• @BB69
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    8510 months ago

    Go talk to the House of Representatives

    • @WhatAmLemmy
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      4010 months ago

      But prez is king who change anything by decree…

        • @[email protected]
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          10 months ago

          I wonder if the

          2008 legislation that he wrote eliminating student loan bankruptcy forgiveness in exchange for $250,000 from MBNA

          got in his way too!

          Vote blue no matter who $hitlibs are counting on people not being able to do basic research and just taking their corruption apologia at face value.

          • nifty
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            310 months ago

            I am not sure that legislation has to do with spending though.

            • @[email protected]
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              10 months ago

              No shit!

              What I intend to communicate is that Biden has never been, in any way, serious about any of the focus-grouped, means-tested student loan forgiveness programs that he has been pretending to work toward. He and his advisors clearly know full well that his buddies in Congress will NEVER, EVER pass it. It’s like the overdraft fee thing recently that doesn’t take effect until 2025 and will absolutely be eliminated by Congress before it even takes effect.

              They think we’re stupid.

      • @[email protected]
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        10 months ago

        You’re right, it’s totally fine that he doesn’t do anything to put it on the agenda.

        Because he’s not a literal king, we can’t criticise him for ignoring people’s needs and failing to say or do anything to push for something that is not only sorely needed but extremely popular across political divides.

        It’s totally fine that the entire dem primary field was talking about medicare for all when a popular candidate was forcing them to, and then we didn’t hear one word about it after everyone rallied together to force that guy out. Don’t criticise in election season, you don’t want Trump do you?

        I mean, give him some time! He’s just a new baby president! Everyone knows you get a few months to just kind of chill and get a feel for the space.

        Oh but we can’t talk about it now, look at what the republicans are doing, it’s just such a crisis right now, we’re just reacting to their crazy antics!

        Oh we lost congress in the midterms, now we can’t do anything.

        Listen, you can’t expect the president to actually do anything. Because he’s not a literal king.

        Fucking libs. You spend all your time telling us to follow a process, and when the process gets nothing done, you tell us not to blame you, it’s just the process! It’s just hard, and slow, and it takes time, and we really need to wait for another four or eight or twelve years, and then maybe another dem will get elected and kind of partially undo some of the damage the last guy did and not actually make any progress to make up for it.

        And when we try to point this out, you call us whiny little babies who aren’t educated and mature enough to sit around waiting for Godot to finally pull his thumb out and show up.

        • @Alteon
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          2310 months ago

          Look, change is slow. Especially so when dealing with government. The Democrat party is also split between centrists and progressives, and this divide will only grow as more and more young people start to vote. Those changes that we all want to see are also being hammered by a Republican controlled House. Nothing is going to get through there - Biden can groan and moan all he wants, but it won’t do anything. But it’s not like he’s not doing anything…

          He’s trying to lower costs of healthcare and prescriptions.

          He’s strengthened Medicare.

          He actively prevent Medicare cuts by passing a Bill back in 2022.

          He’s not doing “nothing”. He’s working with what he’s got.

          I mean. I get that there’s a lot of complaints, but to say he’s not doing anything is incorrect. I mean, sure, do I wish more progress was made? Yeah, but I’m not going to blame Biden for it. Now, if Biden had control of the House and Senate, and this shit still didn’t happen…oh yeah, I’d be feisty right now.

          • @hark
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            310 months ago

            Change is not inherently slow, there’s just a vested interest by those with power granted by the status quo to stop it or slow it as much as possible. They don’t want it to change unless they can ensure they keep their power (or expand on it) with the change.

          • @[email protected]
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            110 months ago

            I love how you took all the criticisms I had and then just repeated them back at me as if they were justifications.

            Like, oh wow, look at those extremely marginal, far-too-little-far-too-late incremental changes that do nothing to address the fundamentally broken parts of the healthcare system.

            I didn’t say he wasn’t doing anything at all, I said he doesn’t push for what is actually needed. He has the bully pulpit, and he won’t use it. He won’t make executive orders that force the issue and make congress reply. He isn’t wielding power, he is just marking time, giving the bare minimum concessions to make gullible fools believe he’s worth their support, and then he’ll hand power right back to the fascists when it’s their turn again, as it inevitably will be.

            Actual progress was always won by mass action. It was fought and bled for, and it doesn’t matter what kind of politician they are, they will kill to stop it because they depend on the political system for their power, and mass action threatens that system.

          • @WhatAmLemmy
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            10 months ago

            The rate of change is mostly set by the population. It’s historically slow, because the majority is usually slow to adapt. Change can also be fast (e.g. revolutions), when leadership is completely out of touch with reality.

