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Privacy Concerns Loom as Congress Moves to Allow Internet Providers to Share Users' Sensitive Data
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The FCC rules were passed last October and were supposed be in effect December 2017. The VPNs are using past week events as marketing, they have always been there.
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Science, and the methods behind it, haven't been taught in schools for years. Especially the methods, and why they are used and how accurate they've proven to be over time. For example: any time a study is conducted and finds some result, lets say it finds that drinking caffeine is bad for you, news outlets immediately report the study's results as if they are a confirmed fact. Many times subsequent studies find flaws or omissions in the methods or an unaccounted for variable in the first study, so when a newer study finds errors in the first, news outlets usually gleefully report that the first study was wrong. So science looks fallible.
The reason that multiple studies are done in the first place is precisely because it is difficult to isolate a condition. Multiple studies by independent researchers provide a check. It's how it's supposed to be done, and it's not unusual for an initial study to be corrected by later ones.
Now add to that the idea of corporations that are paying for specific outcomes, the latest one that comes to mind is the sugar vs fat in your diet studies, where the sugar and processed food companies had an outcome pre-determined (fat is much worse than high amounts of sugar in foods) and that is what was consistently reported, and science and the scientific method, which was not followed in these studies, gets blamed for what is corporate propaganda.
The catastrophic flaw in the argument about free market/laissez fair/trickle down economics etc... is that it rests on a foundation of big corporations not being greedy, morally bankrupt entities who would sell their own mothers for an extra dollar of profit. Just look at China, without government regulation they employ children, pay slave wages, have scant regard for work place safety, pollute to their hearts content etc... Why? To maximise profit!
Look over here in the US, you have big corporation railing against the "expensive and burdensome regulations" that stop them competing with places like China. Do you mean those pesky laws and regulations that stope them paying slave wages, employee child labour, pollute the environment etc... The get round some of them by employing illegal immigrants who can't run to the government for protection.
How has the free market worked for telecoms. Slowly but surely ATT, Verizon, Comcast etc... have grown to be behemoths who can charge what they like and keep tightening the screws on the consumer. Data caps on home internet connections anyone?
One of Trump's campaign promises was to bring jobs back to the US, but why did they leave in the first place. No one forced companies to move manufacturing offshore, but also there were no rules to stop them. So they did what was in the best interests of the bottomline and the shareholders, not the millions of hardworking Americans who's hard work had built these companies into what they are today. Are they going to bring the manufacturing back? Maybe, but only to automated production lines.
The same is true for healthcare. I've seen many conservatives/republicans take the stance of "why should I have to pay for somebody else if they couldn't be bothered to work hard, save up etc... to pay for themselves?". It's a fair point, but again it's premised on the notion that you're always going to be ok. But what about cancer? I heard in a report the other day that 1 in 2 of us will suffer from cancer at some point in our lives.
No worries you say, I've been frugal, I've got my insurance policy so I'm ok. Are you? We've seen that, left to their own devices, insurance companies will impose maximum pay outs and either hike premiums, or refuse to cover those with pre-existing conditions. So the first time you have cancer your treatment runs to $300,000 and your insurance capped out at $250K, but that's ok because you had some savings. What happens 5 years later when the cancer comes back and your policy doesn't cover it? Have you got the $300K to pay for the treatment? Maybe you have, maybe you're a lawyer or a doctor or the CEO of a big company. What about if you're working hard, earning $70K/year and trying to put your 3 kids through college (at a combined cost somewhere over $500K because government didn't do anything to bring the costs down) and make sure you have enough to retire before your 80?
No lobbying, term limits for politicians and no special perks of the job (like free, super premium platinum healthcare for life) would quickly see politicians doing what's in the best interests of the people, not the corporations.
If they sell our data on the open market, we need to get a crowdfunding and purchase every government employees information, focusing on Congress, Executive, Judicial, and working out from there. Then do a dump of our purchased information on the web. I can guarantee that information would be more interesting then my data.
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That's the best you can do in trying to swat away the depths to which today's Republican Party has sunk?
The DNC didn't conspire against Sanders; some of their honchos chose Clinton early on and leaned hard to try to make it happen. It wasn't illegal, just political. Very political. That is what a party's national committee is about: trying to come up with a viable candidate for general elections. Yeah it can get pretty undemocratic. At least in the wrap of 2016's adventures, the progressives managed to get some changes made for how superdelegates are allocated so they'll be a little more democratic for 2020 races. I would note here that the GOP also made superdelegate changes but LOL they went the other way since they had proved unable to steamroll Trump in 2016, to the intense regret of the establishment wing.
Anyway even Bernie dismissed the notion that Clinton did not win the nomination. Bernie didn't have enough support from minorities in the primary season. One could and many did suggest that there's no great track-record oriented reason for that, but the voters voted how they voted --well into the primary season after media coverage of him had vastly increased-- and so that was that. Sanders supported Clinton in the fall campaign, and it has been traditional in both parties in most election years for runners-up to support the winner after the primary contests are over.
Anyway even Bernie dismissed the notion that Clinton did not win the nomination. Bernie didn't have enough support from minorities in the primary season. One could and many did suggest that there's no great track-record oriented reason for that, but the voters voted how they voted --well into the primary season after media coverage of him had vastly increased-- and so that was that. Sanders supported Clinton in the fall campaign, and it has been traditional in both parties in most election years for runners-up to support the winner after the primary contests are over.
Back to the topic you tried to dismiss: the vote on the internet privacy act to me was only one of the indications that the GOP is fixated on helping industry make a buck and will make that choice nine times out of ten when consumer legislation is proposed. In fact the Republican Party makes attempts to dismantle consumer protections any time any of them actually get passed. They want Warren's bailiwick gone, they never wanted CFTC to have any teeth, they are rolling back Dodd Frank rules on derivatives.
I'll say one thing though... it was under a (neo-)Democratic administration that Glass Steagall got repealed. That's not at the root of Republican kowtowing to industry but it was a cave-in by Cinton (Bill) that I don't forget or forgive. But then the Clintons are not really Democrats, either one of them. Which of course was why Wall Street was perfectly willing to see Clinton in the White House.
So far Wall Street seems to be adapting with alacrity --and even joy-- to that big big boost the left-behinds provided by voting in Mr. Trump instead. The Democrats did not plan to deregulate so much of the economy that the only rule left was "don't be late to the dinner table".
I mean for example that there's such soaring interest in securitization of subprime auto loans now --in lieu of high yields "investors" can't find elsewhere-- that one wonders do these guys not realize that sub prime borrowers are a far worse credit risk now than they were in 2004-2008? Crickets from GOP if you inquire.
