https://www.dailykos.com/user/Propaganda/rss/index.xml News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:53:08 +0000 Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:53:08 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/2/6/1481182/-GOP-Debate-Ben-Carson-tries-to-avoid-going-on-stage <p>This sounds like an Onion Article, but it happened. The good folks over at ABC even captured it on video. The look on Jeb’s face is priceless. Enjoy! </p> <div class="center-block dk-editor-embed embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a href="false" title=""><a class="iframe_placeholder youtube dk-embed" href="//youtube.com/watch?v=OR1kV2hBaGY" data-height="315" data-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OR1kV2hBaGY" data-width="560">YouTube Video</a></a> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Propaganda) BenCarson Debate GOP Jeb _1481182 Sun, 07 Feb 2016 05:39:33 +0000 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/1/25/1475126/-Creating-a-Government-for-We-the-People <p>What is the purpose of insurance? Whether it be for Automotive, Home, Business or Health Insurance, we pool our resources in order to protect ourselves from an uncertain future. The mechanisms of insurance do require that we pay into the system and pay people to handle the administration. It’s not free and it’s not magical. Real, live humans are necessary to process claims and make decisions.</p> <p>The CEOs of the Big Five for-profit health insurance companies all took home at least $10 million in 2014, according to each insurers’ annual filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Compensation ranged from $10.1 million for Humana CEO Bruce D. Broussard to more than $15 million for Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini. (Which doesn’t include stock options and other items in their golden parachute.)</p> <p>Why does someone in that position earn so much? Because they are paid to make the company profitable. It makes sense that shareholders would be willing to pay a CEO such large salary, when Humana raked in $2.21 billion pre-tax profit for fiscal year 2014.</p> <p>Sure, the federal government got whatever taxes that the companies weren’t able to offset with loopholes, but the rest was sucked out of working people’s pockets. Actual cash that working people would have spent in their communities, creating demand that would boost the economy, rather than huge profits that are enlarging the millionaire and billionaire class.</p> <p>Insurance companies are massive, bureaucratic creatures. Sure, they provide well-paying jobs in area of accounting, law, computer science, and countless others. But they work for us. Or at least they should be. We pay them. They exist for the benefit to the community. <strong>They are a common good</strong>.</p> <p>So then why is there a profit?  Why are we paying more than what it actually costs? Why can’t we run it ourselves? Why can’t we pay the same lawyers and accountants? We would still pay the CEO a hefty salary, because, let’s face it, it’s a tough job. You know what? We can.</p> <p>What is it called when people work together to achieve goals that they otherwise could not?</p> <h2>It’s called government.</h2> <p> Where would the profits go? Back into the pockets of the people who paid into the system, in the form of lower insurance costs, lower tuition fees, resilient infrastructure, and better health outcomes.</p> <p>The Insurance Companies (and the Investment funds on Wall Street that run them) take our money and use it against us. They use the profits to fill the campaign coffers of friendly politicians, who vote to keep business as usual. We all know the playbook by now. The politicians gerrymander their district so that it will be easier to stay in office. Money is put towards catchy thirty-second ads. They put a spotlight on divisive social issues, in order to distract us from the economic issues that affect all of us. And they don’t even have to waste time fundraising from the general public.</p> <p>The purpose of insurance is to protect us from an uncertain future, not to enrich individuals who had the fortune of buying in early. This is not a pie-in-the sky dream. This is what is possible when we inform ourselves. This won’t happen overnight. This won’t happen in one election. It will take time, and a concerted effort. It will take many candidates, and many campaigns. But we can do it.</p> <p>This is bigger than insurance. This is about working together to create a government that works for We the People.</p> rss@dailykos.com (Propaganda) bernie Billionaires CEO FeeltheBern Government HealthCare Insurance Profits WallStreet WeThePeople _1475126 Tue, 26 Jan 2016 01:55:56 +0000 https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/13/1432047/-Bernie-s-Socialist-Problem <p>Someone from the Bernie campaign PLEASE read this! Please be bold in defining Social Democracy! They have tried to make Socialism a bad word for far too long! Explain how America had a command economy throughout this century, and how it benefits the public as a whole. Explain how our government helped our industrial and manufacturing sectors advance national goals by establishing straightforward standards and rules. That is why America is great. Our government was able to harness our collective strengths and rein in the power of the unfettered market in order to make our country great.</p> rss@dailykos.com (Propaganda) 2016 bernie Clinton Debate Election Hillary sanders Socialism Socialist _1432047 Wed, 14 Oct 2015 04:36:29 +0000