Which Presidential Candidate is best for the field of dentistry and for practicing dentists?

[cp9321]

It seems there could be lots of tax (think both income and if for running a business if you run your own practice) and insurance implications depending on who is elected president. Which president is the best options for the field of dentistry and for future dentists in general?

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[A Pre-dent]

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[NAVY DDS 2010]

Republicans are generally going to be better if money, taxes, etc are concerned. Less government control and taxation is what they like.

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Vermin Supreme, hands down.

I agreed with you before I even saw this clip and now I'm just in love. #Supreme2016

 

[catman856]

Before this thread gets out of hand like last time, lets remember we are all proud to be Americans!!!

 

[DocVaquero]

Not Bernie.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

I'd vote for Pedro

 

[jenfromdablock]

Not any Republican.

 

[kholley25]

I'm voting for whatever candidate that supports a strong middle class because that's who's paying the bills.

 

[baronen26]

Not any Republican.

Why is that? A Bernie-esque healthcare plan could take a lot of the money out of medicine/dentistry.

 

[jenfromdablock]

Why is that? A Democratic healthcare plan could take a lot of the money out of medicine/dentistry.

We already have a "Democratic health care plan", whatever that is. The problem is people unwilling to afford our care, and I strongly believe the middle class is better off with a [D] President.

 

[T14dan]

I think it ultimately depends on your philosophy. Republicans, in the past, have been more receptive towards lobbying from the dental and medical professions. On the other hand, if our middle class disappears, EVERYONE will end up on low reimbursement insurance, which will massacre the profession. Whoever you think(democrats or republicans) will be better for the middle class, can be argued to be better for dentistry on these grounds. Not gonna state my personal opinion, but these are the clearest positions I've seen articulated on the point.

 

[baronen26]

We already have a "Democratic health care plan", whatever that is. The problem is people unwilling to afford our care, and I strongly believe the middle class is better off with a [D] President.

The one proposed by Bernie. Helping out the middle class definitely needs to be done, but more government intervention in medicine usually means less money for the providers.

 

[DocVaquero]

We already have a "Democratic health care plan", whatever that is. The problem is people unwilling to afford our care, and I strongly believe the middle class is better off with a [D] President.

 

[FrenchyM.D/D.O]

Someone who understands what it is like to be a doctor perhaps.

 

[allantois]

Bernie Sanders.

People saving on healthcare, which will only happen under a Medicare for all system, will have more to spend on dentalcare.

And let's be very real here: people making the minimum wage cannot afford dental care. We either raise it or leave a significant portion of our population in poor dental health.

 

[nonociceptors]

Bernie Sanders.

People saving on healthcare, which will only happen under a Medicare for all system, will have more to spend on dentalcare.

And let's be very real here: people making the minimum wage cannot afford dental care. We either raise it or leave a significant portion of our population in poor dental health.

Raising the minimum wage to, say, $15 isn't done in a vacuum.

Not any Republican.

That's not true.


I wish this would get moved to SPF. I have a feeling most people who will post in here don't know as much as they think, including myself. Getting roasted by the SPFers might not be fun, but it's better to recognize where your reasoning fails than to stay ignorant. Not directed at the people I quoted, just in general. Yes, you.

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Idk why you guys are still arguing... Vermin Supreme is the best for dentists (and everyone else) 100%

 

[allantois]

Raising the minimum wage to, say, $15 isn't done in a vacuum.

That's not true.


I wish this would get moved to SPF. I have a feeling most people who will post in here don't know as much as they think, including myself. Getting roasted by the SPFers might not be fun, but it's better to recognize where your reasoning fails than to stay ignorant. Not directed at the people I quoted, just in general. Yes, you.

Yes, move this thread to SPF so that we can all hear about Austrian Economics that has nothing to do with present-day reality.

Now, for a real answer: don't expect any presidential candidate to fix dentists problems.

 

[nonociceptors]

Yes, move this thread to SPF so that we can all hear about Austrian Economics that has nothing to do with present-day reality.

Now, for a real answer: don't expect any presidential candidate to fix dentists problems.

Nothing to say about raising the minimum wage?

Agreed on the second point, but some most definitely have the potential to make things worse.

 

[akakakakak]

Honestly, here is the breakdown - Any Republican would be better than a Democrat in regards to the bottom line. As it stands though, the two front runners are Hillary and Trump. If that were the ballot, it will be a tough decision for a lot of people. Even if you hate Hillary and the Democratic Party, putting Trump in office is a scary proposition for many...