        • @Daft_ish
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          710 months ago

          You think I’d read this shit?

          • @[email protected]
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            110 months ago

            It makes no difference to me, I don’t know you, but it’s fascinating you felt the need to insert yourself into the conversation just to announce that you’re not listening.

            • @Daft_ish
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              10 months ago

              I just got through about half of it and it was absolute garbage. I was offended someone spent the time to write it down.

              stomps feet dam libs!!

              • @[email protected]
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                10 months ago

                So was it the length, or that sentiment in particular?

                Because long comments you agree with are fine, I assume, so what about that phrase made you turn off?

        • @TokenBoomer
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          110 months ago

          Great comment. Remember when Biden said he wouldn’t run for a second term.

          • @Telodzrum
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            110 months ago

            Several sources within the Biden campaign told Politico that the 2020 Democratic candidate would not run for reelection in 2024

            Unnamed sources within the campaign, not Biden and only on background. Strong take, pal.

            • @TokenBoomer
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              -110 months ago

              I’m not the one who made him 82 years old. Be mad at time. Oh right, it’s my fault you have to vote for walking corpse.

  • @[email protected]
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    10 months ago

    This meme is full of shit:

    First Biden term: Increased health benefits for veterans, lowered insurance premiums for people who sign up through ACA, opened special enrollment resulting in 2.5 million Americans signing up for insurance, lowered the cost of insulin, streamlined ACA applications, removed medical coverage caps for children, increased transparency in pharmaceutical pricing, investing 2.5 billion in mental health, expanded telehealth across the nation, especially for rural communities.

    The American healthcare system sucks, and Biden has made definite significant improvements to make it suck less for tens of millions of people in just a few years.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 months ago

      Actually, you’re totally wrong. Healthcare in US is private and making access to private healthcare easier doesn’t solve any real problems. It just pumps more money into insurance companies and private hospitals. The healthcare expenditure is still raising (and is highest in the world with worst results than in other countries), medical bills are still growing (including out of pocket costs), people have more and more debt and insurance companies are doing great on the stock market. And this is exactly what Biden wants: preserve the status quo and pump more money into private healthcare companies. The main difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans want to cut government spending and make individuals pay directly to the private sector (so they can charge even more) while Democrats want to tax people and pump money into private sector through ACA (in a more controlled way). That’s it.

      When people say ‘healthcare’ they mean ‘system without huge out of pocket costs and crashing debt’, not ‘a bit cheaper private insurance’.

      • @[email protected]
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        10 months ago

        Boy are you nominally correct but entirely wrong on sentiment, clarity and motivation.

        My previous comment, about American healthcare being terrible, disclaims your ostensibly argumentative position and is a review of having used the American healthcare system 15 years ago and not having used it since because of how terrible it is.

        I am not advocating for using the American healthcare system, I am correcting the incorrect opinion that Biden is not focusing on health care, while accessible and affordable healthcare is a primary concern of the Biden administration that he has significantly addressed with executive support about a dozen times in his first term.

        Since Americans keep voting for and buying into the private health care system, Biden is making the option American citizens are choosing and American corporations are pushing, more affordable and accessible.

        His administration is doing the best they can with what American citizens choose to pay for and American corporations choose to provide.

        • @[email protected]
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          310 months ago

          Since Americans keep voting for and buying into the private health care system, Biden is making the option American citizens are choosing and American corporations are pushing, more affordable and accessible.

          His administration is doing the best they can with what American citizens choose to pay for and American corporations choose to provide.

          That’s an interesting take but one that I completely disagree with. No one is voting for the current system. You may believe that people voted for Biden because he promised to keep the current system. I believe they voted for him despite that. Most Americans do support single payer/public option healthcare, it’s just impossible for them to get it in the current system (I explained why in the previous comment).

          I don’t know about OP but I’m not saying Biden ignores healthcare. I’m saying he is not delivering what most people want: a public option. People want new system while Biden gives them more of the old one. That’s why people complain.

          • @[email protected]
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            10 months ago

            Yes, your non-concerns are my non-concerns as well.

            The OP is what I have a problem with and what my comments are addressing, the incorrect blaming of Biden for a legacy private healthcare system, especially when it has been a primary focus of Biden’s administration to correct as much as it can within the contemporary system.

            Biden has done amazing work in less than four years to give tens of millions of people affordable and accessible health care, as well as working on ACA.

            Americans are voting within the two-party system within the current American for-profit medical infrastructure, and neither of these two parties want badly enough to change the contemporary health care system.

