Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump: Who's Better for ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia?

[Cort]

The most polarizing election that I can remember is finally here. It's certainly captured my attention like no other. (I've frequently woken up in the middle of the night to check the polls.)

[fright]

[/fright]Obamacare is up for grabs but how else the election might affect ME/CFS or FM is unclear. This post asks how you think the winner of the election might affect funding or support for these illnesses or your healthcare coverage, and finally, on this one day of the year, it asks who you voted for.

(One thing to keep in mind is that NIH funding is one of the few issues that gets bipartisan support.)

Finally, since the election is soo heated and so much is at stake - what will you do to try to limit its effects if the candidate you want to win doesn't get elected?

Possible Effects on ME/CFS and FM

Hillary Clinton

• Wants to preserve Obamacare
• Would probably preserve NIH funding
• Could keep Francis Collins - ME/CFS supporter - as NIH Director
• ????

Donald Trump

• Intends to dump Obamacare
• Effect on NIH funding unknown; since several analyses suggest his economic policies, if enacted, could, however, balloon the deficit, requiring reductions in spending elsewhere
• May bring in another NIH director
• ????

Please keep comments focused on healthcare matters.

 

[Cort]

My candidate losing the election would be hard but this is how I plan to deal with that if it happens. I'm going to employ a practice I learned at Landmark Education called "choosing"...

Basically I'm going to choose to have whatever happens happen. I'm not going to push it away; I'm not going to say that its wrong, that its a mistake (even if I think those things ), I'm simply going to choose or accept it. A similar Buddhist practice is to say "Yes" to everything. I have no doubts about the work this will take.

I'm also going to try to strip the meaning out of the outcome. If "X" wins my goal will simply be to have the meaning of that be - that "X" won....The meaning will not be - "we're all doomed" or something like that; I will strive for it simply to mean "that X won"...and then take it from there.

Life goes on!

 

[Empty]

"Ultimately I don't have to make the choice to vote against my own best interests...because the reason we are in this situation is because everyone has been voting the lesser of two evils for so long

Its important to have a new party and its important to get the these independent candidates to 5% .... its important to vote not only my conscience but is important to vote to get that 5% up......

Abraham Lincoln was a third party candidate...."

She goes on to explain the environment, wars, fracking etc. "No matter who gets in [Hilary/Donald] they don't address these things. Money has taken over our system"

"We have to stop the greed that is corrupting our water sources for future generations"

Someone Else

The Green Candidate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein

Clifton Roberts is a humane Vegan/environmentalist/ from The Humane Party.
http://www.sweetstartups.com/strate...humane-party-on-animal-rights-and-the-future/

And so because these candidates consider the bigger picture also, they will be ultimately better for those with M.E. Perhaps banning certain pesticides, cleaning up the air, better work life balance may help some never get sick from CFS to begin with!

 

[Cort]

I really hope a Green candidate, as much as I like what they do, did not impact the election results (!)...I don't thnk they did.

"Ultimately I don't have to make the choice to vote against my own best interests...because the reason we are in this situation is because everyone has been voting the lesser of two evils for so long

Its important to have a new party and its important to get the these independent candidates to 5% .... its important to vote not only my conscience but is important to vote to get that 5% up......

Abraham Lincoln was a third party candidate...."

She goes on to explain the environment, wars, fracking etc. "No matter who gets in [Hilary/Donald] they don't address these things. Money has taken over our system"

"We have to stop the greed that is corrupting our water sources for future generations"

Someone Else

The Green Candidate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein

Clifton Roberts is a humane Vegan/environmentalist/ from The Humane Party.
http://www.sweetstartups.com/strate...humane-party-on-animal-rights-and-the-future/

And so because these candidates consider the bigger picture also, they will be ultimately better for those with M.E. Perhaps banning certain pesticides, cleaning up the air, better work life balance may help some never get sick from CFS to begin with!

 

[Adelle]

Thank you for starting this discussion! I was hoping politics could be brought up this one time, as it could very well affect our actual health. I got so despondent after the presidential results were in, I am so afraid the cuts in taxes will lead to cuts in spending, and therefore the NIH. I'm glad you mentioned that the NIH tends to get bipartisan support. But this is such a strange election and such strange times in the US, I am still very concerned.

 

[Empty]

I really hope a Green candidate, as much as I like what they do, did not impact the election results (!)...I don't thnk they did.

You mean people voting for green instead of Clinton?

That's the trap. If people voted for policies, instead of out of fear that the lesser of two evils may not get in, then the Greens would be up there winning. We all want to breathe clean air don't we? The standard of the political debate was abysmal and depressing.

The other trap is the throwing the hands up and not voting at all or ignoring it "because they are all the same"

Our Green Party here in the UK has a Universal Citizens income. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/18/green-party-citizens-income-natalie-bennett-benefit

This would be a birth right and is something I thought of decades ago. At around £72 a week (same money as Universal Credit/Job Seekers Allowance) it replaces these benefits and I presume Sickness and disability benefit too. So people wouldn't be forced through a demeaning benefits system, wouldn't have to go to tribunals, wouldn't have to "prove" to abusive and hostile Doctors a disability. Although I expect this base figure ought to be higher for the disabled.

I like that idea very much. The system saves billions by closing down job centres, administration, etc. even though they are paying out this standard payment to everyone.

This would benefit people with M.E. as money and being cut off from benefits and dealing with the abuse is a constant source of stress for many.

The cliché of the disabled and unemployed is there is a lot of fraud and theft going on and this persists in the media even though the facts state this is not true. M.E. also has been targeted by the BPS theory as a reason to not get better. This would all become obsolete on Universal Citizens Income.

Also, whilst one billion pounds are lost due to theft its 4.5 billion pounds on administrative error.