This is what people must keep in mind. If he is even an average President he will look like one of the greats compared to his predecessor.
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Be careful saying such a thing. It was indeed a huge blunder but pulling out of Iraq early and telling our enemies when we were going to do it was a huge blunder. That left the door open for groups like Isis to form. And also the Libya disaster is a blunder…and don’t forget how he mishandled Russia…and then there is…oh never mind. There are too many Obama blunders to list.
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This was very, very well said.
A lot of times the Feds grant companies exclusive distribution rights and don’t allow competition. People like to blame the drug company but without a free market all bets are off when it comes to pricing.
Once again - ISIS did not spontaneously form in Western Iraq/Eastern Syria. It’s a paramilitary wing of the sunni salafi revival.
Nassim Taleb nicely phrased it by saying that ISIS can only be defeated by putting Saudi and Qatari royal families in Gitmo.
So the chances of Trump’s administration defeating ISIS have ess to do with specific military/defense staff picks and more with it’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and their immensely powerful lobbyists in Washington.
There are a lot of foreign drugs of good quality for way cheaper. The effect would be seismic, for real. I have bought drugs over the counter in other countries for peanuts.
Most of modern medicine is drugs. That is easily 80% of all treatments. Paying pennies on the dollar for drugs could literally make the whole healthcare conversation, moot.
With all due respect ISIS spawned from a very predictable set of circumstances. I mean, we all tought al qaeda, but names aside the result was not only predictable, but actually predicted.
That is the problem. Everybody could see it a mile away, save for the person who most needed too.
Obama therefore draws my well deserved ire. This is not about his story or legacy, but people, real people who are dying daily for his outright stupidity, that even the most lay of people could see coming.
The effect on pricing would be huge, I was just arguing that it wouldn’t put domestic pharma out of business not sure if that was clear…
I think it would actually be good long term for the domestic industry.
I believe what loppar keeps getting at here is that ISIS is just the latest offshoot of the underlying cancer that is radical Sunni Salafism.
The vacuum created in Iraq just allowed it to fester into that malignant mass that they call a caliphate.
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Is it just me, or does anybody else factor in the doctors visit or plan costs into a drugs cost?
I’ve opted out of a health plan because numerically it just doesn’t make any sense. I go to the docs maybe once a year or less for my sinuses. The local supermarket charges literally $1.00 for a script of amoxicillin. One time, for what ever reason, they were actually free.
So, 61 bucks every year (if that) for a walk in Dr. visit plus a script, or upward of 10k for a plan through an employer.
I don’t think people look at the cost behind the cost for a script for some meds that are virtually free. As long as people spend without actually spending (health care plan for a discount or very small co-pay) drug prices are going to continue to careen upward.
Now, I understand that this type of math only applies to people that are generally pretty healthy, but there seems to be SOOOOO much overspending on heath care plans for what people get from them, how can pharma companies resist trying to grab a nice chunk of that?
Well, it’s seems your opinion was just wishful thinking. I don’t see anything being delegated to the military or experienced professionals, I only see that the Syria issue was delegated to his son, who obviously has a wealth of foreign policy experience (sarcasm). I’m sure @Bismark would provide a more eloquent summary of this frightening turn of events.
After the one-man-opposition party that was Chalabi who fooled Rumsfeld and his neocons in the run up to the invasion of Iraq, now it’s turn for a Russian orchestrated farce - a fake one-woman opposition party that fooled Trump Jr.
Putin must be rubbing his hands with glee.
After the disastrous Obama policy, things aren’t changing. And believe it or not, they can take a turn for the worse, just wait and see.
It seems that Trump wants to run the US of A foreign policy like his real estate business - by relegating to members of his family circle. Donald Jr i responsible for Syria and Jared for Israel and Palestine… Eagerly awaiting Ivanka’s appointment.
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No question forming the proper foreign relationships is important. But, simply changing Presidents will have an influence ot just on Isis but on our other enemies and potential enemies. The Arab countries had a name for Obama they called him a woman. And we all know how Arab countries treat women. There was on respect for Obama. When he would draw a line in the sand and they rushed across with no apparent penalties he gave up his credibility. They were also well aware that he did not want to kill Muslims. One can argue why, but the fact remains that he had no stomach for it…none.
Obama immediately underestimated them by calling them the JV team and then went about his days and weeks and months in the White House pretending that they were not a threat. He played the role of pacifier and chief. Avoidance was his biggest weapon in the war on terror. And we all see how well that went. He did everything wrong from day one.
As for Trump defeating Isis I don’t think it’s as difficult as Obama has shown it to be. Arab countries respect strength Trump will have no problem projecting US military might. Isis to my knowledge is about 40,000 - 50,000 strong. Granted they are spread out among different countries so it’s not like they are huddled in one place. But, to think that the US military cannot defeat a savage gang of some 50,000 is ridiculous on its face.
As most know I like making predictions. So, here’s one for you: Within two years Isis will no longer be a threat. I am not saying they will be wiped out completely (they might be) but they will no longer be the threat that they are today.
Have you read what I posted here about ISIS? It’s not that simple. ISIS is not just bunch of black clad imbeciles driving Toyota Hiluxes roaming the Syrian desert. ISIS is the paramilitary wing sunni salafi islam - Saudi Arabia and Qatar to be precise.
In the grand scheme of things, most of those ISIS fighters are foreigners and salafi cannon fodder (a shocking number of them are French and Belgian). The Saudis can always let the majority of them get killed as they’re a hindrance, pull back the remaining operatives and resurrect them as “rebranded” ISIS at a time and place of their choosing.
Naturally, this would allow The Donald to declare “victory”. So the litmus test is the relationship between Trump’s administration and the House of Saud. If he continues the pro-Saudi US policy then ISIS cannot be beaten no matter how many sunni retards die in Syria and Western Iraq.
In case you haven’t noticed “rebranded” Al Qaeda is fighting in Syria (now they’re Al-Nusra). You know, the 9/11 guys. And they’re not wearing robes anymore, but desert pattern uniforms, US made body armor, kevlar helmets and MLRSes provided by the Gulf dictatorhips.
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I agree with you here…of course I would say the exact same thing about the decision to invade Iraq to begin with.
Yes, I read what you wrote and agree with some of it. What you are not taking into account is that when an army, or even a rag tag cut throat gang like Isis is decimated it is not as easy to recruit as you may think. It’s about breaking their morale. When this is done recruitment becomes more and more difficult.
You are spot on with that comment. We should have never invaded Iraq and I said that when it happened. But, once there pulling out prematurely was a horrible idea for many reasons.
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Most of the cost of health insurance is covering the costs of catastrophes. If your kidneys fail or you have a heart attack or stroke, etc., then the costs can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. If that doesn’t happen, health insurance will be more expensive than the cost of the healthcare you use. Just like if you don’t get in an accident, the cost of auto insurance is higher than the costs of the repairs you have to pay for.
The thing is, it’s potentially actually cheaper if people go to the doctor because they are less likely to have catastrophic problems because there may be warning signs and preventive measures. So if you include coverage of preventative medicine in health insurance, it’s not more expensive for the insurer and advantageous to the coveree.
I doubt that. I’m going to disengage at this point, but here is something to consider-
Current value of 145.4 billion dollars.
That doesn’t happen when most of the cost of healthcare is to cover catastrophes. The price of health care is what you pay for the product, insurance. The cost is what the insurer pays to the MD or hospital. A good company knows that it is unlikely you will cost more than you pay.
Health care insurance and medical treatment are two separate entities.
So Jill Stein thinks the election was rigged and wants a recount.
Well…so did Trump…
(I’m just sayin’…)