I love seeing him totally confuse these Sunday morning pundits. Some of them like Jeff Greenfield from yesterday's Meet the Press panel at least have the good humor to say "I wonder why I'm even still in this business" (paraphrase) because they wrongly discounted Trump.

Trump is showing us how the sausage is made because he knows the recipe. The main ingredient is cash.

And let's face it: whatever your position is on illegal immigration, many Americans really don't understand and resent the (perceived) inaction on it... (or know that like many things, you have to follow the money to those who profit from it). And when politicans promise jobs, my question is: what is it they can honestly do? Trump's position is a two-fer for that. Less illegals mean more jobs for Joe Citizen. Hell, someone is gonna have to drive all those buses down south!

But Trump is a phony, too. Or at least a carnival barker, getting people inside the tent with hyperbole and false promises. He says he has a unicorn inside — Make America Great Again! — and its just a deformed one-horned goat glumly eating straw — more border agents, mass deportation, a wall (built under budget and ahead of schedule!), and macho posturing with tri-state hand gestures as diplomacy.

In 2012 after Romney lost, he was calling Republican views on immigration "mean-spirited" in comparison to Democrats.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Donald-Trump-Ronald-Kessler/2012/11/26/id/465363/

The Republican Party will continue to lose presidential elections if it comes across as mean-spirited and unwelcoming toward people of color, Donald Trump tells Newsmax.

Whether intended or not, comments and policies of Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates during this election were seen by Hispanics and Asians as hostile to them, Trump says.

“Republicans didn’t have anything going for them with respect to Latinos and with respect to Asians,” the billionaire developer says.

“The Democrats didn’t have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them is they weren’t mean-spirited about it,” Trump says. “They didn’t know what the policy was, but what they were is they were kind.”

People are entitled to change their minds, no doubt... but I think like a true businessman and entertainer, he's using his bluntness and his nose for what people want to tell them the kind of stuff you can only do when you are self-funded: a 21st century Perot.

"Nothing beats the Bible"... with his own book conveniently in second place. Right. Phony.

JesseDark wrote:Trump has lost the general election for republicans. Foreced deportations... really. He is no different than Mitt Romney and will have the same results.

My first wife was a long term nurse at Yale. Do you know how many illegal aliens use our "system" to get free health care and how much it costs? Why should 300-400k children be brought across the border each year illegally to gain access to American birth rights? There is a lot wrong with our current immigration policies. I also think that if you come to this country legally under the age of 45 you should be mandated to learn the English language IF you want to become a citizen. Lets be fair the only person really right now who is showing the ba((s the the energy and honesty in this campaign is DT. What I also thought was a joke at first really is not a joke. I ask myself if I dont vote for Trump who is my next best candidate--and really there is none.

DrAlphaeus wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:

JesseDark wrote:Trump has lost the general election for republicans. Foreced deportations... really. He is no different than Mitt Romney and will have the same results.

My first wife was a long term nurse at Yale. Do you know how many illegal aliens use our "system" to get free health care and how much it costs? Why should 300-400k children be brought across the border each year illegally to gain access to American birth rights? There is a lot wrong with our current immigration policies. I also think that if you come to this country legally under the age of 45 you should be mandated to learn the English language IF you want to become a citizen. Lets be fair the only person really right now who is showing the ba((s the the energy and honesty in this campaign is DT. What I also thought was a joke at first really is not a joke. I ask myself if I dont vote for Trump who is my next best candidate--and really there is none.

The English language requirement seems unfair so long as the US maintains sovereignty over Puerto Rico.

Trump is a joke and you are kidding yourself if you think his proposals are serious answers. Talking tough about building walls, getting rid of the 14th amendment, anchor babies are all untenable. The sad part about the republican party is that his views are not much different than the other 16 or so candidates. He just says it in a made for t.v. style.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/02/kareem-abdul-jabbar-this-is-the-difference-between-donald-trump-and-bernie-sanders/?a

Ernest Hemingway once said that courage was “grace under pressure.” Two presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, have recently tested this proposition. And how each man responded revealed the type of person he is and the type of president he would make: Trump authored his own doom, and Sanders opened immense new possibilities as a compassionate person and serious candidate for president.

