tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6736187887730351823.post4663088533720250603..comments2020-08-29T09:56:41.323-06:00Comments on Views from the Beltline: World’s richest country and it can’t even do health care. Sad!Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6736187887730351823.post-62120977463295023662017-04-15T18:11:31.182-06:002017-04-15T18:11:31.182-06:00I am aware of that article, Mound. Indeed I have a...I am aware of that article, Mound. Indeed I have a summary from the New Yorker bookmarked (http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/is-america-an-oligarchy). It appears to provide sound academic support for the abundance of empirical evidence suggesting the U.S. is a plutocracy not a democracy. Bill Longstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6736187887730351823.post-9417276859662464282017-04-15T15:40:37.832-06:002017-04-15T15:40:37.832-06:00There's no need to speculate, Bill. Look at th...There's no need to speculate, Bill. Look at the enormity of the private health care and health insurance lobbies and the amounts they contribute to America's "bought and paid for" Congress. Once you've worked your way through that have a read of the Gilens (Princeton) and Page (Northwestern) paper on democracy published by Princeton in 2014.<br /><br />The paper is available here in PDF: https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf<br /><br />The BBC offers a decent summary here:<br />http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746<br /><br />Put it all together and you've got the insurmountable mountain of special interest that true public healthcare advocates can never overcome.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.com