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What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels
Wall Street Journal ^ | Dec 25, 2013 | John H. Cochrane

Posted on 12/25/2013 3:15:11 PM PST by Innovative

The unraveling of the Affordable Care Act presents a historic opportunity for change. Its proponents call it "settled law," but as Prohibition taught us, not even a constitutional amendment is settled law—if it is dysfunctional enough, and if Americans can see a clear alternative.

There is an alternative. A much freer market in health care and health insurance can work, can deliver high quality, technically innovative care at much lower cost, and solve the pathologies of the pre-existing system.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alternative; healthinsurance; obamacare
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Great article.

Republicans need to offer a free market alternative to Obamacare NOW -- not a patchwork of "fixes" but a whole free market based plan, BEFORE the 2014 elections.

1 posted on 12/25/2013 3:15:11 PM PST by Innovative
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To: Innovative

Is that to be After we tell the DummyRATS we Told YOU SO, and stop LOAO?


2 posted on 12/25/2013 3:19:15 PM PST by SandRat (Duty - Honor - Country! What else needs said?)
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To: Innovative

As congress currently is constituted they will pass a bail out for the insurance companies to be followed shortly by a mandate that doctor’s be conscripted for the good of the country and then forced to work where told by the government


3 posted on 12/25/2013 3:21:38 PM PST by Nifster
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To: Innovative

2014 will simply end this scandel of a law via the midterms.


4 posted on 12/25/2013 3:23:24 PM PST by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Biggirl

Obama will never kill his signature legislation nor will the Dems give up on Obamacare. The midterms won’t change anything. If Obamacare starts going under, the Reps will help fix it so the Dems can kick the can down the road past the 2016 elections.


5 posted on 12/25/2013 3:27:20 PM PST by kabar
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To: Innovative
Republicans need to offer a free market alternative to Obamacare NOW

In order for a free-market solution to work, Medicare has to be repealed.

"Obamacare" is a severely dysfunctional attempt to escape from the collapse of the budgeting process and the inevitable destruction of the financial system, both caused by Medicare.

This is why Republicans in Congress (most of them) secretly support "Obamacare", and why they will not do anything that has a chance of success to undermine or eliminate it.

As long as Members of Congress are selected by voting, Medicare cannot be repealed. And as long as Medicare in its present form exists, the nation is doomed.

6 posted on 12/25/2013 3:28:21 PM PST by Jim Noble (When strong, avoid them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.)
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To: kabar

I think the midterms will at least put a dent to it. A number of Dems are going to pay dearly for this mistake of a law. Obama is looking more and more like a lame duck by the day. 2016 will simply seal the deal.


7 posted on 12/25/2013 3:34:10 PM PST by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Jim Noble
Medicare will bankrupt the country if it is not reformed. It will consume the entire federal budget. Most people don't know that the premiums paid for Medicare parts B and D only cover about 25% of the costs, by law. The remaining 75% comes from the General Fund. In 2012 this amounted to $215 billion. With 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day for the next 20 years, the number of those over 65 will double in 20 years. By 2030 one in five will 65 or older.

The Dems have always pursued a single payer system. Medicare took care of the old and Medicaid and CHIPs covered the poor and the young--all under a single payer system. Obamacare is just the last piece to complete the trifecta. We are headed to single payer if/when Obamacare goes under.

8 posted on 12/25/2013 3:40:26 PM PST by kabar
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To: Biggirl

Hillary doesn’t need any accomplishments for 2016. Just having a D after her name guarantees victory. Here’s how many electoral votes she starts out with as absolute locks:

California - 55
Connecticut - 7
Delaware - 3
District of Columbia - 3
Hawaii - 4
Illinois - 20
Maine - 4
Maryland - 10
Massachusetts - 11
Michigan - 16
Minnesota - 10
New Jersey - 14
New York - 29
Oregon - 7
Rhode Island - 4
Vermont - 3
Washington - 12

This totals 212 votes. You need 270 to win. This list does not include states that lean heavily blue like PA (20), NV (6), CO (9), and VA (13.) They total 48 votes. So Hillary starts out with about 260 electoral votes. And I am not including Iowa that has gone Dem seven out of the last 8 presidential elections or WI (10 votes), which has gone Dem the last 7 elections.

Any Rep is going to have an uphill battle to win. Hillary and any other Dem will be the favorites. FL or Ohio or WI will win for the Dems.


9 posted on 12/25/2013 3:42:18 PM PST by kabar
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To: kabar

I have gut feeling I am going to be right though.


10 posted on 12/25/2013 3:43:24 PM PST by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Biggirl

How did your gut go in 2008 and 2012?


11 posted on 12/25/2013 3:44:26 PM PST by kabar
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To: kabar
You are 100 % correct....

What the GOP needs to do where they own the state houses is pass legislation where each electoral vote goes to the winning candidate in that district...

The liberal states will never follow that example on their own accord but the conservative legal teams can sue in each state to have that put on the ballot...and let the people decide...

12 posted on 12/25/2013 3:56:16 PM PST by Popman ("Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God" - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: kabar
Medicare parts B and D only cover 25% of the costs by law

That's what drives me crazy. I'm a senior on Medicare, only part A. I was forced to pay premiums for it while I worked. Its purpose is to protect seniors from being financially drained by hospital stays, but still pay part of the bill. I doubt that much money is lost on that part of Medicare.

Parts B and D never should've happened. They drive up the costs of routine medical care and pharmaceuticals for seniors. Many seniors are over medicated and get all kinds of tests and screenings when they're not sick because it's part of their coverage. They're listening to doctors who always find something wrong, to be taken care of with medical treatment. I'm all for scrapping parts B and D. Anyone who has lived long enough to be on Medicare should be able to manage their own health and medical care. If they want more coverage, let them pay for it!

13 posted on 12/25/2013 4:17:10 PM PST by grania
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To: Innovative

What to do when O’Care “unravels?” Open some CHAMPAGNE!!!


14 posted on 12/25/2013 4:20:20 PM PST by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: kabar

Things look good for pubbies in ‘14 & ‘16, but I never underestimate their ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.


15 posted on 12/25/2013 4:20:49 PM PST by umgud (2A can't survive dem majorities)
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To: Innovative

I believe a group of GOP ALREADY have a free market proposal for healthcare....it’s just that the press doesn’t want you to hear about it.


16 posted on 12/25/2013 4:21:05 PM PST by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: Innovative

“Republicans need to offer a free market alternative to Obamacare NOW.”

Your comment assumes the gop wing of the uniparty wants to end deathcare. Nothing could be further from the truth.


17 posted on 12/25/2013 4:23:19 PM PST by RKBA Democrat (Getting some small say in who will get to hold the whip doesn't make you any less a slave.)
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To: kabar

Our elections are a joke. I don’t see the GOP ever winning again until Americans put their foot down and demand that anyone wishing to vote will be required to SHOW UP AT THE POLLS ON ELECTION DAY and complete a PAPER BALLOT. That is the only way to stop the rampant voter fraud currently occurring in this country. Voting by mail, absentee ballots and “provisional” ballots are just a polite way of saying, VOTER FRAUD. Same day voter registration is a joke played by politicians on the American people.


18 posted on 12/25/2013 4:25:47 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (The Truth Is Out There. Just don't let anyone know that you're looking for it.)
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To: Innovative

“Overwhelming the system” could have unintended consequences never anticipated by Richard Cloward and Francis Piven.


19 posted on 12/25/2013 4:26:13 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: Innovative

Of course if they actually solve the problem both parties would lose the ability to demagogue the issue every two years...


20 posted on 12/25/2013 4:26:50 PM PST by NittanyLion
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