Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insurance. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Haslam Medicaid Plan Halted in Tennessee by Koch Brothers

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Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam stalled and waffled for two years while trying to come up with a way to expand Medicaid in Tennessee without starting a Tea Party frenzy. Last year it was obvious that the ill-fated TennCare wasn't working, but he waited until after the November elections to bring up his new plan "Insure Tenn." There was even a hint of optimism in the air last week, as hospital officials, doctors, nurses, the the disabled came to Nashville to testify before the Legislature that insuring the poorest of the poor would be good for everyone.

Coalition for a Healthy Tennessee has a great webpage on Who Falls Into the Tennessee Medicaid Gap

But they were outnumbered by loonies, including a crazy lay-preacher from Dayton, Tennessee - of Scopes Monkey Trial fame - to pray against Medicaid because it's just big government trying to oppress sick people. Just embarrassing and sad.










And another group showed up - Americans For Prosperity - goons backed by the Koch Brothers, sent to remind the Tennessee GOP where it's money comes from. Thus the Insure TN plan was doomed, and never got out of committee for a vote.

From NBC News
NASHVILLE-In December, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, got the deal he wanted from the Obama administration: Tennessee would accept more than $1 billion in federal funding to expand Medicaid, as allowed for in the Affordable Care Act, but Obama aides would allow Haslam to essentially write staunchly conservative ideas into the program's rules for the state. He dubbed the reformed Medicaid program "Insure Tennessee."

But the state's chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the national conservative group whose foundation is chaired by controversial billionaire David Koch, argued Haslam was just trying to trick conservatives into implementing Obamacare in their state by giving it a new name. AFP campaigned aggressively Haslam's plans for the next six weeks, even running radio ads blasting GOP state legislators who said they might vote for it.

. . . When the legislators walked into a hearing Tuesday morning to debate the measure, they looked out from the dais to a room packed with more than 100 people wearing red "Americans for Prosperity" t-shirts. Some of the activists had traveled on an AFP-chartered bus from Knoxville, more than two hours away, to pack the hearing well in advance of its 9:00 AM start time. . . . The sea of red crowded out representatives of the Tennessee Hospital Association, one of the big advocates of the Medicaid expansion, who were left to stand in the back or unable to get into the room at all.



From MSNBC
And what did the AFP activists have to say for themselves?
“I’m skeptical of government-run programs,” said Louis Stans, a retired engineer who was part of the AFP group. Medicare, Stans said, was “better” and he had “paid into it my whole life.”
Those two sentences tell us a great deal about the state of the debate. Here’s a retiree who doesn’t like government-run programs, instead preferring a government-run program. In other words, an AFP activist traveled to the state capitol to condemn a conservative version of Medicaid expansion, because what he really wants is a socialized system like Medicare.
Levi Russell, a national spokesperson for Americans for Prosperity, told NBC News, “I would hope other governors look at Tennessee as an example.”

And just like the government-paid goons in our national Congress who keep trying to "Repeal Obamacare," the Republicans in Tennessee have no other plan for the poor except to bill the hospitals. They got nothing.

However, Gov. Haslam, to his credit, isn't dropping the subject. He mentioned coverage for the poorest citizens in his State of the State Address. This may seem like lip service, but I actually think he means it. Whether he can persuade the Tea Party to actually vote for something that will help the state is debatable. They'd rather talk about Guns and the Bible.

From the Nashville Banner
“Last week, the decision was made not to move forward with Insure Tennessee. However, that does not mean the issues around health care go away. Too many Tennesseans are still not getting health coverage they need in the right way, in the right place, at the right time,” Haslam said in his address to top lawmakers.
“Last week, I talked about coming here not just to make a point but to make a difference. It’s about looking for answers, not just having an agenda. With great power comes great responsibility. So, though the special session has ended, I hope we can find a way to work together to address those problems,” he said.
















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Saturday, July 12, 2014

The Boehner Lawsuit is about . . . Obamacare! Surprise!

