"The prospect of young people dropping out of the ACA markets worries health policy experts — not just because of their own personal risk of going uninsured, but because of the effect that millions of people making the same decision could have on the whole health system."
#healthcare #insurance #ACA #Obamacare #premiums #DeathSpiral #HealthPolicy #shutdown #UScongress #USpol
One of the things about being a "Wizard" is that my special wizard eyes see shit other people do not. And most of the time I keep that shit to myself, but today I'm going to share.
There's an idea that I want you, dear reader, to get into your head.
Wet Cement.
Because once you learn this concept, it makes a LOT of things in the world make sense - mostly the bad things. It explains a lot of the mechanisms behind politics, industry, and the curse of AI that we are all currently blighted with.
It's all because of Wet Cement.
This is going to be a thread, but I will hide all the subsequent posts behind a content warning so I am not flooding the casual Wizard-enjoyers with my BS.
@WEATHERISHAPPENING Greater Jersey just hit 100°!
@statsguy aren't the queues because everyone's now arriving so early because of the queues? #deathspiral
My congressman responds to a call for stopping DOGE 3-14-25. #Oregon #Congress #DOGE #MUSK #USA #DebtDickery #DeathSpiral #Republican #Democrat #Trump #Monday #Congress +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
March 24, 2025
Dear Ms. Carlton-Martin,
Thank you for contacting my office about the actions taken in the first few weeks of President Donald Trump’s presidency. Your thoughts and comments are important to me.
On January 20th, 2025, President Trump began his second term in office, fulfilling many promises that he made to the American people throughout the past two years. Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump promised the American people on day one that he would issue a series of executive orders and institute positive and needed changes to our system.
As to President Trump’s efforts (and our efforts in the House) to slow spending, I am reminded of President Reagan’s observation that: “The closest thing to eternal life on earth is a Government Program.” He knew that slowing government spending by discontinuing any program is really, really, difficult. Why? The first reason is because most of these agencies are doing some sort of good thing. Why would anyone want that to stop? The second reason is because every government agency has its own life support system made up of members of the Democrat Party, government employees, unions, lobbyists, subcontractors, NGO’s, and of course, those people the program is supposed to help. When an Agency faces budget cuts in Congress, or by the executive branch, these support groups immediately swing into action doing all they can to keep Congress from reducing their agency’s budget. Mass loud and aggressive meetings with Republican Congressmen, organizing phone calls to Congress from constituents, veiled and not so veiled threats of finding others to run against the member, letters to the editor, editorials, emails, tweets, and every other means of persuasion imaginable are brought into play. Liberal groups attack by saying that Republicans are unfeeling cretins interested only in reducing taxes. Fact based assertions are rare, but passionate pleas against cuts and for increases abound. Totally ignored is the fact that we are spending, each year, 30% more than we take in. This amounts to annual additional borrowing of about 2.4 trillion. Obviously, as has been said, “when something can no longer go on it will stop” and this is exactly what will happen, very abruptly and with great damage, if the President and we fail to reduce spending.
In addition to the executive orders, The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) also operates within the bounds of the law. Government departments must be created or discontinued by law, executive order, or other official means. On Friday, February 14, 2025, A federal judge in Washington delivered a ruling favoring DOGE by rejecting a request to temporarily block its access to data from three federal agencies. U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled that the government was likely correct in classifying DOGE as an official agency, thereby granting it the authority to detail its staff to other government departments and continue its efficiency efforts.
Thank you for taking the time to contact me. It is an honor to represent you in the United States Congress.
Sincerely,
Cliff Bentz
Member of Congress
Episode two hundred and eighty is up now! Today's song is Spiral of Ants by Lemon Demon.
I discuss the song's use of the haunting imagery of an ant mill to present an open theme of endless cycles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxFu4QpdNBY
#podcast #dailypodcast #pigeon #pigeonsongspod #music #songs #spiralofants #antmill #deathspiral #lemondemon #neilcicierega #neilcic #groundhogday #timeloop #endlessloop
The wheels are falling off the #inflation game.