Laissez faire: it works until it doesn't and then you reboot it, and the hallmark of the Repubican Party is that they know it doesn't work at all unless you're not the sort has to gamble the rent money to play, and they don't care. A pox on their ilk today. I used to vote Republican once in awhile. That was before a GOP Congress beat the Dems to completely selling their souls. This vote on internet privacy was very telling.
The 265 members of Congress who sold you out to ISPs, and how much it cost to buy them
MEMBER PARTY STATE TOTAL
Alexander, Lamar Republican TN $86,400
Barrasso, John Republican WY $63,000
Blunt, Roy Republican MO $185,550
Boozman, John Republican AR $56,450
Burr, Richard Republican NC $58,500
Capito, Shelley Republican WV $24,675
Cassidy, Bill Republican LA $34,909
Cochran, Thad Republican MS $123,750
Collins, Susan Republican ME $57,550
Corker, Bob Republican TN $43,600
Cornyn, John Republican TX $148,800
Cotton, Tom Republican AR $70,025
Crapo, Mike Republican ID $11,000
Cruz, Ted Republican TX $40,840
Daines, Steve Republican MT $38,700
Enzi, Mike Republican WY $45,100
Ernst, Joni Republican IA $28,200
Fischer, Debra Republican NE $21,850
Flake, Jeff Republican AZ $27,955
Gardner, Cory Republican CO $95,023
Graham, Lindsey Republican SC $74,522
Grassley, Chuck Republican IA $135,125
Hatch, Orrin Republican UT $106,750
Heller, Dean Republican NV $78,950
Hoeven, John Republican ND $25,800
Inhofe, Jim Republican OK $38,000
Johnson, Ron Republican WI $123,652
Kennedy, John Republican LA $1,000
Lankford, James Republican OK $21,000
Lee, Mike Republican UT $60,913
McCain, John Republican AZ $84,125
McConnell, Mitch Republican KY $251,110
Moran, Jerry Republican KS $130,950
Murkowski, Lisa Republican AK $66,250
Perdue, David Republican GA $37,000
Portman, Rob Republican OH $89,350
Risch, Jim Republican ID $27,000
Roberts, Pat Republican KS $100,200
Rounds, Mike Republican SD $40,166
Rubio, Marco Republican FL $75,535
Sasse, Benjamin Republican NE $31,800
Scott, Tim Republican SC $60,200
Shelby, Richard Republican AL $27,000
Strange, Luther Republican AL $0*
Sullivan, Daniel Republican AK $10,550
Thune, John Republican SD $215,000
Tillis, Thom Republican NC $41,220
Toomey, Patrick Republican PA $143,456
Wicker, Roger Republican MS $151,800
Young, Todd Republican IN $28,670
*Senator Strange was appointed to Congress in February 2017 to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ seat.
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Search:
MEMBER PARTY STATE DISTRICT TOTAL
Abraham, Ralph Republican LA 5th $5,750
Aderholt, Robert Republican AL 4th $26,500
Allen, Rick Republican GA 12th $9,500
Amodei, Mark Republican NV 2nd $22,000
Arrington, Jodey Republican TX 19th $8,450
Babin, Brian Republican TX 36th $8,000
Bacon, Donald Republican NE 2nd $7,000
Banks, Jim Republican IN 3rd $12,100
Barletta, Lou Republican PA 11th $14,700
Barr, Andy Republican KY 6th $28,400
Barton, Joe Republican TX 6th $39,750
Bergman, Jack Republican MI 1st $21,200
Biggs, Andy Republican AZ 5th $5,000
Bilirakis, Gus Republican FL 12th $55,000
Bishop, Mike Republican MI 8th $40,500
Bishop, Rob Republican UT 1st $5,500
Black, Diane Republican TN 6th $27,750
Blackburn, Marsha Republican TN 7th $84,000
Blum, Rodney Republican IA 1st $5,500
Bost, Mike Republican IL 12th $29,750
Brady, Kevin Republican TX 8th $20,000
Brat, David Republican VA 7th $6,000
Bridenstine, Jim Republican OK 1st $1,000
Brooks, Susan Republican IN 5th $44,300
Buchanan, Vern Republican FL 16th $18,900
Buck, Ken Republican CO 4th $15,750
Bucshon, Larry Republican IN 8th $33,000
Budd, Theodore Republican NC 13th $10,000
Burgess, Michael Republican TX 26th $39,500
Byrne, Bradley Republican AL 1st $17,500
Calvert, Ken Republican CA 42nd $12,000
Carter, Buddy Republican GA 1st $12,250
Carter, John Republican TX 31st $22,500
Chabot, Steven Republican OH 1st $25,500
Chaffetz, Jason Republican UT 3rd $38,100
Cheney, Liz Republican WY 1st $18,400
Cole, Tom Republican OK 4th $14,000
Collins, Doug Republican GA 9th $42,850
Collins, Chris Republican NY 27th $57,500
Comer, James Republican KY 1st $14,750
Comstock, Barbara Republican VA 10th $56,457
Conaway, Mike Republican TX 11th $18,500
Cook, Paul Republican CA 8th $15,000
Costello, Ryan Republican PA 6th $38,750
Cramer, Kevin Republican ND 1st $71,750
Crawford, Eric Republican AR 1st $9,000
Culberson, John Republican TX 7th $8,000
Curbelo, Carlos Republican FL 26th $45,700
Davis, Rodney Republican IL 13th $49,000
Denham, Jeffrey Republican CA 10th $47,000
Dent, Charles Republican PA 15th $25,200
DeSantis, Ron Republican FL 6th $21,634
DesJarlais, Scott Republican TN 4th $3,000
Diaz-Balart, Mario Republican FL 25th $26,500
Donovan, Daniel Republican NY 11th $16,000
Duncan, Jeff Republican SC 3rd $12,610
Dunn, Neal Republican FL 2nd $13,750
Emmer, Thomas Republican MN 6th $18,500
Farenthold, Blake Republican TX 27th $19,000
Ferguson, Anderson Republican GA 3rd $7,000
Fitzpatrick, Brian** Republican PA 8th $32,600
Fleischmann, Chuck Republican TN 3rd $18,000
Flores, Bill Republican TX 17th $40,500
Fortenberry, Jeff Republican NE 1st $3,500
Foxx, Virginia Republican NC 5th $13,250
Franks, Trent Republican AZ 8th $16,500
Frelinghuysen, Rodney Republican NJ 11th $55,456
Gaetz, Matt Republican FL 1st $7,000
Gallagher, Mike Republican WI 8th $16,019
Garrett, Tom* Republican VA 5th $3,250
Gibbs, Robert Republican OH 7th $8,000
Gohmert, Louie Republican TX 1st $8,000
Goodlatte, Bob Republican VA 6th $73,950
Gosar, Paul Republican AZ 4th $2,000
Gowdy, Harold Republican SC 4th $15,750