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On Monday, July 7, 2014, House Speaker John Boehner made his case against President Obama in an Op-Ed for CNN:
. . . later this month, we will bring legislation to the House floor that would authorize the House of Representatives to file suit in an effort to compel President Obama to follow his oath of office and faithfully execute the laws of our country.
The President's response: "So sue me."
What's disappointing is the President's flippant dismissal of the Constitution we are both sworn to defend. It is utterly beneath the dignity of the office. I know the President is frustrated. I'm frustrated. The American people are frustrated, too.
. . . Over the last five years, starting -- not coincidentally -- when his political party lost the majority in the House of Representatives, the President has consistently overstepped his authority under the Constitution, and in so doing eroded the power of the legislative branch.
The legislative branch has an obligation to defend the rights and responsibilities of the American people, and America's constitutional balance of powers -- before it is too late.

But it wasn't until Thursday that he actually explained the basis of the lawsuit: John Boehner and the Republicans in Congress are suing President Obama over the "employer mandate" part of ACA/Obamacare which was postponed for small business owners - because they asked for it! Now the GOP is saying that Obama shouldn't have delayed it, and he overstepped the bounds of his office. But let's not forget - the GOP hates both ACA and the mandate, so this is all a farce of epic proportions. Let's just hope a Judge sees it that way and isn't in cahoots, as the Supreme Court apparently is.

From the New York Times
On Thursday, Mr. Boehner said the lawsuit would specifically challenge the president’s decision to delay imposing penalties on employers who do not offer health insurance to employees in compliance with the Affordable Care Act.

“The current president believes he has the power to make his own laws — at times even boasting about it,” Mr. Boehner said in his statement. “He has said that if Congress won’t make the laws he wants, he’ll go ahead and make them himself, and in the case of the employer mandate in his health care law, that’s exactly what he did.”

“If this president can get away with making his own laws, future presidents will have the ability to as well,” the speaker added. “The House has an obligation to stand up for the legislative branch, and the Constitution, and that is exactly what we will do.”

When questioned about the lawsuit, Boehner blew up about Obama's lack of "responsibility." This is from a man famous for holding up votes in the House - such as Immigration - just because the Tea Party doesn't like Obama. But he's let them vote to repeal ACA/Obamacare FIFTY times! And this lawsuit is just more nonsense.

You're drunk, Boehner. Go home.

He's been President for five-and-a-half years! When is he going to take responsibility for something?



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The President had quite a bit to say about the lawsuit in Texas this week, and he couched it in terms of Congress doing nothing while he is at least trying to get things done.

Transcript via WhiteHouse.gov
There are a number of Republicans, including a number in the Texas delegation, who are mad at me for taking these actions. They actually plan to sue me. (Laughter.) Now, I don’t know which things they find most offensive -- me helping to create jobs, or me raising wages, or me easing the student loan burdens, or me making sure women can find out whether they’re getting paid the same as men for doing the same job. I don’t know which of these actions really bug them. (Laughter.)

The truth is, even with all the actions I’ve taken this year, I’m issuing executive orders at the lowest rate in more than 100 years. So it’s not clear how it is that Republicans didn’t seem to mind when President Bush took more executive actions than I did. (Applause.) Maybe it’s just me they don’t like. I don’t know. Maybe there’s some principle out there that I haven’t discerned, that I haven’t figure out. (Laughter.) You hear some of them -- “sue him,” “impeach him.” Really? (Laughter.) Really? For what? (Applause.) You’re going to sue me for doing my job? Okay. (Applause.)

I mean, think about that. You’re going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job -- (laughter) -- while you don’t do your job. (Applause.)

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There’s a great movie called “The Departed” -- a little violent for kids. But there’s a scene in the movie where Mark Wahlberg -- they’re on a stakeout and somehow the guy loses the guy that they’re tracking. And Wahlberg is all upset and yelling at the guy. And the guy looks up and he says, “Well, who are you?” And Wahlberg says, “I’m the guy doing my job. You must be the other guy.” (Laughter and applause.) Sometimes, I feel like saying to these guys, I’m the guy doing my job, you must be the other guy. (Applause.)

So rather than wage another political stunt that wastes time, wastes taxpayers’ money, I’ve got a better idea: Do something. (Applause.) If you’re mad at me for helping people on my own, let’s team up. Let’s pass some bills. Let’s help America together. (Applause.)

It is lonely, me just doing stuff. I’d love if the Republicans did stuff, too. (Laughter.) On immigration issues, we’ve got -- and to their credit, there are some Republicans in the Senate who actually worked with Democrats, passed a bill, would strengthen the borders, would help make the system more fair and more just. But the House Republicans, they haven’t even called the bill. They won’t even take a vote on the bill. They don’t have enough energy or organization or I don’t know what to just even vote no on the bill. (Laughter.) And then they’re mad at me for trying to do some things to make the immigration system work better. So it doesn’t make sense.

