First, this isn't a guns vs butter argument. You can just quit flogging your particular SJW cause of "we spend too much on defense and not enough on medicine" if you want to be taken seriously.
This is what you said:
3) Meanwhile, kids are starving in orphanages in Guatemala where $10 will feed the kid for a year, and $20 will give them basic medical care.
You're the one who sounds like an SJW.
Second, re 84-year old heart transplant: miss the point much? OK "70 year old heart transplant" - better?
No, jackoff, it's not better. There is a very small number of people over 70 who get heart transplants. Just a few hundred. Don't you remember what a big deal it was when the 70-something Dick Cheney got his (first) heart transplant? It was almost unheard-of. And by the way, when you're 70, I'll ask you again if the difference between you and an 84 year old is just "trivia".
Third, so you don't like 'wealth' being the determining factor. Considering that medical resources are finite, what is the better solution to who gets the best health care treatments? Lottery? Nepotism? Meritocratic yardstick? Some bureaucrat's decision? Or do we ban advanced medical treatments completely, since we can't afford to give them to everyone? I'm genuinely curious how you would allocate such resources.
Gee, if only there were other developed countries who had already figured this thing out...
You know, honestly, you can take your neoliberal, Ayn Rand bullshit and stick it up your ass. It's never, ever worked anywhere in the world. At least not anywhere you'd want to be. You're living in a Republican college freshman fantasy.
No, he was elected by a majority of voters who cast ballots.
No, he was elected by the Electoral College, which is not the same thing as the "American People". Trump got 44% of the votes from voters who cast ballots. This is not a majority, unless you want to redefine the word.
Presidential popular vote totals are meaningless when it comes to confirming a supreme court justice.
Follow the argument. The original poster was saying that the "American People" spoke and demanded Trump be able to appoint whomever he wants. That's not quite true now, is it?
Part of the 2016 election was the American people deciding how they wanted the Supreme Court to look. The American People, by a large majority, decided that they did NOT want the Democrat Party to completely alter the political makeup of the court and VOTED for change. They CHOSE to keep the Court grounded in the Constitution.
2) Or that 84 year old can get a new heart, new lungs, new kidneys, live in permacare at $10k/mo...are the 6 years of life he'll (maybe) get worth $3.6 million?
False argument. 84 year olds don't get heart transplants.
I think the question you want to ask is, "Should we only give expensive treatments to the richest people in society?"
At what point do we have the courage to start deciding what human lives are worth?
That question doesn't represent courage. It represents cowardice.
The United States just spent over $80,000,000.00 to sent 60 Tomahawk missiles to destroy zero active aircraft. Six planes that were grounded for repairs were reportedly destroyed. How many Guatemalan orphans would that feed?
Honest question: If the US had the same laws as India, would the drugs exist? I
A better question might be, "If the drugs were developed in New Jersey, then why does a smaller percentage of Hepatitis C patients in the US have access to them than Hepatitis C patients in India?"
Well, I've never wanted to travel to India, but a nice long vacation there seems like a no-brainer if you get Hep-C and aren't extremely wealthy.
Unfortunately, that doesn't work any more. India has placed limits on pharmaceutical tourism. They're probably worried about Big Pharma launching a Tomahawk missile strike on them or something.
The cost of Sovaldi and Daklinza (used together) to treat Hepatitis C (which infects 3.5-5 million Americans), is $336,000 for the 24-week course of treatment. $1000 for each pill. The cure rate of Sovaldi and Daklinza is approximately 90%. The same drugs in India cost about $4 per pill.
Hepatitis C currently kills more Americans than any other infectious disease.
Judging from the stories coming out of the White House and the numerous stories on Breitbart bashing Jared Kushner, it definitely looks like there's more to it than that..
The end result is absolutely nothing changed.
That's pretty much the story of the Trump presidency so far.
I fly Southwest all the time. They're the only airline that doesn't charge a baggage fee. I'm talking about airline prices as an industry.
If you factor in the smaller markets, where air prices have gone up 200-300% since deregulation, the cost of flying doesn't just surpass the rate of inflation, it practically laps it.
This is where the savings come from. And yes, prices have been dropping, All you need to do is look at a chart.
Prices have not been dropping. Fares have been dropping because many of the necessary services (baggage, for example) have been "unbundled" from the price of flying.
If you compare, apples to apples, the price of flying has outpaced the rate of inflation since 1974.
The government's data come from the reliable Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), but suffer from outdated methodology that ignores the airline industry's relentless drive to strip products and services from the published airfare. In fact, a deeper dive into the BTS report claiming fares are lower than in 1995 reveals that it covers just 70 percent of the revenue airlines now derive from passengers. And a separate BTS study released on Monday says that airlines last year collected more than $6 billion in checked-luggage charges and ticket-change fees, which represents roughly half of the industry's 2013 operating profit.
...except the fact that airline fares are way cheaper, adjusted for inflation, than they used to be...