            While it is impossible to get quality, affordable health care in the current American system without being born into it or getting lucky, it is very simple to go abroad for the purpose of medical tourism.

            Flights anywhere in the world are a couple hundred dollars, and healthcare is easily half of what it is in the states while achieving a similar medical outcome, and often even cheaper, so you’re saving hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars easily with any non-urgent operation.

            This may not be as convenient as other services Americans expect, but as they are living within and paying into an exploitative health care system, it is what many Americans are looking for.

            Less money, less time, equitable healthcare.

            • @[email protected]
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              010 months ago

              Ok, I get your point. You’re right, complaining about Biden not reforming healthcare system when from the very beginning it was clear that’s not his objective is unfounded.

              • @[email protected]
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                510 months ago

                Close, Biden provided a better healthcare at an affordable price that people were asking for instead of providing a new health care that people were not asking for.

    • @return2ozmaOP
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      -3010 months ago

      “if you don’t like it, then leave!” is not a good campaign pitch.

  • @[email protected]
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    5010 months ago

    As I have said before and will say again the president is not a dictator.

    Spending bills must originate in the house which is currently controlled by the party of no. You can threaten not to vote all you want but you will only hurt yourself.

    As it is this meme is just misleading.

    • @[email protected]
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      1310 months ago

      The president has the most powerful tool at his disposal: The bully pulpit.

      The president is the de facto leader of the political party, the president can make anything a headline in every news source, and the president has very deep pockets to make use of these powers.

      For all of their flaws, both the Bush and Trump administrations used these tools to their advantage. They picked something they wanted, and made it happen through heavy pressure on their part members up and down that various branches of government, through directions given to appointed department heads, through heavy media blitz and through every other avenue of influence they have.

      Biden has done a better job than his democratic predecessor to use these powers, but no Democrat in the white house in recent memory has used these powers like the republicans do

      • @Smoogs
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        410 months ago

        So you’re solution is to just make everything a sideshow cuz it worked once for a sideshow.

      • @conquer4
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        310 months ago

        He is probably reluctant because being apart of Obama’s use of it to reform social security, Medicare, and pass affordable care act. Only to be burned and be a lame duck for 6 years

    • @Guy_Fieris_Hair
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      09 months ago

      Trump begs to different. Why did the right get all the dictators?

    • PugJesus
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      2610 months ago

      Meeting with people on a small scale to discuss politics and justify your positions.

      • NoIWontPickaName
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        910 months ago

        Man I’m glad I asked.

        I couldn’t figure out anything other than retail like retail store.

        • PugJesus
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          810 months ago

          Well, that’s the metaphor it’s going for. It’s ‘retail’, going in for small amounts of voters, rather than ‘wholesale’, going in for large amounts.

    • @EdibleFriend
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      1010 months ago

      Does that mean I can demand to see the manager?

    • @[email protected]
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      110 months ago

      The thing about retail politics is we just saw a republican primary where everyone was doing retail politics EXCEPT the guy who easily won. I hope Biden’s team is smarter than that.

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    10 months ago

    Biden can come up with the best healthcare plan ever and the GOP won’t approve it because Biden/liberals/Democrats/etc.

    • @hark
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      710 months ago

      and yet they don’t even try.

      • @conquer4
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        1310 months ago

        Biden was apart of the affordable care act, I think he knows better than a majority of people how hard it is to pass any sort of Healthcare bill. In this day and age, Republicans would vote against founding social security, to give you a idea about how obstructionist they are.

        • @hark
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          -510 months ago

          Biden has been a part of the corrupt system for decades and has contributed to it greatly himself. His stupid ass insisted on working with republicans early on in his presidency, after eight years of being Obama’s VP. I dunno, maybe he thought him being white would change things, and maybe he isn’t as keen on that stance now, but I’ve yet to see him or his party take action on actual change instead of bandaids. Meanwhile republicans are allowed to pull every dirty trick in the book to instate full-on fascism. When can I have a democratic party that fights as hard as republicans but for the people?

      • @Telodzrum
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        010 months ago

        Effort, time, and political capital are finite. The opportunity cost of even getting a M4A bill to committee in the Senate is huge and even trying without filibuster reform and having a comfortable majority in both chambers odds downright stupid. You’re not actually this dumb, right?

        • @hark
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          110 months ago

          Republicans do these stupid things all the time and it works. The overton window is so far to the right, that you think a center-right politician like Biden is a glorious hero of the people. If it’s stupid and it works, then it’s not really stupid, now is it?