In the Washington Post, Jonathan Capehart quotes Lawrence Tribe, a professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard:
Tribe told me yesterday that he is “now convinced that there’s no ‘THERE there.” And that was BEFORE the speaker released language of a bill seeking authorization to sue the president “over the way President Obama unilaterally changed the employer mandate” in the Affordable Care Act. Boehner’s announced action solidified Tribe’s view.

"The very fact that Boehner is willing to say the House of Representatives is injured by the President’s decision to delay the implementation of the employer mandate is bizarre in itself, given how often the House has voted not just to delay it but to scuttle it,” Tribe told me via e-mail last night. “And it’s hard to imagine what conceivable remedy a federal court could possibly issue: an order directing the President to reverse course and implement the employer mandate sooner? Hardly!”

. . . the House of Representatives doesn’t have standing because none of Boehner’s accusations shows any harm to the House as an institution.



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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The Fools of April: Obamacare Success Makes GOP Heads Explode

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President Obama took a victory lap today on the success of Obamacare/ACA enrollment, and why not? It's the crowning achievement of his Presidency, and he has faced down critics from both Right and Left, but mostly Right, as well as a critical media for YEARS now. But the Tea Party and their minions on Fox News and elsewhere won't ever admit defeat. They merely come up with new talking points and go on a rampage of taunts and accusations - they have become the "Obamacare Truthers" just as they were the "IRS Truthers" and the "Benghazi Truthers" before that. Anything accomplished by President Obama has to be debunked as a fake feckless false flag.

Will history remember the names of Obamacare's detractors? Not in a good way, as the President says in the transcript below.

Transcript Excerpt: Remarks by the President on the Affordable Care Act
Rose Garden of the White House
April 1, 2014

THE PRESIDENT: . . . Six months ago today, a big part of the Affordable Care Act kicked in as healthcare.gov and state insurance marketplaces went live. And millions of Americans finally had the same chance to buy quality, affordable health care -- and the peace of mind that comes with it -- as everybody else.

Last night, the first open-enrollment period under this law came to an end. And despite several lost weeks out of the gate because of problems with the website, 7.1 million Americans have now signed up for private insurance plans through these marketplaces -- 7.1. (Applause.)

. . . And, yes, at times this reform has been contentious and confusing and obviously it's had a share of critics. That's part of what change looks like in a democracy. change is hard. Fixing what is broken is hard, overcoming skepticism and fear of something new is hard.

A lot of times folks would prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't, but this law is doing what it is supposed to do. it's working. It's helping people from coast-to-coast. All of which makes the lengths to which people have gone to scare people or undermine the law without offering any plausible understandable makes it hard to understand.

I've got to admit it, I don't get it. why are folks working so hard for people not to have health insurance? Why are they so mad about the idea of folks having health insurance?

 Many of the tall tales have been debunked, there are still no death panels, Armageddon has not arrived. Instead, this law is helping millions of Americans and it will help many more. I said before I will always work with anyone who is willing to make this law work even better. but the debate over repealing this law is over. The Affordable Care Act is here to stay.

. . . In the end, history is not kind to those who would deny Americans their basic economic security. Nobody remembers well those who stand in the way of America's progress or our people. that's what the Affordable Care Act represents



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Transcript of Fox and Friends via Raw Story, April 1, 2014
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas: . . . At this point you can't fiddle around the edges. It is the essence of pragmatism to recognize this thing isn't working. Let's start over. Let's repeal every word of it.
Host Steve Doocy: You know, you’re kind of in a minority when it comes to that. You look at the polling, Senator, and a lot of Americans like parts of it, would like to see parts of it continue. So, to blow the whole thing up, I don’t know if people are behind that.