In my opinion, I think Hillary would be the best in this regards (although I am not the biggest fan) -There is too much instability and unknown with Trump, but at least you can be rest assured that Hillary won't be doing anything too drastic (in regards to oral health)

...my 2 cents.

 

[Innadental15]

We already have a "Democratic health care plan", whatever that is. The problem is people unwilling to afford our care, and I strongly believe the middle class is better off with a [D] President.

Presidential Election aside, its not that people are not "willing" to afford our care, its that they are not ABLE to afford our care, or much of any medical care, because the premiums are so high. And its the middle class (lower middle class, for me) that is suffering. In other words, us.

 

[GoldenDomer11]

Actually though Bernie wants to raise the minimum wage to 15$ an hour. Wouldn't that bump up the amount of people that can actually afford dental care as opposed to how many can right now?

 

[aewpls]

Traditionally, republicans are fiscal conservatives that would make the bottom line for medical professionals and small business owners more appealing. However, the current front runner conservatives seem to be socially but not fiscally conservative.

Also, while government regulation and oversight in medical practices may be a downside to progressives, they also support scientific and medical advancements which would benefit our field in the long run.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

Actually though Bernie wants to raise the minimum wage to 15$ an hour. Wouldn't that bump up the amount of people that can actually afford dental care as opposed to how many can right now?

No. $15/hr full time is only a little over $31,000 per yr ($2,500/mo) before taxes. Take home pay between $1800-2000/mo. For a single person, they can make it doable, but not for a family after all basic living expenses are taken out.

 

[A Pre-dent]

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[distressstudent]

Someone who understands what it is like to be a doctor perhaps.

So...Carson?

 

[BeaverLover]

So...Carson?

Nawh I think he had his license revoked LOL

 

[distressstudent]

Nawh I think he had his license revoked LOL

No he didn't... the piece that said he did was satire

 

[Cello]

Wouldn't Vermin Supreme be the worst? Mandatory tooth brushing hurts our bottom line! We should be voting for a president who makes Halloween a national holiday and gives every American child free candy, and every adult free meth!

 

[strep mutans]

If I have to choose between Trump and Sanders, I (a competent, literate adult) would have to choose Sanders. However, I cannot begin to imagine how his presidency would affect me as a future private practice dentist with $400k of student debt. Would I have to pay that back on a salary comparable to that of a high school teacher? Would my federal loans be forgiven once dentistry is socialized?

I can think of one predictable way dentistry would be affected by Sanders: dental assistant education. Free state undergraduate education for any US citizen would pressure everyone in a competitive job market to get a bachelor's degree. That would be four less working years in the life of the dental assistant, and he/she would be overeducated and thus unsatisfied with a lower position than the equally educated hygienist.

I have been a Clinton supporter, but now I may have to rethink things. Maybe we should just vote for Vermin Supreme so he can establish the secret dental police and put addictive drugs in our toothpaste.

I agree with much of your post, but only quoted the portion I'm replying to directly.

I think it is likely that, were Sanders to win, his actual time in office would not affect dentistry in any significant way because as you noted, his hands would be effectively tied by a conservative Congress. However, one issue that people sometimes forget is that the president appoints Supreme Court Justices, and we've got a few that are probably going to kick the bucket or retire soon (Scalia, Kennedy, Bader Ginsburg especially), so the next president's political leanings could have a very far reaching effect if this happens and the newly appointed Justice(s) are spry whippersnappers.

I would also argue that there is already immense pressure in the current job market to have a bachelor's degree. I don't think that free undergrad education would necessarily force everyone to get bachelor's degrees and overqualify themselves. There will still be those that hate school and never want to return after getting their HS diplomas, there will still be those who have kids at a very young age and would rather get into a quick program to support their family now rather than invest 4 years, etc. Many of the barriers (self-inflicted or not) to receiving a bachelor's degree will still exist, even if free undergrad education were made available. And if 4 years were free, then I assume that also means anything less than 4 years would also be free (AAs, cert programs). Those who may otherwise have not been able to afford any post-HS education may fill in the spots left by those who would continue on to 4 yrs, etc.

