The Decline of ObamaCare

http://www.wsj.com/ ^ | Updated Oct. 25, 2015 9:52 p.m. ET | OPINION REVIEW & OUTLOOK

[100American]

Throwin Lil Georgie Porgie a booster shot...

[MUDDOG]

a mandate for reform.

I don't want reform. I want repeal.

[Robert357]

Democrats need to publicly state that it is flawed. State that they were wrong to ram it down the people's throat without a Republican vote. Then and only then, should Republicans save the Democrats, who still say it is wonderful, working as planned, from the flawed program they needed to pass to see what was in it.

[A Navy Vet]

Sheesh, can the WSJ get any more GOPe?

[Bullish]

They rammed Obie care down people’s throats without even reading the damn bill. Now they’re scratching their heads wondering why it doesn’t work?

The democrat party is filled with a bunch of immature children.

[antceecee]

Wall Strret Journal... Murdoch BS!

[Karliner]

The decline of Bozo Care? When was it ever rising? Most ruinous “health-BS” in the known world.

[Nailbiter]

It was not designed to work- just designed as means to an end- single payer has always been the intent.

[maddog55]

Obamacare declining more correctly described as failing we all expected.. it’s a government program but the answer isn’t eliminate it which would be the right thing to do, government will just throw more money at it.

[SkyPilot]

Where my free helfcare at?

[Liz]

Pelosi was orgasmic at the O/Care signing. (Ut, oh. Harry's hands are not visible.)

The Obamacare atrocity was a cunning vehicle for
consolidating Dummycrat power. Dems cashed-in bigtime.

(A) Michelle's buddy---botched the billion dollar web site rollout---still doesn't work.

(B) Harry Reid's $4 billion "accidental" payment to Landrieu is a clue to how the straight party-line vote got this atrocity passed.

(C) A multi-billion dollar slush fund---the Untraceable $8 Billion ObamaCare PR Budget---truly govt fraud at its finest.

Egged on by Pelosi, no one in Congress told Americans about Section 4002---which mandates an $8B untraceable fund to "promote" Obamacare (apparently b/c Boobamba had so little confidence in his signature legislation).

In 2010 Taxpayers are extorted $500 million, in 2011, $750 million, 2012, $1 billion, 2013, $1.25 billion, 2014, $1.5 billion and in 2015 and on, $2 billion........

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UPDATE Obamacare’s Mysterious Missing Billions
Townhall.com ^ | October 15, 2015 | Mytheos Holt / FR Posted ;by Kaslin

EDITED EXCERPT.....what if Obamacare was free money for Democrats? A recent GAO report to congress suggests that this explanation may, in fact, be the correct one.

Buried in the document’s appendices is a stunning statistic. Out of $5,509,074,183 in grants allocated to state-based exchanges, $1,453,766,433 was spent on actually building the IT infrastructure of Obamacare websites. More suspiciously still, nearly $2.4 billion was authorized for IT spending, and of the over $5.5 billion total, apparently only $3.2 billion was actually spent. However, despite the exchanges being $2.3 billion under budget, only a scant $300 million has been returned to the federal government so far.

A cynical observer (townhall nay-sayers?) might suggest that this money was never intended to be used for health care at all.....that it went to Democratic governors as free money for them to shore up their coffers and pay them back for political support. Illegal? Unethical?....never been worth much to an administration marked by the kind of Leftist political cynicism personified by President Obama’s administration.

..... if only $300 million has been returned out of $2.3 billion that wasn’t spent, where's the other $2 billion? And if only $1.4 billion was spent of $2.4 billion authorized for IT spending, what happened to the other $1 billion of that? --snip--

[Liz]

"Obamacare" is a sitting president's blunder of Ceausescu-esque proportions. In Obama's feeble mind, the ACA was not about healthcare.

Far from it.

The conniving Obama calculated the ACA to consolidate Democrat power that was supposed to install a permanent Dumbocrat majority. So much for that ding-dong idea....b/c 30 lockstepping Dumbocrats who voted for it were ousted in the 2014 Democrat Demolition Derby. Several retired knowing they could not be reelected.

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WHERE IS THE MONEY? O/care also allocated some $6 billion tax dollars----spending money for Dumbocrats ----which has yet to be traced.

