DAVE BEGLEY: LIVE FROM COUNCIL BLUFFS. (Bernie Rally)

Powerline ^ | March 8, 2019 | SCOTT JOHNSON

[Hojczyk]

Yesterday socialist Bernie Sanders brought his campaign for the Democratic presidential campaign to Council Bluffs. We had Dave Begley on hand to cover the festivities.

For the first time in all of the political rallies I have attended on behalf of Power Line, the National Anthem was played and sung before the speeches. Our fellow citizens all stood, removed their hats and placed their hands over their hearts. Democrats may love our country but they are misguided and – to a great extent – miseducated and uninformed.

Bernie’s speech clocked in at just under an hour, but his big issue was “Medicare for all.” That routinely got the biggest cheers from the crowd. The rest of his ideas leaned on wealth redistribution to transform this country. It is a whole lot of class warfare aimed at the 1 percent, but really aimed at the middle class.

Here in Omaha, we’ve had one of our coldest and snowiest winters in years. Bernie, however, informed us that global warming is real and not a hoax. According to Bernie, we have to move away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy. This will magically create well-paying jobs.

Until now I have never figured out Crazy Bernie’s appeal, but I now think I have the answer. The people who like Bernie never took high school physics and are innumerate. At Omaha Creighton Prep I was blessed to have Mr. Ron Bruno as my physics teacher. While teaching Newtonian physics, he told us that there is no free lunch in the universe. This applies in physics, government and in life. The people who vote for Bernie don’t understand that fundamental fact.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

the National Anthem was played and sung before the speeches

And no one knelt?

Bernie's crowd probably cheered at the "Land of the Free" line, but they were thinking "Free Stuff."

[jjotto]

If a Bernie crowd respected the National Anthem, it was carefully organized. Someone needs to find the threatening e-mails and other measures.

Even in Iowa, BernieBros hate America.

[SkyDancer]

[Buckeye McFrog]

Here in Pittsburgh more and more people are increasingly getting caught in the crossfire between the UPMC and Highmark/AGH healthcare behemoths. One acquaintance of mine actually had a setback in his recovery from an accident because the two of them kept fighting over his treatment options.

If this goes on for too much longer Medicare For All is going to be polling above 80% locally.

[billorites]

[the_daug]

“Medicare for all.” won’t be passed because the legislation would require tort reform and the lawyers who write the legislation want to preserve their cash cows.

[socalgop]

When people talk about Medicare will mean we need to start rationing healrh care they ignore that the entire business model of insurers is to ration care (by denying claims, treatment, and coverage) so that they can turn a profit off of insurance premiums. Care is going to be rationed no matter what so we need to have a clear discussion on how insurers should be rationing. If we can’t fix health insurance Medicare will win and our system will look like the NHS.

[Chuckster]

TANSTAAFL! (I’m re-reading Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”)

[Buckeye McFrog]

I know that. And you know that.

The problem is that these idiots running health insurance firms are just p*ssing people off to the point that eventually they reach the breaking point of frustration, throw their hands in the air and say “Government, take it away!”

I can palpably feel that starting to happen here.

[Dad was my hero]

“Medicare for all.” won’t be passed because the legislation would require tort reform and the lawyers who write the legislation want to preserve their cash cows.

Help me understand your thinking. Having worked for healthcare insurers for over 2 decades we were rarely sued, got bad press at times for failure to cover something experimental/investigational but I can't recall ever being sued. Now working in a hospital system and it is (as always has been) hospitals and doctors that get sued. How would the Medicare for all payors end up sued?

[AppyPappy]

Yep. plus they mean Medicaid for all. You still have to pay for health care under Medicare

[mistfree]

“Medicare for all” That and racism are the two issues for 2020. And, in my mind healthcare could lose it for the GOP. They need to come up with a GOOD plan for healthcare or the fan is going to become very brown.

[socalgop]

But if you talk about regulating insurers, people freak out and say it’s socialism. Those are the same people here who would get very angry at you for proposing entitlement reform if it affects their actually-socialist their social security or Medicaid benefits.

So it creates this equilibrium where people resist regulation to the point where gov’t control seems appealing, at which point even people on the right can’t resist the siren song of free stuff and we end up with even more gov’t control than if we imposed stricter regulation on private insurers.

[Buckeye McFrog]

But if you talk about regulating insurers, people freak out and say it’s socialism.

Right now people are lobbying the state government here to step in and regulate these two to put a stop to the chaos and bickering. It's happening.