Watch for share prices to fall at many restaurants as traffic falls and sales drop.
I hope the big companies remember that prices are elastic.
#AcademicVenting Finally read Jonathan Miller's #DeathSpiral piece, and I wish all SMTs across the country getting rid of all their PRODUCTIVE lecturers (ie, the people actually making money for universities, through student fees and research income) would read it, too. They genuinely don't understand what they are doing!
Please, understand the British Leyland's 1970s coat [*EDIT: this should be cost! I copied a typo! See @rubinjoni
below!* 😅] allocation death spiral
We’ve given up the fight, say top #Tories as #byelection defeats loom
Senior #Conservative says party has descended into ‘#DeathSpiral’ as poll losses set to fuel fresh attacks on #Sunak’s leadership
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/10/tories-conservative-byelection-defeats-sunak-leadership-death-spiral
This articulates my exact feelings about San Francisco, the tech industry, & the entire social crisis of Capitalism we are all facing. Ms. Solnit writes with fierce precision & grace, connecting the dots with damning evidence rather than hyperbole.
Essential reading.
#Urbanism #SanFrancisco #Inequality #Homelessness #Capitalism #DeathSpiral #SelfDrivingCars #Isolation #Lonliness
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n03/rebecca-solnit/in-the-shadow-of-silicon-valley
It is particularly galling when the company is still making a profit of 50+ billion a year, and the C-suite execs are pulling down many millions - or tens of millions.
Profitable companies laying employees off for no particular reason except to try to appeal to the lightning traders are, to me, the definitive sign that the executive is All Out of Ideas. It may not be a death spiral today - but you can hear it coming.
#DeathSpiral #SundarPichai #leadership #StockMarket #OutOfIdeas
#Fascist #Florida #Governor #RonDeSantis’#presidentialcampaign officially enters its #deathspiral era.
DeSantis is reverting to an old #strategy often deployed by #losing #political #candidates: #bashing the very #polls that show him #trailing.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Florida #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #RepublicanParty #Hate #Bigotry #Violence #Genocide #Discrimination #Homophobia #Transphobia #ThePartyOfHate
I love that the corporate answer to degrading communities is points.
Don't worry dehumanizing our user base into awards and numbers will save us!
https://www.reddit.com/community-points/documentation/introduction
We are months from seeing 2 for 1 coupons at this rate.
2023 CEO: “Think of all the business opportunities that this climate crisis will create!”
2026 CEO: “Hey, where did all my customers go...?”
Ron DeSantis is caught in a death spiral of his own making
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ron-desantis-polls-campaign-b2381036.html
#RonDeSantis #deathspiral #ownmaking #polls #campaign #publicopinion #Politics #News
If you're wondering how things are going over on the #Birdsite (ie #Twitter) -- now clamping down on DMs as well. #DeathSpiral
Anyway everything melts then catches fire which makes it even worse. Everyone responds to this by running their air conditioners at 100% power 100% of the time which makes it even hotter and burns even more energy which makes it even worse. The trees all catch fire which releases the carbon which makes it even worse.
The permafrost of course also melts which also catches fire which makes it even worse.
Idiots still don't know what methane is and that's not even considered until recently and trust that makes it much worse. Oh they are making rocket fuel out of it guess what? that will make things worse.
Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign is in a death spiral after only two months
#RonDeSantis #PresidentialCampaign #DeathSpiral #TwoMonths #2023 #LGBTQNation #Politics #News
#Twitter’s #deathspiral and what it means for #LGBTQ+ #rights.
— No #freespeech #absolutist #SocialMedia #network has ever been successful and the #Toxic #Socialmedia #Hellsite #Twitter is not an #exception to that #rule.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #SocialMedia #Conservatives #Extremism #Hate #Bigotry #Racism #AntiSemitism #Misogyny #Homophobia #Transphobia
