Welcome to the New-New World. . .

[Palehorse]

Where any dream is supposed to be achievable but in reality even the most modest of dreams, like holding down a full time job that pays a decent living wage is impossible.

I've been saying it for years now, but rather than repeat it yet again, I'll let you read it in someone else's words:

http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/26/news/economy/middle-class-to-homeless/index.html?sr=cnnmoneybin043016middle-class-to-homeless0900vodtop

. . .Unless "a miracle happens," Joe will likely live in his 2001 Chevrolet Venture minivan by the summer. He removed the seats in the back to make space for a sleeping bag, his laptop and some clothes.

Soon to turn 61, Joe never imagined he would be in this position.

"When I was a kid growing up...America was the greatest place on planet earth. We were the envy of the civilized world. I never thought this could happen here," Joe says. CNNMoney agreed not to use his last name because he worries potential future employers will Google him.
Joe's big fear is that people assume he's lazy. He wore a suit for his interview with CNNMoney and hid his eyes behind big dark glasses because he is ashamed his life has come to this.

Joe's worked all his life, starting at age 11 pushing a broom around an uncle's shop. He earned two associate's degrees in electrical engineering technology and mechanical engineering technology and built a "blue collar" career as a technician, tester and machine operator. He loves factories and figuring out how things work. . .

And if you are age 50 or above and lose your job through no fault of your own, (IE - downsizing, factory closure, business relocation, etc.), the only thing standing between you and this man's fate is whatever cash you have stashed away for savings and retirement. Period. Sure, you may get a job at WalMart or some other similar venue, but it won't pay you what you are making today, and the benefits will be even worse than the ones you suffer through today. Much worse.

The fact is anyone that finds themselves unemployed above age 50 are more often than not considered unemployable. Why? Because people of that age group carry a wealth of experience and in order to take advantage of it you have to pay for it. Or should. . . But in todays "right to work" environment, (Politi-speak for anti-union pay scale and benefit), employers do not pay for much. And when they do they will cast those workers off once their tribal knowledge is shared with enough of the minimum wage group, with no recourse.

The fact is, even the 30-40 somethings with school aged children are finding it hard to make ends meet at todays wage levels; and things are only going to get worse.

Each one of you reading this, employed or otherwise, is just one serious medical emergency from finding yourself under severe financial duress due to said condition. If you have to have bypass surgery or cancer treatment your fate is sealed. And if you think your current medical insurance plan will protect you, it just may the first time. But the next plan year your premiums will skyrocket, and the one after that your company will only be offering the high deductible plans that are all the rage now. And believe me when I tell you that they are nothing but a complicated pyramid scheme designed to leave you holding the bag.

Most of these plans that include family coverage start at around 6k a year; and that's just the premium. On top of that you are responsible for the first 4-6k/per covered individual for medical care. All of it. Emergency room visits, stitches, X-rays, blood work, and even the prescriptions the doctors write you. And the balance goes back to zero at the start of each year. That's 10-12k a year per covered individual before the insurance company will cover one red cent for the premiums you pay.

Some companies offer a Health Savings Account to help "soften" the blow on your household budget, to which they will initially contribute 500 to 1500 dollars in the first year. Then the second year they require you and other family members covered by your insurance to submit to annual "Biometric screenings", which require blood draws, weight checks, waist measurements, etc., and from this information they will assign a third party health coach to badger you to stop smoking, stop eating fatty foods, lose weight, or whatever other measures they deem necessary t improve your health, despite having never laid eyes on you in their lives. And if you skip the biometrics submission they will not contribute 500 dollars to your HSA, AND subject you to "unhealthy lifestyle" surcharges that assume your weight is bad, your cholesterol is bad, you smoke like a chimney and drink like a fish. 1-2k per covered individual.

It doesn't matter whether you are regularly seeing a physician and s/he is holding you accountable for your health. They will reach into your wallet with both hands anyway.

So. . . Imagine working for 10-12/hr and being saddled with all of this. Could you make the mortgage, utility bills, cable bill, phone bill, car insurance bill every month on that and have anything left with which to put food onto the table and clothing on your children? Could you pay for daycare too? And lets not forget the doctor bills!

Welcome to the New-New World planet earth. Where major corporations make more money than Jeebus and their workers die and are homeless at an increasingly alarming rate. . . 

