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Some people are just gullible, probably most of us are in some way. Liberals should not demonize them for naivete, it is hypocritical. A group of desperate people who have been left behind, mocked and ignored believed a skilled liar, and the sky is blue. It will take a lot for them to turn on him, its hard to realize no one has your back.
The Democrats abandoned them. They had no other choice.
I'm not so sure that's the case.
The Democrats wanted the ACA to have a public option (Medicare) but fell one vote short in the Senate when Joe Lieberman went against it. Lieberman's neighbor and pal was, at that time, the CEO of Aetna who stood to lose huge revenues if Medicare went anywhere near mainstream. Though the DEMs tried to get healthcare for all those working folks in WV, KY, et al, it was the GOP who denied it. Now those folks may lose their ACA coverage and be far worse off than ever before.
DEMs tried for universal single payer since at least 1948 when the GOP blocked Truman from implementing such a scheme. For whatever reason the richest among us, the 1%, seem to hate the little guy having anything but the existence of a damned serf.
KY accepted the medicaid expansion part of the ACA and there are now a HALF MILLION people in KY getting coverage --- and not going to the nearest Emergency Room when they get sick, or not simply dying for lack of care. It is a success story but all you hear from one side is what a disaster it is.
I believe Democrats did not abandon those people. Those people abandoned the democrats as they listened to right wing hate radio these past 20+ years, adopted their own version of victimhood, and became very mis-informed or ignorant of the changing world outside their door. Those of us who follow factual reporting from a variety of business, investing and news sources know instinctively that coal can't come back due to the underlying economic, environmental, and transportation factors weighing massively in favor of natural gas to fuel our power plants.
Background reading:
For the sake of other readers needing a bit of explanation, Medicare is a universal single payer system for those 65 and older; I'm one of them. I pick my doctors, go when I feel a need to be seen. Medicare Part A is hospital coverage and that costs me nothing these days since I paid into Medicare all my working life. I do pay for Medicare Part B, which covers about 80% of the doctor’s bill. Medicare Part B costs me $142/month and I have other insurance to cover the rest. The point is that the ACA and Medicare are NOT socialized medicine as scare mongers love to shout. Britain has socialized medicine which means the British Government OWNS the hospitals and the doctors and nurses are employees of the government. Nothing about the ACA or Medicare or Medicaid has any resemblance to Britain’s form of socialized medicine. Outside of our own Veterans Administration we have NO government owned hospitals and no one would even dare suggest we go that route.
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Very true. Same where I live, the Trump machine has no freaking clue how the people in the rural heartland actually live. Trump USED them, LIED to them, and MANIPULATED them to win the election. I don't blame most of them for voting for Trump, in general these were trusting people that really truly thought that Trump would deliver what he was selling. I'd love to see Trump do a day's work in a coal mine, on a farm or in a machine shop. But of course that will never happen, because he does not NEED to understand the true lives of his base; he just needs to know enough to be able to appeal to their emotions and their naivete. He would never dirty his hands in manual labor - that's what we have serfs for, right?
It will backfire on him in the end though. Americans will put up with a lot of inefficiency and ineptitude, but the one thing they will NOT put up with is being lied to. That's why the Clintons failed in the end, no trust, no credibility. And that's why Trump is going to crash and burn, because once his supporters understand how badly they were flim-flammed in this election, their fury will have no bounds.
No it won't. Never underestimate the power of hate. Trump will continue to deflect and blame their problems on the scapegoat de jour (Mexicans, Muslims, Jews, Democrats, Obama, etc), and those idiots who voted for him will eat it up as always, even as they starve to death.
I believe Democrats did not abandon those people. Those people abandoned the democrats as they listened to right wing hate radio these past 20+ years, adopted their own version of victimhood, and became very mis-informed or ignorant of the changing world outside their door. Those of us who follow factual reporting from a variety of business, investing and news sources know instinctively that coal can't come back due to the underlying economic, environmental, and transportation factors weighing massively in favor of natural gas to fuel our power plants.
Yes, the social issues (guns, abortion, gay marriage, transgender bathrooms) tend to drive those people away from the Democrats. And of course the Republicans are more than happy to take their votes by promising to put an end to all of that "sin and rebellion against the Lord."
The Democrats wanted the ACA to have a public option (Medicare) but fell one vote short in the Senate when Joe Lieberman went against it. Lieberman's neighbor and pal was, at that time, the CEO of Aetna who stood to lose huge revenues if Medicare went anywhere near mainstream. Though the DEMs tried to get healthcare for all those working folks in WV, KY, et al, it was the GOP who denied it. Now those folks may lose their ACA coverage and be far worse off than ever before.
DEMs tried for universal single payer since at least 1948 when the GOP blocked Truman from implementing such a scheme. For whatever reason the richest among us, the 1%, seem to hate the little guy having anything but the existence of a damned serf.