 

[Cello]

This country needs to bring back trade schools (rather than turning colleges into trade schools), and we should place more value on careers in manufacturing and industry. Most people in this country are on their way to some other career field. Your waitress, your bus driver, your teacher, the majority of them are studying to be something else that they can actually be proud of. If you aren't an executive, healthcare professional, making lots of money, or top of the food chain somewhere, then you simply aren't ambitious enough or there is something wrong with you. People should be proud to have other jobs, and they should be rewarded for it too. How will we provide future carpenters, construction workers, linesmen, railroad workers, etc. if we don't reverse this trend of climbing only the 'desirable' career ladders to let someone else do the 'less desirable' work?

I am as guilty as anyone. I had a manufacturing job at one time and couldn't get out of it quickly enough. We were treated the way our management felt about us, which is to say poorly. We earned the money for the company (5 of us produced $4.3 million in net profit and 120,000 tons of product one year), and the management and sales team took the lion's share to sit around and do little else but complain about the job we were doing. When I have children, I won't encourage them go into manufacturing because of how laborers are treated. If attitudes changed, and if it was rewarding both financially AND socially to do those jobs which are vital to our economy, then I think we would be looking at a much brighter future.

 

[HookahLungs]

I think everyone has to realize that you're talking about America here. Not dentists in general. Only one way to make America great again.. And it definitely isn't Donald Trump. Lmao that guy is a joke. Anyone you pick will have the same agenda in the end.. Killuminati

 

[strep mutans]

This country needs to bring back trade schools (rather than turning colleges into trade schools), and we should place more value on careers in manufacturing and industry.

People should be proud to have other jobs, and they should be rewarded for it too. How will we provide future carpenters, construction workers, linesmen, railroad workers, etc. if we don't reverse this trend of climbing only the 'desirable' career ladders to let someone else do the 'less desirable' work?

I very much agree.

Your waitress, your bus driver, your teacher, the majority of them are studying to be something else that they can actually be proud of.

Harsh lol.

 

[A Pre-dent]

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[DocVaquero]

This country needs to bring back trade schools (rather than turning colleges into trade schools), and we should place more value on careers in manufacturing and industry. Most people in this country are on their way to some other career field. Your waitress, your bus driver, your teacher, the majority of them are studying to be something else that they can actually be proud of. If you aren't an executive, healthcare professional, making lots of money, or top of the food chain somewhere, then you simply aren't ambitious enough or there is something wrong with you.

Get off your pedestal. Teachers have A LOT to be proud of.

You're ignorant if you don't believe that.

 

[HookahLungs]

Get of your pedestal. Teachers have A LOT to be proud of.

You're ignorant if you don't believe that.

I know a lot of teachers that worked hard to become teachers and are very proud and happy to be teachers. Just because they don't get paid as well doesn't mean they aren't as satisfied

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

[.

 

[musicplease]

.

 

[musicplease]

This country needs to bring back trade schools (rather than turning colleges into trade schools), and we should place more value on careers in manufacturing and industry. Most people in this country are on their way to some other career field. Your waitress, your bus driver, your teacher, the majority of them are studying to be something else that they can actually be proud of. If you aren't an executive, healthcare professional, making lots of money, or top of the food chain somewhere, then you simply aren't ambitious enough or there is something wrong with you.

some waitresses are working 3 jobs to support their families because they aren't lucky enough to study for something else, same goes for bus drivers.

there are a lot of PROUD hard working people out there that didn't have everything in life handed to them on a silver platter.
being able to attend college, any college, is a privilege.

 

[Cello]

Get of your pedestal. Teachers have A LOT to be proud of.

You're ignorant if you don't believe that.

You seem to have missed the point of my post. Teachers do have a lot to be proud of. My mother was a teacher, and my dad was a librarian. But they both witnessed precisely what I am talking about. People from their generation were happy to be teachers and librarians. People from our generation took those jobs on their way to 'bigger' and 'better' things, rather than being proud of the career they had right in front of them. If you take a second pass over my post I think you'll see that my point is precisely what you have said yourself. The problem is, society doesn't treat teachers like they have much to be proud of.

some waitresses are working 3 jobs to support their families because they aren't lucky enough to study for something else, same goes for bus drivers.

there are a lot of PROUD hard working people out there that didn't have everything in life handed to them on a silver platter.
being able to attend college, any college, is a privilege.

Again, that was the point of my post. I encourage you to reread it and pay special attention to my use of italics and single-quotes.

