Posted on 07/10/2017 6:01:41 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Republicans pretend that they are powerless to do more about the great ship Obamacare than to change the fuel on which it runs and rearrange its deck chairs — never mind to sink it. Because they lack 60 votes to stop “unlimited debate,” they claim to be unable to vote even on whether to allow health insurance to be sold across state lines. They pretend to believe that fidelity to unlimited debate in the Senate trumps the importance of our health care system. But the reason why they prop up Obamacare rather than tearing it down is that they are even more beholden to the insurance companies and hospital chains than the Democrats who passed it in the first place.
Neither the filibuster nor the requirement of 60 votes to “cloture” it prevents voting and passing anything that a majority wishes to pass. Moreover, Senate rules can be made or changed by simple majorities. In practical terms, even without “cloture,” a minority’s protracted talk cannot stop a determined majority from voting. Potential filibusters learned long ago that talking nonsense to hold the floor day and night for weeks on end breaks them physically and discredits them politically. But the main reason why no one has tried a real filibuster for more than a half century is that, in 1970, the Senate adopted a “two track” procedure, by which, once a bill fails to gain enough votes to impose cloture (since 1975 that number has been 60), the Senate simply goes on to other business. This has resulted in countless bills having been effectively filibustered to death without a word having being spoken, without anyone having incurred any effort or risk. This, the avoidance of votes on risky, controversial matters — not any commitment to extended debate — is what senators of both parties find so attractive about the modern “virtual filibuster.”
Today however, Republicans are even more unwilling than Democrats to take responsibility for basic choices. The Democrats’ Obamacare made health insurance companies into public utilities. This is what the companies wanted. Republicans had joined them in working out similar schemes (vide the Heritage Foundation plan and Romney-care in Massachusetts) and resented being left out of the action.
If Republicans were serious about voting on any provision regarding health care, or anything else, they would not have to bother eliminating the filibuster. It would be enough to dare opponents actually to wage real ones — complete with minority senators babbling and majority senators sleeping on cots ready to answer quorum calls.
Real filibusters advertise the minority’s fatal political liability: refusal to confront the questions at hand. Because holding the floor to the exclusion of the majority makes it impossible to confute the majority, “extended debate” refutes no one and persuades no one. As the minority filibusters with scattershot or nonsense, the majority can repeat demands for roll-call votes to decide on matters at hand.
Except me.
“But a common thing in every single discussion I have had on this subject — and in every political discussion I’ve read or seen on it — is that most Americans want a health care system that has the following three characteristics:
1. It covers everyone.
2. It covers everything.
3. It doesn’t cost them much money”
Brilliant. Thanks for posting.
Where does it say that?
Oklahoma was going to do this thirty years ago and discovered the only source of income for most of the small cities was the local grocery. That idea quickly disappeared.
Here’s what I didn’t understand, sweetcheeks -
I guess you haven’t noticed, but every ‘real’ person that gets elected to the Congress is eventually marginalized by the GOPe or neutered in some way. Provided their political career is not destroyed.
What is it about reality YOU don’t understand? Wake up!
Patriots are reminded that the corrupt Senate has been brought to you by the ill-conceived 17th Amendment, state lawmakers foolishly giving up the voices of the state legislatures in Congress when they ratified that amendment, effectively repealing the whole Constitution by doing so imo.
As a consequence, consider that the Senate now helps the likewise corrupt House to pass unconstitutional appropriations bills, bills which not only steal state powers but also state revenues uniquely associated with those powers.
“Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” —Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
”From the accepted doctrine that the United States is a government of delegated powers, it follows that those not expressly granted, or reasonably to be implied from such as are conferred, are reserved to the states, or to the people. To forestall any suggestion to the contrary, the Tenth Amendment was adopted. The same proposition, otherwise stated, is that powers not granted are prohibited [emphasis added].” —United States v. Butler, 1936.