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I think they're cooking the books on this.
~ Senator John Barasso, R-Wyoming

This is a phony number, and it’s wonderfully precise. These guys go six months without any idea what the numbers are, and all of a sudden, it’s to a decimal point. But of course it’s meaningless because…we don’t know how many of them have paid…and how many were previously uninsured.
~ Charles Krauthammer on Fox News

It is an all-out Regime and media swarm on Obamacare. We are being pummeled. We are being beat upside the head. We're being beat on top of the head. They're hitting above the belt and below the belt. They're creaming us out there. 'Cause guess what? They hit their seven million. Overnight they got something like five million people to sign up. They got their seven million. The media's so excited.
. . . To you and me, these numbers are obviously not believable. They're obviously cooked. There's no question. But to the low-information crowd that believes that anything coming from government is gospel, the real numbers are now the subject of Obama's version of "don't ask, don't tell." We're not supposed to ask and we're not supposed to tell. The numbers are what they are and we're supposed to live with it.
~ Rush Limbaugh Transcript, April 1, 2014

Graphic from Rush Limbaugh Website:
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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

To Far Right #HobbyLobby Proves Women are Baby-Killers

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Previous Related Posts:
Supreme Court Hears Hobby Lobby Case
Mike Huckabee ~ Uncle Sugar and the Feminine Libido
Erick Erickson Labels Wendy Davis "Abortion Barbie"
SCOTUS Upholds Obamacare ~ Tea Party Heads Explode
Obama Wins ~ GOP Goes Bonkers

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As the Supreme Court heard the Hobby Lobby case, the far right trolls came out on Twitter to pray for victory, quoting the Bible's admonition "Thou Shall Not Kill" and proving once again they know nothing about human biology or the way birth control works. Common sense has flown out the window in the name of religious freedom. To the right-way of thinking, women who use contraception are sluts, pills are now abortions, and anyone not pro-Hobby Lobby is a baby-killing FemiNazi. It's a Limbaugh-Todd Akin mashup. To read some of the comments on the internet, rational married women never use birth control, and all men want to have sixteen children to work on the ranch, LOL. Even the far right knows this is theater of the absurd (at least some of them do). Hobby Lobby is just a device to give the SCOTUS another chance to gut Obamacare and for pseudo-Christians to cry persecution.






























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Supreme Court Hears #HobbyLobby Case

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard the case brought by crafts superstore Hobby Lobby. While the women of the Court were understandably pro-women and came out swinging, Justice Scalia seemed to think birth control is no big deal for women, even if they have to pay for something they already pay for out of the company premium. It's depressing that the men on the court don't seem to fathom the way insurance works - we saw that in the debate over Obamacare as well.

But even more distressing is that the religious right is predicting victory in this case and so are many in the media. The right-wingers are equating ANY birth control with abortion now, and any woman who uses it is some kind of cold-hearted killer. I saved their nonsensical pronouncements for another post:
To the Far Right, Hobby Lobby Proves Women are Baby Killers



It's true that Hobby Lobby may win their case, but this is hardly a win for the GOP, who seems hell-bent on insulting and alienating women until the party goes extinct. And I'm not sure even the most anti-Left of the Supremes will say business owners can just flout any law they choose in the name of religion - rather they may rule in some narrow way instead of a sweeping generality about all businesses and religions. We won't know until June when the verdict is read, since another medieval thing about SCOTUS is the length of time it takes them to write up decisions. Stay tuned.

From Washington Post
On the one side is the Hobby Lobby arts-and-crafts chain and Conestoga Wood Specialties cabinetry company, both owned by devout families. On the other is the federal government, which argues that the landmark 2010 health care law gives women a statutory right to choose among 20 methods of birth control.

The court, judging from the justices’ questions, is clearly divided on this potential earthquake of a religious rights case. It could be yet another instance where Justice Anthony Kennedy provides the swing vote — in this case whether a corporation has religious rights, and whether those rights in this case have been trampled.

Hobby Lobby, owned by the Green family, and Conestoga, owned by the Hahns, object to paying for the full range of birth control drugs and devices as required by the Affordable Care Act. To them, a handful of the methods they must cover could cause abortion. Including these methods in their companies’ insurance package is, in their eyes, sinful.

From the LA Times
A key moment came near the end of the argument when Kennedy and Roberts raised the issue of abortion.

"Under your view, a profit[-making] corporation could be forced in principle to pay for abortions," Kennedy said.
That is true in principle, Verrilli said, but he added that no law "requires for-profit corporations to pay for abortions."
Roberts sounded surprised. "I thought that's what we had before us," he said.

