Does the USA need more socialism or less socialism?

[Ringo]

Really smart financial experts know for a fact that there is a direct link between rich people and good economies. Just look at places like Haiti and Somalia for example.

I thought Haiti had capitalism... You know, private ownership of the means of production, free, democratic elections and all the other delights of capitalism... What's wrong?

 

[markef]

I thought Haiti had capitalism... You know, private ownership of the means of production, free, democratic elections and all the other delights of capitalism... What's wrong?

Even capitalism cannot lift a nation out of poverty if rich investors see no good business opportunities to invest there.

 

[GLASNOST]

I never would post a title like that.

That's OK. I won't hold it againzzt you.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

THERE WE GO...

Big Govt under homO rushed in to "save us..." and WHAT HAPPENED??

Obamacare Has Doubled the Cost of Individual Health Insurance

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as Obamacare, produced major dislocations in the individual (non-group) health insurance market by imposing a raft of new mandates and regulations, coupled with new income-related coverage subsidies. The results have been not only reduced insurer choice and...

www.heritage.org

Ronald Reagan “Most Terrifying Words – ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”​

The first thing that I notice about you people is ….that when talking about the ACA , or any other social program-the first and only thing that you latch on to is the cost. You never ever want to discuss the benefits. Similarly, while emphasizing the costs of implementing the program, you never want to deal with the costs of not having it. In the case of the ACA- you ignore the price of having a lot of people who are much sicker than they ever had to be if they had ongoing and preventive care. We’re talking about lost productivity, lost tax revenues, increased disability expenses and the cost of charity care in the emergency rooms.

Yes, premiums have doubled but that is only half of the story as told by the conservative and highly biased Heritage Foundation which omitted any mention of the aforementioned benefits . Presenting information selectively in order to support the party line narrative is a classic example of propaganda

Here is just some of what was left out:

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, transformed the individual health insurance market by creating standardized marketplaces and introducing sweeping consumer protections. While it expanded access to millions, it also led to higher sticker-price premiums for those who do not qualify for financial subsidies. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Key effects of the ACA on individual health insurance include:

• Ban on Pre-existing Conditions: Insurers can no longer deny coverage or charge higher premiums based on medical history, allowing millions of chronically ill Americans to secure coverage.
• Essential Health Benefits: All individual plans must cover 10 core categories of care (such as maternity, mental health, and prescription drugs), preventing the sale of "skinny" or limited-benefit plans.
• Premium Subsidies: The government provides financial assistance (Premium Tax Credits) to help lower-income individuals and families afford coverage.

Increased Sticker Prices: Because insurers can no longer medically underwrite or deny sick applicants, average baseline premiums increased. This disproportionately affects those earning too much to qualify for tax subsidies.

• Cap on Out-of-Pocket Costs: All plans must include annual limits on what enrollees pay for covered medical services.
• Dependent Coverage: Young adults are permitted to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until age 26.
• No Lifetime or Annual Limits: Insurers are permanently banned from capping the total amount they will pay for essential health benefits over a patient's lifetime.

It should be noted that in addition to failing to mention the benefits, they omit the fact that the increased premiums are largely offset by the subsidies for those who qualify. In addition, a good deal of the increase in premiums is due to the individual mandate having been dropped, cutting into revenues.


The dramatic enrollment growth in recent years has been largely driven by temporary enhanced financial assistance (like the Advanced Premium Tax Credits), which help over 90% of enrollees lower their monthly premiums

In fairness, it does mention the declines in average premiums that occurred in all but one of the seven states that implemented “Section 1332 waivers” in 2018 and 2019. The waivers, authorized under Section 1332 of the ACA, gave those states regulatory relief from some of Obamacare’s mandates in order to enable them to better align federal subsidy dollars with enrollee need using state-based “reinsurance” programs that target funding to the sick with high health care costs.5

It must also be noted that Over 20 million previously uninsured individuals have gained health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since its inception. However, the total number of people currently covered under the ACA is significantly higher. [1, 2]

Over 45 million people have active coverage through ACA Marketplaces or the Medicaid Expansion. [1]

 

[EMH]

or any other social program-the first and only thing that you latch on to is the cost

You lied. You claimed big government intervention cut costs. This is typical of Dems who live by leeching off the taxpayer.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

You lied. You claimed big government intervention cut costs. This is typical of Dems who live by leeching off the taxpayer.