 

[strep mutans]

You seem to have missed the point of my post. Teachers do have a lot to be proud of. My mother was a teacher, and my dad was a librarian. But they both witnessed precisely what I am talking about. People from their generation were happy to be teachers and librarians. People from our generation took those jobs on their way to 'bigger' and 'better' things, rather than being proud of the career they had right in front of them. If you take a second pass over my post I think you'll see that my point is precisely what you have said yourself. The problem is, society doesn't treat teachers like they have much to be proud of.




Again, that was the point of my post. I encourage you to reread it and pay special attention to my use of italics and single-quotes.

Wow I didn't mean to shine the spotlight on your teacher comment only for everyone to pick your examples apart. I just thought it was a funny example! I did think maybe you accidentally included teachers, but now I see what you meant by that too. I think other posters (myself included) got confused by it because we may still know a few peers who feel passionate about teaching. However, many youngins here probably don't know that there was a time that "just" being a bus driver or a waitress were fine jobs too and nobody would bat an eye. I think lower wages compared to the past (the shrinking of the middle class) is part of the problem. For example, bus and truck drivers used to be solid middle class and make decent wages; from what I understand, this is no longer the case.

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[Incis0r]

To all of you saying that Bernie's tax plan should be a scare for everyone:

The average dentist (earning about 175K/yr) would actually have more disposable income under a Sanders tax plan than s/he currently does.
Don't believe me? check this out: http://www.bernietax.com/#175000;4955

In fact, anyone earning up to $251K/yr will see an increase in his or her disposable income, in addition to the benefits of universal healthcare, under a Sanders presidency.

 

[cp9321]

To all of you saying that Bernie's tax plan should be a scare for everyone:

The average dentist (earning about 175K/yr) would actually have more disposable income under a Sanders tax plan than s/he currently does.
Don't believe me? check this out: http://www.bernietax.com/#175000;4955

In fact, anyone earning up to $251K/yr will see an increase in his or her disposable income, in addition to the benefits of universal healthcare, under a Sanders presidency.

What about the 6.2% added payroll tax? That would likely have an effect on your compensation if you are an employee for someone else or if you run your own practice you would either have to pay your employees less or take a hit on compensation yourself.

 

[Incis0r]

What about the 6.2% added payroll tax? That would likely have an effect on your compensation if you are an employee for someone else or if you run your own practice you would either have to pay your employees less or take a hit on compensation yourself.

The tax you are referring to would apply to employers only.
It turns out, that you would save money as a business owner under this 6.20% Sanders tax plan.

Health Insurance Premiums currently paid by employer: $ 12,591
Payroll at 6.20% income based health care premium paid by employers: $ 3,100
Savings to employer: $ 9,491 <---- **WOW!**

The Sanders Medicare-for-All plan would do away with insurance so you would no longer pay health insurance premiums for your employees' healthcare. Instead, you'd pay a far smaller sum as a tax to support the new plan.

Source: https://berniesanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/friedman-memo-1.pdf

 

[BYU4you]

Ted Cruz flat tax.

 

[strep mutans]

I think it is likely that, were Sanders to win, his actual time in office would not affect dentistry in any significant way because as you noted, his hands would be effectively tied by a conservative Congress. However, one issue that people sometimes forget is that the president appoints Supreme Court Justices, and we've got a few that are probably going to kick the bucket or retire soon (Scalia, Kennedy, Bader Ginsburg especially), so the next president's political leanings could have a very far reaching effect if this happens and the newly appointed Justice(s) are spry whippersnappers.

So it begins...
http://m.mysanantonio.com/news/us-w...iate-Justice-Antonin-Scalia-found-6828930.php

 

[Incis0r]

So it begins...
http://m.mysanantonio.com/news/us-w...iate-Justice-Antonin-Scalia-found-6828930.php

Indeed it does- given the current composition of the United States Senate (54R, 44D, 2independent), only a relatively impartial candidate could become Justice right now.

The president can appoint as many Justices as he wants, but they need Senate approval.

 

[nonociceptors]

Actually though Bernie wants to raise the minimum wage to 15$ an hour. Wouldn't that bump up the amount of people that can actually afford dental care as opposed to how many can right now?

I'll say it again: raising the minimum wage isn't done in a ****ing vacuum. The number of people that fail to recognize this is amazing.