The Senate then approves state sovereignty-ignoring activist Supreme Court justices who wrongly declare the unconstitutional laws that the Senate helped the House to pass to be constitutional, unconstitutional Obamacare a great example.
What is wrong with this picture?
The Senate is the most unconstitutionally powerful office in the corrupt federal government imo.
Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp!
Remember in November ’18 !
Since Pres. Trump entered the ’16 presidential race too late for patriots to make sure that there were state sovereignty-respecting candidates on the primary ballots, patriots need make sure that such candidates are on the ’18 primary ballots so that they can be elected to support Trump in draining the unconstitutionally big federal government swamp.
Such a Congress will also be able to finish draining the swamp with respect to getting the remaining state sovereignty-ignoring, activist Supreme Court justices off of the bench.
Noting that the primaries start in Iowa and New Hampshire in February ‘18, patriots need to challenge candidates for federal office in the following way.
While I Googled the primary information above concerning Iowa and New Hampshire, FReeper iowamark brought to my attention that the February primaries for these states apply only to presidential election years. And after doing some more scratching, since primary dates for most states for 2018 elections probably haven’t been uploaded at this time (March 14, 2017), FReepers will need to find out primary dates from sources and / or websites in their own states.
Patriots need to qualify candidates by asking them why the Founding States made the Constitution’s Section 8 of Article I; to limit (cripple) the federal government’s powers.
Patriots also need to find candidates that are knowledgeable of the Supreme Court's clarifications of the federal government’s limited powers listed above.
Spot on Wolfie. I took a spill a few months ago, bump on forhead, black eye. Went to emergency room and got CT scan, tetanus shot, 4 minute exam. $6500
Much wisdom Mr. Jeeves. I am from a time when a visit to the local Doc was $5.00 and that included a shot or hand full of pills, and many people could not afford even that.
The real reason the Republican Senate isn’t repealing Obamacare:
They are perfectly fine with it as long as they’re in charge of it. They make the rules. If they wanted it changed, it’d be changed.
Next, you take the number of people who opted out of Obamacare and you reduce the money to fund the law proportionately. Now, the rats cannot say people lost their health insurance and those that did opt out can now buy better plans.
That would require them to "do something". They have no interest in doing something here. They are perfectly happy with Obamacare - with very few exceptions, any words they spoke differently were con jobs.
The real reason is that BIG MEDICAL pays much better than we the sheeple do.
Trump needs to go to the sheeple with this and call the spinate out for the crooks they are. Trump thinks he can work with them and that he is somehow preserving some relationship with them. There is no relationship to preserve.
*** “$700 a month premium with an $8,000 deductable. Others have worse. A near useless “plan” that is catastrophic health care coverage in all but name” ***
It should be re-named the “Worthless, Expensive, MANDATORY Catastrophe Plan”
Spot on Wolfie. I took a spill a few months ago, bump on forhead, black eye. Went to emergency room and got CT scan, tetanus shot, 4 minute exam. $6500
The new hospitals in my area of Florida are sparking palaces fit for Saddam. Now I know where they get the cash for them.
I got curious about the health of healthcare companies and took a look at their stock value over the last 10 years.
Remarkably, companies like Aetna, United Healthcare, Cigna, Humana, Anthem and a few others, had share prices around $30-$40 per share when a-hole was inaugurated in 2009.
Now, those companies stock prices trade at $154-$239/ share.
Lesson learned; whenever some progressive $hitbag in government makes a law that compels you buy something, whether you need/ want it or not, buy stock in those companies.
i wonder if obama is still on obamacare...
As a chronic mental disorder, liberalism knows no bounds, age or sex wise.
True. Wife was in a local but smaller hospital in a nice part of Orlando for 8 days with colitis. Beautiful place, but there was hardly anyone there!
And the doctors won’t talk to you. You have to ask them specific questions and if you don’t have them ready they just walk away as fast as possible.
“Yes, your wife has X and she’s getting Y medication, any questions? Great. See you tomorrow. Maybe”
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