So that's all that you have to say??? Seriously? Pathetic !! Try this : Cost must be measured in terms of both costs and benefits as I pointed out. YOU are the liar with the propaganda that you post.

 

[Failzero]

US is not Socialist

Or Marxist / Islamist ?

 

[rightwinger]

Or Marxist / Islamist ?

Now you are getting it

 

[EMH]

Cost must be measured in terms of both costs and benefits

You define "benefits" as how much Democrats can steal from it.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

You define "benefits" as how much Democrats can steal from it.

There seems to be something seriously wrong with your ability to comprehend the written word. I listed that benefits and no one is steeling anything.

You're either playing a sick trolling game here or you're beyond obtuse.

Again, my consistent message is that the cost of any program has to be understood in relation to the benefits. In the case of the ACA those benefits include a healthier society and workforce, which is not easily quantifiable .

Your problem seems to be that you are blinded by fear and loathing of government to thr point where your brain just clicks off and you start foaming at the mouth

 

[Robert W]

There seems to be something seriously wrong with your ability to comprehend the written word. I listed that benefits and no one is steeling anything.

You're either playing a sick trolling game here or you're beyond obtuse.

Again, my consistent message is that the cost of any program has to be understood in relation to the benefits. In the case of the ACA those benefits include a healthier society and workforce, which is not easily quantifiable .

Your problem seems to be that you are blinded by fear and loathing of government to thr point where your brain just clicks off and you start foaming at the mouth

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Percentage of the U.S. Population Covered by the ACA​

The percentage of Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) depends on how you define “covered” and which year you measure.

1. Current Marketplace enrollment (2025)
As of the end of the 2025 open enrollment period, about 24.3 million people were enrolled in ACA–certified Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) USAFacts. Based on U.S. population estimates, this represents roughly 7.2% of the total population USAFacts. This figure counts only those who purchased or were re‑enrolled in ACA Marketplace plans.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

How sad that fascist leftist democrats forced very bad covid policies on people under their tyrannical control.

View attachment 1268270

Get the **** over it. You might well be alive today because of masks and distancing.

 

[TheProgressivePatriot]

Democrats preach that anyone disputing their claims or disagreeing with their narratives are a threat to democracy and should be put down, even assassinated in necessary.

View attachment 1268272

No , A threat to public health. It appears that there is something seriously wrong with you

 

[Robert W]

Get the **** over it. You might well be alive today because of masks and distancing.

Thank Trump in that case.

The wearing of non-medical face masks in public to lessen the transmission of COVID-19 in the United States was first recommended by the CDC on April 3, 2020, as supplemental to hygiene and appropriate social distancing.

 

[markef]

The first thing that I notice about you people is ….that when talking about the ACA , or any other social program-the first and only thing that you latch on to is the cost. You never ever want to discuss the benefits. Similarly, while emphasizing the costs of implementing the program, you never want to deal with the costs of not having it. In the case of the ACA- you ignore the price of having a lot of people who are much sicker than they ever had to be if they had ongoing and preventive care. We’re talking about lost productivity, lost tax revenues, increased disability expenses and the cost of charity care in the emergency rooms.

