Posted on 07/12/2017 5:52:47 PM PDT by Rockitz
Republicans are about to do something very stupid. Using bribery, threats and cajolery, they intend to pass a catastrophically unpopular bill on a party-line vote.
GOP: Obamacare is unpopular, so let's pass a new health care bill that's even MORE unpopular.
Normal Person: Why would you do that?
GOP: No, you don't understand. Obamacare is totally imploding, so if we pass this bill now, all its problems will be blamed on us!
Republicans would be better off doing nothing. They can survive the ridicule for running against Obamacare through four election cycles and then not repealing it. They cannot survive a bill that does nothing to fix the actual problems with Obamacare.
The only explanation for the GOP doing something so stupid and unpopular is that it's all about tax cuts.
Why can't we get it through their heads that we didn't elect Trump to cut taxes? Forty-five percent of people don't pay any federal income tax -- and they voted for Trump! Taxes on high earners (or "Hillary voters") are at a historic low.
Here's a somewhat more important issue I'd like to submit for Republicans' consideration: PEOPLE CAN'T BUY HEALTH INSURANCE THEY WANT, CAN'T SEE THE DOCTORS THEY WANT AND CAN'T AFFORD THEIR PREMIUMS AND DEDUCTIBLES.
How about allowing people the option of buying insurance that doesn't cover sex change operations, gambling addictions, psychotherapy, liver transplants for illegal aliens and so on?
Instead of squandering this moment, Trump the businessman should seize it to trumpet the free market. This is a golden opportunity to give a speech explaining why, contrary to everything your professors told you, communism doesn't work. To paraphrase Talleyrand, what Republicans are doing with Obamacare is worse than a crime; it's a mistake.
(Excerpt) Read more at anncoulter.com ...
“I know. I posted that one too.”
Yes, I saw that. It’s worth the link for those who haven’t. Thanks for posting.
But we can't do that unless they vote. Congress has voted on next to nothing this term. Usually that's a good thing, mind you.
They need to hold votes and votes of consequence. Meaningless GOP Senate votes where they know the Democrats will save them on cloture don't count.
An understatement. He will eventually have to go head-to-head with the establishment GOP, but is attempting to get as much of his/our agenda through in the mean time. Draining the swamp will require an enema of the GOP ranks in both houses. A Convention of States seems to be a requirement for that to happen. There are just too many RATs masquerading at 'pubbies at this time.
Where’s ACA repeal that they’ve been yammering about for years?
They’re slow walking everything.
Screw em. They need their ass kicked bigly AGAIN.
....CANT AFFORD THEIR PREMIUMS AND DEDUCTIBLES....
Why are high payments for insurance called “premiums?”
The right answer is:
1. Repeal Obamacare - clean repeal in a party-line vote.
2. Vote item by item on what could be in the replacement, starting with selling medical insurance across state lines and companies being permitted to keep kids on parental policies to age 26. Anything with majority support from republicans can be voted on, and anything with majority support overall goes into the bill. This should not be a horse-trading grand compromise where bad things are put in to buy the votes of those who benefit, just a minimalist intervention into medical care.
Repeal and replace, but in separate steps.
Certainly Senator Paul has proposed step 1 and I agree with that. It gets a bit out of GOP control on the replacement components. I think conservatives are worried about that. It might just revert to Obamacare if the RATs side with RINOs on the replacement components. Plus it allows the RATs to get a piece of pie in the race for Big Insurance/Big Healthcare dollars. Read the tagline...
The Senate has not exactly covered itself in glory here, but how does Trump avoid any blame for this fiasco?
This is what Trump has promised:
1. All Americans covered
2. With Lower costs
2. And More choices
4. Pre-existing conditions covered
5. Even if you can’t pay for it, you will be covered
How the hell do you do this?
The President could always veto it and let Obamacare implode by itself!
If Trump serves 8 years, there will be some form of single payer in the US by the end of it. He’ll sell it to his populist base and the Republican Congress will have no choice but to go along with it.
The dirty little secret in the US is that all business leaders privately yearn for single payer. None of them actually want to spend time negotiating with BCBS or Aetna for plans that only lower employee morale once a year.
And then propose the single payer plan that is the inevitable end result of all of this.
If they actually pass this pig and Trump doesn’t veto it it will become Trumpcare and will sink the Republican Party at the point where the Democrat Party is swirling in the drain. The swirl will become a jet engine and the Democrats will rule again.
I disagree with her. The Republicans will be blamed regardless. They have the house, senate, presidency and USSC. They will be blamed when it blows up. If ACA blows up in 2019, the average voter will barely be able to remember Obama’s name much less the “affordable care act.” The active base will remember on both sides but thats it. Further, getting it repealed will make real tax reform much, much easier, which will get a GOP expansion in 2018 which will allow for a full repeal much much easier in 2019.
Ann is indeed, correct and this seems either a plan to bring on Single Payer as Republican/Trump disaster or to reverse the fortunes of two Parties. If the Republicans give the government back to the Democrats it will be the last time the government changes hands. Democrats have made that pretty clear. When the show trials come, if I am not liquidated with all the freepers they can catch, I will laugh uproariously as the Republicans in Congress all are now defendants and confessing to horrific absurdities. Those that try to convince the crocodile to eat them last may not be the first meal but they are the most spectacular meal.
What the hell do they care. The money is in the bank.
I travel to China and have seen single payer up close and personal. It works in China at some basic level for the following reasons:
1. Lots of doctors with less training initially although they get non-stop training on the job.
2. Exensive use of IV medications.
3. Less use of newer medications and reliance on heritage medications.
4. Lower expectations for novel/experimental procedures.
5. Long lines.
6. Red envelopes (illegal payments) for doctors with special skills for the wealthy.
It’s basically a two tier system with the enhanced tier being officially illegal. The AMA tightly controls the number of doctors produced in this country so this system will never work here without a much higher cost. Doctor supply is the only way to lower costs here and there’s no clear path for achieving that here.
There is really no reason to vote any more, is there?
I loathe the dimbulbcrats.
But I despise the Republicans.
We really are headed for some very bad times.
No, there are plenty of other ways to lower cost including price transparency, allowing reimportation of drugs and medical equipment, eliminating tax favor-ability of subsidies care, enforcing the anti-trust act among a number of other things. China also spends like 3% of GDP on healthcarae for similar life expectancy. We spend ~20%. Not sure that’s great model to compare to.
I agree with you.
What are those sayings, something like “it’s impossible to pick up a turd by the clean end” and something about “polishing a turd”? Once republicans touch this turd known as O-care, theyll have stink on their hands and they’ll own it. No matter how ‘good’ the alteration is, the libtards will hate it just because that’s who and what they are, and a high percentage of the republican base will dislike it too. It’s a losing situation to try and alter it.
They need to either just leave it alone, and constantly remind the libtards that this was THEIR baby, or take the risk, flat out repeal it, and focus on taking a completely new approach to actual “healthcare”, not insurance, by doing everything possible to start reducing actual medical care costs, starting with studying Karl Denninger’s work. The goal needs to be to make actual ‘healthcare’ affordable again, rather than trying to make insurance affordable. If actual “healthcare” prices can be reduced about 80%, putting us on par with other nations, insurance won’t even be necessary for most families with the exception of catastrophic plans. Of course the insurance companies would abhor such an approach. They love the idea of every person in the country being forced to buy into their product, which certainly bears a very close resemblance to gambling.
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