A thread for Democrats Only
POSTED BY: THGRRI
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 15:36
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:You either do care about raising your own wages or you must have misunderstood: “From raising the minimum wage to ensuring equal pay, we have passed legislation to raise wages. And we have passed legislation to protect and expand health coverage and bring down prescription drug prices,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said in a statement to Vox. “We continue to urge Senator McConnell to take up our bills, many of which are bipartisan.”
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
lol Vox
Do Right, Be Right. :)
The minimum wage bill has a very straight forward title: "Raise the Wage Act"
It is a bill that the Senate is stalling.
There will be an annual increase in the minimum wage, which rises to $15/hour and then keeps on rising at the same rate as the wages for rich/wealthy professionals rise. (I'm pretty sure the Senate Republicans hate this part, but those Senators are keeping their intentions a secret):
“(B) increased from such amount by the annual percentage increase, if any, in the median hourly wage of all employees as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics;
“(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in the median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary, through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shall compile data on the hourly wages of all employees to determine such a median hourly wage and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent year for which data are available with the median hourly wage determined for the preceding year.”
More at www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/582/text
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
There already is equal pay. Anyone stating otherwise is peddling myths.
I don't really care if they raise the minimum wage or not, and I'm generally at the bottom these days. If it goes to $15/hr. that doubles what minimum wage is in my state. All that will happen then is that the poverty threshold will rise along with it. Wowie!
And explain to me how we're going to pay for expanded health care and lower prescription prices.
If your answer isn't that we're going to force drug companies and hospitals to charge legitimate prices, then there wasn't a bill proposed that will actually do anything to solve the problem.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:If you want to be paid less than minimum wage, I know numerous companies controlled by Republican owners who will pay you in secret and in cash a wage less than minimum, but I don't think that underground/under-the-table/backstreet system solves any poor people's problems. But it sure does help to make business owners richer, so there is that advantage, if you are a poor person wanting to give charity to the wealthy this Xmas season.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
There already is equal pay. Anyone stating otherwise is peddling myths.
I don't really care if they raise the minimum wage or not, and I'm generally at the bottom these days. If it goes to $15/hr. that doubles what minimum wage is in my state. All that will happen then is that the poverty threshold will rise along with it. Wowie!
And explain to me how we're going to pay for expanded health care and lower prescription prices.
If your answer isn't that we're going to force drug companies and hospitals to charge legitimate prices, then there wasn't a bill proposed that will actually do anything to solve the problem.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
There are bills to lower drug prices and healthcare prices, but the GOP will not vote for them. If you don't want those bills to pass, that's good for the GOP. The rich will thank you for your help making them richer by your willingness to pay higher prices and accept fewer medicines and less healthcare in exchange for your voting for a GOP Senator.
"Prescription Drug Price Relief Act of 2019" sponsored by Bernie Sanders, who is NOT a Republican. This bill won't pass the Senate:
www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/102/text
There is also the "Lower Health Care Costs Act". It ain't gonna pass either, but the committee controlled by Republicans is crossing out most of the words in the bill just in case it comes to another vote. You should look at the text:
www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1895/text
Bernie voted against it. One easy to understand reason why he is against: it would cut funding for federally qualified health centers and the National Health Service Corps, a spokesman said. “This bill includes an absolute cut of nearly 20 percent in both programs,” the spokesman said. “At a time when people are already struggling to afford their health care and access providers in their communities, this was a real missed opportunity to help the most vulnerable people in our country.”
www.rollcall.com/news/congress/health-costs-bill-senate
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Life Expectancy is 4 Years lower in Red States than Blue States
Democratic-leaning areas used to look similar to Republican-leaning areas in terms of productivity, income and education. But they have been rapidly diverging, with blue areas getting more productive, richer and better educated. In the close presidential election of 2000, counties that supported Al Gore over George W. Bush accounted for only a little over half the nation’s economic output. In the close election of 2016, counties that supported Hillary Clinton accounted for 64 percent of output, almost twice the share of Trump country.
www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2016/11/29/another-clinton-trump-div
ide-high-output-america-vs-low-output-america/
The thing is, the red-blue divide isn’t just about money. It’s also, increasingly, a matter of life and death.
In 1990, today’s red and blue states had almost the same life expectancy. Since then, however, life expectancy in Clinton states has risen more or less in line with other advanced countries, compared with almost no gain in Trump country. At this point, blue-state residents can expect to live more than four years longer than their red-state counterparts.