The Untraceable $8 Billion ObamaCare PR Budget---truly govt fraud at its finest. Egged on by Pelosi, Democrats slavishly voted for Obamacare by an historic straignt-party line vote. But not one Democrat told Americans about Obamacare's Section 4002---which mandates an $8B untraceable fund to "promote" Obamacare (apparently b/c Boobamba had so little confidence in his signature legislation).

THE PAYOFF--WHO GETS THE MONEY? In 2010 Taxpayers are extorted $500 million, in 2011, $750 million, 2012, $1 billion, 2013, $1.25 billion, 2014, $1.5 billion, and, in 2015 and on, $2 billion

<><> Where is all that money going?

<><> Was cashing-in the incentive in getting the thing passed?

The sound of West Wing wire-transfers to states and to offshore banks is almost palpable.

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REFERENCE ACA SEC. 4002. PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH FUND.

(a) PURPOSE. It is the purpose of this section of the ACA to establish a Prevention and Public Health Fund (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’), to be administered through the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary, to provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs.

(b) FUNDING.—There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, and appropriated, to the Fund, out of any monies in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated—

(1) for fiscal year 2010, $500,000,000;
(2) for fiscal year 2011, $750,000,000;
(3) for fiscal year 2012, $1,000,000,000;
(4) for fiscal year 2013, $1,250,000,000;
(5) for fiscal year 2014, $1,500,000,000; and
(6) for fiscal year 2015, and each fiscal year thereafter, $2,000,000,000.

(c) USE OF FUND.—The Secretary shall transfer amounts in the Fund to accounts within the Department of Health and Human Services to increase funding, over the fiscal year 2008 level, for programs authorized by the Public Health Service Act, for prevention, wellness, and public health activities including prevention research and health screenings, such as the Community Transformation grant program, the Education and Outreach Campaign for Preventive Benefits, and immunization programs.

(d) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—The Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of may provide for the transfer of funds in the Fund to eligible activities under this section, subject to subsection (c).

(read how insiders got even more $$billions below)

[Liz]

OBAMACARE RIPOFF--CONT

Some observers note that the Democrat-controlled Senate passed Obamacare "after a series of unsavory transactions that purchased the aye votes of several shrewdly extortionate Democrats"....with a huge pile of money still unaccounted for.

The most unsavory was Landrieu's $4.3 billion "Louisisana Purchase."

THE PAPER TRAIL IS HUGE Sen Landrieu (recently lost her reelection bid) sold her aye vote in what Forbes Magazine dubbed "The 'Louisiana Purchase" that included a massive $4.3 Billion to Landrieu

FORBES REPORTED the Democrats’ nailed Landrieu’s support for Obamacare w/ a greenback bribe. Landrieu, critics believe, pledged her vote in exchange for some $200 million more additional federal funds for Louisiana. Except that, due to a drafting error, the law ended up giving Louisiana $4.3 billion: more than twenty times the assigned amount. MORE HERE http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

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BACKSTORY In the fall of 2009, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was trying to get the necessary 60 Dimocrat votes to pass the Affordable Care Act. He needed every Dim on board, which gave waffling senators a great deal of leverage. In Landrieu's case, she connivingly saw that selling her aye vote could get her maybe $200 million federal dollars. Obama complied. Reid chalked up another vote for Obamacare----not the measly $200 million but $4.3 billon was attached to the Obamacare bill earmarked for Landrieu.

=================================================

How $4.3 billion to Landrieu was calculatedly attached to the Obamacare bill, and how Obama and Reid failed to catcH and fix it, is yet another indictment of the Obamacare atrocity.

The $4.3 billion handoff to Landrieu should be investigated as an indication of how EVERY Democrat came to vote for Obamacare....and how tax dollars were laundered to get lock-stepping Democrats' votes.

FBI TIPS PAGE https://tips.fbi.gov

[Slambat]

“It was not designed to work- just designed as means to an end- single payer has always been the intent.”

It’s working. As is stands right now, for a single person
insurance is equivalent to a car note and for a family it’s
equivalent to a house note. Add the outrageous deductibles
and it’s pretty much useless and if you are hurt bad enough
you still go bankrupt. Tack on the 15-25% sale commission
and all it’s really about is making the salesman rich for
a policy that’s virtually useless for most people.

[Slambat]

“The $4.3 billion handoff to Landrieu should be investigated”

Your kidding right? Investigation? Who, republicans,
democrats the Obama? The only thing standing in the way
of completing the Marxist takeover is guns. No one is
ever going to investigate or do anything about any of this.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3352403/posts

[Liz]

We’re all cynical——but there’s more ways than one to skin these cats.....