Granger, Kay Republican TX 12th $15,000
Graves, John Republican GA 14th $34,000
Graves, Sam Republican MO 6th $31,000
Griffith, Tim Republican AR 2nd $16,915
Griffith, Morgan Republican VA 9th $36,500
Grothman, Glenn Republican WI 6th $10,600
Guthrie, Steven Republican KY 2nd $81,500
Harper, Gregg Republican MS 3rd $33,800
Harriis, Andy Republican MD 1st $3,000
Hartzler, Vicki Republican MO 4th $10,500
Hensarling, Jeb Republican TX 5th $10,000
Hice, Jody Republican GA 10th $6,000
Higgins, Clay Republican LA 3rd $300
Holding, George Republican NC 2nd $31,100
Hollingsworth, Trey Republican IN 9th $10,000
Hudson, Richard Republican NC 8th $45,400
Huizenga, Bill Republican MI 2nd $7,500
Hultgreen, Randy Republican IL 14th $10,000
Hunter, Duncan Republican CA 50th $19,000
Hurd, William Republican TX 23rd $63,000
Issa, Darrell Republican CA 49th $66,275
Jenkins, Lynn Republican KS 2nd $34,750
Jenkins, Evan Republican WV 3rd $10,000
Johnson, Bill Republican OH 6th $56,500
Johnson, Sam Republican TX 3rd $16,700
Jordan, James Republican OH 4th $24,750
Joyce, David Republican OH 14th $16,500
Katko, John Republican NY 24th $32,250
Kelly, Trent Republican MS 1st $3,300
Kelly, Mike Republican PA 3rd $34,700
King, Steve Republican IA 4th $20,500
King, Peter Republican NY 2nd $9,000
Kinzinger, Adam Republican IL 16th $75,250
Knight, Steve Republican CA 25th $32,500
Kustoff, David Republican TN 8th $16,300
Labrador, Raul Republican ID 1st $10,000
LaHood, Darin Republican IL 18th $15,500
LaMalfa, Doug Republican CA 1st $5,000
Lamborn, Doug Republican CO 5th $28,400
Lance, Leonard Republican NJ 7th $43,000
Latta, Bob Republican OH 5th $91,000
Lewis, Jason Republican MN 2nd $10,500
LoBiondo, Frank Republican NJ 2nd $14,500
Long, Billy Republican MO 7th $57,250
Loudermilk, Barry Republican GA 11th $8,000
Love, Mia Republican UT 4th $16,500
Lucas, Frank Republican OK 3rd $14,500
Luetkemeyer, Blaine Republican MO 3rd $21,000
MacArthur, Tom Republican NJ 3rd $19,000
Marchant, Kenny Republican TX 24th $12,000
Marshall, Roger Republican KS 1st $20,500
Massie, Thomas Republican KY 4th $2,750
Mast, Brian Republican FL 18th $10,500
McCarthy, Kevin Republican CA 23rd $99,100
McCaul, Michael Republican TX 10th $37,200
McHenry, Patrick Republican NC 10th $51,000
McKinley, David Republican WV 1st $24,500
McSally, Martha Republican AZ 2nd $40,500
Meadows, Mark Republican NC 11th $4,000
Meehan, Patrick Republican PA 7th $64,200
Messer, Luke Republican IN 6th $18,750
Mitchell, Paul** Republican MI 10th $10,000
McMorris-Rogers, Cathy** Republican WA 5th $75,900
Moolenaar, John Republican MI 4th $12,500
Mooney, Alexander Republican WV 2nd $6,000
Mullin, Markwayne Republican OK 2nd $47,250
Murphy, Timothy Republican PA 18th $26,000
Newhouse, Daniel Republican WA 4th $10,000
Noem, Kristi Republican SD 1st $38,200
Nunes, Devin Republican CA 22nd $37,750
Olson, Pete Republican TX 22nd $57,500
Palazzo, Steven Republican MS 4th $11,100
Palmer, Gary Republican AL 6th $2,000
Paulsen, Erik Republican MN 3rd $50,500
Pearce, Steve Republican NM 2nd $20,400
Perry, Scott Republican PA 4th $17,000
Poe, Ted Republican TX 2nd $23,000
Poliquin, Bruce Republican ME 2nd $47,500
Posey, Bill Republican FL 8th $3,000
Ratcliffe, John Republican TX 4th $24,500
Reed, Thomas Republican NY 23rd $31,500
Renacci, Jim Republican OH 16th $48,000
Rice, Hugh Republican SC 7th $18,500
Roby, Martha Republican AL 2nd $33,200
Roe, Phil Republican TN 1st $500
Rogers, Mike Republican AL 3rd $25,000
Rogers, Hal Republican KY 5th $12,500
Rohrabacher, Dana Republican CA 48th $1,350
Rokita, Todd Republican IN 4th $20,200
Rooney, Laurence Republican FL 19th $16,625
Rooney, Tom Republican FL 17th $19,000
Roskam, Peter Republican IL 6th $33,600
Ross, Dennis Republican FL 15th $17,000
Rothfus, Keith Republican PA 12th $30,900
Rouzer, David Republican NC 7th $15,000
Royce, Edward Republican CA 39th $14,000
Russell, Steven Republican OK 5th $16,450
Rutherford, John Republican FL 4th $6,000
Scalise, Steve Republican LA 1st $121,750
Schweikert, David Republican AZ 6th $4,000
Scott, James Republican GA 8th $6,000
Sensenbrenner, Jim Republican WI 5th $30,000
Sessions, Pete Republican TX 32nd $40,400
Shimkus, John Republican IL 15th $104,425
Shuster, Bill Republican PA 9th $35,500
Smith, Jason Republican MO 8th $47,500
Smith, Adrian Republican NE 3rd $28,500
Smith, Christopher Republican NJ 4th $6,000
Smith, Lamar Republican TX 21st $56,200
Smucker, Lloyd Republican PA 16th $8,000
Stewart, Chris Republican UT 2nd $12,500
Stivers, Steve Republican OH 15th $27,000
Taylor, Scott** Republican VA 2nd $14,000
Tenney, Claudia Republican NY 22nd $8,500
Thompson, Glenn Republican PA 5th $16,500
Thornberry, Mac Republican TX 13th $32,025
Tiberi, Patrick Republican OH 12th $53,250
Tipton, Scott Republican CO 3rd $23,500
Trott, Dave Republican MI 11th $12,500
Turner, Mike Republican OH 10th $6,000
Upton, Fred Republican MI 6th $108,250
Valadao, David Republican CA 21st $37,400
Wagner, Ann Republican MO 2nd $45,750
Walberg, Timothy Republican MI 7th $38,500
Walden, Gregory Republican OR 2nd $155,100
Walker, Bradley Republican NC 6th $16,750
Walorski, Jackie Republican IN 2nd $21,250
Walters, Mimi Republican CA 45th $47,450
Weber, Randy Republican TX 14th $4,000
Webster, Daniel Republican FL 11th $2,500
Wenstrup, Brad Republican OH 2nd $9,400
Westerman, Bruce Republican AR 4th $11,000
Williams, Roger Republican TX 25th $5,500
Wilson, Joe Republican SC 2nd $11,500
Wittman, Rob Republican VA 1st $11,050
Womack, Steve Republican AR 3rd $15,500
Woodall, Rob Republican GA 7th $9,250
Yoho, Ted Republican FL: 3rd $4,000
