Fabritzio FabricatoJul 4, 2023
Robert Reich

Medicare for All would save $450B a year.

Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.

Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.

It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.

It’s about priorities.

Jun 28, 2023 at 4:35pmWeb
Show threadMarcos DioneJun 28, 2023
@rbreich just for comparison, how much do you spend in the military?
Show threadsam (is (mostly) afk)Jun 29, 2023
@mdione @rbreich a quick look on wikipedia states a military budget for 2023 of 782 billion
Show threadMarcos DioneJun 29, 2023
@flbr @rbreich it's a good thing, then, that you need more to protect people, than people to protect...</sarcasm>
Show threadwasabi brainJun 28, 2023
@rbreich it’s about employer power by keeping employees desperate and dependent
Show threadDamnKimberleeJun 28, 2023
@rbreich @AlliFlowers
Show threadChupacabra 78704Jun 28, 2023
@rbreich Just Medical for all, not Medicare. Fuck Insurance companies.
Show threadMagical CatJun 29, 2023
@Homoevolutis0 Subsidies does not require existence of insurance companies. They are not involved in subsidy process. It is all between poor patient and bored bureaucrat to whom you must prove that you are, literally, "poor enough" to get subsidy. This process is just have own pitfalls.
Show threadOlavJun 30, 2023

@Homoevolutis0 @rbreich

Someone, somewhere, has to do some gatekeeping. By this I mean someone has to be able to say "no" to unnecessary procedures and tests. It clogs the system and incurs unnecessary costs. This is from someone that relies on MediCal, arguably the best social health in the country

Don't get me started on dental health tho

Show threadOlavJun 30, 2023

@Homoevolutis0 @rbreich

Otoh non-profit should mean senior execs are there because they believe in health care, not because they get sweet salaries while pretending to be . non-profit

Show threadlimbodogJun 28, 2023
@rbreich As someone who has fought (and lost) with CMS before, I just wish we could talk about other universal-health-care options besides MFA. Like the hybrid systems other countries use. You get subsidies, you get options and competition, and you're not up against an uncaring monolith when something goes wrong.
Show threadCharlie StrossJun 28, 2023
@rbreich @hannu_ikonen Yes, sure, but who will think of the poor underpaid insurance industry executives?!?
Show threadSteve HerseyJun 28, 2023
@cstross @rbreich @hannu_ikonen
Are they delicious?
Show threadDubliciousJun 28, 2023
@rbreich While I do agree with you, I also think it's not possible to create priorities in our polarized state.
Show threadCelebrate Billionaire PainJun 28, 2023

@rbreich it's not about priorities, it's about objectives. Our government isn't trying to create a country where everyone is healthy, happy, and safe, they're trying to create a worker class that is desperate and hungry enough to work for any wage under any conditions.

This is all intentional and will continue getting worse until capitalism is dismantled. There is no other way.

Show threadHerefordrobJun 30, 2023
@BootyLasher @rbreich
Not just capitalism but #patriarchalcapitalism the two are inseparable. https://fraserinstitute.org/blogs/death-of-capitalism-schumpeters-prognosis-coming-true
Show threadWardMBJun 28, 2023
@rbreich It’s about what we should want to be.
Show threadGrandpa DonJun 29, 2023
@rbreich
it's about greed and prejudice
Show threadplayful_celeryJun 29, 2023
@rbreich Fully concur; priorities for the .01%, jackels sucking at the day trade of Wall St., and the military-industrial complex
Show threadVHaschJun 29, 2023

@rbreich

Makes you wonder what rich people think food stamps and WIC get spent on.

(Hint: grocery stores wouldn't accept those if they weren't profitable).

Show threadSearingTruthJun 30, 2023

@rbreich

"Humane health care is achieved when the rich and the poor receive the same treatment."
SearingTruth

Show threadBeBoJun 30, 2023
@rbreich … and how nasty you can be despite the obvious economic benefits. Of course, it won’t be for *your* [or anybody’s] *exclusive* benefit, which might take the edge off it a bit …
Show threadNazaniJul 1, 2023
@rbreich This is pretty much the situation with free school lunches, too. Costs more to administer an exclusionary system than to feed all.
Show threadgrabeJul 3, 2023
@rbreich it always seemed to me that those opposed to safety net programs assume that tax dollars are burned and not put into the economy