gbear

Wow, somebody railing against the state of education in the U.S. has completely derailed a thread on Russia's impact on U.S. elections.

Well, that would suck for kids like mine. All four of them are medically fragile adoptees. I imagine all four of them would have passed any life time benefit max before they turned 5. As part of our adoption agreement, their healthcare expenses are supposed to be taken care of by the government. If they get serious about passing this, I can already envision Sarah McLachlan like ads only with a save our children theme rather than a save the dogs. I have always been proud our country honors its Christian heritage of "that which is done unto the least of me..." when it comes to our foster care children's' health. I am not saying it is great or equal to the best healthcare I could buy, but it has always been a step above leaving the sick child on a mountain top for the fates to do with as they will. To be honest, it is better than most countries I have seen. In our attempt to demonize those whom the system helps, do we forget who these people are? The removal of benefit limits from private insurance was the biggest accomplishment of the ACA. To undo this for Medicaid is to make things far worse for the sick than before the ACA.

When do we start referring to each other as comrade?

Your mind is cleaner than mine. I misread it as putang con and wondered how we were getting info about that type of conference on this board.

I think the plan maybe to wait and see if there is an audience in either house or Senate likely to act on info coming to light through the investigation. It could drastically change how they present it and how much they present, the probable versus the proven beyond any doubt.

Am I crazy to think so much of this coming out now is the result of the Bill Cosby trial which really happened when a comedian made fun of him for allegedly assaulting women? It just seems rather remarkable to me how much has come from the that pebble thrown into the pond of our collective consciousness. I mean Cosby wasn't convicted and yet the feeling of pervasive injustice happening in our society has finally struck a cord within a large portion of our society. It's about freaking time! Don't think it is hopeless to point out wrongs. For even if the individual cause may be lost, it may prompt others to take up the call. I would say this to all the "Cosby accusers" who think nothing god can come from speaking out, thank you. People like you are bringing change for the cultures in which our children and their children will grow. May their children think things have always been thus because they can imagine no world where what you experienced is common until they are told of our history to better appreciate the value of our voices.

I am confused by "worse than Watergate." Is that a dig at Watergate saying that was purely partisan or is it saying this is more serious?

Thanks. I have said for years I am thankful for the help we get as I know many countries take worse care of their sick and especially their sick children. It is one of the christian ideals I think we deal with best. I just hate to see changes impact our ability to continue providing the life which we would all hope to live to those not lucky enough to be born healthy or in a family to help them. Having MS, I know I am lucky to currently have employer provided healthcare. I just hope we can continue to give our kids what they need. What I have read this far of the bill makes me worry for their long term prospects.

I will repost this point because as an adoptive parents of 4 special needs kids on medicaid, I suspect my family comes out behind in every time period. I just can't figure out why nobody is making an issue of yet another attempt to hurt the pocketbooks of the sick...you know the people already being bankrupted by their medical bills. Let's make healthcare more expensive by any means possible by first doing away with the ACA and then doing away any tax relief they might currently use. What's next, a debtors prison full of the sick?

Did they remove or keep ACA insurance requirements?

Quick question on pass through companies: Does a pass through corporation allow the same protections for the owners against being sued that normal corporations pass along? Namely, the corporation is a legal entity, so when you sue it, you will never have a right to the companies owners' money. Are these pass through companies corporations? It's bad enough we are setting up our economy for millions of pass through companies rather than individuals so nobody will pay the income tax save those too poor/uninformed to know how to file the paperwork to be a pass through company rather than an employee. Which brings me to my second question, "What stops all employees from becoming an employee of their own pass through company that happens to contract out for their current position's job?"

Think nepotism on that scale will matter?

Thanks for the refresher. I was in college at the time, and my memory is admittedly fuzzy to start (and probably partisan as well).

I may misremember, but wasn't all the outrage over Clinton that he lied, not that he cheated. Up to his presidency, every president save Carter had a history of cheating on their wives. Carter only listed in his heart. Painting Clinton as a molester seems a bit revisionist, but it may just be my memory. The point is which party wants to move to a 21st century model of gender equality and which would just assume go back to the 19th century?

Of course they had no one else to blame but themselves. Moore and Trump likewise have nobody else to blame.