And remember....political criminals always make a mistake.

They’re not that smart-—b/c if they were they would be in another line of work....

....in politics the pickin’s are so easy even a ding-a-ling like Obama could become a billionaire.

[TBP]

It’s working just as intended.

[randita]

Unfortunately, the genie can’t be put back into the bottle. Dozens of insurers have gone under. In some states, you only have one or two choices of insurers. Many businesses no longer offer health insurance for their employees and now that the employer mandate has kicked in, many more will drop it.

The health care system as we once knew it is thoroughly dismantled. The new one is in shambles as well. Who knows where this will all lead? Repealing is not an option, because there is nothing there now to fall back on. A total restructuring and a new paradigm will have to be developed. We have to make sure that is NOT single payer.

[Liz]

All of that is true....but we have all of this as a fond remembrance:

As far back as 2008, at the presidential debate in Nashville, Democrat candidate Obama advanced his signature plan that was ultimately enacted (by an historic straight Democrat party-line vote) into the "Affordable Care Act:"

QUOTING OBAMA: "No. 1, let me just repeat, if you’ve got a health care plan that you like, you can keep it. All I’m going to do is help you to lower the premiums on it. You’ll still have choice of doctor.”

Repeated over and over by every loyal Democrat---- conning Americans into believing they'd be saving $2500.00 on healthcare costs.

========================================================

LOCK-STEPPING DEMOCRATS WEIGH IN
PARTY LOYALTY NOT SEEN SINCE 1930-40's ERA EUROPE.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-Nev.): “In fact, one of our core principles is that if you like the health care you have, you can keep it.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.8642, 8/3/09)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN: “We believe — and we stand by this — if you like your current health insurance plan, you will be able to keep it, plain and simple, straightforward.” (Sen. Durbin, Congressional Record, S.6401, 6/10/09)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): “If you like your insurance, you keep it.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/29/09)

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.): “Again, if you like what you have, you will be able to keep it. Let me say this again: If you like what you have, when our legislation is passed and signed by the President, you will be able to keep it.” (Sen. Murray, Congressional Record, S.6400, 6/10/09)

SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-Mont.): “That is why one of the central promises of health care reform has been and is: If you like what you have, you can keep it. That is critically important. If a person has a plan, and he or she likes it, he or she can keep it.” (Sen. Baucus, Congressional Record, S.7676, 9/29/10)

SEN. TOM HARKIN (D-Iowa): “One of the things we put in the health care bill when we designed it was the protection for consumers to keep the plan they have if they like it; thus, the term ‘grandfathered plans.’ If you have a plan you like — existing policies — you can keep them. … we said, if you like a plan, you get to keep it, and you can grandfather it in.” (Sen. Harkin, Congressional Record, S.7675-6, 9/29/10)

THEN-REP. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.): “Under the bill, if you like the insurance you have now, you may keep it and it will improve.” (Rep. Baldwin, Press Release, 3/18/10)

SEN. MARK BEGICH (D-Alaska): “If you got a doctor now, you got a medical professional you want, you get to keep that. If you have an insurance program or a health care policy you want of ideas, make sure you keep it. That you can keep who you want.” (Sen. Begich, Townhall Event, 7/27/09)

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.): “We should begin with a basic principle: if you have coverage and you like it, you can keep it. If you have your doctor, and you like him or her, you should be able to keep them as well. We will not take that choice away from you.” (Sen. Bennet, Press Release, 6/11/09)

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-Calif.): “So we Democrats want people to be able to keep the health care they have. And the answer to that is choice of plans. And in the exchange, we’re going to have lots of different plans, and people will be able to keep the health care coverage they need and they want.” (Sen. Boxer, Press Release, 2/8/11)

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio): “Our Democrat bill says if you have health insurance and you like it, you can keep it…”(Sen. Brown, Congressional Record, S.12612, 12/7/09)

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-Md.): “For the people of Maryland, this bill will provide a rational way in which they can maintain their existing coverage…” (Sen. Cardin, Congressional Record, S.13798, 12/23/09)

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-Pa.): “I also believe this Democrat legislation and the bill we are going to send to President Obama this fall will also have secure choices. If you like what you have, you like the plan you have, you can keep it. It is not going to change.” (Sen. Casey, Congressional Record, S.8070, 7/24/09)

