DL Open Thread Wednesday March 8 2023
Uh…Can it be because our health care system is utter shit?
Why a million Americans a year risk Mexico medical tourism
Israel’s elite fighter pilots escalate judicial reform protest.
Fighter pilots in an elite Israeli Air Force squadron have vowed not to attend training, in an unprecedented protest against the government. Nearly all of the 40 reservist pilots from 69th Squadron have refused to join a one-day training exercise this week.
It is seen as an unparalleled political move by some of Israel’s most strategically important reservists. It is also a sign of growing opposition to the ruling nationalist coalition’s plans to overhaul the legal system. One unnamed pilot told the Ynet news website that the squadron was “signalling that we won’t be prepared to serve a dictatorial regime”.
Meanwhile, the national airline El Al said it had found a crew to fly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife to Italy for a planned state visit this week, following media reports its pilots had refused to fly the couple as part of the protests.
And in a further sign of growing concern among Israel’s military leadership, 10 former Israeli Air Force chiefs published an open letter calling on Mr Netanyahu to “stop and find a solution” to the crisis, given the level of protest among pilots and aircrews.
“We are fearful over the consequences of these processes and the serious and tangible danger posed to the national security of the State of Israel,” the letter said.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society’0
Yet another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner” exposes a child to politeness.
In the United States, there are now more guns than people.
Make no mistake: the common denominator in all these incidents is not the responsible gun owners, nor is it the victims, children or otherwise. It’s not even the stupid.
It’s the guns.
http://pineviewfarm.net
Trump’s superpower is the ability to do all of his crimes and have all of his contacts with Putin occur in broad daylight. As they say, it is the coverup not the crime. In Trump’s case there is never a coverup, so the media reads it all as not intrinsically criminal.
Thousands of pro-Trump bots are attacking DeSantis, Haley
WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past 11 months, someone created thousands of fake, automated Twitter accounts — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — to offer a stream of praise for Donald Trump.
Besides posting adoring words about the former president, the fake accounts ridiculed Trump’s critics from both parties and attacked Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who is challenging her onetime boss for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
When it came to Ron DeSantis, the bots aggressively suggested that the Florida governor couldn’t beat Trump, but would be a great running mate.
A sweat-soaked Chris Coons gulped nervously and tugged at his short collar when…
President Biden is proposing to extend the solvency of the Medicare national healthcare program by 25 years with an increased tax rate on high earners.
The proposal, unveiled Tuesday morning, would fund the program into the 2050s by increasing the Medicare tax rate from 3.8 percent to 5 percent for households making more than $400,000 a year.
The Medicare trust fund is set to run out in 2028 under current tax and spending levels.
“Since Medicare was passed, income and wealth inequality in the United States have increased dramatically. By asking those with the highest incomes to contribute modestly more, we can keep the Medicare program strong for decades to come,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House’s tax increase would apply to both “earned and unearned income” above $400,000.
“High-income people are supposed to pay a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on all of their income, but some high-paid professionals and other wealthy business owners have managed to shield some of their income from tax by claiming it is neither earned income nor investment income,” the White House said.
The plan also beefs up a requirement that pharmaceutical companies pay into Medicare when they increase prices faster than inflation. By making this rule apply to commercial health insurance, the White House aims to dedicate around $200 billion to Medicare’s hospital trust fund over the next 10 years.
Do we have the political power to over ride the almighty rich? No, and it’s due to the intense stupidity of many Americans who cannot tell which party aids them, and the party that wants to reduce them to the proverbial wage slave. The answer to funding Medicare and Social Security is to tax the rich, and start by Scrapping The Cap and make them pay on every cent they make, regardless of how they make it. And if there is a hill to die on let mine be the end of the hated “Carried Interest” bean counter game that has given us billionaires galore, and made it obvious of just how corrupt American politicians really are.
Yeah. Water is pouring into the boat through a gaping hole and we have a bunch of Democrats who want to bail us out with teaspoons.
Nice to se a lightbulb glowing dimly over Biden’s head.
How will this fare better than Build Back Better now that Biden lost the House?
“Jolly Coppers on Parade” was featured as the Song of the Day back in July 2020.
https://delawareliberal.net/2020/07/02/song-of-the-day-7-2-randy-newman-jolly-coppers-on-parade/
I was just told that Velda Potter is announcing her run for Mayor in 2024 at the Wilmington Public Library on March 31
https://veldajonespotter.com/
Grifters gonna grift.
I’m just wondering how the Wilmington Public Library can legally host a political campaign event…
I believe anyone can rent it out.
https://wilmlibrary.org/services/meeting-rooms/