Mr Biden’s speech is his first major campaign event of the 2024 election season

President Joe Biden marked the third anniversary of the January 6 attack on the Capitol by warning that the issue of American democracy will be “what the 2024 election is all about,” as he runs against former president Donald Trump once more.

Mr Biden, who spoke near the Valley Forge historical site where George Washington and the Continental Army were encamped during the winter of 1777 and 1778, told attendees that they were there “to answer the most important of questions: Is democracy still America’s sacred cause?”

“This isn’t rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical. Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time,” he said.

Mr Biden said his speech, his first major event of the 2024 election season, was “deadly serious,” and about a topic that needed to be raised at the outset of his campaign.

  • @nbafantest
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    11 months ago

    American healthcare system is very good and affordable for a large majority of Americans. Sure it sucks if you’re poor, but most Americans are not poor.

    Taxes are not that hard to do. The vast majority of people get a single income statement from an employer and use the standard deduction. Could it be better? Sure but it’s not bad for most people.

    • osarusan
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      1411 months ago

      American healthcare system is very good and affordable for the vast majority of Americans. Sure it sucks if you’re poor, but most Americans are not poor.

      Taxes are not that hard to do. The vast majority of people get a single income statement from an employer and use the standard deduction. Could it be better? Sure but it’s not bad for most people.

      This is just…

      My god dude. Try living in another country for a while. You’re speaking like an abuse victim who keeps defending their abuser. The US’s societal infrastructure, including health care and taxation, are 50 years behind the rest of the developed world. Americans pay top-tier costs for bottom-tier society.

      “Sure it sucks if you’re poor” is the kinder sibling of saying “Got mine, fuck you!” Being poor sucks everywhere, just by nature, but the entire point of societal programs is to uplift the poorest and make it suck less, not to give handouts to the rich so they can say “Well geez, at least I’m not poor!”

      • @nbafantest
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        -1411 months ago

        “Sure it sucks if you’re poor” is the kinder sibling of saying “Got mine, fuck you!”

        Yes it does suck. I didn’t say it was perfect, or that I was a fan.

        But our healthcare system works very well for most people. Acting like it doesn’t work for some people is just ridiculous.

        • Spaz
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          711 months ago

          IDK if this guy is a troll or has never been poor.

          • @nbafantest
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            11 months ago

            I have been very poor. Idk why you guys keep harping on being poor. Most Americans are not poor.

          • @nbafantest
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            -111 months ago

            “In a truly democratic system, the US would have a decent and cheaper healthcare system”

            I was responding to the OP.

        • osarusan
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          411 months ago

          Acting like it doesn’t work for some people is just ridiculous.

          I’ll just say it again and leave it at that: you need to spend some time in other countries. Not at a tourist, but as a resident. Your eyes need to be opened.

          • @nbafantest
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            -411 months ago

            I have better healthcare than people in the countries I have visited.

            This sentence is not accurate for all Americans.

            • osarusan
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              111 months ago

              Right. And you are only looking at things vs how they compare specifically to you. Thus, your eyes need to be opened.

              • @nbafantest
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                111 months ago

                Do you think youve in anyway shown we don’t live in a democracy?

                  • @nbafantest
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                    111 months ago

                    I’m pretty sure I’m not. I followed the thread. Maybe you are

    • Flying Squid
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      11 months ago

      We’re not poor. We’re also over $10,000 in medical debt. Anyone can get sick. Sometimes very sick. Even if you say you have a good immune system because you exercise and take care of yourself.

      And before you say it, we have good insurance.

      • @nbafantest
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        -511 months ago

        I didn’t say people don’t get sick or don’t have medical debt

        • Flying Squid
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          511 months ago

          You said it is “very good and affordable for the vast majority of Americans.” I already showed you elsewhere that over 40% of Americans have medical debt. How is a system where 4 out of 10 people go into debt just to get the care they need “very good” or “affordable?”

          • @nbafantest
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            -211 months ago

            In a democracy which of those groups would win an election?

            • Flying Squid
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              311 months ago

              You didn’t answer my question: How is a system where 4 out of 10 people go into debt just to get the care they need “very good” or “affordable?”

              • @nbafantest
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                11 months ago

                “very good and affordable for the vast majority of Americans”

                It’s good for the 6 in 10.

                • Flying Squid
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                  311 months ago

                  You have a very odd definition of ‘vast majority.’

    • @[email protected]
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      411 months ago

      You can always say, “it’s not that bad” but what I’m saying is that it’s worse than in much of the world.

      In the places I’ve lived, if I got sick, especially if I got a long-term sickness, I am not just not paying for it, I get money from my insurance, so my life doesn’t go to shit because I can’t work. And the healthcare systems here are cheaper. My insurance costs around a grand a month, and there are no copays, maximums, deductibles or other bullshit. I am not bearing the risk of me falling ill. And it costs the state less than the US is paying for what they have, both per capita and in total.

      And with taxes. I haven’t done my taxes ever. I get a mail saying that my taxes have been done for the year, and I should check it out, I usually have a look if I don’t forget. It is also a cheaper system on both my side and the state’s.

      • @nbafantest
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        011 months ago

        Do you think that means we are not in a democracy?

        • @[email protected]
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          111 months ago

          Why would I? It’s also a stupid and loaded question. Where is the limit for what is a democracy? Sone people may say Russia is a democracy because there are elections. Some other people might say there are no true democracies besides Switzerland with its very common direct votes on issues.

          • @nbafantest
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            111 months ago

            That’s what this entire thread is about.