Non-zero chance we actually get Obamacare-plus out of a bipartisan effort.

Yeah I don't think the "we tried to fix health care but democrats" thing is going to work.

lol u. they will pass some similar bs in a few weeks or months.

Not on us, no. But everything works on a brainwashed base. Everything.

Correct Democratic response: Okay, let's find a way to do Medicare For All.

Actual Democratic response: Something stupid.

Yeah, Democrats shouldn't obstruct ala the Republicans. They should push for their actual goals.

What they'll actually do is have 5-10 people split off and vote for another half-assed and flawed attempt at Republican based healthcare.

Edit: Basically, I think they should vote in a block and only accept something where 80%+ of them are happy.

But keep in mind, GOP has one actual goal, tax cuts. They could give a **** about, you know, actual people. Which makes negotiating with them a complete waste of time.

Anything Dems do well GOP will take credit and use to say, "Hey we fixed Obamacare!"

Basically we'd get GOP and Trump in 2020

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This would open the door to a deal for tax cuts and more Obamacare money, **** the deficit. I guess Schumer should at least take that meeting, though I wouldn't vote for it.

I'm 90% sure McConnell is FOS about compromising anyway.

It's not like they have better things to do right now (as opposed to 2008 when they could govern).

The thing about the whole "they just care about tax cuts" while largely true and accurately describes say the GOP up until 2008 isn't wholly true now; since then there are more hardcore Ayn Rand acolyte *******s like Cotton and Cruz and Rand Paul that won't let the GOP pay for tax cuts with deficits and insist on poor people suffering to pay for it. So they do have these competing set of goals now: how to give the rich more tax cuts, how to make poor people accept less government services, and how to make it politically palatable. The 2017 GOP can't yet thread that needle and get all 3. Partially because they have swelled their ranks in the GOP with actually poorer voters and so the Murkowskis and Capitos and Collins and Portmans of the Senate actually rely on amount of middle class and below support and can't get on board with these reverse Robin Hood schemes without endangering themselves.

Or they have to keep it deficit neutral due to reconciliation. I don't know which it is and I don't know whether Cruz would vote for deficit funded cuts.

Or, unlike 2003, they have totally given up trying to beat a filibuster.

Or the Dems were less partisan back then, some voted for the Bush tax cuts.

So much for that heller no vote. He's not gonna vote no if he has to face trump's wrath.

Haha some dude on twitter said they were having traitor tots for lunch classic.

It's a pretty dangerous gambit for Trump. He lost Nevada to start with so there's no guarantee that bending the knee would even be helpful to Heller. He might decide that going rogue might lose him the election, but supporting Trump would definitely lose it.

Cite for bolded?

Trump, the expert 4D 6th dimensional chess player, giving GOP Senators no good options.

We may laugh at senators for being spineless, etc., but they are still US senators and have considerable power and prestige. They don't lack for self-esteem and I think the kind of "threats" Trump is used to making toward nobodies with nothing are 95% likely to backfire when directed to senators. Really, the kind of statement Trump apparently made to Heller could cause anyone with self-respect (i.e., not Rubio) to vote against Trump even if it's against their self-interest to do so. I'd think, "That's one more vote in favor of impeachment big guy."

Link to something that breaks down US funding sources for medical / medication R&D? Like specifically how much of it is covered by public vs private sources. Google is failing me.

JF LCSW

It's going to be hard to frame that question, because it's a kind of apples/oranges thing.

Basic research is done by the NIH/Universities/CDC and probably several other entities - a lot of the ongoing research in the genome falls under this umbrella, along with a lot of other stuff I don't much know about. But pretty much none of those programs are creating medications in any real sense.

Essentially all of the "make pill to treat xyz" sort of research is done by private companies. Generally, they aren't getting funded by the public purse in any real sense that I'm aware of. (there may be some exceptions - probably in the area of vaccines which due to liability issues pretty much no company wants anything to do with unless they're under the protective wing of the government)

MM MD

Hopefully this isn't too off topic, but it's the part of politics I find fascinating when I can bring myself to ignore how important the underlying issue is.

If you're Dean Heller, what in the world do you do right now?

Option 1: Capitulate to Trump and vote yes on any Trumpcare bill that comes up. You get financial support but:

1. You face a strong challenge from your right in the primary for not being a good soldier and your opponent uses Trump's comments against you.
2. If you win, you face a general election against whoever and now have to defend yourself against a Democratic candidate that hammers you on the details of the bill in a state that Trump lost and probably end up losing your seat.

Option 2: Try to carve out a spot like McCain tried to claim as a maverick that goes against your own party. You lose financial support and:

1. You face a ferocious challenge from your right in the primary that you have a good chance to lose.
2. If you survive it, you have a chance to win over moderate republicans/democrats in the general claiming to be a bipartisan working for the people. OTOH you have a good chance to lose anyway as Trump's favorability craters.

Option 3: I dunno, thread the needle by voting against Trumpcare and for some other future bills? Vote for Trumpcare and against some future bills? Any other option seems like you get blasted from the right in the primary and from the left in the general.

I'm not a political strategist, but it looks to me like he's pretty much ****ed.

Harvard Business even has an article on single payer

https://hbr.org/2017/07/is-the-u-s-r...th-care-system

"If you're Dean Heller, what in the world do you do right now?"

Well, he should have gotten sick and stayed away from the Donald for a while.

He's in a very tough spot, but a year + is a lifetime in politics. I'd guess his best chance is to stiff Trump, fight off the right sided attack (and turnout tends to be lower in the midterms, so he might squeek thru) and then take his chances against the dem. But pretty much all his options are unappealing.....

MM MD

Yeah, that was pretty much my immediate reaction too, but man it would suck to basically have your own party blow up your career.

i dont feel any sympathy for human scum