Young, Don Republican AK 1st $28,650
Young, David Republican IA 3rd $41,750
MEMBER PARTY STATE TOTAL
Alexander, Lamar Republican TN $86,400
Barrasso, John Republican WY $63,000
Blunt, Roy Republican MO $185,550
Boozman, John Republican AR $56,450
Burr, Richard Republican NC $58,500
Capito, Shelley Republican WV $24,675
Cassidy, Bill Republican LA $34,909
Cochran, Thad Republican MS $123,750
Collins, Susan Republican ME $57,550
Corker, Bob Republican TN $43,600
Cornyn, John Republican TX $148,800
Cotton, Tom Republican AR $70,025
Crapo, Mike Republican ID $11,000
Cruz, Ted Republican TX $40,840
Daines, Steve Republican MT $38,700
Enzi, Mike Republican WY $45,100
Ernst, Joni Republican IA $28,200
Fischer, Debra Republican NE $21,850
Flake, Jeff Republican AZ $27,955
Gardner, Cory Republican CO $95,023
Graham, Lindsey Republican SC $74,522
Grassley, Chuck Republican IA $135,125
Hatch, Orrin Republican UT $106,750
Heller, Dean Republican NV $78,950
Hoeven, John Republican ND $25,800
Inhofe, Jim Republican OK $38,000
Johnson, Ron Republican WI $123,652
Kennedy, John Republican LA $1,000
Lankford, James Republican OK $21,000
Lee, Mike Republican UT $60,913
McCain, John Republican AZ $84,125
McConnell, Mitch Republican KY $251,110
Moran, Jerry Republican KS $130,950
Murkowski, Lisa Republican AK $66,250
Perdue, David Republican GA $37,000
Portman, Rob Republican OH $89,350
Risch, Jim Republican ID $27,000
Roberts, Pat Republican KS $100,200
Rounds, Mike Republican SD $40,166
Rubio, Marco Republican FL $75,535
Sasse, Benjamin Republican NE $31,800
Scott, Tim Republican SC $60,200
Shelby, Richard Republican AL $27,000
Strange, Luther Republican AL $0*
Sullivan, Daniel Republican AK $10,550
Thune, John Republican SD $215,000
Tillis, Thom Republican NC $41,220
Toomey, Patrick Republican PA $143,456
Wicker, Roger Republican MS $151,800
Young, Todd Republican IN $28,670
*Senator Strange was appointed to Congress in February 2017 to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ seat.
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Search:
MEMBER PARTY STATE DISTRICT TOTAL
Abraham, Ralph Republican LA 5th $5,750
Aderholt, Robert Republican AL 4th $26,500
Allen, Rick Republican GA 12th $9,500
Amodei, Mark Republican NV 2nd $22,000
Arrington, Jodey Republican TX 19th $8,450
Babin, Brian Republican TX 36th $8,000
Bacon, Donald Republican NE 2nd $7,000
Banks, Jim Republican IN 3rd $12,100
Barletta, Lou Republican PA 11th $14,700
Barr, Andy Republican KY 6th $28,400
Barton, Joe Republican TX 6th $39,750
Bergman, Jack Republican MI 1st $21,200
Biggs, Andy Republican AZ 5th $5,000
Bilirakis, Gus Republican FL 12th $55,000
Bishop, Mike Republican MI 8th $40,500
Bishop, Rob Republican UT 1st $5,500
Black, Diane Republican TN 6th $27,750
Blackburn, Marsha Republican TN 7th $84,000
Blum, Rodney Republican IA 1st $5,500
Bost, Mike Republican IL 12th $29,750
Brady, Kevin Republican TX 8th $20,000
Brat, David Republican VA 7th $6,000
Bridenstine, Jim Republican OK 1st $1,000
Brooks, Susan Republican IN 5th $44,300
Buchanan, Vern Republican FL 16th $18,900
Buck, Ken Republican CO 4th $15,750
Bucshon, Larry Republican IN 8th $33,000
Budd, Theodore Republican NC 13th $10,000
Burgess, Michael Republican TX 26th $39,500
Byrne, Bradley Republican AL 1st $17,500
Calvert, Ken Republican CA 42nd $12,000
Carter, Buddy Republican GA 1st $12,250
Carter, John Republican TX 31st $22,500
Chabot, Steven Republican OH 1st $25,500
Chaffetz, Jason Republican UT 3rd $38,100
Cheney, Liz Republican WY 1st $18,400
Cole, Tom Republican OK 4th $14,000
Collins, Doug Republican GA 9th $42,850
Collins, Chris Republican NY 27th $57,500
Comer, James Republican KY 1st $14,750
Comstock, Barbara Republican VA 10th $56,457
Conaway, Mike Republican TX 11th $18,500
Cook, Paul Republican CA 8th $15,000
Costello, Ryan Republican PA 6th $38,750
Cramer, Kevin Republican ND 1st $71,750
Crawford, Eric Republican AR 1st $9,000
Culberson, John Republican TX 7th $8,000
Curbelo, Carlos Republican FL 26th $45,700
Davis, Rodney Republican IL 13th $49,000
Denham, Jeffrey Republican CA 10th $47,000
Dent, Charles Republican PA 15th $25,200
DeSantis, Ron Republican FL 6th $21,634
DesJarlais, Scott Republican TN 4th $3,000
Diaz-Balart, Mario Republican FL 25th $26,500
Donovan, Daniel Republican NY 11th $16,000
Duncan, Jeff Republican SC 3rd $12,610
Dunn, Neal Republican FL 2nd $13,750
Emmer, Thomas Republican MN 6th $18,500
Farenthold, Blake Republican TX 27th $19,000
Ferguson, Anderson Republican GA 3rd $7,000
Fitzpatrick, Brian** Republican PA 8th $32,600
Fleischmann, Chuck Republican TN 3rd $18,000
Flores, Bill Republican TX 17th $40,500
Fortenberry, Jeff Republican NE 1st $3,500
Foxx, Virginia Republican NC 5th $13,250
Franks, Trent Republican AZ 8th $16,500
Frelinghuysen, Rodney Republican NJ 11th $55,456
Gaetz, Matt Republican FL 1st $7,000
Gallagher, Mike Republican WI 8th $16,019
Garrett, Tom* Republican VA 5th $3,250
Gibbs, Robert Republican OH 7th $8,000
Gohmert, Louie Republican TX 1st $8,000
Goodlatte, Bob Republican VA 6th $73,950
Gosar, Paul Republican AZ 4th $2,000
Gowdy, Harold Republican SC 4th $15,750
Granger, Kay Republican TX 12th $15,000
Graves, John Republican GA 14th $34,000
Graves, Sam Republican MO 6th $31,000
Griffith, Tim Republican AR 2nd $16,915
Griffith, Morgan Republican VA 9th $36,500
Grothman, Glenn Republican WI 6th $10,600
Guthrie, Steven Republican KY 2nd $81,500
Harper, Gregg Republican MS 3rd $33,800
Harriis, Andy Republican MD 1st $3,000
Hartzler, Vicki Republican MO 4th $10,500
Hensarling, Jeb Republican TX 5th $10,000
