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Louisiana make the tough but correct decision to postpone its primary.
Makes sense. Prudent and responsible. What about November?
This really concerns me. I have raised an alarm about Trump that many here disagree with. I have said some time that I feared he would not leave office willingly.
Declaring martial law and Postponing elections may be in the nation’s best interests. But Trump is a woefully inept man who is tyrannical in his speech.
I fear where this is leading.
Maybe we need to consider cancelling the elections in November too. Just keep Trump as president until this pandemic ends. Makes sense to me since people congregating and the use of "common voting machines" could easily be a vector for the disease. Yep, cancel the election for the health of the people, because we can not underestimate the danger of this disease. It would save the lives of MILLIONS of lives.
We could go with online voting. If so Rupp Arena may be the next presidentQuote:
Originally Posted by Doc
To easy to fake the results...you know with RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA's ability to hack our computers we can't be sure. Nope, I say cancel the elections until AFTER the outbreak. We can't be too careful, and we need to take this seriously.Quote:
Originally Posted by kingcat
I think we need stability even for the next outbreak. Just cancel the elections altogether.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc
I'd thought I'd bump up my raised concern in light of the President's tweet which I will post here:
"With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA," he wrote. "Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"
For the president to even raise the possibility speaks to two things: 1) He seems to think he can do anything and 2) he will do whatever he can to sew doubt and animosity between folks.
I raise the spectre of Trump trying to cancel the election months ago, here he is floating the idea in public. And yes a president's words do matter. The president's words are his actions as much as anything.
Forget that I raised the point or that folks quickly in a mocking fashion dismissed my worry. Credit McConnell, Graham and others for balking at the idea publicly.
But one thing we saw from Trump on day 1 of his presidency is that he was a sore winner. He couldn't just win but he had to make his victory bigger and raised questions as to the credibility of Clinton's popular vote numbers.
By even suggesting this, it also raises the question as to whether he will accept a defeat. The more narrow the defeat the more noise and potentially even his own refusal in leaving office willingly.
It isn't just my hyperbole or hatred of the man that has me write this. I just his words and his actions to make my point and raise my concerns.
If you love this country, you should be concerned for any president not willingly accepting defeat for a peaceful transition of power.
Yep....the entire Russia hoax is an example of that.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by UKHistory
I guess from my stand point I see from day one the shock that the Democrats and Nancy P just hated that Clinton lost.
It’s not that I truly like Trump but it’s the fear I have for the way the Democrats run their cities and have allowed this unrest.
I fully believe that many Democrats are allowing these riots along with covid to make this president look as badly as possible.
Biden/Democrats will be the start of a total change in government/socialist government actions and total control of the simple minded people that currently believe that is the government they want.
Said it several times but with the division in the country we are headed in a direction that no one wants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by UKHistory
I love my country deeply, and I have no concerns at all. You have been convinced since before his inauguration, so do you think maybe your objectivity is in some doubt?
He's of course trying to highlight the fact that the left is desperately using this Covid thing to grab power in a way that will pretty much eliminate democracy in America, but yet you aren't concerned at all. I would argue if a person deeply loves his country he would be very worried about secure elections and a legal process that preserves our electoral system.
Mail in ballots are a fraudulent hole you can drive a truck through. In California they let people walk around with absentee ballots, go door to door, "assist" people in filling them out, then bulk mail them in. OH, no room for fraud in that process. Very democratic.
The whole notion is absurd on its face. Will he bitch about a stolen election? Sure he will. Hillary can't shut up about her stolen election after 4 years, despite what is now clear proof from Mueller that there was no collusion.
But what do you think will happen here? Is the Secret Service going to defend the White House at Gunpoint by his orders come inauguration day? Will the Pentagon send troops into the streets to repel people?
Seriously, how exactly will he resist the peaceful handover of power? Who will go along with this coup do you think?
The worst case scenario is he tweets endlessly for the rest of his days about having been robbed, which will make him no different than Hillary.
