The Enigma Machine going by the name Donald Trump, currently running for president as a Republican, has not-so-quietly come out in favor of a Single Payer Health system for at least some of the population. It also seems he plans to raise taxes on the wealthy without raising taxes. Call him Donald O’Sanders.
Time will tell whether Trump’s supporters who have pilloried and maligned Obama and Sanders for being socialists who just want to soak the rich will recognize the same policy proposals in their own candidate.
Donald Trump: Obamacare’s going to be repealed and replaced. Obamacare is a disaster if you look at what’s going on with premiums where they’re up 40, 50, 55 percent.
Scott Pelley: How do you fix it?
Donald Trump: There’s many different ways, by the way. Everybody’s got to be covered. This is an un-Republican thing for me to say because a lot of times they say, “No, no, the lower 25 percent that can’t afford private. But–”
Scott Pelley: Universal health care.
Donald Trump: I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.
Scott Pelley: The uninsured person is going to be taken care of. How? How?
Donald Trump: They’re going to be taken care of. I would make a deal with existing hospitals to take care of people. And, you know what, if this is probably–
Scott Pelley: Make a deal? Who pays for it?
Donald Trump: —the government’s gonna pay for it. But we’re going to save so much money on the other side. But for the most it’s going to be a private plan and people are going to be able to go out and negotiate great plans with lots of different competition with lots of competitors with great companies and they can have their doctors, they can have plans, they can have everything.
Also this:
Scott Pelley: Revolution is easy, governing is hard and what I’d like to get to is how you intend to govern the country if you are elected president. What’s your tax plan?
Donald Trump: It’s a substantial reduction for the middle-income people. Because our middle class, Scott, is being absolutely decimated. It will be a corporate also reduction, I think it’ll be a great incentive for corporations.
Scott Pelley: Who are you going to raise taxes on?
Donald Trump: If you look at actually raise, some very wealthy are going to be raised. Some people that are getting unfair deductions are going to be raised. But overall it’s going to be a tremendous incentive to grow the economy and we’re going to take in the same or more money. And I think we’re going to have something that’s going to be spectacular.
Scott Pelley: But Republicans don’t raise taxes.
Donald Trump: Well, we’re not raising taxes.
Scott Pelley: What kind of Republican are you?
Donald Trump: I mean the only, well, I’m a pretty good Republican. But, I will tell you this, I do have some differences. I don’t want to have certain people on Wall Street getting away with paying no tax. [Emphasis at Breitbart]
And don’t miss Todd Littleton’s take.
How we read the Bible matters. Concluding that the most important aspect of the Divine is power creates followers that care more about power. Consider it the tendency of human beings to reduce things to the manageable, most easily explainable. For instance, when facing life’s most difficult questions, one of the favorite fall backs connects to God’s power to do what he wants.
But, in Jesus it appears we witness the power of love. Read differently, we may describe the essential nature of Deity, of God, to be love, at least if we are to take the Bible at its word that Jesus is the exact representation of God. That is, if we want to essentialize anything about God, we at least should derive it from the life of Jesus.
Bruce Ashford from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has a great series on religion and politics at Canon and Culture. While at the keyboard he manages to offend nearly everyone, which is a good thing. The several posts compare a Christian worldview with political positions, and nationalism. He then offers a (religious) alternative to American politics. Recommended for thinking folks; you know who you are. Well, maybe not…
A (Religious) Alternative to American Politics
The (Religious) Problem with Nationalism
The (Religious) Problem with Conservatism and Progressivism
The (Religious) Problem with Libertarianism
Ed Stetzer interviews a pastor I greatly admire, Bob Roberts, Jr., who traveled to Morocco to join 250 Muslim leaders who issued an historic document calling for religious freedom in majority-Muslim countries around the world.
Attendees are heads of state, ministers of religion, top imams, and top Islamic scholars in agreement to publicly condemn those like ISIS and other extremists for what they have done, and to promote religious freedom and protection for minorities.
It is a declaration across Islam by its top leaders globally—but, it is not law. Sheik Bin Bayyah says the challenge now is implementation. Each country will respond in their own way. But there has not been a statement like this since the Medina Charter from the prophet Mohammed, that’s why this is so big. To get the leaders here in agreement across the various strands of Islam and to speak for it is incredible.
Next, the declaration will be taken to countries, and distributed among Muslims and minorities. There will be workshops and round tables which Imam Magid and I will do globally.
Also, be looking Monday for the near-daily version of my podcast, The Fourth Estate, called, creatively enough, The Fourth Estate Drive Time. Same subscription, more fun, shorter episodes. Listen, laugh, learn on your way to work, or from the coffee pot.
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Earlier this week at Kingdom in the Midst
One sermon every American Christian should hear
Planned Parenthood lied, and got away with it. Again.
Interview with Bob Smietana – The Fourth Estate, Episode 014
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