  • @Coldgoron
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    2410 months ago

    How about some inflation regulation so I can afford a place to live or you know the rest of the hierarchy of needs.

    • @MindSkipperBro12
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      -3510 months ago

      How about you demand a raise or search for a better paying job?

        • @psud
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          110 months ago

          What? Are you trying to get fired for no cause?

          • @[email protected]
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            310 months ago

            If we never unionize, it’ll never get harder to fire us - it’s almost a catch-22. Personally I’ve got a little bit of savings, so I can afford a little bit of risk for the possibility of more pay later. It’s gotta start somewhere.

      • @Guy_Fieris_Hair
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        09 months ago

        Small business are scraping by too. All the money in this booming economy is funneled up top. You demand a raise and they will just get the next hungry/broke sucker to take your spot.

  • @iAvicenna
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    -110 months ago

    I am not entirely sure Americans are really partial towards free healthcare

    • @EnderMB
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      410 months ago

      I’m British, and it’s a cornerstone of our society. While the Tories have been trying to grind it down for over a decade, I still believe that if the NHS were scrapped we’d see full-scale, national riots.

      Sadly, I agree. While the president does not get to dictate this, I always maintain that you get the politicians you deserve. There aren’t enough widespread calls for nationalised healthcare in America…so why would Biden do it to appease a small percentage of people? If you actually wanted it, you’d promote a career politician that focuses on this movement.

      • @iAvicenna
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        -310 months ago

        I also live in Britain. Unfortunately, a crippled free healthcare cannot be commended too much too. I have heard of people having to wait months for their second appointment after a cancer diagnosis.

        • @[email protected]
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          110 months ago

          I mean its not much better right now in the 'states. My wife had to wait months to see a numerologist after 3 concussions in as many months at work, and became severely depressed from the near constant migraines and everything else that comes with such a situation. My sister in law suffers from severe Trigeminal Neuralgia which for her is only treatable with a minor surgery every 2-8 years. This disorder has a reputation for resulting in significantly more deaths by suicide than any other cause. She has to wait months to get her arguably life-saving surgery every time its come up (and that’s been twice in the time that I’ve known her)

          • @iAvicenna
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            110 months ago

            sorry to hear that having to pay insurance for crappy healthcare is a nightmare indeed. nevertheless what is happening in the US or UK both boils down the same thing, bad political decisions from people who are mostly after personal gains.

    • Cowbee [he/him]
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      310 months ago

      The majority of Americans support it, its generally only the wealthy who oppose it because they would pay more in taxation and can’t cut in line.

      • @iAvicenna
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        110 months ago

        Don’t the average american right wing voters think free healthcare and taxing the rich is (evil) communism?

        • @[email protected]
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          310 months ago

          The demographic you’re referring to is a portion of conservatives that’s hard to specifically categorize, some of them are libertarians that hate government involvement while some are MAGA followers that can’t think for themselves. The portion that dislikes free healthcare because of evil communism is also the group that thought the ACA and Obamacare are different things. When the Republicans tried to kill the ACA a few years ago it had majority support from conservatives until it whiplashed the opposite way, there were interviews on TV where people were complaining about Obamacare and saying that th Republican ACA was a great plan, the interviewer would then tell them they’re the same and they didn’t believe it. This campaign of embarrassing people probably actually saved the ACA.

          The real reason Conservatives dislike free healthcare is a misguided belief that the government is inefficient or incapable. In reality Medicare is far more cost efficient than the majority of private insurance. Likewise reports that you have to wait in free healthcare countries really don’t matter because we have to wait for healthcare too, both systems are triage based. If you have a broken leg you might have to wait at the ER, but if you’re having a heart attack you’re going to get immediate care. If you try to schedule a routine dental visit you may have to wait several weeks, but if you had an accident and knocked out all your teeth you’re likely going to the front of the line.

          https://youtu.be/sx2scvIFGjE?si=2jGK8Bqwiu7S0GSh

          https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/upshot/one-third-dont-know-obamacare-and-affordable-care-act-are-the-same.html

          https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/29/increasing-share-of-americans-favor-a-single-government-program-to-provide-health-care-coverage/

          https://www.reddit.com/r/AskConservatives/comments/yoyj63/why_are_conservatives_against_universal/

        • Cowbee [he/him]
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          110 months ago

          American conservatives are a minority that only have political pull thanks to gerrymandering and the electoral college, most Americans are Liberals or Neoliberals as opposed to fascists. Even then, single payer Healthcare polls surprisingly well, though not a majority of conservatives support it.