It does however help highlight the subtle moves being made to seize absolute power in numerous states in this country, and thus try to end the two party system. If you want to worry about something that will end America as we know and love it, worry about those things. They are real, they are substantiated with evidence, and they are happening.
Focusing on Trump is just a distraction like a magician waving his arms, while the real manipulation happens where you aren't looking.
Oh, and I'm so increasingly convinced their plot will work I'm already working on my exit strategy. I doubt America survives as an even reasonably free country for much longer.
Very well said I am very worried America is seeing her last great days as we know!
Sadly I think the writing is on the wall. The media has lost all sense of being the Fourth Estate to keep ALL politicians honest, and is now just a partisan propaganda operation for one side or the other. Academia is chocked full of empty headed fools who have now taught generations of people to be just a dumb.
People no longer protest for their freedom or liberty but for an equality of outcomes. The very notions of hard work and rugged individualism are now seen as insulting, "fascist" and apparently even racist.
We are already regulated to within an inch of our lives, taxed in so many subtle ways, and yet much of the nation is clamoring for more and more in order to achieve the engineered outcomes they desire, even if that includes the complete elimination of economic freedom and political freedom in this country.
Their engineered outcomes are now more important than liberty. Liberty in fact not only doesn't matter, but apparently is an ill, a falsehood.
These moves over this election will cement enough of California's corruption into other state processes that I doubt the nation recovers, and the end of the two party system in this country will be the end of liberty in the end. No nation has ever survived with freedom without two roughly balanced political parties to keep each other in check.
Sad times indeed and some just do not see that.
My 25 year old step daughter who will graduate from Yale thinks a socialist government sounds good to her and she wants things to be like Sweden and everyone deserves free healthcare!
Just blows my mind how do they think these free programs will be funded.
Those countries have no military of any note. We would have to resign as the world's policemen and end our military superpower status completely.
I'm not even against that at this point, but what will happen is that vacuum will be filed with nations that aren't nearly so kind and peace loving and freedom loving, and our ability to conduct trade will be greatly impacted.
And none of them understand what that will do for liberty in this country.
Oh, and that it won't work at all in the US, b/c shockingly America isn't really the same as Europe. We also aren't the same as Japan or China or anywhere else for that matter. They don't teach that in college apparently.
People no longer value their liberty. They value their security more, which is why socialism is so appealing to them. America's Great Experiment didn't promise any security, just the liberty to pursue one's dreams and goals as one pleased.
They don't want that, they just want security. It's really that simple.
History, your concerns each step of the way since Trump has taken office have proven to be unfounded. In fact we now have a lot of evidence of wrong doing on the other side of the aisle.
Sweden, hailed by our left as a virtuous socialist state, is very much a capitalist country. That free healthcare comes at a great cost to the individual taxpayer, as corporate rates are low. The minimum wage law is nearly nonexistent, so people must prove their worth in the workplace.Quote:
Originally Posted by catmanjack
I would like to understand why they hail Sweden, teachers/professors must be using them as an example.
Please if you have articles or anything that will help me post them.
Here is why they shouldn’t: https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/the-p...int-socialist/Quote:
Originally Posted by catmanjack
Thanks
I wont comment on the above positive or negative other than to post this information..Most every benefit, and there are plenty, are socialized.
Wouldn't you agree?
THE GENERAL attitude in Sweden is that paying taxes is a good thing. Skatt, the Swedish word for tax, also means “treasure”, and Swedes certainly value what they get for their money. Everyone sees the civic responsibility and benefit of paying high taxes and most would pay even higher taxes if it meant they got more benefits. Tax rates are fair and everything seems to just work the way it’s supposed to. Swedes joke about the amount of bureaucracy they endure in assorted offices here, but the reason behind it is to keep things running smoothly. Here is why I’m happy to see my taxes go to Scandinavia’s least warlike nation.
