It took me a while, but I came to realize that Democrat, and Establishment Republican are two sides OF THE SAME COIN!

Pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered.  The R's are going to get slaughtered.

Whoo-Hooo...  Progress!!  (Not so sure the R's will get slaughtered)

You never hear that question from liberals when the conclusion plays to their agenda.  But turn it around and the spin becomes dizzying.

A fair gripe.  That being said, do you have a issue when a conservative source (Washington Free Beacon & Fox News) uses equally dubious data, which plays to their agenda, to bash Sen Warren?

Spin is everywhere, the liberals do not have a monopoly on it. 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/05/women-in-elizabeth-warrens-office-make-less-than-men-report.html

Did the study normalize the salary levels based on grade level, qualifications and length of service?

I can explain health care prices very quickly.

Example 1
There are 5 apples.  There are 5 people.  Every person has $1 and everyone wants an apple.  The price of each apple is $1.
Why?  In a perfectly efficient market, everyone ges what they want for the price they want to spend.

Example 2
There are 5 apples.  There are 5 people.  Every person has $5 and everyone wants an apple.  The price of each apple is $5. 
Why?  More money in a closed system inflates the price without changing distribution.

Example 3
Now there are 5 apples but there are 10 people.  Everyone has a different amount, $1, $2, etc, up to $10 and everyone wants an apple.  The price of each apple is $6 and some people don't get apples. 
Why?  The price for a short commodity will be set by the market at the point that the suppliers make the most money available to them.

Example 4
The government arrives to "fix" the situation.  Some apple growers shut down because they cannot survive under the new government rules for apple growers.  There are now 2 apples and the government hands out money so everyone can pay $10 per apple.  Everyone still wants an apple.  The price of 1/5th of an apple is $10 and everyone is dissatisfied.
Why?  An attempt to fix the prices artificially low results in shortages.

Hmmm... an apples to oranges comparison.    Can't say I agree with that. 

Well, then how do you explain this?

Amazing how different opinions can result from the same written words!  Unfortunately, the video of that conversation (from the Fox News link) isn't available, so we have no idea of the context or the entire quote.

Edit - video can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuMXqcK4Nrg


Your quote:

As Egyptian officials prepare to send to trial 19 American democracy and rights workers, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited Cairo last week where she suggested Egyptian revolutionaries not use the U.S. Constitution as a model in the post-Arab Spring.

"I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012," Ginsburg said in an interview on Al Hayat television last Wednesday. "I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, have an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done."

As Egypt prepares to write a new constitution, Ginsburg, who was traveling during the court's break to speak with legislators and judges in Egypt as well as Tunisia, spoke to students at Cairo University, encouraging them to enjoy the opportunity to participate in the "exceptional transitional period to a real democratic state."

I see no language there where Justice Ginsberg disrespected or otherwise dissed the Constitution.  The Constitution was written by the Founders using the knowledge and culture of the times.  An amazing document that has served us very well over the years.  If the Egyptians are to write their own Constitution they need to take in to account the very different history, culture, religion and customs of their own society.  I can understand Justice Ginsberg's warning that adopting our Constitution isn't the best of ideas. In no way, shape or form is that disrespect.  The Egyptian Constitution needs to be their document, not ours.  Clearly, Justice Ginsberg has a measure of respect for the South African Constitution, a more recent document.  The fact that Justice Ginsberg admires the SA Constitution is no reflection or criticism of our own.  I am 100% sure that Justice Ginsberg knows the difference between a representative republic and mob rule.

It is interesting that Justice Ginsberg and former Justice Scalia were the best of friends, socialized together, traveled together and developed a long term relationship based on mutual respect, even though they often had major differences.  I find it impossible to believe that Justice Scalia would have maintained that relationship with someone that hated America or our Constitution.

I really am curious as to what Gary's and Steingar's answers to this are.

I'm sure Steingar is fully capable of responding if he so wishes! 

I will be the first to agree with you that the words “health care” do not appear anywhere in the Constitution.  Having the Federal government regulate, prescribe or otherwise offer health care is, IMHO, not a “right”.

There are many things that have evolved over the years that the Founders could not have imagined in their wildest dreams.  Air traffic control is regulated by the Federal government over the airspace of each individual state, yet we all agree that this is a power that makes sense.

Guess my view is that the ability of a person to have effective and affordable health care available is better defined as a worthwhile benefit (or perhaps a privilege?) that does rightly fall within the Federal governments purview.  The General Welfare clause is a good starting point, but is not the only justification.   It is a huge advantage to the success and prosperity of our society that its inhabitants can maintain good health. 

Universal access to health care (not necessarily single-payer) reduces the cost to business, increases productivity, makes us more competitive on the global market, saves lives  and provides a measure of financial security for us as individuals and as families, as we all age.

How to accomplish this, and who pays, is of course, the problem.  There is absolutely no doubt that the cost of health care is increasing….. since, well, as long as I can remember.  Many factors for that including the ageing of the population, advances in care and technology.  However, NOT providing health care also has a cost, the negative of the advantages listed above.  In the end, we all currently pay for healthcare in some way, shape or form, it is just that the path of payment is torturous, often hidden and very inefficient.

Wish I had an elegant solution, but don’t.  Thought the ACA was a step in the right direction, even considering its flaws.  The AHCA was decidedly a step backward.

The things that need to be fixed are
1) Fix tort.  Without this, doctors will not not be able to expand their practice.  "Fix" means raise the standard for proving real negligence. 
2) Provide a pilot program for universal coverage via a clinic system that gets Dems on board.  Target it at the top X areas which incur the biggest cost to the government for health care.  In those areas that the clinic system is used, people will not have Obamacare, Medicare or Medicaid, they will use the clinic.  Fund the clinics with a portion of the funds previous used to buy the super expensive "for profit" health care.  Mandate that the cost is less than what we currently spend.
2 a)  Schedule the rollout of the clinic system through the entire country.  Medical insurance will continue in private use.  Doctors will continue in private practices - everyone has the option of both. 
3) Staff the clinics via a new medical corp under the Surgeon General.  Build out a scholarship program similar to the military, in exchange for tuition, X years of service.
4) Reduce the number of foreign students in the medical schools, ones who will leave the US after graduation.  Increase the supply of doctors.  Offer internships (in the clinics) to any citizen who is a graduate of medical school but cannot otherwise get an internship.
5) Reverse the mandate on Obamacare.  Remove penalties.  Remove mandates on doctors.

You deserve a fair measure of credit for actually proposing a solution!  Personally believe quite a few of those ideas deserve further consideration.