SEN. KAY HAGAN (D-N.C.): ‘People who have insurance they’re happy with can keep it’ “We need to support the private insurance industry so that people who have insurance they’re happy with can keep it while also providing a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage.” (“Republicans Vent As Other Compromise Plans Get Aired,” National Journal’s Congress Daily, 6/18/09)

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D-La.): “If you like the insurance that you have, you’ll be able to keep it.” (MSNBC’s Hardball, 12/16/09)

SEN. PAT LEAHY (D-Vt.): “[I]f you like the insurance you now have, keep the insurance you have.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 10/22/09)

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.): “If you like what you have, you get to keep it” “Menendez is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to release a bill later this week. He stressed that consumers who are satisfied with their plans won’t have to change. ‘If you like what you have, you get to keep it,’ he said.” (“Health Care Plan Would Help N.J., Menendez Says,” The Record, 6/19/09)

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-Oreg.): “[E]nsuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it” “The HELP Committee bill sets forward a historic Democrat plan that will, for the first time in American history, give every American access to affordable health coverage, reduce costs, and increase choice, while ensuring that those who like their insurance get to keep it.” (Sen. Merkley, Press Release, 7/15/09)

SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D-Md.): “It means that if you like the insurance you have now, you can keep it.” (Sen. Mikulski, Press Release, 12/24/09)

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-W.Va.): “I want people to know, the President’s promise that if you like the coverage you have today you can keep it is a pledge we intend to keep.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Hearing, 9/23/09)

SEN. JACK REED (D-R.I.): “If you like the insurance you have, you can choose to keep it.” (Sen. Reed, Town Hall Event, 6/25/09)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.): “‘If you have coverage you like, you can keep it,’ says Sen. Sanders.” (“Sick And Wrong,” Rolling Stone, 4/5/10)

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.): ‘if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it’ “My understanding … is that … if you have health coverage that you like you can keep it. As I said, you may have missed my remarks at the beginning of the call, but one of the things I that I said as a requirement that I have for supporting a Democrat bill is that if you have health coverage that you like you should be able to keep that. …under every scenario that I’ve seen, if you have health coverage that you like, you get to keep it.” (Sen. Shaheen, “Health Care Questions From Across New Hampshire,” Accessed 11/13/13)

SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW (D-Mich.): “As someone who has a large number of large employers in my state, one of the things I appreciate about the Democrat chairman’s remark is — is the grandfathering provisions, the fact that the people in my state, 60 percent of whom have insurance, are going to be able to keep it. And Mr. Chairman, I appreciate that. That’s a strong commitment. It’s clear in the bill … I appreciate the strong commitment on your part and the president to make sure that if you have your insurance you can keep it. That’s the bottom line for me.” (U.S. Senate, Finance Committee, Bill Mark-Up, 9/24/09)

SEN. JON TESTER (D-Mont.): “‘If you like your coverage, you’ll be able to keep it,’ Tester said, adding that if Medicare changes, it will only become stronger”. (“Tester In Baker To Discuss Health Care,” The Fallon County Times, 11/20/09)

SEN. TOM UDALL (D-N.Mex.): “Some worried reform would alter their current coverage. It won’t. If you like your current plan, you can keep it.” (“What I Learned: About Health Care Reform This Summer, By Your Lawmakers In Congress,” Albuquerque Journal, 9/8/09)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.): “..it honors President Obama’s programs and the promise of all of the Presidential candidates that if you like the plan you have, you get to keep it. You are not forced out of anything.” (Sen. Whitehouse, Congressional Record, S.8668, 8/3/09)

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) the 60th vote on Obamacare: "people who are happy with their current plan, wouldn't need to change it."
FRANKEN YOUTUBE SOUND BITE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCZmAYYNz8I

[randita]

It was all based on lies. We knew that they couldn’t possibly deliver what they promised. Everything that was predicted about the negative consequences has come to pass, everything. Fortunately, the yea vote cost the Democrats dozens of Congressional seats in 2010 and 2014. Unfortunately, it wasn’t costly enough at the Presidential level.

It’s such a delicious irony that we HAD to implement the UCA (Unaffordable Care Act) because there were 40 million people out there who needed to be insured. Here we are several years later, and there are STILL 40 million (at least) who are uninsured and that number grows every year as people opt to pay the penalty rather than fork out the exorbitant premiums.