Socialized medicine
Healthcare in Sweden is not free. In Sweden, one pays a nominal fee to see a primary care doctor — around 200kr, or $20US — and a total of 400kr for an emergency room visit. Waiting times for pre-planned care, such as a knee-replacement surgery ordered by a specialist, cannot exceed 90 days. If there is no way to perform the required procedure in that time frame, the patient may go elsewhere, and their municipal government will pay for it, including travel costs. Individual contribution to healthcare is capped at 1100kr a year. Any further treatment needed for the rest of the 12-month period is free. One does not need to be a citizen to use the Swedish healthcare system, just a legal resident with an identification number. One can use the centralized healthcare website to check test results, book appointments, change doctor’s offices, or get checked for chlamydia. If one needs a prescription, the information is associated with his or her ID number…the patient can go into any pharmacy and the information will be available.
Free medical, dental, and optical care up to age 21
Anybody under the age of 21 receives totally free medical, dental, and optical services. Children’s regular checkup and vaccination schedules are maintained by the government. When it’s time for a booster or a teeth cleaning, one gets a notice in the mail that one has an appointment (Swedish clinics, nurses, and doctors don’t ask what times a patient is available. They just tell them when to go in). A Swede’s kid needs glasses? Free. Someone needs braces and headgear? Free. Need birth control at the age of 16? Free, though they might make the patient watch this video, “Snoppan och snippan”.
You don’t need to file taxes.
I like to pay taxes in Sweden in part because I don’t have to file them myself. Unless one has exemptions or other unusual circumstances, Sweden does the filer’s taxes for them, and then sends a request by SMS to tell them if the forms are correct. After the filer responds, their refund is automatically deposited into their bank account. I wouldn’t know where to find an accountant if I needed one.
Our taxes support municipally-maintained bicycle paths.
Bicycles are Sweden’s favorite mode of transportation. They are cheap, fast, better for the environment and fun to ride while chattering away on hands-free headsets. A bicyclist can nip pretty much anywhere in Malmö in fifteen minutes, thanks to the extensive network of bike lanes and paths. The bike lanes are smoothly paved, separated from cars by a strip of curb, and often get shoveled before the sidewalk on the four or five days per winter we have snow. The only major downside is the tourists who constantly mistake them for extra-wide walking paths, and meander in front of everyone’s daily commute.
Parental leave
This one is huge, and much in the news. Sweden’s 480 days of parental leave per child are some of the best benefits in the world. The time can be split between both parents and can be taken at any point until the child is 8 years old, which can result in some extra-long vacations (since a parent can take a week of parental leave onto some of the 5 weeks of mandated vacation time per year). Nobody would breathe a word of reproach for a parent on leave. Perhaps a parent chooses to stay home with their child for a year and go back to work but then decided he or she wasn’t quite ready and wanted to take some more time — no problem. In an effort to improve gender equality, Sweden has also offered incentives specifically for fathers. 90 of the days are exclusively reserved for the dad, and if he doesn’t take them, the days are lost.
Subsidized daycare
Lack of access to daycare throughout the world is one of the biggest impediments to parents re-entering the workforce — usually women since they are the ones most likely to give up their careers to stay home with the child. In Sweden, my taxes pay for daycare subsidies. Monthly fees are based on income, so people with low or no income are completely subsidized, while those with higher incomes pay up to 1400kr a month (about $140 USD). This amount is often covered by the barnbidrag, the monthly child allowance a Swedish parent receives from the government. Daycare is regulated; teachers have specialized training and Master’s degrees and kids get lots of play and outdoor time. The dagis my daughter is going to has a section for kids 3-5, where they take them out on a touring bus four days a week, driving around the region, going to national parks, museums, landmarks and other sites.
EXPAT LIFE
The reality of parenting in Sweden will make you rethink how we raise kids
Five weeks of paid vacation a year
Swedes are entitled to 25 paid days of vacation per year unless they work for a powerful union, in which case, they might get more. If a Swede has a contract that specifies they do not get paid for overtime, they will get 30 days. After their first 20 vacation days, they can save the remaining ones for up to 5 years.
