>>>>”I hope they wake up and see that DEMS cause their pain and the DEMS don’t feel a thing.”
Alas, not a chance.
New Yorkers are bright in certain ways, but utterly dazed and confused in others. Most persons with whom I’ve spoken (argued, debated) in the city are completely inept at “connecting dots”; i.e., grasping cause-and-effect relations in economic policy decisions. So I usually try to connect the dots for them — with predictably unsatisfactory results.
For example, one woman I know was waxing enthusiastic about Obamacare. She has an excellent admin position, and her husband is a senior I.T. guy somewhere. They have two small children and own a home and 2 cars. She complained that hubby has a “pre-existing condition” and they can’t afford an appropriate health insurance policy for him; she was confident that Obamacare would remedy that by, of course, forcing companies to accept those with “pre-existing conditions.” Fine. Then, in another part of the conversation, she waxes enthusiastic about her new, high-end Keurig coffeemaker, which brews single cups at a time by means of little pre-filled “coffee cartridges” (with many different roasts to choose from) known as K-Cups. I thought: well, wait a second. A high-end Keurig device is over $200. The K-Cups are approximately $1.00 each (usually sold in packages of 12). Suppose she and hubby each have 2 cups in the morning, and 1 cup each on returning home from work. That’s 6 cups of coffee a day at $6.00 — in their own home! At the end of 365 days, that’s $2,190 for coffee in one’s own home; plus the cost of the coffeemaker, that’s close to $2,400. Shouldn’t that money have been prioritized to more important things in their marriage — such as purchasing insurance for someone with a “pre-existing condition”?
I was rough on her. “It sounds like you two might be living just a little bit above your means.” She walked away. Oh, no! She didn’t want to hear that!
Another gal I a know is an actress who must also still work part-time as an admin. She mentioned to me that she had heard a speech by Romney back in August in which he (quoting her) “gave some sort of B.S. supply-and-demand argument for abolishing Obamacare.” Then a few minutes later, she mentioned that acting really is a tough profession: “Because there are a lot more actors than there are jobs available.” I gently pointed out to her that (ahem) her argument regarding the lack of acting jobs in NY because of too many actors competing against one another, IS, in fact, an example of a supply-and-demand argument, and there’s nothing B.S. about it. If it applies to actors and acting jobs, it also applies to health insurance and potential policyholders.
She walked away.
This is my favorite one:
I was in a small deli that stays open 24 hours a day. While shopping for a few groceries, I see a young guy — no older than 30 — talking to his “friend” or “partner” or “whatever” on his brand new, sparkling iPhone 5. Cool phone! A few minutes later, I’m standing behind him at the checkout, and I notice that he pulls out a plastic “BENEFITS” card (i.e., food stamps) to pay for his groceries. When he leaves, I go into a tirade (cleaned up a bit for FReepers) to the clerk: “I can’t believe that #%$^%&^*! paid for his groceries with food stamps, after I saw him talking on a brand new iPhone! I have to subsidize part of his grocery bill so that he’ll have enough left over to buy himself the most expensive, top-of-the-line consumer electronic device on the market! Can you believe the ^$@&%* gall of that @*%&@!?” I calmed down; I paid (full price) for my own groceries; and I said, “Sorry, man! Just ventilating. But a few more years of this and we’ll end up like Greece!”
The clerk smiled sympathetically at me, leaned over, and said, “Uh, que?”
I left.