I don’t think you’re wrong in the sense that this is (mostly) how the system works but treating health insurance like any other kind of insurance is exactly why it is so expensive and unwieldy.

I could maybe believe that number is accurate for a median dual income family with no major health concerns before the premium increases that hit this year but it’s also absurdly high to begin with. To be basically fine and still pay $4k a year (probably around 5% of gross income) just for basic preventative care is absurd.

Edit: or if he only means out of pocket expenses but then you’re probably doubling or tripling that number by adding healthcare premiums for the insurance that doesn’t even kick in until the family wipes their savings out every year.

American Protestantism is really something. Imagine believing you could be cursed by an agent of the devil and all that you would need to undo it is a quick prayer.

Tbh he’s right. Out entire society is oriented around the growth of capital and that money would just get siphoned to other capitalists (or maybe even back to him )if it were simply taxed.

I’m kind of tired of “Marxists” latching onto this pro-tax rhetoric. We should want to drastically change the organization of our society and how production functions. Jeff Bezos produces no value so he should not receive anything plain and simple. That he gets to keep any percentage of the wealth he receives from his financial assets should be considered a disappointing compromise for us if not a defeat. Communism has never been about raising taxes.

I’m not entirely sure what your manager means by this. If they mean it can’t be applied retroactively that’s probably correct (although that would be at the employer’s discretion). If you require appointments or other care for a medical condition going forward you can use it provided you give your employer notice as soon as possible. Typically you would go through a process with HR or your employer’s equivalent to establish you’re using the FMLA leave and then you would provide notice once the appointment was scheduled or as soon as you need to leave for the doctor. You do not have to provide notice you’re using your leave if it’s an emergency but once you are at a point you can provide notice you have to.

Your state laws may also offer enhanced leave.

If you have a health condition requiring regular doctor’s appointments you might qualify for intermittent FMLA for said appointments. If it isn’t for chronic illness then unfortunately Nurgles’ mission is more important.

Nah he belongs in a prison for war criminals. A bloodthirsty guy like him is exactly who a revolutionary army does not want on the front lines because they’re going to hurt working people who’s support we need. Also his only experience in war is against poorly armed militias he could call airstrikes onto so I doubt he’s really all that talented of a military man.

I think they’re at least fine with him if they’re not actively colluding with him. The “establishment” campaign against him was pathetic and they’ve fully transferred their support behind him after Mills dropped out even though the primary isn’t even over yet.

And why wouldn’t they be? He’s clearly a petty bourgeois nationalist and stupid. He’ll be very easy to keep in line.

There are sort of two lefts in Maine. The “populists” which have deep Trotskyist roots but are more like Greens (and the AFL), then the Marxist left which is much smaller and mostly Trotskyist ultras and two small MLish groups. The former have deep ties to the Bernie network (which is why he’s gotten so much national coverage) and are all in for Platner. The latter might be quietly supportive of Platner but notably haven’t endorsed him.

Trust them with what?

A lot of people end up in management because that’s the only way to actually make a living wage in a lot of industries nowadays. Managers generally have fewer protections under labor law though so if they’re told to punish (or fire) you for something they’ll probably do it unless they’re willing to risk their job for you.

I usually keep my distance and keep things professional with management just because it’s safer.

I mean unions in the sense of actual organizations of workers in common trades or industries, not state sanctioned bargaining units created by the NLRA.

A worker’s party is pointless without a labor movement (unions) that support it. No party in the US has demonstrated any success at either attracting existing unions to them or cultivating new unions aligned with them.

Iirc, Platner’s unit was ordered to stop using mortars in populated areas so instead they used automatic grenade launchers like mortars, rapidly firing multiple grenades in high arcs over the city to try and hit their target.

The thing is, he is in the club. Multiple generations of petty bourgeois precede him and he spent his entire career directly engaged in the most heinous crimes of the empire. Now he gets a comfy pension, health insurance, and like $5k a month in veteran disability pay while he also runs his businesses. The median salary in Maine is less than his disability payment.

The only effort the party put into stopping him was initially backing an unpopular septegenarian who ran one attack ad and gave up. They’re not afraid of him because he is one of them, and he’ll happily start acting like it if he wins office.

The united front stuff really loses its legitimacy when the guy they want me to unite behind was a Nazi tattood murderer for the empire until like last week.

Mills is just a conceited old boomer trying to cap off a decades long political career with a Senate seat. She’s running for the same reason Biden tried to run for president again and it’s going about as well for the same reasons. Hell it wouldn’t shock me if she’s senile and her aides are just puppeting her to further their careers in Washington.

Platner got recruited by the Bernie people who sort of have some traction in the local labor movement, and the local labor movement hates Mills (with good reason). They really did pull him out of the woodwork. He was a nobody before this and I think it was a surprise to Mills and the state Dems that the Berniecrats put someone forward.

I still wouldn’t be too shocked if Mills won the primary despite all this though. Platner is popular with young people but the average voter in Maine is like over 60 and the old folks don’t like him.

My coworker just finished explaining how the wages we’re paid aren’t enough to reproduce labor-power and is now on a diatribe against people on welfare.

I know that the “party line” or whatever is that generational conflict is reactionary but at least in the US the legal system and common social and economic practices absolutely lead to the oppression (maybe even exploitation) of the young by older people and fuel hatred for the young by the old.

The older generations deciding that a positive ROI on real estate is a natural right is one such example of that.

Tbh I do believe that the Republicans could have stolen the 2024 election. They had no problem stealing 2000, some weird shit happened in 2004 to their favor, in 2016 they won on a technicality, and they did try to change the outcome of 2020 as well (no matter how ridiculous the whole thing was).

If someone does believe the Republicans illegally subverted democracy the question should be why they would continue to support Democrats who have done absolutely nothing to fight back for decades though.

Do we have to contract 18th century diseases that kill 80% of us before we get into the fight too or are we just using the weapons and tactics?