The exchange made clear that the administration faces an uphill fight. If Roberts and Kennedy decide to view the case as a test of whether the government can ignore a business owner's religious beliefs and force him to provide for abortions, the government would likely lose.

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Thursday, September 19, 2013

GOP Releases "Creepy Uncle Sam" Obamacare Ad

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From Yahoo News
Generation Opportunity, a Virginia-based group that is part of a coalition of right-leaning organizations with financial ties to billionaire businessmen and political activists Charles and David Koch, will launch a six-figure campaign aimed at convincing young people to “opt-out” of the Obamacare exchanges. Later this month, the group will begin a tour of 20 college campuses, where they plan to set up shop alongside pro-Obamacare activists such as Enroll America that are working to sign people up for the insurance exchanges.
. . . Their message: You don’t have to sign up for Obamacare. And they want students to sign a pledge not get insurance plans set up by the law.

“What we’re trying to communicate is, 'No, you’re actually not required to buy health insurance,'” Generation Opportunity President Evan Feinberg told Yahoo News in an interview about the campaign. “You might have to pay a fine, but that’s going to be cheaper for you and better for you.”
Under the law, those who do not sign up for health insurance in 2014 will be required to pay $95 or one percent of household income through the Internal Revenue Service. The fine will increase after that. Generation Opportunity activists will try to convince young people that it’s better for them to pay the fine, even if it means lacking coverage.

The group’s college tour will coincide with the release of an online video series featuring an Uncle Sam character that looks more like a terrifying circus clown than the guy who wants you to join the Army.





The Russians, the Chinese and the Japanese used to use Uncle Sam as a creepy warmonger in their propaganda too.
~ Bill B. on Mediaite

..So the Republicans are accusing Obamacare of forcing the government onto a woman's body.
OH THE IRONY, HOW YOU SWAYETH ME.
~ Derek R. on Mediaite

It's shockingly disgusting, incredibly insulting and a bald-faced lie. It's gone too far, even for them.
~ Ethan Rome, Exec. Director with Health Care for America Now

It is hard to tell if this is real or if it’s a ‘Saturday Night Live’ parody about the hypocrisy of extremists who want to be in every exam room in America but don’t want to expand access to quality health care. These are the same extreme Koch-funded political groups who have tried to pass transvaginal ultrasound laws and other laws allowing politicians to interfere with people’s personal medical decisions. These videos are the height of hypocrisy, but more importantly they are irresponsible and dangerous, designed to spread misinformation and discourage people from getting access to high quality, affordable health care.
~ Eric Ferrero, vice president for communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Uncle Sam as your OB/GYN. Yes, the thrust of the “Opt Out” campaign is that Obamacare automatically replaces your medical professionals with patriotic cosplay perverts.
The spot—which is paralleled for men with a version where Uncle Sam is the guy examining your prostate—is like a mashup of a torture porn movie and a lesser Burger King ad.
~ Miles Klee on Daily Dot


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Saturday, December 8, 2012

Dems Pop Trial Balloon on Raising Retirement Age

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. . . when the question comes to what concessions the Democrats are going to have to accept, rather than what policy makes the most sense, raising the Medicare age seems like a sensible bone to throw the right.
. . . raising the Medicare retirement age would help strengthen the fight to preserve the Affordable Care Act.
. . . a side effect of raising the Medicare retirement age would be that a large cohort of 65- and 66-year-olds would suddenly find themselves needing the Affordable Care Act to buy their health insurance. Which is to say, Republicans attacking the Affordable Care Act would no longer be attacking the usual band of very poor or desperate people they can afford to ignore but a significant chunk of middle-class voters who have grown accustomed to the assumption that they will be able to afford health care.
~ Jonathan Chait, NYMag

Let’s look at Chait’s reasoning. I would probably start with the fact that he’s not 64 or 65. My parents are, and until my dad reached Medicare in November, they were paying $2,500 a month on the private market for health insurance. So I’ll be happy to provide him with their phone number so he can tell them how it’s “tolerable” for them to spend two years more than they expected doing that.
~ David Dayen on FireDogLake