Hice, Jody Republican GA 10th $6,000
Higgins, Clay Republican LA 3rd $300
Holding, George Republican NC 2nd $31,100
Hollingsworth, Trey Republican IN 9th $10,000
Hudson, Richard Republican NC 8th $45,400
Huizenga, Bill Republican MI 2nd $7,500
Hultgreen, Randy Republican IL 14th $10,000
Hunter, Duncan Republican CA 50th $19,000
Hurd, William Republican TX 23rd $63,000
Issa, Darrell Republican CA 49th $66,275
Jenkins, Lynn Republican KS 2nd $34,750
Jenkins, Evan Republican WV 3rd $10,000
Johnson, Bill Republican OH 6th $56,500
Johnson, Sam Republican TX 3rd $16,700
Jordan, James Republican OH 4th $24,750
Joyce, David Republican OH 14th $16,500
Katko, John Republican NY 24th $32,250
Kelly, Trent Republican MS 1st $3,300
Kelly, Mike Republican PA 3rd $34,700
King, Steve Republican IA 4th $20,500
King, Peter Republican NY 2nd $9,000
Kinzinger, Adam Republican IL 16th $75,250
Knight, Steve Republican CA 25th $32,500
Kustoff, David Republican TN 8th $16,300
Labrador, Raul Republican ID 1st $10,000
LaHood, Darin Republican IL 18th $15,500
LaMalfa, Doug Republican CA 1st $5,000
Lamborn, Doug Republican CO 5th $28,400
Lance, Leonard Republican NJ 7th $43,000
Latta, Bob Republican OH 5th $91,000
Lewis, Jason Republican MN 2nd $10,500
LoBiondo, Frank Republican NJ 2nd $14,500
Long, Billy Republican MO 7th $57,250
Loudermilk, Barry Republican GA 11th $8,000
Love, Mia Republican UT 4th $16,500
Lucas, Frank Republican OK 3rd $14,500
Luetkemeyer, Blaine Republican MO 3rd $21,000
MacArthur, Tom Republican NJ 3rd $19,000
Marchant, Kenny Republican TX 24th $12,000
Marshall, Roger Republican KS 1st $20,500
Massie, Thomas Republican KY 4th $2,750
Mast, Brian Republican FL 18th $10,500
McCarthy, Kevin Republican CA 23rd $99,100
McCaul, Michael Republican TX 10th $37,200
McHenry, Patrick Republican NC 10th $51,000
McKinley, David Republican WV 1st $24,500
McSally, Martha Republican AZ 2nd $40,500
Meadows, Mark Republican NC 11th $4,000
Meehan, Patrick Republican PA 7th $64,200
Messer, Luke Republican IN 6th $18,750
Mitchell, Paul** Republican MI 10th $10,000
McMorris-Rogers, Cathy** Republican WA 5th $75,900
Moolenaar, John Republican MI 4th $12,500
Mooney, Alexander Republican WV 2nd $6,000
Mullin, Markwayne Republican OK 2nd $47,250
Murphy, Timothy Republican PA 18th $26,000
Newhouse, Daniel Republican WA 4th $10,000
Noem, Kristi Republican SD 1st $38,200
Nunes, Devin Republican CA 22nd $37,750
Olson, Pete Republican TX 22nd $57,500
Palazzo, Steven Republican MS 4th $11,100
Palmer, Gary Republican AL 6th $2,000
Paulsen, Erik Republican MN 3rd $50,500
Pearce, Steve Republican NM 2nd $20,400
Perry, Scott Republican PA 4th $17,000
Poe, Ted Republican TX 2nd $23,000
Poliquin, Bruce Republican ME 2nd $47,500
Posey, Bill Republican FL 8th $3,000
Ratcliffe, John Republican TX 4th $24,500
Reed, Thomas Republican NY 23rd $31,500
Renacci, Jim Republican OH 16th $48,000
Rice, Hugh Republican SC 7th $18,500
Roby, Martha Republican AL 2nd $33,200
Roe, Phil Republican TN 1st $500
Rogers, Mike Republican AL 3rd $25,000
Rogers, Hal Republican KY 5th $12,500
Rohrabacher, Dana Republican CA 48th $1,350
Rokita, Todd Republican IN 4th $20,200
Rooney, Laurence Republican FL 19th $16,625
Rooney, Tom Republican FL 17th $19,000
Roskam, Peter Republican IL 6th $33,600
Ross, Dennis Republican FL 15th $17,000
Rothfus, Keith Republican PA 12th $30,900
Rouzer, David Republican NC 7th $15,000
Royce, Edward Republican CA 39th $14,000
Russell, Steven Republican OK 5th $16,450
Rutherford, John Republican FL 4th $6,000
Scalise, Steve Republican LA 1st $121,750
Schweikert, David Republican AZ 6th $4,000
Scott, James Republican GA 8th $6,000
Sensenbrenner, Jim Republican WI 5th $30,000
Sessions, Pete Republican TX 32nd $40,400
Shimkus, John Republican IL 15th $104,425
Shuster, Bill Republican PA 9th $35,500
Smith, Jason Republican MO 8th $47,500
Smith, Adrian Republican NE 3rd $28,500
Smith, Christopher Republican NJ 4th $6,000
Smith, Lamar Republican TX 21st $56,200
Smucker, Lloyd Republican PA 16th $8,000
Stewart, Chris Republican UT 2nd $12,500
Stivers, Steve Republican OH 15th $27,000
Taylor, Scott** Republican VA 2nd $14,000
Tenney, Claudia Republican NY 22nd $8,500
Thompson, Glenn Republican PA 5th $16,500
Thornberry, Mac Republican TX 13th $32,025
Tiberi, Patrick Republican OH 12th $53,250
Tipton, Scott Republican CO 3rd $23,500
Trott, Dave Republican MI 11th $12,500
Turner, Mike Republican OH 10th $6,000
Upton, Fred Republican MI 6th $108,250
Valadao, David Republican CA 21st $37,400
Wagner, Ann Republican MO 2nd $45,750
Walberg, Timothy Republican MI 7th $38,500
Walden, Gregory Republican OR 2nd $155,100
Walker, Bradley Republican NC 6th $16,750
Walorski, Jackie Republican IN 2nd $21,250
Walters, Mimi Republican CA 45th $47,450
Weber, Randy Republican TX 14th $4,000
Webster, Daniel Republican FL 11th $2,500
Wenstrup, Brad Republican OH 2nd $9,400
Westerman, Bruce Republican AR 4th $11,000
Williams, Roger Republican TX 25th $5,500
Wilson, Joe Republican SC 2nd $11,500
Wittman, Rob Republican VA 1st $11,050
Womack, Steve Republican AR 3rd $15,500
Woodall, Rob Republican GA 7th $9,250
Yoho, Ted Republican FL: 3rd $4,000
Young, Don Republican AK 1st $28,650
Young, David Republican IA 3rd $41,750
And here we see what is wrong with American politics today. Both you and they are arguing the extremes. The republican party of old created the EPA (that statement is sure to start a heated debate, sorry folks), the republican party yesterday decided that protecting privacy in something as core to modern existence as internet connectivity is too much of an intrusion by government. You personify corporations into evil beings. Companies are run by human beings, publicly traded companies are owned by a large portion of the US population. Most of us aren't hard core left or right and can see all of these shades of gray in the middle and form decisions based upon their individual merits.