I know some of your are scoffing at this right now, as you have in the years since I've been warning of this calamity; but rest assured that your time is approaching and when it finally arrives at your doorsteps, I hope you have internet access just long enough to re-read this and remember that there were those of us out here that have been warning you of this for years before it happened.

Vote your conscious this general election, but remember to strongly consider the truthfulness of your chosen party's platform and campaign pledges, as well as the reality of whether or not a life-time elected congress will allow those plans to pass to reality or not.

This country used to be about getting a good job and devoting yourself to a company in order to help them succeed in exchange for some of that success being shared with those that accomplish it, but not anymore. These companies now have to pay the members of congress that do their bidding to ensure the axe they hold over their employees remains razor sharp and their bottom lines growing each quarter toward obscenity.

The Almighty Corporation is now the King of this Nation. 

[Henry Hawk]

Another reason as to allow Trump, instead of more of the "same old, same old"....

I am very serious about this.....I know many despise him, but I despise even more, the thought of continued politics as it has the last 20 plus years.

You say vote your conscience? I am with all my heart.  I cannot fathom, the possibility of Hillary Clinton running this country...I have zero trust in her.  I think she is nothing more than a person, who believes she is entitled to the job.  I also think Ted Cruz would be so polarizing to the right, that NOTHING good would ever get accomplished.  I also have zero trust in him too.

Trump, I believe has an ego, that will not allow him to FAIL, in front of the world.  I believe he has a sincere heart in wanting to "make America great again".  I HATE cliche's like that....but, I think HE is the only one that CAN/WILL reach across the aisle to accomplish good things for this country.

I don't see that happening with Clinton or Cruz. 

There is a reason as to why Trump is getting RECORD turn outs for people to vote...because many people SEE THIS as a REAL opportunity, to get things done.

I am excited that for the first time in decades, the Indiana voters will actually have an impact on a primary election.

I will be there tomorrow, bright and early! 

[Exterminator]

You say vote your conscience? I am with all my heart.

[Palehorse]

Another reason as to allow Trump, instead of more of the "same old, same old"....

I am very serious about this.....I know many despise him, but I despise even more, the thought of continued politics as it has the last 20 plus years.

You say vote your conscience? I am with all my heart.  I cannot fathom, the possibility of Hillary Clinton running this country...I have zero trust in her.  I think she is nothing more than a person, who believes she is entitled to the job.  I also think Ted Cruz would be so polarizing to the right, that NOTHING good would ever get accomplished.  I also have zero trust in him too.

Trump, I believe has an ego, that will not allow him to FAIL, in front of the world.  I believe he has a sincere heart in wanting to "make America great again".  I HATE cliche's like that....but, I think HE is the only one that CAN/WILL reach across the aisle to accomplish good things for this country.

I don't see that happening with Clinton or Cruz. 

There is a reason as to why Trump is getting RECORD turn outs for people to vote...because many people SEE THIS as a REAL opportunity, to get things done.

I am excited that for the first time in decades, the Indiana voters will actually have an impact on a primary election.

I will be there tomorrow, bright and early! 

I'm not trying to be an asshole here, but the only reason you feel the way you do about him is that you believe the propaganda. And you believe it because of the emotions it elicits from you; just like the rest of them.

Trump's business record is enough to make me nothing short of disappointed in this nation's political process, and absolutely validates my steadfast belief that he is nothing but wrong for the office. I've heard many call the sitting POTUS pompous and snooty, but I can tell you that Trump will be the definition of those things; and toward the very class of people that hope to put him into office. I stand by my opinion that he will do nothing but enrich the lives of the wealthy on the backs of what remains of the middle-class. (Which will be extinct at the end of his term).

I just cannot understand how so many can fall for this Trojan Horse campaign on the premise of changing the political process. The fact is NONE of the candidates will be any more successful than President Obama has been. Not one of them. Why? Because this "battle-cry" of "change" within the political process is meaningless unless the citizens of this nation evict, with extreme prejudice, every single multi-term member of congress and enact strict term limits that apply to every single position just as it does the office of POTUS.

That is the only true solution to this farce our government now is. Bought and paid for by Korporate Amerika; run by individuals just like Trump.

[Palehorse]

And another thing. (This horse isn't ready to lay down yet. . .)

These political clowns are running campaigns saying they will "repeal Obama-Care; every single bit of it". They blame the rising cost of health care coverage on it, and insurance companies decry it as the apocalypse. Horse-Hockey!