Paid days off when your kid is sick
When a Swedish employee gets sick or injured, they have a certain number of sick days they can take from their employer. When their kid gets sick, the government pays them to stay home until they can go back to school. This is called VAB (Vård av barn), or “care for children”, and leads to February being nick-named “VABruary”, as everyone stays home with winter colds for half the month.
Unemployment benefits
If a Swedish worker put in at least 20 hours per week for twelve months, then lost his/her job, they will receive A-kassa, 80% of your former salary for up to 200 days, and then 70% of it for the next 100 days. They must be actively seeking work to get these benefits, and they don’t have to be a Swedish citizen — any resident with a personnummer is eligible. There is also an “introduction benefit” for those newly arrived in Sweden, especially low-income (like refugees) — the amount of the benefit is based on individual circumstances and can include a housing benefit as well.
Free Swedish classes
Svenska för invandrare (SFI) are the federally-sponsored and provided Swedish language classes available to anybody who moves to Sweden. Once a person has their ID number, they register for the classes and will be assigned to one based on their schedule and availability — daytime classes run every day for 3 hours a day, while evening classes are 2 times a week. A student can also do an intensive course of 6 weeks at 5 hours a day. If the student stops their SFI classes, they can come back to them later (for free). Swedes vary wildly in how enthusiastic they are about the success of SFI, but the consensus seems to be that it depends a lot on the teacher. If a student doesn’t like his or her class, they can apply to have it switched — although this might give them a wait.
Sweden pays for all that free stuff by taxing individuals at very high rates.
I heard while listening to the Candice Owens show that if you make 70k 35k will go to taxes.
Nothing is free and that kind of giving would ruin/bankrupt America.
I was just about to ask what the tax rate was there as that info is not mentioned in the article.Quote:
Originally Posted by KeithKSR
Here is an article I found via Google.
https://www.vox.com/2016/4/8/1138035...ish-taxes-love
The biggest difference between Sweden and the US financially is Sweden isn’t playing the world’s policeman, while the US still seems to be.
The Sweden socialist thing is actually a myth, and socialism nearly bankrupted them. They have been putting back in market based reforms now for about 20 years trying to fix it.
There is no free lunch, and there is no way to eliminate incentives to work and save and still have a successful economy. Period, no way around it.
I can find a number of articles to show how their system works, and it's far less socialist than people think, and has had to become so to survive.
Not to mention that Sweden isn't the US, and what works for one culture doesn't just automatically translate to another. Take Covid for example. The Japanese are great at wearing masks and distancing b/c it's already a cultural norm, whereas in the US people are deeply resistant to the same exact behavior.
Sweden only has about 10 million people. The whole country is the population of New York City, and they are a very different culture, and even they had failure with socialism and have had to step back to more market based incentives to work.
Sweden has low corporate tax rates to incentivize businesses, which is the opposite track the Dems want to follow.Quote:
Originally Posted by CitizenBBN
In Sweden the MIN INDIVIDUAL TAX is 32% if you make over $2,000 dollars annually. Means a house that makes 50K will take home 34K max. That isn't 50% of the nation like here in the USA where only the top 50% of the nation pays federal income tax. That is nearly 100% of the citizens. All those people of the US who currently pay nothing in April will be shocked at what it is like when Uncle Sam comes knocking to collect his "FAIR SHARE". If the US goes the way for health care for all, free college for all, monthly stipends for all, free day care for all, etc... they better come to realize that "free" isn't "free". Under the current system "free" means the rich pay for it. Would be interesting to see these millenniums reaction when they actually realize they have to pay for this free stuff.
It should also be noted our max is 37%, Sweden is 57%.
21.4% isn't all that low IMO. It is slightly higher than the USA (21%)Quote:
Originally Posted by KeithKSR
that's one of the biggest factors. Everyone pays into the system there. Here half of the country doesn't pay a thing into the services the government provides.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc
The already are living here for free effectively. What they want is to get paid to live here by the half who pay the government bills.
It is low compared to what the Dems want the US rate to be.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc