# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 173
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3737 "2024-12-09T22:25:58Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That’s because we don’t have universal healthcare. ACA (Obamacare) is not universal healthcare; it’s what the US passed in an attempt to take a baby step toward such a thing. If it had been allowed to unfold and operate as it was intended by the Obama Administration, it would have been much more than just a baby step. People forget, I think, what an Herculean undertaking it is/will be to deconstruct this unholy mess that now employs literally millions of Americans just to support the damn behemoth. The ACA contemplated all the difficulties and smoothed the way with the Medicaid expansion (which IIRC 23 Republican-led states rejected, much to the detriment of their citizens) and by allowing but restricting profits for health insurance companies as we eased toward a more single payer model of health care. It provided for the public option, which was a way to force health insurance companies to compete in the actual marketplace. These were always intended as first steps only, but they were foiled even in getting that far. Obama got the limit on profits, but no public option – which was a very important part of getting the scheme to work. Because of course, the health insurance industry swung into high gear to propagandize our citizens through fear (“death panels!” “you’ll never be able to see a doctor for the long waits!”) and fought the ACA at every turn. They’ve fought it tooth and nail ever since its passage and they are still fighting it. All those yummy guaranteed profits gone forever if they fail. Can’t have that! Look for Republicans to fully gut it as soon as possible now that they control the House, Senate and presidency. Nice while it lasted. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3738 "2024-12-09T22:42:17Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Independent Retirement Account Individual Retirement Arrangement. See > **[p590a.pdf](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590a.pdf)** > > 1705.37 KB If some huckster did sell somebody an Independent Retirement Account, it might well have blown up the family’s financial future. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3739 "2024-12-09T22:46:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > See I meant **individual** retirement accounts. > **[Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Types & Advantages | Guardian](https://www.guardianlife.com/ira)** > > Compare IRA types: Traditional, Roth, Rollovers. Find the ideal fit to maximize your retirement savings. [https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/smart-money/what-is-an-ira](https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/smart-money/what-is-an-ira) > **[Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) | Investor.gov](https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/retirement-toolkit/self-directed-plans-individual-retirement-accounts-iras)** > > Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) provide tax advantages for retirement savings. You can contribute each year up to the maximum amount allowed by the Internal Revenue Service. There are several types of IRAs available: > **[Roth vs. Traditional](https://www.schwab.com/ira/roth-vs-traditional-ira)** > > Is a Roth IRA conversion right for you? Answer a few quick questions and see next steps, depending on your personal situation and financial goals. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3740 "2024-12-09T22:52:43Z")
Every one of those outfits is using the wrong name. There’s only one name for them in the law that created them. Yes, nobody except the government actually calls them by the correct name. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3741 "2024-12-09T23:17:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Every one of those outfits is using the wrong name. The government is using the wrong name? [Investor.gov](http://Investor.gov) is an official SEC government web site. What about the IRS? > **[Individual retirement accounts can be important tools in retirement planning...](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/individual-retirement-accounts-can-be-important-tools-in-retirement-planning)** > > Tax Tip 2023-116, Sept. 28, 2023 — It is never too early to begin planning for retirement. Individual retirement accounts provide tax incentives for people to make investments that can provide financial security when they retire. These accounts can... Better let them know too, those hucksters. 😉 (Or, you know, maybe an individual retirement account is a legitimately accepted term for an account set up with an individual retirement arrangement… No, that couldn’t be true.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3742 "2024-12-09T23:56:17Z")
It’s “account” Never heard “arrangement” from any financial person. Sounds like something you’d have with the mafia. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3743 "2024-12-10T00:07:45Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It’s “account” > > Never heard “arrangement” from any financial person. To be fair, “Individual Retirement Arrangement” _is_ the correct name: > **[Individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) | Internal Revenue Service](https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/individual-retirement-arrangements-iras)** > > IRAs allow you to make tax-deferred investments to provide financial security when you retire. But it’s clearly not the _only_ correct name. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3744 "2024-12-10T00:11:40Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > These were always intended as first steps only, but they were foiled even in getting that far. Obama got the limit on profits, but no public option – which was a very important part of getting the scheme to work. My mother said that medicare was a first step, and the intention was always to cover everyone. My mother also gave up on her PhD in management, because she chose as her PhD topic healthcare funding, and despaired of the US every finding a decent solution. She left the Sloan school ABD. (all but dissertation.) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3745 "2024-12-10T02:45:25Z")