A. Build a wall on the Southern border to curb illegal immigration and curb drug inflow--he said he will make Mexico pay for the wall
B. Identify persons who should not be in our country--or are here illegally and make them adhere to the Laws of the US. He wants to remove anyone here illegally with records and they cannot come back. He has numerously named gang violence as the number #1 target.
C. He wants to build up the military to a level where we dont have to use it
D He wants better trade deals with countries who have large trade gaps with the US
F He wants better care for veterans who are presently not getting it
G He wants to keep American jobs in America and punish companies that dont adhere
H He wants a large tax break for middle and low income Americans and to simplify the tax code
I He said he wanted to make womens health issues a priority

He by himself brought up the problems with illegal immigration--and anyone who has a good friend or a relative in this country who works in a hospital knows the deal there--they honestly get better care then US vets for NOTHING. Hes put his ideas out on the line--I have followed and I havent heard sht from anyone else. Ive heard some piggy backing off some of those ideas AFTER the fact. The only thing that has been a turn off is the need to hit out at others--and that certainly has bothered some people but at the end of the day who has a message better than Trump or even close? Let me see the policies and when they were announced

Amid the egregious care and system-wide ineptitude, we lose 22 hopeless veterans to suicide every day.

These failures cannot stand. The VA is like the federal version of the Department of Motor Vehicles: inefficient, incompetent and infuriating. Except the VA is much worse: at least the DMV’s long wait times do not kill its applicants.

At a minimum, the Veterans Health Administration (the entity in the VA that provides health care) should be eliminated to forge a 21st century veterans health care solution. Such a significant organizational change no doubt requires further study and consideration, and I will be providing more details in the weeks and months to come. Meanwhile, the following improvements can and should be made immediately. The health of our brave men and women veterans deserve no less.

OFFER CHOICE, including health savings accounts (HSAs), to allow veterans to access the best possible medical care at a nearby DOD, VA or civilian medical facility.
PROVIDE PORTABILITY to allow dollars to follow the veteran, even when away from their primary care locale.
ENSURE TIMELY RESPONSE for disability claims and medical requirements.
MAKE SPECIALIZED CARE READILY AVAILABLE by utilizing military and civilian centers of excellence for treatment of military-specific post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries, severance of limbs and other issues.
STRIVE FOR SEAMLESS TRANSITION that equips veterans with education, employment, life skills and continuity of health care to ensure immediate and successful transition into a contributing member of civilian society.

We simply must do better to serve those who have served us so selflessly. No more politics as usual, no more Washington-size excuses. We need results for our vets.

This from someone who's actually spent his life working inside hospitals and working with real live veterans.

I know the above isn't as flashy and brilliant as "Make Mexico pay for the wall" to keep out the "rapists", but hey, the guy's just a neurosurgeon.

jrodmc wrote:Carson on Veteran's healthcare:

Amid the egregious care and system-wide ineptitude, we lose 22 hopeless veterans to suicide every day.

These failures cannot stand. The VA is like the federal version of the Department of Motor Vehicles: inefficient, incompetent and infuriating. Except the VA is much worse: at least the DMV’s long wait times do not kill its applicants.

At a minimum, the Veterans Health Administration (the entity in the VA that provides health care) should be eliminated to forge a 21st century veterans health care solution. Such a significant organizational change no doubt requires further study and consideration, and I will be providing more details in the weeks and months to come. Meanwhile, the following improvements can and should be made immediately. The health of our brave men and women veterans deserve no less.

OFFER CHOICE, including health savings accounts (HSAs), to allow veterans to access the best possible medical care at a nearby DOD, VA or civilian medical facility.
PROVIDE PORTABILITY to allow dollars to follow the veteran, even when away from their primary care locale.
ENSURE TIMELY RESPONSE for disability claims and medical requirements.
MAKE SPECIALIZED CARE READILY AVAILABLE by utilizing military and civilian centers of excellence for treatment of military-specific post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries, severance of limbs and other issues.
STRIVE FOR SEAMLESS TRANSITION that equips veterans with education, employment, life skills and continuity of health care to ensure immediate and successful transition into a contributing member of civilian society.