It's all nothing more than their way of selling you their latest excuse for continuing to rape the population of this nation in order to fatten up their bottom lines.

Watch. On the minuscule chance one of these asshats makes it into office and actually gets congress to do just that and repeal the AHCA, I predict premiums will more than double within the first 18 months of its demise. And shortly thereafter the only coverage your employers will be offering are the very ones I posted about in the opening contribution here; High Deductible plans.

The profits of the healthcare insurance industry are only dwarfed by those of gas and oil. . . And they will not be happy until they are on top. . .

[Henry Hawk]

I'm not trying to be an asshole here, but the only reason you feel the way you do about him is that you believe the propaganda. And you believe it because of the emotions it elicits from you; just like the rest of them.

Nope, my #1 reason is, he is PISSING OFF the establishment, which I think means democrat and/or republican.....the lobbyist and corp America...they cannot control him....and I find a great deal of pleasure seeing this happen. 

A vote for anybody else (except Bernie, and that ain't gonna happen) is giving in to the establishment, and our Country will continue to go as it has the last 25 years......

I'm smart enough to know that Trump isn't perfect....but I do believe that he can make a difference in the way Washington is running.  I also find him amusing, that is a bonus.

[Palehorse]

. . .  I also find him amusing, that is a bonus.

An awful high price to pay of your amusement. . . The collapse of an entire nation and all that. . .

[libby]

Well said, Palehorse!  All of it!

[Henry Hawk]

An awful high price to pay of your amusement. . . The collapse of an entire nation and all that. . .

WOW!  The way I look at it, it was in the midst of collapsing.........He is the only one who can stop it.  I know for a FACT, 4 years of Hillary, and we will be finished as the Nation we once knew.  I, for the first time in a long time, feel like we might have a chance to see another economic BOOM, where my kids can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

There has been a dark stormy cloud over this nation for the last 16 plus years.....I am ready for some blue skies once again.....Trump, I think, gives us the best chance to see that once again. I believe this with ALL MY HEART....and I hope we get the opportunity to prove it.

[Exterminator]

WOW!  The way I look at it, it was in the midst of collapsing...

Collapsing how, specifically?

He is the only one who can stop it.

Ho couldn't keep a casino from collapsing when those next door and across the street were making record profits.  How could he keep a country from collapsing if it was?

I know for a FACT, 4 years of Hillary, and we will be finished as the Nation we once knew.

That's what you said about Obama...the nation is still here.

I, for the first time in a long time, feel like we might have a chance to see another economic BOOM...

The only boom Trump would be likely to produce as president would be a nuclear blast after the jackass starts WWIII.  All of this talk about bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US is bullshit; it is never going to happen on any meaningful scale.  Those days are over and the sooner people embrace that concept and learn to thrive in an information-based economy, the better off they'll be.

[Henry Hawk]

Collapsing how, specifically?

With a divided nation, that has been created during his tenure....dems against repubs, blacks against whites, women against men,...this was something Obama was supposed to fix....and failed at it...miserably.

The economy, isn't booming.  Not that it is all his fault, but he must share part of the blame....

Trump may or may not produce, but considering our options on who else is available.  He has the ability to excite voters, but again, so did Obama.

IMO, the pendulum is ready to swing back to the right....it has swung far enough to the left, time to swing back a tad.

[Exterminator]

With a divided nation, that has been created during his tenure...

The bitter division in our society began when Bush decided to invade a sovereign nation that was no threat to us.

...this was something Obama was supposed to fix....and failed at it...miserably.

A person of color wasn't able to fix the issues with bigotry and racism in our society?  Shocking!

The economy, isn't booming.

What isn't booming about it?  Unemployment is down, consumer confidence is up, the stock market has more than doubled, corporations are making record profits, interest rates are low, gas prices are reasonable, etc., etc., etc...  And don't even go there with stagnant wages; the president can't control how much business pays to its workers.  Stagnant wages are directly the result of the free market the right is fond of touting.

IMO, the pendulum is ready to swing back to the right....it has swung far enough to the left, time to swing back a tad.

Never going to happen until the right finds a way to be more inclusive.  The party of old white rural voters is dying, something that the party absolutely acknowledged after Romney lost in 2012.  Rather than learning from that, your party has doubled down on a strategy they know fails.  It's insane.