 FireDogLake’s David Dayen has a long post calling my argument “miserable,” which is impressive enough for Atrios to award me the coveted “Wanker of the Day” title. (“Wanker” is a leftie blog cliché used to describe people who deviate from the left-liberal line but aren’t conservatives. Say, Tom Friedman.)
It has been a long time since I’ve won Wanker of the Day, and the rush of gratitude has me feeling a bit flustered. So many people to thank! Let’s see: the hosts of Georgetown cocktail parties to which I hope to one day earn an invitation by selling out liberals. My secretive corporate masters. And, of course, my supporting cast colleagues.
~ Jonathan Chait on NYMag

. . . color me appalled by David Dayan’s piece at FDL early this morning barbecuing Chait as a sell-out peddling “idiocy,” among other choice epithets. Atrios piled on by naming Chait his “Wanker of the Day” ...
So why the categorical vitriol aimed at Chait? I dunno. Maybe it involves old grudges...
~ comment by Ed Kilgore on Washington Monthly

Jeebus It's Not High School
No it's not personalities and grudges and Jon Chait gave me a wedgie once so now I'm gonna be mean to the poor defenseless guy.
It's that people have hard f***ing lives and raising the Medicare eligibility age will cost money, not save money, and also kill people.
So, no, not calm.
~ Atrios on EschatonBlog

That’s not a policy I like much, but New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait accurately conveys the White House thinking here: They see it as having “weirdly disproportionate symbolic power,” as it’s not a huge (or smart) cut to Medicare benefits, and most of the pain will be blunted by the Affordable Care Act. But Republicans and self-styled deficit hawks see it as a big win. And Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who staunchly opposes raising the retirement age, has stopped well short of ruling it out.
~ Ezra Klein on Washington Post

Once again, Ezra, who sits at a desk for a living, can join Jon on a conference call with 65 and 66 year-olds to tell them why it’s so tolerable for them to wait two years – out of a life expectancy of another 15-20 – for Medicare benefits they paid into all their lives. I don’t know, 10-15% reductions in the benefit sounds like a lot to me, especially when you consider that poorer people, with a lower life expectancy, lose more of the benefit. When you add in that this only saves a meager amount of money for canceling 10-15% of the lifetime benefit, it makes it all the more horrible a trade. And you can’t phase this in slowly if you want to save any money with it.
. . . In new-Chait-world where concessions have to be made, raising the eligibility age, which makes health insurance more expensive for every American and has a regressive impact, is just a really bad concession. I can hardly think of a worse one.
. . . Chait’s whole point is that there would be political benefits here. Bad policy does not make for good politics, at least not in this case.
~ David Dayen on FireDogLake

I Hope This Isn't True
Ezra Klein says that the shape of a fiscal cliff deal is clear: only a 37 percent rate on top incomes, and a rise in the Medicare eligibility age.
I’m going to cross my fingers and hope that this is just a case of creeping Broderism, that it’s a VSP (Very Serious People) fantasy about how we’re going to resolve this in a bipartisan way. Because if Obama really does make this deal, there will be hell to pay.
. . .  this looks crazy to me; it looks like a deal that makes no sense either substantively or in terms of the actual bargaining strength of the parties. And if it does happen, the disillusionment on the Democratic side would be huge. All that effort to reelect Obama, and the first thing he does is give away two years of Medicare? How’s that going to play in future attempts to get out the vote?
If anyone in the White House is seriously thinking along these lines, please stop it right now.
~ Paul Krugman on NY Times

Raise the eligibility age and PEOPLE WILL DIE.
No, that’s not an exaggeration, and the failure of certain wonks to take that into consideration speaks to their isolation from everyday people, even the everyday people who provide services to them, such as grocery-store clerks, waitresses, and construction workers in right-to-work states. These are people who cannot wait until they’re 67 for the full complement of Medicare benefits.
. . . But if everyone in your family is college-educated and has a good job with adequate health insurance, why would it even cross your mind that not everybody does?
Here’s my hope: that this rumor is being floated in order to create enormous pushback from the left that would give Obama cover for rejecting it. Time to push.
~ Adele Stan on Washington Monthly

Sell-Out of the Century?
. . . If this is true — and right now it is a very big if — then it represents the greatest sell-out of a winning political coalition since LBJ ran on “not sending American boys to Vietnam.”
~ Jonathan Zasloff

 Wow, Chait, if you're going to soak everyone's grandma for $20B per year in added costs, just to satisfy your journalist's "Art of the Deal" lust, you'd better get a thicker skin. 
Oh. And can I please sell you a car? I would love to hear in advance what concessions you're willing to make before the negotiation begins.  
"Narcisissistic wanker" hardly begins to cover the stupidity Chait displays in his first and second posts.
~  comment by Dollared on NYMag

