The GOP, the ACA and the WTF?

As a furener living in the US many things bemuse me.  The adorable way they pretend that taxes don't exist by not putting them in prices and then applying them at the checkout.  The interestingly archaic way their banks operate which has yet to drag itself kicking and screaming into the 20th century, let alone the one we're living in. The obsession with sticks that go bang.  The way they infantalize their teenagers over drugs and alcohol.  So many many things.

However, healthcare is probably the main thing that astounds me.  Prior to moving here I'd known about US healthcare and it's oddities, but until you actually live here and experience the true horror of the US healthcare system in all it's glory, you really REALLY don't have a clue.  And the weirdest thing - they think it's good!  Between the random co-pays that you can't predict, to the difficulty with actually getting to see a doctor when you're sick - much worse than the NHS btw.  It just doesn't work, and the fact that they're spending on this hodgepodge of stupid than the rest of the world and delivering something unfit for any purpose except rewarding doctors - although even there I've a friend who is a primary care physician and she has worked out she'd be better off as a GP in the NHS....

So, I'm actually against the ACA in so far as it's stupid.  It's a stupid idea that keeps healthcare in the hands of the insurance companies.  OTOH - it's the only game in town and it's a start, so I accept it.  It's also going to make life better for a lot of people, so they're better off with it than without.

Which brings me to the GOP and the WTF.  Firstly, the idea that a small caucus of idiots can actually shut down government because...  I'm still working on the because because I really don't have the first clue what their problem is.  You see my brain cannot actually process the mindset of people who call themselves conservatives and yet support an insanely expensive healthcare system that bankrupts millions of Americans and forces the rest of us to pay for ER delivered primary care through our insurance and taxes.  No fiscally prudent conservative could possibly believe something so bloody stupid.  Could they?

As for what happens.  I think we're seeing the end of a long game Obama has been playing since January 2009.  He's given a lot but always to get things moved forward.  He's negotiated because he had to, and he wanted to get reelected.  Thing is.  He seems to me to be done with it.  He's in office.  They can't get rid of him and he doesn't now have to negotiate with a bunch of Violet Elizabeth's who want to scweam and scweam until they get what they want.  And watching the news, it seems that this has confused the fuck out of the GOP.   The thing is, I can't really understand that bit either.  His strategy was obvious for a long time.

And finally we come to another US oddity, the debt ceiling.  I'm actually semi-optimistic here.  While there is a small caucus of insane Tea Partiers, there's a lot of sane republicans who want to actually live in the real world and have to live with the consequences.  I wouldn't want to be a North Eastern Republican, or for that matter a Republican with any ties to the financial or defense industries.  I wouldn't want to be having the backroom conversation with the representative of Lloyd Blankfein while they explain, quietly and calmly, that not only will they lose their seat in Congress, but they will make sure they never get any consulting, lobbying or anything remotely resembling employment again, and that will go for their children too.  Doors will be closed to them forever.

Obama knows this.  I suspect it was the subtext of the meeting with the scary mother fuckers he met with yesterday.  He's got the GOP by the balls and I have a feeling it ain't going to be pretty.

I also suspect that Hillary Clinton is already measuring the drapes in the Oval Office because this clown car of twits isn't going to field a candidate who will be electable in 2016.

Ok children, pay attention...

A deficit is the difference between the amount of money you have and the amount you spend.  It's like an overdraft facility on your current account.

Your debt is the money you owe.

The deficit can be decreasing over time while the amount you owe increases.  This is because if you are running an overdraft each month it's a part of your overall debt.

If you reach your overdraft limit and run out of cash and can't pay the bills you already have, that is called a default and people will do nasty things to you.

But here's the thing, if you have insanely good credit and can borrow money at low interest rates and you're working at being able to pay off your debt in time, then you'd be something of an idiot not to take the money - especially if you're a 230 year old who only owes about as much as you make in normal year and is sitting on many many many multiples of your annual income in assets.

 Assuming you're going to live another couple of hundred years, you could actually take on more debt, at very low interest rates, and pay it off over 30-50 years and not really notice it.  If that money was spent on improvements to your house and invest in a new business or two, you might even increase your net worth faster than your accrue interest on the debt.