KY accepted the medicaid expansion part of the ACA and there are now a HALF MILLION people in KY getting coverage --- and not going to the nearest Emergency Room when they get sick, or not simply dying for lack of care. It is a success story but all you hear from one side is what a disaster it is.
I believe Democrats did not abandon those people. Those people abandoned the democrats as they listened to right wing hate radio these past 20+ years, adopted their own version of victimhood, and became very mis-informed or ignorant of the changing world outside their door. Those of us who follow factual reporting from a variety of business, investing and news sources know instinctively that coal can't come back due to the underlying economic, environmental, and transportation factors weighing massively in favor of natural gas to fuel our power plants.
Background reading:
For the sake of other readers needing a bit of explanation, Medicare is a universal single payer system for those 65 and older; I'm one of them. I pick my doctors, go when I feel a need to be seen. Medicare Part A is hospital coverage and that costs me nothing these days since I paid into Medicare all my working life. I do pay for Medicare Part B, which covers about 80% of the doctor’s bill. Medicare Part B costs me $142/month and I have other insurance to cover the rest. The point is that the ACA and Medicare are NOT socialized medicine as scare mongers love to shout. Britain has socialized medicine which means the British Government OWNS the hospitals and the doctors and nurses are employees of the government. Nothing about the ACA or Medicare or Medicaid has any resemblance to Britain’s form of socialized medicine. Outside of our own Veterans Administration we have NO government owned hospitals and no one would even dare suggest we go that route.
Yes, the social issues (guns, abortion, gay marriage, transgender bathrooms) tend to drive those people away from the Democrats. And of course the Republicans are more than happy to take their votes by promising to put an end to all of the sin and rebellion against the Lord.
On my local radio station (R) I keep hearing that ACA did absolutely nothing and was a total waste. A few days ago they had a few important people e.g. medical director of our local hospital and some others on a program called "success happens". If you listen to them it was clear that they were having less number of people in emergency (without insurance) which was also echoed by director of Mission of Mercy (sort of mobile healthcare). However, they said ACA was still not covering enough and that needs to be improved and some other things.
Yes, the social issues (guns, teaching evolution, abortion, gay marriage, transgender bathrooms) tend to drive those people away from the Democrats. And of course the Republicans are more than happy to take their votes by promising to put an end to all of the sin and rebellion against the Lord.
Exactly. Right wing radio, evangelical preachers, Fox, et al, greatly assisted Karl Rove and the GOP to make millions of people fear that their freedom, indeed, their very existence was at stake with these issues. I get the emails from a conservative pal, former uniformed-Army career type, about how Obama and the government are coming for all our guns. Other folks get similar chain emails about how the DEMs are going to take our bibles, or force our kids to share restrooms with those GLBT folks and oh the horror of everything these days, so vote for me as I'm the only one who can fix it.
For decades we've seen grifters running as the outsider who'll take on the fat cats in DC but it never happens; they get elected and instantly are the latest fat cat carpetbagger to show up in the hallowed halls of the Capitol Building. It's an old trick to run FOR Washington by running AGAINST Washington and then forget all about the forgotten ones back home that they pandered to during campaign season.
Fear tactics all the way. If the they can keep people afraid and angry they can control how they vote and fleece them for donations. They all do it, but the GOP, NRA, religious right, et al, does it on a massive scale on the issues you mention and more. The enviro types tell you how you'll glow in the dark if we build that nasty old nuclear power plant, etc. (FYI, a long-time senior anti-nuke guy switched sides @2005 and decided that coal was, after all, the real danger due to it's emissions.) There's a fat living to be made running 'non-profits' in the DC area; just proclaim something to be a crisis, claim you have the answer and lawyers to rein in congress, then sit back and watch the checks come in the mail. Yee haw y'all, ain't democracy fun!
Here we are. Another election. Another round of high-faluting promises. Another bunch of people or region feeling seduced and abandoned and furious about the deception.
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- Want some detailed instructions on using the site? See The Guide for plain english explanation.
- Realtors are welcome here but do see our Realtor Advice to avoid infractions.
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Last edited by Mike from back east; 03-21-2017 at 11:38 AM..
Some people are just gullible, probably most of us are in some way.
People cling to hope, it's human nature. One party told Coal Country that their way of life is going away and the best they can do is to learn new skills and cope. Another party told them they were victims of underhanded machinations and that the glory days would be returned to them in exchange for their vote.
No wonder one message resonated more than the other.
The Democrats presented them with an unpleasant truth. The Republicans offered sugar-coated lies. They chose poorly.
Dems could have done better. Hillary didn't even go to some of those places and talked down to them when she did. She may have eeked out a win if she had tried and used a better strategy. She didn't even listen to Bill, who knew she should have campaigned in those places.
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