I wish it weren't so as I actually thought Franken was the Dem I most wanted to run for president. However, the Dems have a chance to be on the right side of history here. If they condemn a rising star for this behavior, it is harder to say their position is the typical lip service paid to the porcelain throne of political correctness. They can make a serious push for change from the same old patriarch dominated politics toward a set of more gender level societal norms. It has the potential to be a short term loss to put the party, and more importantly the country, in a better position going forward. "Yes, sexism and assaults are not a partisan occurrence. The responses to them have been. Which side do you support, the side that protects and defends P@#$% grabbers and pedophiles or the side that throws them out of businesses and governmental positions regardless of their influence? One side fired while the other promoted and elected. That was the past, but which side do you support going forward?"

I am sorry, but that picture is begging for a caption that guy's thoughts contest. Yes, the irony of my having that thought in this thread is not lost on me.

Have I mentioned lately how healthy these Republicans driving this tax bill must be? It must be nice.

I am ok with the special counsel for uranium deal. I am thinking there is not much there that hasn't already been gone through, especially if the appointed one will publicize findings. I have a strong suspicion it won't go where the republican political machine wants it to go since the agencies approving it aren't who they want to blame and the sale isn't for exactly what they are saying in the press. I do wonder how long they were keeping the leak of the possibility in their back pocket to distract news from the Trump wiki connection. This is just standard operating procedure right, SNAFU?

I just can't figure out why nobody is making an issue of yet another attempt to hurt the pocketbooks of the sick...you know the people already being bankrupted by their medical bills. Let's make healthcare more expensive by any means possible by first doing away with the ACA and then doing away any tax relief they might currently use. What's next, oh mighty rulers in Wellville? Will you replace the sign at the entry to sickville with the classic sign "Lasciate one speranza voi ch'intrate" The sign will be in the original Latin because the warning is only for the rich educated caste. For us plebs, it would have been more useful in English where we might read "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." America, land of the free...if you and your family are healthy. Sorry this is my bitter monday lunch rant.

I had to laugh at Colbert's response to the auditor using Joseph (adult) and Mary (underage) as cover for Moore. "You know Joseph didn't ...you know...that's why it was always a big deal that she was the VIRGIN Mary." Lol.

I wonder if this is a reason to let our state's social workers pressure us to complete our adoption this calendar year.

What I see little press about is the impact of losing medical costs deductions. The republican party has already tried to crush the sick by getting rid of individual mandate which will mean the healthy will drop out of market until they need it. Now the republican party wants to remove the deduction for money spent on healthcare. Of course the kicker came this afternoon as trump said the removal of the individual mandate should be added to the tax bill. It is as if the republican party is determined to drive the chronically ill to the poor house...and then charge them money they don't have for the ride. Of course they will claim the money charged for the ride will offset the tax cuts on corporations and the rich. The last is tongue and cheek. I wish my hole post was.

Maybe it was because I had a Brit for a soccer coach in high school, but the practice of shielding was stressed, especially for those players in the center of the field. We were taught to look for the square passes and how to complete the one touch passes with men on our back. It was taught right along with the value of making a run to create space behind you as a defender makes the run with you. Having a player with size show for the ball with a defender on his back is still a safety valve. for a player under pressure. I always appreciated this role because I played basketball too. I am frequently surprised at how rare these touch plays are in the U.S., but they are taught on some squads. In general as a country though, our one touch passing is poor, so the ability to use the big pivot player is far less than it could be.

OK, about this soccer being a short man's game, there is this other non Brazilian country that has won a few world cups...and their players aren't typically the short guys. Those German teams have enjoyed some success over the years. How do you explain their success? The beautiful game of Brazil and the orange men is not the only route to winning. Granted, I am a bit biased as a 6'4" guy who played soccer for 20 years. There is something to be said for being precise and using body positioning akin to boxing out in basketball to make up for our higher center of gravity. I always found it helpful on the defensive side to have the long stride to catch up during the time it takes to swing a kick for a cross or a shot. I think the problem comes with not having enough skill to properly exploit the advantages we have and often trying too hard to play to a style we wished fit us better than identifying one that actually fits us. After that, we have to be flexible enough to not become overly reliant upon any single way to play so as to be able to exploit comparative advantages. The last is a point where I think we, like most,have often failed.