No, they are not. The airline industry has been furiously trying to spin the facts on this, but it is not cheaper to fly, adjusted for inflation, than it used to be, and certainly not since deregulation. Even the charts that show a drop since 1995 fail to take into account that many of the services involved in air travel have now been "unbundled". "Oh, you want to bring a suitcase on your trip? That will be $50, per piece of luggage."
Steve Bannon is still on the NSC, he's just not a principal member.
No. According to the Federal Register, he is no longer a member of the NSC. And yes, that means he won't be attending meetings. NSC meetings are not open mic night.
And the Trump administration has confirmed Bannon's removal from the NSC.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm itching to give it a try.
It's common for people who live in dingy backwaters to think they don't live in dingy backwaters.
And black people can't play hockey because they're missing a bone in their feet. You can look it up.
I don't know what dingy backwater you live in, but in places where people wear shoes, taxis are inspected and regulated.
This is what you said:
You're the one who sounds like an SJW.
No, jackoff, it's not better. There is a very small number of people over 70 who get heart transplants. Just a few hundred. Don't you remember what a big deal it was when the 70-something Dick Cheney got his (first) heart transplant? It was almost unheard-of. And by the way, when you're 70, I'll ask you again if the difference between you and an 84 year old is just "trivia".
Gee, if only there were other developed countries who had already figured this thing out...
You know, honestly, you can take your neoliberal, Ayn Rand bullshit and stick it up your ass. It's never, ever worked anywhere in the world. At least not anywhere you'd want to be. You're living in a Republican college freshman fantasy.
No, he was elected by the Electoral College, which is not the same thing as the "American People". Trump got 44% of the votes from voters who cast ballots. This is not a majority, unless you want to redefine the word.
Follow the argument. The original poster was saying that the "American People" spoke and demanded Trump be able to appoint whomever he wants. That's not quite true now, is it?
Obama was elected by a majority of Americans. Twice.
You haven't looked at the vote totals, have you?
The legislators were going to be paid anyway, so why do you think it would have "wasted our money"? There salary is the same whether they vote or not.
Does landmass get a vote now?
False argument. 84 year olds don't get heart transplants.
I think the question you want to ask is, "Should we only give expensive treatments to the richest people in society?"
That question doesn't represent courage. It represents cowardice.
The United States just spent over $80,000,000.00 to sent 60 Tomahawk missiles to destroy zero active aircraft. Six planes that were grounded for repairs were reportedly destroyed. How many Guatemalan orphans would that feed?
A better question might be, "If the drugs were developed in New Jersey, then why does a smaller percentage of Hepatitis C patients in the US have access to them than Hepatitis C patients in India?"
Unfortunately, that doesn't work any more. India has placed limits on pharmaceutical tourism. They're probably worried about Big Pharma launching a Tomahawk missile strike on them or something.
India has started limiting access to these drugs to Indian citizens.
The cost of Sovaldi and Daklinza (used together) to treat Hepatitis C (which infects 3.5-5 million Americans), is $336,000 for the 24-week course of treatment. $1000 for each pill. The cure rate of Sovaldi and Daklinza is approximately 90%. The same drugs in India cost about $4 per pill.
Hepatitis C currently kills more Americans than any other infectious disease.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/rele...
They also revised that "magnificent" February jobs number...downward.
There must be some middle-eastern country we can bomb.
That number came from Trump's labor department.
In other news this morning:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...
Here in Texas, we make up for all those coastal elite snowflakes who think there's something wrong with drinking and driving.
Judging from the stories coming out of the White House and the numerous stories on Breitbart bashing Jared Kushner, it definitely looks like there's more to it than that. .
That's pretty much the story of the Trump presidency so far.
You're talking about worldwide, where the airline industry is still regulated. I'm talking about the US.
I fly Southwest all the time. They're the only airline that doesn't charge a baggage fee. I'm talking about airline prices as an industry.
If you factor in the smaller markets, where air prices have gone up 200-300% since deregulation, the cost of flying doesn't just surpass the rate of inflation, it practically laps it.
Prices have not been dropping. Fares have been dropping because many of the necessary services (baggage, for example) have been "unbundled" from the price of flying.
If you compare, apples to apples, the price of flying has outpaced the rate of inflation since 1974.
No, they are not. The airline industry has been furiously trying to spin the facts on this, but it is not cheaper to fly, adjusted for inflation, than it used to be, and certainly not since deregulation. Even the charts that show a drop since 1995 fail to take into account that many of the services involved in air travel have now been "unbundled". "Oh, you want to bring a suitcase on your trip? That will be $50, per piece of luggage."
http://www.bizjournals.com/biz...
No. According to the Federal Register, he is no longer a member of the NSC. And yes, that means he won't be attending meetings. NSC meetings are not open mic night.
And the Trump administration has confirmed Bannon's removal from the NSC.