When I discuss issues with friends that are left of center we often have a lot of common ground even though our base philosophies differ; folks such as yourself and those aligned tightly on the right can't even seem to agree the sky is blue.
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I personally contributed equal to or more than all of these to individual candidates in the last filing year (I'm unclear as to whether your source is single year, single cycle, or lifetime so I'm assuming the lowest otherwise we can add a lot more members onto my list) and it didn't result in any swayed votes. If you are trying to make a direct link between contribution and vote outcome your logic is flawed.
edit: and big, bold font? really? *eye roll*
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Thanks for the thoughtful response. My intention was to get an idea of how people who support the current administration are reacting to this sort of thing. Of course you can't blanket an entire group or label them a certain way. It's also a given that elected officials will not always have our best interests at heart.
To get to the heart of the matter, I guess I was more interested to know why people vote the way they do. Every time a Republican administration takes over, the middle class and average American get squeezed. Every time. Now I know the Democrats also have faults, but I like to deal with one issue at a time. I have voted Republican and Democrat in the past. My choice usually comes down to who the candidate is and what they stand for. In the case of the last administration, I benefited from Obamacare. Others did not. That is why we all have the freedom to vote as we see fit.
Big government will always be big government. I feel government will change very little regardless of what politicians promise. The focus for me is why do people elect officials that will not help them in any way? If you make $50K, how will giving more power to corporations and tax breaks to the wealthy benefit the average person?
We can take away regulation in the name of small government, but in reality all it does is give more freedom to business, less restriction to increase profit, and more damage to our environment. How much are we willing to sacrifice in the name of small government? I feel the small government argument does not always benefit the average American and makes little sense.
I agree with @webbuzz about the recent focus on VPNs. I mean whenever it rains, someone always knows what to do with the runoff.
Anway @ibookg409, you get it that rules can take years or decades to prepare since they require periods of public comment, public hearings, Congressional analysis of impact and costs, right? After they're issued, there's usually an effective date set far enough ahead to allow for preparation and adjustments by affected entities. This one was set to take effect end of 2017.
So the freakout is that millions of people have already wanted this simple opt-in control over sale of our net history for a long time. It was finally in place and set to take effect and... with the stroke of a pen Trump says "Ah, maybe not." Whoosh. Gone. Why wouldn't people freak out?!
It remains to be seen whether legislation can be proposed to get there. Another rule like that is not in the cards thanks to other rules that say once a rule is gone you can't bring another just like it. Maybe another revisitation of the Telecommunications Act. It will be a slog to get there, too, unless this lit a fire under enough people. One can do more than hope but that effort will be a slog too. Hey, let's get started...
You don't address the scenarios I raised. Was health insurance pre-ACA moving in the right direction? Are big corporations constantly challenging the "oppressive regulation" that prevents them maximising profits? Do politicians react to the lobbyists dollars or the will of the people? I work in finance, and the number of times I hear companies talk about "doing what's right for our customers" but it takes a fine or a lawsuit to change a practice that maximises profit, like taking debits before applying credits, or stacking charges from largest to smallest to ensure the most overdraft fees can be charged. Is that "doing what's right for our customers"? In the UK the banks made fortunes 'selling' (forcing) people to buy payment protection insurance with their loans/credit cards. Now I've fallen out with friends arguing that 'the people' are not entirely blameless, because in many cases they knowingly and willingly took out these worthless policies so that they could get the loan to buy something new and shiny.
Of course corporations are run by people and some of them are massively wealthy, but their thirst for cash appears to be un-quenchabel. The Pope said (I paraphrase) "trickle down economics is based on the pot at the top filling up and overflowing down to those below. Unfortunately today the pot at the top is now bottomless!".
I just want a world where people aren't greedy, where everyone treats everyone else with respect and kindness, where people think about the impact of their actions, where skin colour, sexuality and gender are not used as weapons.
Lots of ground to cover here, I'll pick a few and give my thoughts.