We simply must do better to serve those who have served us so selflessly. No more politics as usual, no more Washington-size excuses. We need results for our vets.

This from someone who's actually spent his life working inside hospitals and working with real live veterans.

I know the above isn't as flashy and brilliant as "Make Mexico pay for the wall" to keep out the "rapists", but hey, the guy's just a neurosurgeon.

Not a fan of Obamacare, but its better than Carson's "Health Savings Account".

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/23/health-care-experts-rip-ben-carsons-near-worthl/198985

Health care policy experts are speaking out against Dr. Ben Carson's proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act with a healthcare savings account and $2,000 annual federal stipend, calling it "near worthless" and a plan "for the very rich."

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and Fox News contributor, is beloved by conservatives for his vitriolic attacks on Obamacare. He has received a raft of recent media attention due to the strong fundraising totals posted by the independent National Draft Ben Carson political action campaign, which promotes a Carson 2016 presidential run.

In an interview with Politico Magazine, Carson says that he supports eliminating Obamacare and that under his plan, "The only responsibility of the government would be providing $2,000 per year for every American citizen -- around $630 billion annually, about 20 percent of what we currently spend on health care -- to provide everyone with a health savings account."

Carson says the current health care system has created "generation upon generation of people who just live that way, waiting for government handouts."

But as Politico Magazine notes, while Carson's celebrated medical record "puts weight behind his criticisms of Obamacare," his acknowledged skill as a surgeon "does not imply an elevated or even rational perspective on health-care policy."

Indeed, several experts who have studied and formulated health care reforms told Media Matters that the plan, if implemented, could have devastating consequences for millions of Americans.

"For a person who has serious health problems or for a person who has a low income, a $2,000 health care savings account is worthless, or near worthless" said Timothy Jost, professor of law at Washington and Lee University who specializes in health care regulation and law. "It would not either allow them to buy health insurance or allow them to afford health care or anything other than very routine primary care and some medications."

"I wouldn't mind the government giving me $2,000 for a health savings account because I have great health insurance from my employer," Jost added. "I'm sure if you are a doctor at Johns Hopkins, this is a great idea. You have $2,000 in your pocket. But if you are from the wrong side of Baltimore, it is not going to help very much. It is not going to help you get insurance and not cover more than basic primary care."

Jonathan Gruber, a health economics expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who advised both Gov. Mitt Romney and President Obama on their health care plans, echoed Jost's concerns, calling Carson's approach "just a plan for the very rich who would not be discriminated against by the insurance market."

"It's not really insurance," he added. "It is leaving you self-insured for any risk above $2,000. The typical heart attack in the U.S. can cost about $100,000. This is typical of the poverty of ideas on the right on health care right now."

Carolyn Engelhard, assistant professor of public health sciences and director of the Health Policy Program at the University of Virginia, agreed.

"There are some good things to be said about health savings accounts, but the downside is that they're applied across the board," she said. "If someone is low-income but has a lot of medical bills, they are going to have more out of pocket costs than someone who, say, makes $100,000 and is healthy. It is a blunt instrument, it does reduce unnecessary care, but the bad thing is that if the $2,000 is exceeded and your deductible is $6,000, you may not have that extra $4,000 that is needed and go without needed heath care."

Calling herself a "lukewarm fan" of the Affordable Care Act, Engelhard added that "people who choose HSA's are healthier and have more money to put in their HSA's." But, she added, if you make $8 per hour "you don't have enough to pay your bills, let alone put extra money into an HSA. Just giving people an HSA and telling them to be smarter about spending is an overly-simplistic method. It won't work well."

Sabrina Corlette, a senior research fellow at the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms, agreed that the $2,000 would simply not be enough.

