Political Discussion

In other news from the Senate Democrats today, they just shaved off $100 from the expanded unemployment benefits.

House bill was an extra $400 a week.
Senate bill is now $300.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
In other news from the Senate Democrats today, they just shaved off $100 from the expanded unemployment benefits.

House bill was an extra $400 a week.
Senate bill is now $300.
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This could potentially happen (depending on Manchin) Rob Portman submitted an amendment and the GOP is trying to sway Manchin to support it. They would also need the support of the rest of the GOP but you’re jumping the gun as it hasn’t been voted through yet. There are something like 500 amendments proposed to the bill and it is possible that the UI benefit could still be altered but nothing has been voted through yet.
 
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Djxfactor511 said:
Wasn't yesterday supposed to be the day Trump became President again? Has your dad said anything yet?
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Just that the cowards in the house took the day off.

Yesterday was supposed to be a march on the lawmakers for their inaction on the voter fraud. Not Trump becoming president again.

Because the law makers chickened out and weren't in the capital, storming the capital again wouldn't have accomplished anything.
 
RenegadeMonster said:
I've just a heard a horror story about something that happened to a co-worker of mine.

Back when she was 18 she was involved in a car accident that resulted in her being transported to the hospital by ambulance. She was under her fathers insurance at the time and that insurance 100% covered the cost of ambulance rides. Her father took care of all the insurance related stuff and bills.

Fast forward 8 years, and when she was 26 out of the blue she had her entire federal tax return garnished to pay for the ambulance ride.

Here is what happened. Apparently they took down her address incorrectly and could not locate her to bill her for the ambulance ride. They send the bills directly to the consumer and not insurance. Once you get the bill you create a claim with your insurance and they cover it. Because they never got a bill and ambulance rides are covered her father never thought anything of it.

The debt was eventually handed off to a collection agency. And that collection agency never made contact with her or her father as well.

They eventually took it to court. But never located her and therefor never notified her of the court date. Since she was a no show at court the judge ordered it to be garnished.

Her father was livid. She described her father as someone who never loses his cool or swears. And when he was on the phone trying to straighten this out he was yelling and dropping f bombs left and right.

His insurance would not help. Too much time has passed and the window to make a claim has long closed. Not to mention his daughter was no longer under his insurance which is another issue in it self.

When contacting the city they too were unable to help. He argued if they never billed him his daughter shouldn't have to pay the bill. They said there is nothing they can do, the debt had already been sold so that the city could recover its money. He would have to contact the debt collector to work this out.

The debt collection agency was only interested in working out repayment plans for the remaining balance. They wouldn't waive the debt or refund what was garnished.

He contacted his lawyer, but because his daughter lost a court case for not showing up, even though she didn't know she had to show up, it would be a tough, long and expensive battle in court to try to resolve this in court. And there is a good chance even still they would not get the money back that was already garnished. His advice was it's not worth pursuing as it will be a long headache and probably cost you more in the long run than trying to recover the money that was already garnished.

She ended up never getting the money back that was garnished, and having to pay off the remaining debt which included legal fees for having to go to court.

She wants to know how they can never find her to bill her, or contact her, or let her know of a court date. Yet have no problem finding her when it comes to taking the money out of her tax return.

This also never hit her credit report until after the IRS garnished her tax return.

The tax return being garnished was the first sign / they ever heard that where were issues with the billing of the ambulance ride.
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This happens a lot.

An ongoing examination by KHN into hospital billing and collections in Virginia shows just how widespread and destructive they can be. KHN reported a year ago that UVA Health had sued patients 36,000 times over six years for more than $100 million, often for amounts far higher than what an insurer would have paid for their care.

Nobody knows how many old or new UVA Health liens are scattered through scores of Virginia courthouses. The health system, which has sued patients in almost every county and city in the state, has failed to respond to repeated requests over two years to disclose the number and value of its property liens.

But in Albemarle County alone, which surrounds the university’s Charlottesville home, “there are thousands” of UVA Health judgments filed in the land records, which creates a lien, said Circuit Court Clerk Jon Zug.

Not just Virginia homes are at risk. UVA Health lawyers search the nation for property or other assets owned by patients with outstanding bills and have filed liens in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and Florida, court records show.

The system put a lien on a Nevada vacation condo owned by Veronica Musie’s family a decade ago over a $30,600 hospital bill, said Musie, who lives in northern Virginia. The family has since paid the debt.

