Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Trump the birther Date:   9/18/2016 1:14:54 PM

Totally agree with you Hodja and Buteye. 

A deal is no bargain if you have to pay to play.  I know I have never read the Iranian agreement in full.  Iran got out from under our sanctions and pocketed some money from us.  But what did we really get out of it, quid pro quo. The only hammer we have with Iran is economic sanctions, but I don't know how effective those are given what we gave up to have this agreement.  But, my gut is that if Iran wants a nuclear weapon, they will have a nuclear weapon.  We didn't see the Pakistan and India nuclear weapons coming, but they sure got them, didn't they?  The only thing we did with Iran is kick the can down the road a little.

I think that most of what we see in North Korea is Kim Jung Un fighting for leadership and respect  in his own country, and fighting for acknowledgement from the U.S.   He wants to be relevant to be taken seriously.  And also, he is in a position to do the bidding of China, while keeping Chinese hands clean.  If at any time, the Chinese wanted him shut down, they would shut him down.  They are the only ones who have any hammer over NK.  But Kim Jung Un is smart enough to know that he can only use his nuclear option once, and then his country will be inilated.  He doesn't have the ability to penetrate this country further than the West Coast, and there is no guarentee that he can actually reach the U.S. He's more likely to  hit South Korea and we would inilate him.

I also agree about health insurance.  I had high hopes for Obamacare, but the roll out was a disaster, and the plans offered have such a high deductible that they aren't helpful to poeple.  So while they may be officially "insured", the fact is that the poor will still show up in the ER unable to pay and those of us who have decent plans will continue to have extemely high rate increases.   Right now, the increases on the increase of my monthly payment to BC/BS has exceed the "cost of living" adjustment for my retirement.  Which means my net income has decreased, and I have less to spend on discretionary items.  That doesn't help the economy does it?

From what I am reading, while more jobs are being created, they are not "career" type jobs, but part time minimum wage jobs, seasonal jobs and free lance jobs.  After 2008, when the economy went deeply south and layoffs took place, companies then realized that they could do the same amout of work with less workers - or they could hire part time or free lance workers, for whom the government would not make them provide benefits like healthcare or retirement.  I frankly don't think think that is going to change no matter what.