"For starters, it wouldn't come close to covering the cost of health insurance," she said. "The annual average cost for a family is $15,000 per year, and $8,000 or $9,000 for an individual. It's not going to go very far. You are still left with the problem of people not being able to afford health care and people would not be able to get coverage no matter how much they have if they have a pre-existing condition, or be charged more if you have a condition."

She called it a "$2,000 handout that doesn't get us very far and doesn't solve many of the systemic problems we have, or improve access to coverage or improve people's health."

GustavBahler wrote:

jrodmc wrote:Carson on Veteran's healthcare:

Amid the egregious care and system-wide ineptitude, we lose 22 hopeless veterans to suicide every day.

These failures cannot stand. The VA is like the federal version of the Department of Motor Vehicles: inefficient, incompetent and infuriating. Except the VA is much worse: at least the DMV’s long wait times do not kill its applicants.

At a minimum, the Veterans Health Administration (the entity in the VA that provides health care) should be eliminated to forge a 21st century veterans health care solution. Such a significant organizational change no doubt requires further study and consideration, and I will be providing more details in the weeks and months to come. Meanwhile, the following improvements can and should be made immediately. The health of our brave men and women veterans deserve no less.

OFFER CHOICE, including health savings accounts (HSAs), to allow veterans to access the best possible medical care at a nearby DOD, VA or civilian medical facility.
PROVIDE PORTABILITY to allow dollars to follow the veteran, even when away from their primary care locale.
ENSURE TIMELY RESPONSE for disability claims and medical requirements.
MAKE SPECIALIZED CARE READILY AVAILABLE by utilizing military and civilian centers of excellence for treatment of military-specific post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries, severance of limbs and other issues.
STRIVE FOR SEAMLESS TRANSITION that equips veterans with education, employment, life skills and continuity of health care to ensure immediate and successful transition into a contributing member of civilian society.

We simply must do better to serve those who have served us so selflessly. No more politics as usual, no more Washington-size excuses. We need results for our vets.

This from someone who's actually spent his life working inside hospitals and working with real live veterans.

I know the above isn't as flashy and brilliant as "Make Mexico pay for the wall" to keep out the "rapists", but hey, the guy's just a neurosurgeon.

Not a fan of Obamacare, but its better than Carson's "Health Savings Account".

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/23/health-care-experts-rip-ben-carsons-near-worthl/198985

Health care policy experts are speaking out against Dr. Ben Carson's proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act with a healthcare savings account and $2,000 annual federal stipend, calling it "near worthless" and a plan "for the very rich."

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and Fox News contributor, is beloved by conservatives for his vitriolic attacks on Obamacare. He has received a raft of recent media attention due to the strong fundraising totals posted by the independent National Draft Ben Carson political action campaign, which promotes a Carson 2016 presidential run.

In an interview with Politico Magazine, Carson says that he supports eliminating Obamacare and that under his plan, "The only responsibility of the government would be providing $2,000 per year for every American citizen -- around $630 billion annually, about 20 percent of what we currently spend on health care -- to provide everyone with a health savings account."

Carson says the current health care system has created "generation upon generation of people who just live that way, waiting for government handouts."

But as Politico Magazine notes, while Carson's celebrated medical record "puts weight behind his criticisms of Obamacare," his acknowledged skill as a surgeon "does not imply an elevated or even rational perspective on health-care policy."

Indeed, several experts who have studied and formulated health care reforms told Media Matters that the plan, if implemented, could have devastating consequences for millions of Americans.

"For a person who has serious health problems or for a person who has a low income, a $2,000 health care savings account is worthless, or near worthless" said Timothy Jost, professor of law at Washington and Lee University who specializes in health care regulation and law. "It would not either allow them to buy health insurance or allow them to afford health care or anything other than very routine primary care and some medications."

"I wouldn't mind the government giving me $2,000 for a health savings account because I have great health insurance from my employer," Jost added. "I'm sure if you are a doctor at Johns Hopkins, this is a great idea. You have $2,000 in your pocket. But if you are from the wrong side of Baltimore, it is not going to help very much. It is not going to help you get insurance and not cover more than basic primary care."

