Yes, make anti-vaxxers face isolation, fines, arrests.

I couldn't say it better so I will just quote the Washington Post headline...

Anti-vaxxers are dangerous. Make them face isolation, fines, arrests.

 The author of the opinion piece says she loves her children and believes these anti-vaxxers love theirs too. If the latter is the case, then they must be complete idiots with their actions going blatantly in the face of evidence that vaccinations save lives. Juliette Kayyem continues...

"But, I am quite confident in this fact: I love their children much more than they love mine. These anti-vaxxer parents — call them free-riders or even pro-plague — are putting my children and our communities at risk to cater to their erroneous belief that vaccinations would harm their children rather than contribute to the elimination of childhood diseases."

Kayyem wants to switch the focus on the measles epidemic from a public health problem to a public safety crisis, accompanied by arrests, fines and isolation. BINGO! My thoughts exactly, as you can read in past posts. With Trump admitting we have a big problem, it is now up to the U.S. Congress to put these uniformed parents in the position of vaccinate...or else. The patience period has ended and if we don't want a pandemic in this country, we must act now!

As of April 26, there have been 704 measles cases in the U.S. The last closest outbreak was 667 cases in 2014, which originated at the Disney theme park in Los Angeles. As Kayyem indicates, we are in an avoidable crisis that was caused by irresponsible parents, many of which were misguided by social media. She comments further...

"Imagine, instead, that this outbreak is what happens when negligent people do negligent things, such as sending a kid to school with a loaded gun and hoping for the best."

Now there is the best comparison I have seen of this senseless epidemic. Sending your unvaccinated kid to school is like putting a gun in their hand just before getting on the school bus. They both can kill!

PLEASE LET ME HAVE YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS ISSUE.

Joe Biden holds 26 point lead over all Democrats

What is most astonishing after learning Joe Biden leads the Democratic Primary pack by 26 points is that Elizabeth Warren comes in second with 12 percent, and even more unbelievable to me is that Bernie Sanders is third at 11 percent. This is the highly respected Quinnipiac University Poll whose assistant Director Tim Malloy said...

“The Democratic primary race suddenly gets real with a fast start by former Vice President Joe Biden and a very clear indication from voters that he is the only candidate who can send President Trump packing 18 months from now.”

So how are Progressives supposed to feel about Biden, who appears to be a moderate with further left tendencies. The Hill-HarrisX daily poll, taken last December said voters who have...

"a 'strong liberal' ideology prefer former Vice President Joe Biden to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a hypothetical 2020 matchup against President Trump, according to a new poll."

I would prefer to hear it from the candidate's mouth and will wait until Joe Biden addresses issues like gun control, free healthcare and education and immigration reform to name a few. I would also feel more comfortable if Obama spoke more positively about his former vice president. The results of the Quinnipiac University Poll are similar to survey results that report on Biden's surge in the polls after announcing he was in the race. Almost like they were just waiting.

In Pittsburgh, Biden spoke to a firefighters union the International Association of Fire Fighters, which endorsed him earlier in the day. He called himself a "union man," sounding like the days when unions helped candidates win elections. He talked about gun violence, plant closings and moving out of the country. He also called for a national minimum wage of $15 per hour, mostly sounding like Bernie Sanders. Then he exclaimed he could beat Donald Trump in 2020.

I like the last part best and obviously a lot of people out there agree.

Anti-vaxxers threaten U.S. workplace, economy

Want your kid to look like this?

The National Institute of Health has said ...

"The agenda of anti-vaccination activists may be causing a drag on the U.S. economy as the measles outbreak forces people to stay out of work and seek medical care."

This is the statement by the director for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci. His premise is, “If you wind up getting more infections and diseases that were vaccine-preventable, those are entirely avoidable burdens on the economy.” In other words, it is the anti-vaxxers that are causing this problem, but we knew that already. Here are some numbers re. cost...

"a University of North Carolina study showed vaccine-preventable diseases among adults cost the economy nearly $9 billion in 2015, with unvaccinated individuals responsible for 80% of those costs."

There is a total of 704 measles cases now, the biggest number since the disease was considered controlled in 2000. There is no excuse for this happening other than the fact that these anti-vaxxing parents decided not to vaccinate their children, resulting in the outbreak. An outbreak that could prov fatal for some...