Virginia property liens expire after 20 years. But UVA Health often renews them. Since 2017, just in Albemarle County, it has renewed more than three dozen liens. That means the medical system could seize families’ home equity until 2039 for bills dating to the last century.

khn.org

UVA Health Still Squeezing Money From Patients — By Seizing Their Home Equity - KFF Health News

The University of Virginia promised reforms but has stopped short of announcing them, while hospital giant VCU Health has freed tens of thousands from property liens.
khn.org khn.org
 
nolalady said:
This happens a lot.
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The worst part of it is, it's also not uncommon for them to set court dates and not telling people about them. They win on default if you don't show up.

All they have to say is they don't have your contact information / they weren't able to get in touch with you.

And once you miss that court date, you're pretty much screwed. It's hard if not near impossible to straighten things out afterwards often because the people stuck in these positions don't have the money needed to fight it all the way.
 
Chucktshoes said:
I’m curious as to why that article would provoke such a strong reaction. Everything he said it it is correct. Unless that’s what is so upsetting.
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Glenn Greenwald is IMO, a hack, intellectually dishonest “journalist”. He would rather attack the the Left for not being as ideologically pure as he and he accomplishes this be cozying up with white supremacists on the Far Right to attack the Left. An enemy of my enemy is my friend type thing. Anyways, prior to the insurrection attempt he had claimed for months that the Left was overreacting in accusing Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric would lead to an attempted insurrection/coup. Then once it did occur he has been playing down what actually happened stating again the Left is overreacting. He’s a charlatan.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
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I'm genuinely flummoxed that Hassan and Shaheen voted against it. First, it's a symbolic vote, obviously there were other Dems against it and it was never getting to 60, so this didn't really need to consider the specifics (kind of like how Republicans tried to repeal that ACA 5893402 times with no safety net). Second, you're in a state with a high cost of living AND no state min wage, run by a Republican trifecta (so it's not happening for a minimum of a few years). It has the second highest, I think, cost of living for a state with 7.25 min wage or less. Third, it's an initiative that polls exceedingly well in your own party and even decently in the other party.

I'm a very reliable Democratic voter but at this point Hassan's lost my vote. She's gonna need to earn it back over the next two years. That's just a pathetic. Shaheen sponsored a bill for a $12 minimum wage by 2020 SIX YEARS AGO, they both campaigned or publicly expressed support for an increase minimum wage. Apparently a three dollar an hour gap is too much a bridge to beat.

They will likely be hearing from me.
 
waruv said:
I'm genuinely flummoxed that Hassan and Shaheen voted against it. First, it's a symbolic vote, obviously there were other Dems against it and it was never getting to 60, so this didn't really need to consider the specifics (kind of like how Republicans tried to repeal that ACA 5893402 times with no safety net). Second, you're in a state with a high cost of living AND no state min wage, run by a Republican trifecta (so it's not happening for a minimum of a few years). It has the second highest, I think, cost of living for a state with 7.25 min wage or less. Third, it's an initiative that polls exceedingly well in your own party and even decently in the other party.

I'm a very reliable Democratic voter but at this point Hassan's lost my vote. She's gonna need to earn it back over the next two years. That's just a pathetic. Shaheen sponsored a bill for a $12 minimum wage by 2020 SIX YEARS AGO, they both campaigned or publicly expressed support for an increase minimum wage. Apparently a three dollar an hour gap is too much a bridge to beat.

They will likely be hearing from me.
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Yeah, it boggles the mind. If I was running for office and my opponent ran ads attacking me for wanting to RAISE the minimum wage I would absolutely welcome that debate.
 
Chucktshoes said:
I’m curious as to why that article would provoke such a strong reaction. Everything he said it it is correct. Unless that’s what is so upsetting.
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
Glenn Greenwald is IMO, a hack, intellectually dishonest “journalist”. He would rather attack the the Left for not being as ideologically pure as he and he accomplishes this be cozying up with white supremacists on the Far Right to attack the Left. An enemy of my enemy is my friend type thing. Anyways, prior to the insurrection attempt he had claimed for months that the Left was overreacting in accusing Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric would lead to an attempted insurrection/coup. Then once it did occur he has been playing down what actually happened stating again the Left is overreacting. He’s a charlatan.
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But he makes a great point here:

There is, relatedly, a massive political benefit from convincing the population that the opponents and critics of those in power do not merely hold a different ideology but are coup plotters, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. That is the same political benefit that accrued from trying to persuade the population that adversaries of the Democratic Party were treasonous Kremlin agents. The more you can demonize your opponents as something monstrous, the more political power you can acquire.