Jonathan Gruber, a health economics expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who advised both Gov. Mitt Romney and President Obama on their health care plans, echoed Jost's concerns, calling Carson's approach "just a plan for the very rich who would not be discriminated against by the insurance market."

"It's not really insurance," he added. "It is leaving you self-insured for any risk above $2,000. The typical heart attack in the U.S. can cost about $100,000. This is typical of the poverty of ideas on the right on health care right now."

Carolyn Engelhard, assistant professor of public health sciences and director of the Health Policy Program at the University of Virginia, agreed.

"There are some good things to be said about health savings accounts, but the downside is that they're applied across the board," she said. "If someone is low-income but has a lot of medical bills, they are going to have more out of pocket costs than someone who, say, makes $100,000 and is healthy. It is a blunt instrument, it does reduce unnecessary care, but the bad thing is that if the $2,000 is exceeded and your deductible is $6,000, you may not have that extra $4,000 that is needed and go without needed heath care."

Calling herself a "lukewarm fan" of the Affordable Care Act, Engelhard added that "people who choose HSA's are healthier and have more money to put in their HSA's." But, she added, if you make $8 per hour "you don't have enough to pay your bills, let alone put extra money into an HSA. Just giving people an HSA and telling them to be smarter about spending is an overly-simplistic method. It won't work well."

Sabrina Corlette, a senior research fellow at the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms, agreed that the $2,000 would simply not be enough.

"For starters, it wouldn't come close to covering the cost of health insurance," she said. "The annual average cost for a family is $15,000 per year, and $8,000 or $9,000 for an individual. It's not going to go very far. You are still left with the problem of people not being able to afford health care and people would not be able to get coverage no matter how much they have if they have a pre-existing condition, or be charged more if you have a condition."

She called it a "$2,000 handout that doesn't get us very far and doesn't solve many of the systemic problems we have, or improve access to coverage or improve people's health."

Great man. All sunshine and rainbows until our quality of life and the way we've grown Accustomed to
living our lives is threatened

gunsnewing wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

jrodmc wrote:Carson on Veteran's healthcare:

Amid the egregious care and system-wide ineptitude, we lose 22 hopeless veterans to suicide every day.

These failures cannot stand. The VA is like the federal version of the Department of Motor Vehicles: inefficient, incompetent and infuriating. Except the VA is much worse: at least the DMV’s long wait times do not kill its applicants.

At a minimum, the Veterans Health Administration (the entity in the VA that provides health care) should be eliminated to forge a 21st century veterans health care solution. Such a significant organizational change no doubt requires further study and consideration, and I will be providing more details in the weeks and months to come. Meanwhile, the following improvements can and should be made immediately. The health of our brave men and women veterans deserve no less.

OFFER CHOICE, including health savings accounts (HSAs), to allow veterans to access the best possible medical care at a nearby DOD, VA or civilian medical facility.
PROVIDE PORTABILITY to allow dollars to follow the veteran, even when away from their primary care locale.
ENSURE TIMELY RESPONSE for disability claims and medical requirements.
MAKE SPECIALIZED CARE READILY AVAILABLE by utilizing military and civilian centers of excellence for treatment of military-specific post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries, severance of limbs and other issues.
STRIVE FOR SEAMLESS TRANSITION that equips veterans with education, employment, life skills and continuity of health care to ensure immediate and successful transition into a contributing member of civilian society.

We simply must do better to serve those who have served us so selflessly. No more politics as usual, no more Washington-size excuses. We need results for our vets.

This from someone who's actually spent his life working inside hospitals and working with real live veterans.

I know the above isn't as flashy and brilliant as "Make Mexico pay for the wall" to keep out the "rapists", but hey, the guy's just a neurosurgeon.

Not a fan of Obamacare, but its better than Carson's "Health Savings Account".