"Dr. Fauci, who helped develop a vaccine against AIDS, warned that measles itself is dangerous and can kill. The disease, before vaccines were available, killed an average of 2 million to 3 million people a year globally. In the United States, there were about 2 million cases [of measles] and about 500 deaths per year.”

If the feds don't take action soon, we could top those figures causing hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent deaths.

Threats required for health insurers to do right thing?

I have never been completely sold on Bernie Sanders' Medicare For All plan, simply because it is so hard to visualize the GOP allowing health insurance companies to be expelled from the marketplace. And I am not sure it would be such a good thing, even though they have been a blight on health care for years. The reason is, I think the government would do a worse job. Perhaps the best approach is a combination of government and private business.

At any rate, health insurers have conveniently decided to add new Medicare benefits. These include...

Anthem added new supplemental benefits including those addressing social determinants of health...Blue Cross and Blue Shield launched a “social determinants of health benefits package” offering healthy meals for seniors

Of course, this doesn't even come close to addressing Bernie's concept that all Americans should be given their medical care free. On the other hand, there are numerous countries that have universal healthcare, which is paid for by the government...

Canada, Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Bernie Sanders argues...

"the single payer version of Medicare For All would eliminate co-payments, deductibles and allow Americans to pick the doctors they want free of insurance company restrictions and provider network rules."

Apparently, the Medicare Advantage plans are popular today for many seniors with supposed increased benefits that I have never thought were worth the increase in cost. But, back to the original question, why did it take threats from Bernie's Medicare For All concept to make the healthcare industry cough up more benefits? The answer is the greed of the health insurance companies for more profits, and that is why the government should be in control.

Please give me your COMMENTS on this issue.

The latest on gun control...or not

GUNS KILL...USING PEOPLE

AR-style weapon used in Poway synagogue shooting-legal or illegal?...Appeals court upholds Mass. assault weapons ban...Baltimore shooting at a cookout kills one and injures many...Here's why Democrats aren't saying much about gun control...The latest list on innocent victims kill by guns, just in 2019...Four shot dead in Ohio apartment...

Please give me your COMMENTS on this issue.

Wake up Democrats...Bernie Sanders can win

Bernie has the ball(s)

I cannot believe that major donors, party operatives, senior lawmakers and rival candidate Pete Buttigieg would conspire against another liberal who has shown that he can not only raise big funds but also spark a huge lineup of contributors and loyal volunteers. But they did. Is there jealousy on the part of these lawmakers and fellow candidates, the fact that they may have dismal track records? Or do they simply wish they had the balls to do what Bernie is doing?

I am not completely sold on the Bern yet, and won't be until he gets much more aggressive on gun control. One of his volunteers called me recently since my wife and I had supported him in 2016, and I told him my concern over the gun control issue. So, I have to look at Joe Biden, who, although middle of the road, seems more inclined to get solidly behind the gun violence issue. But let's just assume Bernie does come out solid in this area.

Some say the Vermont Senator isn't electable, but then he didn't get the chance to challenge Trump in 2016 thanks to Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic National Committee. Few can claim the favorability ratings that Sanders has maintained since coming on the presidential scene. Right now he is outperforming Trump in the polling. The Guardian says there's infighting and bad blood left from his run against Hillary Clinton. Here's a point of view...

"social psychology research tells us that people who have different ideas about politics than us are not generally bad people – they’re mostly good people with different convictions."

Bernie Sanders' convictions are definitely different than establishment Democrats, but in my eyes they are also definitely better. That's why I am an Independent.

Please give me your COMMENTS on this issue.

Washington is a 3-ring circus

WITH DONALD TRUMP RINGMASTER OF CHAOS

Two Los Angeles Universities quarantine 700 in measles scare...One dead 3 wounded in synagogue shooting...Trump concocted voter fraud proven another of his fantasies...Just how much worse could the measles outbreak get?...Three children shot by Oklahoma police..."Carrywear," new fashions for women to carry more guns on the street brought to you by none other than Wayne LaPierre and the National Rifle Assn.

Please give me your COMMENTS on these issues.