Normally I like Chait's posts, but if he wants to raise the Medicare retirement age, a needlessly cruel idea that won't actually save any money, then wanker is probably too kind. Are you allowed to say filthy knob gobbler on the Daily Intel?
~  comment by WTF123 on NYMag
 
What's annoying about Chait's "concession" is the implication that some cuts to benefits are necessary to complete "the deal". Obama, himself, has pointed out repeatedly that cuts to a program (such as reduced payments to providers) do not require cuts to benefits to beneficiaries. It has the appearance of a floated balloon which those of us seeking to protect the safety net do not appreciate.
~ comment by JackD on Washington Monthly

...Here, the left is trying to come up with a single, coherent message (no cuts to Medicare benefits, including eligibility-age increases), and Jon Chait is undermining that message by breaking ranks. That Chait knows that no concessions are necessary makes his comments more galling.
Without being able to see into Dday or Atrios' heart of hearts, I'm gonna say this probably isn't all that personal against Chait. He muddied the message, so a strong show of disapproval was necessary to show that the left is not behind his proposal.
~ comment by GangisKhan on Washington Monthly

This would definitely dwarf the 'war on Christmas'. It would also make Scrooge look like an amateur.
~ comment by Notta Vailable on NYT

If President Obama betrays the American people by raising the age of Medicare coverage, he will regret this for the rest of his days. What is the point of pushing people around like that?
~ comment by Kathleen on NYT

The potential deal reported by Ezra Klein might be a rumor created by Republicans hoping to influence the outcome. Republicans apparent think that Geithner was bluffing and that Obama doesn't have the fortitude to wait until January for a deal. If Obama were to accept the deal rumored by Klein, it would undermine the entire second term of his presidency.
~ comment by Fred D. on NYT

If the President is actually idiotic enough to sell out his base to that extent FOR NO REAL REASON, then I'm pretty sure that the reaction from that base--including a march on Washington by unions and other working people between 55 and 65 years of age, as well as highly visible and disruptive protests at his inauguration--will make Occupy Wall Street look like a church social.
He can't possibly be that deluded in his centrism. This has to be a trial balloon intended to make us all feel better about the slightly less onerous sellout that he's actually planning.
~ comment by Kevin E. on NYT

Oh brother. It looks like the zombies ate Ezra's brain.
~ comment by Peter S. on NYT

I'm not buying it. I'm thinking that Ezra is listening to the wrong "smart folks in Washington" and is perhaps become a funnel for trial balloons himself.
~ comment by Ohmmade on NYT

Usually "Asking the smart pundits" means "emailing Tom Friedman, David Brooks, and George Will". And he doesn't really believe 65 to 67 is going to happen, anyway.
Remember that it has to get past the Senate as well. Just watch one member of the D Caucus put a big ol' wad of Bubble Yum in those gears prior to reforming the filibuster after New Year's Day. I hope it's cherry flavored.
Nothingburger, as always with these panics.
~ comment by Dr. Squid on Daily Kos

I'm certain though that our best approach is to shout to the rooftops now, rather than rely on rescue by the Senate.
. . . if this piece by Klein is a trial balloon, let's shoot it out of the sky with a bloody bazooka. Even if that turns out to be unnecessary, the point will have been made that there really are lines progressives will never be prepared to cross.
~ comment by PhilJD on Daily Kos

Ed Rendell and Lawrence O'Brien have also been speculating smugly about how significant the benefit cuts will be and how the base will just have to shut up about it. MSNBC is shilling big time for the bitter pill. Of course, it's only bitter for the working poor. Congress isn't giving up their healthcare and neither is the pundit class.
~ comment by greenbell on Daily Kos

If the goal is to keep the Medicare system running as efficiently as possible, we should be looking into ways to lower the age of Medicare eligibility, not ways to increase it. The Republican plan chips away at Medicare affordability - one of its greatest strengths - seemingly by design. I'm willing to compromise, but I'm not willing to compromise the health and economic security of seniors and everyone who hopes to become a senior.
. . . Compromise to address the fiscal cliff is not an end; it is a means to an end: preserving the health and well being of all Americans. We can fashion a bipartisan deal that keeps seniors' retirement security preserved. We can take a step back from the fiscal cliff without breaking our promise to seniors.
We can get this done and done right, but raising the age of Medicare eligibility to 67 is a nonstarter for me, and it's a nonstarter for many of my Democratic colleagues.
~ John Garamendi on Calitics



