Is this all about deaths of despair in the eastern heartland? No. Consider our four most populous states. In 1990, Texas and Florida had higher life expectancy than New York and almost matched California; today, they’re far behind.
What explains the divergence? Public policy certainly plays some role, especially in recent years, as blue states expanded Medicaid and drastically reduced the number of uninsured, while most red states didn’t. The growing gap in educational levels has also surely played a role: Better-educated people tend to be healthier than the less educated.
Beyond that, there has been a striking divergence in behavior and lifestyle that must be affecting mortality. For example, the prevalence of obesity has soared all across America since 1990, but obesity rates are significantly higher in red states.
One thing that’s clear, however, is that the facts are utterly inconsistent with the conservative diagnosis of what ails America. Conservative figures like William Barr, the attorney general, look at rising mortality in America and attribute it to the collapse of traditional values — a collapse they attribute, in turn, to the evil machinations of “militant secularists.” The secularist assault on traditional values, Barr claims, lies behind “soaring suicide rates,” rising violence and “a deadly drug epidemic.”
But European nations, which are far more secularist than we are, haven’t seen a comparable rise in deaths of despair and an American-style decline in life expectancy. And even within America these evils are concentrated in states that voted for Trump, and have largely bypassed the more secular blue states.
More at www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/opinion/life-expectancy-united-states.html
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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And birthrates among Democrats have plummeted.
Nature always finds a balance.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:As a candidate, Trump was vocally skeptical of climate change regulations but specifically vowed “to promote clean air and water,” which are overwhelmingly popular causes. But Trump has moved to roll back dozens of rules on these subjects without the changes ever becoming a focus of sustained public debate.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
And birthrates among Democrats have plummeted.
Nature always finds a balance.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
Most of these rollbacks’ impacts will be felt primarily in the long term, but already, particulate pollution is getting worse, reversing years of progress. A team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon estimates that 9,700 more Americans died due to air pollution in 2018 than in 2016, in part due to regulatory changes.
www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/2/20970521/trump-administratio
n-achievements
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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I smoke.
Do you honestly think I give a shit?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:I have heard that Red-state smokers have lowered the life expectancy in their states by four years. I heard they voted for Trump. I heard they use the same brain to smoke and vote.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I smoke.
Do you honestly think I give a shit?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
"America’s Red State Death Trip: Why does falling life expectancy track political orientation?"
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/opinion/life-expectancy-united-states.html
I am a Never-Smoker and a Never-Trumper.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I smoke.
Do you honestly think I give a shit?
In Tense Exchange, Trump and Macron Put Forth Dueling Visions for NATO
A once-cordial relationship between President Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of France devolved in a dramatic fashion on Tuesday, as the two leaders publicly sparred over their approach to containing the threat of terrorism and a shared vision for the future of NATO, a 70-year-old alliance facing existential threats on multiple fronts.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/in-tense-exchange-trump-and-macro
n-put-forth-dueling-visions-for-nato/ar-BBXGDbc?ocid=spartandhp
T
Deep state describes dedicated, educated professionals.
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Quote:From the article you mentioned: “Would you like some nice ISIS fighters?” Mr. Trump said, crouching forward and claiming that “many” fighters had come from France. “I can give them to you.”
Originally posted by THG:
A once-cordial relationship between President Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of France devolved in a dramatic fashion on Tuesday, as the two leaders publicly sparred over their approach to containing the threat of terrorism . . .
President Macron of France should have rudely said, “France will not take your prisoners from Guantanamo, or Syria. May I suggest you have SEAL team 6 guard your prisoners?” Trump has made himself infamous by pardoning soldiers who kill prisoners, then he fired the Secretary of the Navy for objecting to the pardon of a Navy SEAL.
“Trump grants clemency to 2 Army officers accused of war crimes, restores rank to Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher”
www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-clemency-army-officers-accused-of-war-c
rimes-navy-seal-eddie-gallagher
“Timeline: How Trump intervened in the Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher's war crimes case”
www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/2019/11/27/timeline-gallahers-
war-crimes-trump-intervention/4305986002/
Interestingly, Trump defended Gallagher using the same lawyers defending himself.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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lol
Macron's idea of dealing with terrorism is watching the Muslims invade his country with open arms all while the people who live there can't afford gas to get to work.
Nancy Pelosi regularly polls with a higher approval rating than Macron does.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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