And as Democrats and liberals now gear up to demand a new War on Terror, this one domestic in nature, it should be no surprise that the rhetorical leaders of their effort now are the same lowlife neocon and Rovian slanderers — Bill Kristol, David Frum, Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace, Rick Wilson — who demonized everyone who questioned them as part of the first War on Terror as traitors and terrorist-lovers and subversives. It is not a coincidence that neocons are leading the way now as liberals’ favorite propagandists: they are the most skilled and experienced in weaponizing and exaggerating terrorism threats for political gain and authoritarian power.

I get it. Glenn is really not a great guy personally, but separating the art from the artist, he makes a really salient point. This will do nothing but trigger the Patriot Act 2.0, and more of our privacy will be taken away. I am concerned by this blow back because it will likely impact a lot of progressive groups that protest. This is what the Republicans do. They take advantage of Democrats fears' and pass legislation that they can later use to turn on progressive groups. I feel like the Democrats either are okay with this or can't see past the end of their noses.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
Yeah, it boggles the mind. If I was running for office and my opponent ran ads attacking me for wanting to RAISE the minimum wage I would absolutely welcome that debate.
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To add on. You know the last time a minimum wage increase lost a popular vote when it was on the ballot? 1996. Florida, in 2020, voted for a $15 min wage 60-40 and voted to re-elect Donald Trump. Admittedly, the other ones weren't for fifteen but that one was an there is ample evidence of widespread support on here.

Like Shaheen and Hassan have openly supported 12 in the past and now (per their offices, websites, news stories) - how three dollars is enough to go lol nope on a symbolic vote is just insane.
 
nolalady said:
But he makes a great point here:

There is, relatedly, a massive political benefit from convincing the population that the opponents and critics of those in power do not merely hold a different ideology but are coup plotters, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. That is the same political benefit that accrued from trying to persuade the population that adversaries of the Democratic Party were treasonous Kremlin agents. The more you can demonize your opponents as something monstrous, the more political power you can acquire.

And as Democrats and liberals now gear up to demand a new War on Terror, this one domestic in nature, it should be no surprise that the rhetorical leaders of their effort now are the same lowlife neocon and Rovian slanderers — Bill Kristol, David Frum, Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace, Rick Wilson — who demonized everyone who questioned them as part of the first War on Terror as traitors and terrorist-lovers and subversives. It is not a coincidence that neocons are leading the way now as liberals’ favorite propagandists: they are the most skilled and experienced in weaponizing and exaggerating terrorism threats for political gain and authoritarian power.

I get it. Glenn is really not a great guy personally, but separating the art from the artist, he makes a really salient point. This will do nothing but trigger the Patriot Act 2.0, and more of our privacy will be taken away. I am concerned by this blow back because it will likely impact a lot of progressive groups that protest. This is what the Republicans do. They take advantage of Democrats fears' and pass legislation that they can later use to turn on progressive groups. I feel like the Democrats either are okay with this or can't see past the end of their noses.
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I get it, and in that respect I agree. we don’t need a Patriot Act 2.0. I guess my thought is there are people on the Left (AOC, Bernie, Warren, Jayapal, etc.) that are able to acknowledge the threat made on the Capitol for what it was while also acknowledging that another Patriot Act type overreaction is not a good idea.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
Glenn Greenwald is IMO, a hack, intellectually dishonest “journalist”. He would rather attack the the Left for not being as ideologically pure as he and he accomplishes this be cozying up with white supremacists on the Far Right to attack the Left. An enemy of my enemy is my friend type thing. Anyways, prior to the insurrection attempt he had claimed for months that the Left was overreacting in accusing Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric would lead to an attempted insurrection/coup. Then once it did occur he has been playing down what actually happened stating again the Left is overreacting. He’s a charlatan.
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I gotta say that every time someone calls the 1/6 capitol riots an insurrection, I giggle. It’s so hyperbolically ridiculous I can’t help it. It’s Russian collusion 2.0.

Don’t get me wrong, I condemn that riot just the same as the riots I spent the majority of 2020 condemning. But to call it an insurrection is stupid. I mean, if that was an insurrection, what was the months long siege at the federal building in Portland? After all, they repeatedly tried to burn the place down while it was occupied.

But hey, I guess it doesn’t matter how factually ridiculous it is if it’s an effective narrative to accomplish the end goal, right?
 
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