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Monday, September 24, 2012

Mitt's Plan: Uninsured Should go to Candy Mountain, I mean the ER

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"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance. If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care."
Mitt Romney in an interview with Scott Pelley of CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night

Contradiction ~ Etch-A-Sketch 2010
Look, it doesn't make a lot of sense for us to have millions and millions of people who have no health insurance and yet who can go to the emergency room and get entirely free care for which they have no responsibility, particularly if they are people who have sufficient means to pay their own way.
~ Mitt Romney in March 2010 on Morning Joe

And . . . Flip-Flop 2007
When they show up at the hospital, they get care. They get free care paid for by you and me. If that's not a form of socialism, I don't know what is. So my plan did something quite different. It said, you know what? If people can afford to buy insurance ... or if they can pay their own way, then they either buy that insurance or pay their own way, but they no longer look to government to hand out free care. And that, in my opinion, is ultimate conservativism.
~ Mitt on the Glenn Beck Show, 2007

The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.
~ George W. Bush, 2007, via Eclectablog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Mitt's surgeon general would be Theodoric of York.
~ comment by whatthel on Huff Post

His platform is like the melting Artic Ice sheets.
He doesn't know where to stand.
~ comment by RPM9500 on Huff Post

There is no way to revive this guy's campaign. Don't even bother with the paddles.
~ comment by abbienormal on Huff Post

Since Republicans hate government we can barter for their service - pay them in corn and chickens.
~ comment by Stuzzadelic on Huff Post

Did Bain form a new company that specializes in patient dumping?
/under the cover of darkness of course.
~ comment by Neets101 on Huff Post

Go to the emergency room.
Receive treatment you cannot afford.
Lose your job because you are too sick to work, lose your home because you lost your job, lose everything because you had no insurance to pay for your healthcare costs,.....
We've seen this horror film before, but Mitt paid no attention.
~ comment by demisfine on Huff Post

Speaking of botched interviews .... Romney's campaign is now officially in an ambulance, on the way to the Emergency Room.
~ comment by DerBlaueEngel on Washington Post

Might as well redirect people to the morgue. Cut out the middle man.
~ comment by washpost45 on Washington Post

Let Them Eat Emergency Rooms
~ Headline on Gawker

No Health Insurance? No problem. Romney Says That Freeloading In The ER Is Now All Good
~ Headline on Forbes

I'll simply state the obvious... ER visits are reactive, not preventive. When I can walk into an ER and pick up blood pressure or cholesterol meds which could PREVENT that hypothetical heart attack, that's when I'll consider the ER a form a socialized health care.
~ comment by Buford on AmericaBlog

"Don't worry, peasants! There will be hospitals there to treat you while you're dying of something that could have been prevented."
~ comment by leftistmenace_1 on Daily Beast

Let me tell you what happens when the uninsured to to the emergency room. You get a bill for somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000....then when you can't pay the ridiculous amount they have charged you....you get harassed for years by a collection agency. Sometimes...you get two bills...one from the local hospital and another from their parent company. I know someone this has happened to. It's a sad and dangerous situation.
Romney doesn't get it......just doesn't.
~ comment by Marmee on Daily Beast

Now we have heard it from the horse mouth himself. Romney Ryan and Republican House Party want to treat the 47% like "LIVESTOCK". Take away our healthcare "OBAMACARE" for "romneyDIEcare". Wake-up PEOPLES Romney only vision $$$$$$$$$$$$$ look he came straight for our money our health we worth alot to him and his 1% BROKE = DEATH
~ comment by LawannaSauls on Daily Beast

Does this mean that on day one of his presidency, when he repeals the Obama Affordable Care Act (as he promises to do) that ER's all over the country will happily fling open their doors to everyone with a vaginal infection, the hives, an earache, the flu, mild dizziness and other every-day type medical concerns?
He comes out with a reasonable, workable health care plan in Massachusetts, but 'ER's-IN-A-BOX' is the best he can do for a whole country?
Unbelievable.
~ Jane Massey in The Virginian-Pilot

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