You know what happens when I read too much about IRAs and the like? MEGO.\* That’s what happens. \*My Eyes Glaze Over. Apparently an uncommon acronym, but a convenient way to express a useful concept. I wish it were utilized more in common parlance. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3746 "2024-12-10T03:31:47Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > These were always intended as first steps only, but they were foiled even in getting that far. Obama got the limit on profits, but no public option – which was a very important part of getting the scheme to work. And the reason there was no hope for the public option is that the health insurance industry is **[one of the most powerful lobby groups in Washington](https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterubel/2021/04/09/why-is-healthcare-so-expensive-blame-the-lobbyists/)**. The ACA that was eventually passed was pretty much written by the insurance lobby, who were willing to tolerate a certain amount of regulation for individual insurance in return for a new “marketplace” in which they could continue to gouge their hapless victims. But the public option would have been direct competition by a much more efficient unified system that was perilously close to single-payer, and there was no way they would ever tolerate a system that so blatantly exposed their horrific inefficiencies. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3747 "2024-12-10T04:55:31Z")
Since Miller closed down the source, I guess this is the place to discuss how @GailForce is a big old Sambo-caricaturing racist, and @Jasmine is a racist-screed-starting Karen who thinks she should have a word with the manager about _your_ ranting. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3748 "2024-12-10T11:48:58Z")
Care to identify (if not link) the thread where this was going on so the rest of us can go have a look? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3749 "2024-12-10T11:51:11Z")
I’m assuming it was the “Pitting Traitorous Black Male Trump Supporters” thread. Which was all kinds of a mess. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3750 "2024-12-10T12:03:37Z")
Thanks. I read the original screed and the first few posts when it was new, then unfollowed the thread. I’ve been doing a lot more of that (un-following) recently. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3751 "2024-12-10T12:43:39Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > @Jasmine is a racist-screed-starting Karen who thinks she should have a word with the manager about _your_ ranting. There are two people in this world that I love more than the rest of this entire beleaguered planet, and they are my brother who basically became my father after our parents were killed and his wife, who is African American. My rage is fueled by how hurt and betrayed she feels by those Black males who seem to have some kind of “Uncle Tom” belief that, if they pander to those who would oppress them, they will somehow garner favor and be part of the club. She, her three brothers, and her mother were abandoned by their worthless father. She got married and her daughter was sexually abused by her chronically unemployed worthless first husband. She feels betrayed yet again on a much higher level. In her view and in the view of many other Black women, that 23% have betrayed them yet again. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3752 "2024-12-10T13:49:49Z")
“Some of my best ~~friends~~ relatives are Black” is definitely giving Not A Racist. /s But hey, doubling down on the Shiftless Black Men stereotypes will work well for you, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3753 "2024-12-10T13:57:32Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > “Some of my best ~~friends~~ relatives are Black” is definitely giving Not A Racist. /s She’s my sister-in-law whom I love as much as I could love any biological sister. So, bite me, Dibble. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3754 "2024-12-10T14:00:55Z")
Ewww, no thanks, I would not want to catch the Karen Kooties. “I’m not doing this for myself, I’m doing it for my Black sister!” is truly an Oscar-worthy performance. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3755 "2024-12-10T14:26:28Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > My rage is fueled by how hurt and betrayed she feels by those Black males who seem to have some kind of “Uncle Tom” belief that, if they pander to those who would oppress them, they will somehow garner favor and be part of the club. Curious how this conversation would go: “Hey, sister-in-law! I heard your pain, so I did something great with it. I ranted online about traitorous black men and called them Uncle Toms and–completely unrelated to the conversation–called your dad worthless. That’s a great thing for a white lady to do, right? It’s super helpful, right?” Lemme know what she says. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/3756 "2024-12-10T14:43:26Z")
I think you missed that her first husband was also worthless. Good thing she married a white guy and turned her life around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=172) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=174)