I'm not sure such a people can handle $5-10K/yr deductibles and the possibility of a doctor determining not to ventilate a 75-yr old patient. But whichever party figures it out first, they'll retain power for the next two generations.

To the point of Iowa, the party's donor class is clearly rigging the primary against Sanders.

Dale Griffith said...

Dana,

I lived many years in Switzerland, their health care is completely different from that of any socialist country. They do not have socialised medical care. But by law every citizen must purchase their own health-care. It is one of the most successful systems in the world. One should also add, that Switzerland is one of the most capitalist countries in the world.