Why do people vote the way they do. I can speak for myself. My general philosophy on government is that is has some very important core responsibilities and then it should stay out of most other things as much as possible. In that sense I'm probably more libertarian than either of the two major parties but I don't really fit them either due to their extreme aversion to any government involvement and isolationist policies. More often than not I find myself in synch with republican policies on limited government but when it comes to social issues I am more closely aligned with the democrats. As a result I tend to vote for moderate republicans. If the evangelical wing left that party I'd probably be pretty strongly aligned with the republican party. That said, I evaluate each candidate individually, I don't chose based upon the letter following their name. I don't like a lot of what Trump stands for so I didn't vote for him. I didn't like Clinton either, I didn't vote for her. Each party has a base that will vote for their candidates with very little regard for who they run but a larger block than either of those consider themselves moderates or independent and could vote for either party depending upon how their messages resonate. I'm happy to be in that block of wishy washy swing voters
As to economic status and party affiliation. I'm sure a lot of people would consider me "rich" although I don't. I am definitely very comfortable but I don't have a private jet or mega yacht, I have a budget albeit one that allows me a lot of luxuries. By that measure people would consider my vote stereotypical. Take a look at the Billionaire crowd though, you have a few notable conservatives (the Kochs, Thiel, Adelson) but there are a lot of liberals in that set (Soros, Buffet, Gates, Zuckerberg, Brin, Bloomberg, Spielberg, Ballmar, Beniof, Steyer); republicans don't have a monopoly on "the rich," particularly those who have already established their wealth. On the flip side, we have a lot of economic mobility in this country and many people realize that. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I've built what I have, and I didn't change my core beliefs as my tax bracket moved. I think there's a notable set of people who currently make a modest living but aspire to have more, in that mindset a "soak the rich" perspective is short sighted. Finally, a lot of blue collar America has hobbies that democrats seem to increasingly oppose: shooting, hunting, fishing, hotrods, motorcycles, 4x4s, snowmobiles; right or wrong much of the country feels that these pastimes are under assault from the left. Being able to continue a hobby you love may be more important than the top tax rate or limits on corporate inversion. The votes reflect that.
Lastly, you mentioned damage to the environment. My personal viewpoint is that we have reasonable restrictions on behavior today that protect our environment and most new legislation in this arena provides small incremental gain at great cost. Our skies and waters are beautiful in this country and I want to keep it so. I don't think though that we need to forever drive tolerances for various potentially harmful compounds lower and lower. It's not the toxin, it's the dose. Whether arsenic is allowed at 112 or 64 parts per million in a stream (those may not be the correct figures, I'm going from memory) doesn't bother me, I'll drink it at either; but the cost of driving down to 64 could be very burdensome. Classifying some home owner's lot as a wetland and not allowing them to put in a fence when 95% of history has that area devoid of visible water is just an invasion of personal property rights. You didn't state this but I find the people who think we'll destroy earth to be arrogant. There have been multiple global scale catastrophic events on this planet through its history and the planet - and life - go on. We can make life difficult for ourselves or less pleasant but I don't fear even that with the reasonable regulation we already have in place. To me, environmentalism is a new religion and driven more by emotion and faith than facts.
My opinion, I hope that provides some insight.
Yeah, I gotta laugh, most of the people freaking out are heavy users of Google, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter, all of which have dubious privacy policies at best.
Small correction on your post, the repeal is on an FCC Rule not a law. But you're right, it's only about a year old and nobody was having a case of the vapors about privacy before that. Besides, the actual LAWS on the books already give the FCC power to enforce privacy, and if they don't do it, the FTC or individual states can.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/222
Snowflake millennials, no need to run to your safe spaces and play with puppies. Not much is going to change, folks.
American style Capitalism (which itself is not pure capitalism) is cold and heartless but it's the most workable system the world has seen.
Defined benefit system of all types (pensions, social security, medicare) are at great risk today, I believe a single payer health care system (I'm aware that's not what the ACA was/is) would add one more huge shaky program to that list. I see the ACA as having been a toe in the door that proponents hoped would eventually lead to single payer but realized the political appetite didn't exist at the time. The insurance marketplaces also rely on a cost shift from younger purchasers to older purchasers. People in my generation are expected to subsidize the baby boomers and older Gen-Xers. In many cases we're just opting out and paying the penalties, ultimately that will result in the exchanges crashing and we're back to point one. With that in mind I would support a repeal.
We don't let people die in this country for lack of health insurance. If someone shows up at an ER they are treated. I understand that chronic conditions can be quite difficult in that scenario but there are a lot of things that are tough when poor. I also understand that ER care is more expensive on paper than preventative care although one study post ACA disputes whether it had any impact there. I'd like to see reforms to health care but I'd like to start with tort reform, right now the threat of litigation causes defensive medicine which drives costs up; doctors order every test under the sun because if they skip something they didn't think was necessary and there's a complication they will later be sued as a result. We have to pay for all these tests. This litigious culture also causes medical malpractice insurance rates to increase, this is a significant costs to all doctors and is passed along to us. Health care is a complicated topic and I certainly don't have all the answers, I do not feel the ACA was the correct solution. But I digress, let's get back to your thesis...
You implied that repeal is based upon corporate greed. By whom? The insurance industry supported the ACA. The AMA supported the ACA. If this is about corporate overlords in league with evil republicans to screw us all for increased profits who are you alleging is the puppet master?
So, banking. There are two sides to most stories and I've heard the stacking of overdraft scenario before. Do you want the bank to bounce your mortgage and car payment or the checks you wrote to McDonalds, Walmart, Chevron, and the Cable company? Personally if I were in that situation I'd take the existing approach. But we cannot completely absolve the individual of their role in this either. This is simple arithmetic, you have a balance, you write checks (or hopefully these days use a debit card or electronic banking). You have every opportunity to *know* you are about to go red. When you do so you are intentionally telling a business or individual, "it's cool, give me this product or service, here's an indication you'll get paid," when you *know* you don't have the funds to do so. Sure everyone makes mistakes but I have no qualms with their being contracted penalties when that occurs and I have no issue with the approach the banks have decided is the method they will use to reconcile multiple overdrafts. I don't see this as an area government needs to get involved.
Sure we'd all like everyone to hold hands and sing Kum Ba Ya but reality is we all have free will and no amount of legislation will remove the bad/greedy/evil people from our midst. Be good to those around you and try to set a positive example and let's hope we're all able to make a difference.
I didn't intend to imply that the repeal of the ACA is due to corporate greed, simply that pre-ACA it wasn't like everyone had top notch health coverage for a few pennies per month. Premiums were going up, coverage was coming down and people were getting kicked off of their insurance plans because they had the audacity to get cancer. To that end why do people want to repeal the ACA so badly, when at least it provides some basic protections that people didn't have before. Why not build on it? One of the reasons insurance companies are dropping out and the "system is collapsing" is because the risk corridors have been defunded, which means insurance companies are packing their bags and going home rather than incurring yet more loses. I also put forward the challenge, if people don't think government should be in healthcare then should the law requiring hospitals to tried life threatening injuries also be repealed? If not then that's government getting into healthcare. And if that's ok, why is it not ok for them to prevent insurance companies dumping people for having pre-existing conditions? As an aside the idea of having a 'market place for health' is somewhat laughable. You can't control where someone crashes into you, or you slip on ice and break your leg, how do you now shop around for the best price? Or when you get a cancer diagnosis, how is the average person going to decide which hospital, or what treatment is the right one. Is it ok to say to someone "look, here's the deal, you can stay here, pay $300K and you've got a 90% chance of survival, or you can go to Bob's Discount Chemo down the street, he'll only cost you $100K but your chances of survival are going be 30%"? Is that really how the 'greatest country in the world' should operate?