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/23/health-care-experts-rip-ben-carsons-near-worthl/198985

Health care policy experts are speaking out against Dr. Ben Carson's proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act with a healthcare savings account and $2,000 annual federal stipend, calling it "near worthless" and a plan "for the very rich."

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and Fox News contributor, is beloved by conservatives for his vitriolic attacks on Obamacare. He has received a raft of recent media attention due to the strong fundraising totals posted by the independent National Draft Ben Carson political action campaign, which promotes a Carson 2016 presidential run.

In an interview with Politico Magazine, Carson says that he supports eliminating Obamacare and that under his plan, "The only responsibility of the government would be providing $2,000 per year for every American citizen -- around $630 billion annually, about 20 percent of what we currently spend on health care -- to provide everyone with a health savings account."

Carson says the current health care system has created "generation upon generation of people who just live that way, waiting for government handouts."

But as Politico Magazine notes, while Carson's celebrated medical record "puts weight behind his criticisms of Obamacare," his acknowledged skill as a surgeon "does not imply an elevated or even rational perspective on health-care policy."

Indeed, several experts who have studied and formulated health care reforms told Media Matters that the plan, if implemented, could have devastating consequences for millions of Americans.

"For a person who has serious health problems or for a person who has a low income, a $2,000 health care savings account is worthless, or near worthless" said Timothy Jost, professor of law at Washington and Lee University who specializes in health care regulation and law. "It would not either allow them to buy health insurance or allow them to afford health care or anything other than very routine primary care and some medications."

"I wouldn't mind the government giving me $2,000 for a health savings account because I have great health insurance from my employer," Jost added. "I'm sure if you are a doctor at Johns Hopkins, this is a great idea. You have $2,000 in your pocket. But if you are from the wrong side of Baltimore, it is not going to help very much. It is not going to help you get insurance and not cover more than basic primary care."

Jonathan Gruber, a health economics expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who advised both Gov. Mitt Romney and President Obama on their health care plans, echoed Jost's concerns, calling Carson's approach "just a plan for the very rich who would not be discriminated against by the insurance market."

"It's not really insurance," he added. "It is leaving you self-insured for any risk above $2,000. The typical heart attack in the U.S. can cost about $100,000. This is typical of the poverty of ideas on the right on health care right now."

Carolyn Engelhard, assistant professor of public health sciences and director of the Health Policy Program at the University of Virginia, agreed.

"There are some good things to be said about health savings accounts, but the downside is that they're applied across the board," she said. "If someone is low-income but has a lot of medical bills, they are going to have more out of pocket costs than someone who, say, makes $100,000 and is healthy. It is a blunt instrument, it does reduce unnecessary care, but the bad thing is that if the $2,000 is exceeded and your deductible is $6,000, you may not have that extra $4,000 that is needed and go without needed heath care."

Calling herself a "lukewarm fan" of the Affordable Care Act, Engelhard added that "people who choose HSA's are healthier and have more money to put in their HSA's." But, she added, if you make $8 per hour "you don't have enough to pay your bills, let alone put extra money into an HSA. Just giving people an HSA and telling them to be smarter about spending is an overly-simplistic method. It won't work well."

Sabrina Corlette, a senior research fellow at the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms, agreed that the $2,000 would simply not be enough.

"For starters, it wouldn't come close to covering the cost of health insurance," she said. "The annual average cost for a family is $15,000 per year, and $8,000 or $9,000 for an individual. It's not going to go very far. You are still left with the problem of people not being able to afford health care and people would not be able to get coverage no matter how much they have if they have a pre-existing condition, or be charged more if you have a condition."

She called it a "$2,000 handout that doesn't get us very far and doesn't solve many of the systemic problems we have, or improve access to coverage or improve people's health."

Great man. All sunshine and rainbows until our quality of life and the way we've grown Accustomed to
living our lives is threatened

Right, and Daddy TrumpBucks is going to come and save the day for you, Lil orphan annie. A great response to an idea by those who's entire existence is maintained by government entitlements.

Buy into Socialism, it may not end well, but it's sure cheaper for you in the short run!