Yes, premiums have doubled but that is only half of the story as told by the conservative and highly biased Heritage Foundation which omitted any mention of the aforementioned benefits . Presenting information selectively in order to support the party line narrative is a classic example of propaganda

Here is just some of what was left out:

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, transformed the individual health insurance market by creating standardized marketplaces and introducing sweeping consumer protections. While it expanded access to millions, it also led to higher sticker-price premiums for those who do not qualify for financial subsidies. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Key effects of the ACA on individual health insurance include:

• Ban on Pre-existing Conditions: Insurers can no longer deny coverage or charge higher premiums based on medical history, allowing millions of chronically ill Americans to secure coverage.
• Essential Health Benefits: All individual plans must cover 10 core categories of care (such as maternity, mental health, and prescription drugs), preventing the sale of "skinny" or limited-benefit plans.
• Premium Subsidies: The government provides financial assistance (Premium Tax Credits) to help lower-income individuals and families afford coverage.

Increased Sticker Prices: Because insurers can no longer medically underwrite or deny sick applicants, average baseline premiums increased. This disproportionately affects those earning too much to qualify for tax subsidies.

• Cap on Out-of-Pocket Costs: All plans must include annual limits on what enrollees pay for covered medical services.
• Dependent Coverage: Young adults are permitted to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until age 26.
• No Lifetime or Annual Limits: Insurers are permanently banned from capping the total amount they will pay for essential health benefits over a patient's lifetime.

It should be noted that in addition to failing to mention the benefits, they omit the fact that the increased premiums are largely offset by the subsidies for those who qualify. In addition, a good deal of the increase in premiums is due to the individual mandate having been dropped, cutting into revenues.


The dramatic enrollment growth in recent years has been largely driven by temporary enhanced financial assistance (like the Advanced Premium Tax Credits), which help over 90% of enrollees lower their monthly premiums

In fairness, it does mention the declines in average premiums that occurred in all but one of the seven states that implemented “Section 1332 waivers” in 2018 and 2019. The waivers, authorized under Section 1332 of the ACA, gave those states regulatory relief from some of Obamacare’s mandates in order to enable them to better align federal subsidy dollars with enrollee need using state-based “reinsurance” programs that target funding to the sick with high health care costs.5

It must also be noted that Over 20 million previously uninsured individuals have gained health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since its inception. However, the total number of people currently covered under the ACA is significantly higher. [1, 2]

Over 45 million people have active coverage through ACA Marketplaces or the Medicaid Expansion. [1]

The Obamacare health/tax plan helped some but hurt many others, including the economy.

 

[markef]

So that's all that you have to say??? Seriously? Pathetic !! Try this : Cost must be measured in terms of both costs and benefits as I pointed out. YOU are the liar with the propaganda that you post.

Millions of Americans never liked being forced to pay much higher costs for the government mandated healthcare plan designed to lower costs for non-workers and illegal immigrants.

 

[markef]

Or Marxist / Islamist ?

BLM: Ich bin ein Marxist!

 

[markef]

There seems to be something seriously wrong with your ability to comprehend the written word. I listed that benefits and no one is steeling anything.

You're either playing a sick trolling game here or you're beyond obtuse.

Again, my consistent message is that the cost of any program has to be understood in relation to the benefits. In the case of the ACA those benefits include a healthier society and workforce, which is not easily quantifiable .

Your problem seems to be that you are blinded by fear and loathing of government to thr point where your brain just clicks off and you start foaming at the mouth

The working class is forced to pay dearly to benefit poor government dependents in the socialist Obamacare redistribution of wealth weaponized IRS health plan.

 

[markef]

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Percentage of the U.S. Population Covered by the ACA​

The percentage of Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) depends on how you define “covered” and which year you measure.

1. Current Marketplace enrollment (2025)
As of the end of the 2025 open enrollment period, about 24.3 million people were enrolled in ACA–certified Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) USAFacts. Based on U.S. population estimates, this represents roughly 7.2% of the total population USAFacts. This figure counts only those who purchased or were re‑enrolled in ACA Marketplace plans.

That does not support either the idea that the Obamacare health/tax plan benefits all Americans or that most Americans support the government mandated healthcare/tax plan.

 

[markef]

Get the **** over it. You might well be alive today because of masks and distancing.

Millions of Americans like me are alive today in sopite of niot wearing masks. Scientific support for wearing masks to prevent the passage of covid particles is flimsy at best.