On the subject of the banks, they were never going to bounce the mortgage or the car payment, but under that pretext they were able to switch the posting order on the payments to hit a person for 3 overdraft charges rather than 1, and at the time the person bought the coffee or the sub they may well have had the money in their account, because the scheduled payment didn't go out until the end of the day. I think you'll find all the banks now offer 'overdraft protection' where, for a fee, they'll let you use the money in your savings account to cover a payment from their checking account that would have taken them overdrawn. How is that "doing the right thing"? If you've entrusted the bank with hundreds or thousands of dollars of your money that they are using to earn money, the least they could do is not charge you to use it! I'm in the same boat as you in that at the end of the day you agreed to a set of terms and conditions and there needs to be some level of personal accountability, but don't make a big song and dance of delivering a 'benefit' to your customers when you know full well that you're only doing it because you're being made to!
Risk corridors were exactly the type of thing that made the ACA such a house of cards and likely candidate for insolvency to begin with. It's bad law and the cynical side of me thinks it was designed to fail in the first place with the hope that once the population had anchored on those expectations they'd then demand single payer rather than lose the entitlement. Why not build on it? You don't build on a shaky foundation. Obviously there were a couple very popular provisions in the ACA (pre-existing conditions, no policy limits) but those come with big costs and aren't working under the existing model. So, we can pass the buck to younger generations via deficit spending, we can further transfer wealth from young to old or rich to poor via forced participation in the market or further subsidies, or the whole thing can continue on the path toward collapse. Looking at those options repeal may still seem heartless but there's logic to it.
That doesn't mean we do nothing about the accelerating rise of health care costs (a trend incidentally that the ACA has not reversed). I mentioned in my previous post tort reform, I believe that is one step. You are obviously not a fan but I believe transparency in pricing is also important to making informed decisions. An injury accident while out of town may not provide you with the time or inclination to research pricing but a cancer patient or pregnant mother certainly can as could any number of people getting a standard medical procedure. I could also research general practitioners in my area and make an informed choice for general check-ups and routine preventative care or the occasional illness/diagnosis. Third party payer has really screwed medical costs in a couple of ways. This all goes back to world war II, legislation aimed to curb inflation by capping wage increases caused employers to look for creative ways to attract talent and on the other side of the ledger unions pushed for health benefits as a tax free way to increase standards of living (not to mention at this time in history the unions were largely of the trade variety and representing dangerous professions more likely to be affected by accidents on the job). The net effect is you have consumers of a service divorced (largely) from the incurred costs. Utilization of the service goes up substantially (how many people go to the doctor for a simple viral cold) which causes price increases due to supply and demand and simultaneously the patients aren't making cost efficient decisions on how/when they use services.
Of course, if you think there's resistance to eliminating pre-existing condition coverage you ain't seen nothin' compared to anyone that would suggest eliminating employer sponsored health insurance. That's a non-starter. What I do see happening is increased cost share to the employee for the insurance and increased deductibles. Both of those start to get employee skin in the game. Combine that with transparency in pricing and objective measurements of services and we can much more informed decisions about the costs of our health care. Maybe I am willing to go to the four star hospital rather than the five star if it means I save $1000 on my deductible and co-pays. Maybe the savings aren't as important to me as the highest level of care available so I'll pay more out of pocket. If we create a standard way of comparing apples to apples across health care organizations along with a combination of government inspector ratings and crowd source (Yelp! like) reviews we could select the best organization for our needs. I think these types of changes have far higher probability of meaningful reductions in health care costs than any form of universal care; to the contrary I believe that almost any universal care system will have a net increase in costs (although if you generally favor redistribution of wealth you may not care due to targeting those increases to certain classes of people).
But when they purchased the coffee and sub they did not have the money, the mortgage payment wasn't a surprise, it's a fixed cost every month on the same day. They knew it was to be debited that evening and would result in a negative balance but bought the coffee and sub anyway. That scenario is just lack of responsibility and I'm going to have a hard time summoning empathy for the individual whether they received one overdraft fee or three.
I realize sometimes people get in unfortunate situations. A car breaks down and they need to pay a mechanic or not have a way to work. Now I have to pay childcare and put food on the table or pay the rent but I don't have the funds on hand to do all of the above. So I can see someone in that situation floating checks. It's a crappy situation and a risk. In the end there are costs involved. As to overdraft to move funds from savings to checking, I'm OK with that as it is pure laziness at that point. Again, simple math; if you are paying attention and you have the funds in savings you move the money, it takes 30 seconds online. If you don't care enough to balance your checkbook and want the bank to move it for you from an account where you are earning interest to an account you make purchases from then sure, that's a service the bank can charge you for. If you think that is obscene then just do the math and move the money, problem solved.
Incidentally, anyone with hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank doesn't get charged for these services. At my bank, keeping a balance of $50k or higher across all accounts (including interest bearing accounts) waves all fees.
I agree with you entirely on the ridiculous costs of healthcare in this country. Everything costs anywhere from 3 to 5 times as much in the US as it does in the UK. Take child birth for example on average a vaginal delivery with complications in the UK costs ~$6000, in the US you're lucky to get out of the hospital with a bill under $30,000. If you could bring the US costs down even close to the comparable costs in the UK then the impact would be huge for everyone. Unfortunately down this path lies the thorny issue that healthcare now accounts for 20% of GDP...
I would however challenge you on your comments about people picking hospitals. If you're unconscious, or need emergency surgery you don't have the luxury of shopping around. If there's only one hospital within 30 miles of you, then you really don't have a choice. A pregnant woman can't really choose a cheaper hospital that's 60 miles away because they want consistent care and they can't know if there are going to be complication that will see them admitted or needing daily or weekly checkups for months. They also need to be able to get to the hospital in an emergency. It's unrealistic to suggest that a person embarking on weeks or months of chemo can drive an extra hour each way to go to a cheaper provider, especially if that have children at home and are still working...
Given that the average American is paying 7.5% in social security and medicaid, and in the equivalent 10% National Insurance contribution in the UK delivers universal healthcare I struggle to find the argument against it. It would surprise me if many people have insurance/out of pocket expenses under 2.5% of their income so why not follow the model set by virtually every western nation and ensure a minimum standard of care for all citizens, and run healthcare as an essential service and not a money making enterprise?
