Republicans will continue to attack Obamacare, albeit only rhetorically. They still attack Social Security (privatize) and Medicare (turn it into a voucher program). Thankfully American people are too wise to fall for it!
48
In the United Kingdom, which would qualify as a country with socialized medicine, nobody is "forced" to submit to government health care because the private system does exists. What is really at stake here are corporate profits in a fake market, i.e., complete distortion.
25% of health care costs occur at the end of life, where medical intervention incurs no genuine market forces. None of the instruments used have prices that the patient is aware of, or that can be negotiated by the government, i.e, Medicare.
After WWII European governments decided for universal healthcare. They conveniently forget, however, that they rely on Uncle Sam to defend them if attacked. My point is that there is a limit to healthcare "quantitative easing". Every nation on earth struggles to provide health care for their population. No single nation has all the answers. Not even the nordic countries. If attacked, would you rely on Sweden for defense?
Yet do we really need to invest 20 times more for defense than any other country in the world? If we were more efficient, we wouldn't have to. The same goes for health care - more efficiency and real information, not "death panel" fantasies.
And that is exactly what's happening. The more we talk about Obamacare and the more we experience it, the more people will realize that, after all, it isn't such a bad thing and this provides room for humaneness.
25% of health care costs occur at the end of life, where medical intervention incurs no genuine market forces. None of the instruments used have prices that the patient is aware of, or that can be negotiated by the government, i.e, Medicare.
After WWII European governments decided for universal healthcare. They conveniently forget, however, that they rely on Uncle Sam to defend them if attacked. My point is that there is a limit to healthcare "quantitative easing". Every nation on earth struggles to provide health care for their population. No single nation has all the answers. Not even the nordic countries. If attacked, would you rely on Sweden for defense?
Yet do we really need to invest 20 times more for defense than any other country in the world? If we were more efficient, we wouldn't have to. The same goes for health care - more efficiency and real information, not "death panel" fantasies.
And that is exactly what's happening. The more we talk about Obamacare and the more we experience it, the more people will realize that, after all, it isn't such a bad thing and this provides room for humaneness.
44
There were a few movie stars back in the day who were box office poison and Reagan was either that and not much else. Consequently it is easy to understand his transition to spokesman for some group--any group that would pay him.
As a political leader Reagan, like his Mid-Western friend John Wayne, found his reactionary and conservative voice. These "opposers-to-progress-for-all" are slowly being proved wrong in their policies, statements, and beliefs.
Biographers claim to have a difficult time discovering the "real" Ronald Reagan. Why not look to his cinematic origins and one can see he was in life and on the screen just a glimmering shadow who reflected and spoke the words from scripts given him and written by him.
As a political leader Reagan, like his Mid-Western friend John Wayne, found his reactionary and conservative voice. These "opposers-to-progress-for-all" are slowly being proved wrong in their policies, statements, and beliefs.
Biographers claim to have a difficult time discovering the "real" Ronald Reagan. Why not look to his cinematic origins and one can see he was in life and on the screen just a glimmering shadow who reflected and spoke the words from scripts given him and written by him.
62
It took over 20 years before Medicaid was finally adopted by all states so opposition to Obamacare is likely to sputter on at the state level for years but in the main most states are going to roll over sooner rather than later because of economic forces. The ACA represents tens of billions of dollars of revenue for the healthcare industry and thus a far wider boost for economic activity generally. Thus the economic pressure within non compliant states is going to be enormous. Ultimately, money talks, particularly with Republicans.
33
Translation: Republicans are often on the wrong side of history, until they remember they like to be elected / reelected, when they then get on the right side of history.
Within a generation, many, perhaps most Republicans will embrace same-sex marriage as well.
Within a generation, many, perhaps most Republicans will embrace same-sex marriage as well.
40
Obamneycare was designed by the Heritage Foundation. Conservatives won the war, for now.
38
The GOP will still use the ACA to bash the President (they will continue to run against him even in 2016) and throw red meat to their base to win party primaries, but the effect will be to tar the party as homophobic when more and more voters are becoming tolerant. Something of the same blow-back effect will happen as they wage war against human-caused global warming, especially since the Pope has defined the issue as a moral one.
31
Have you read the popes entire thing?
I haven't but there are some parts I've seen quoted that may be of interest to you.
Tell me would you take a creationist's opinion on global warming? No yet in his encyclical the pope declares evolution to be impossible to explain the complexity of humans.
Now where have we heard that?
Yet liberals trumpet "the pope agreed with us! Everyone listen to him" lol
Regarding the science of global warming, checkout
@tan123
@stevesgoddard
And the third party charts they post and then ask yourself if there's truly no scientific basis to reject the Mann-made climate hysteria.
I haven't but there are some parts I've seen quoted that may be of interest to you.
Tell me would you take a creationist's opinion on global warming? No yet in his encyclical the pope declares evolution to be impossible to explain the complexity of humans.
Now where have we heard that?
Yet liberals trumpet "the pope agreed with us! Everyone listen to him" lol
Regarding the science of global warming, checkout
@tan123
@stevesgoddard
And the third party charts they post and then ask yourself if there's truly no scientific basis to reject the Mann-made climate hysteria.
1
The economic similarity between "Obamacare and Reagan" is that both attack the middle class. The Reagan tax rate cuts for the wealthy have contributed to increased income inequality, while Obamacare is a gift to the health care and insurance industries, to be paid for by working middle class Americans who don't qualify for subsidies. Both of these federal policies are likely to be unsustainable.
11
"Under capitalism, most activity happens in private markets, and the government steps in to handle areas where the market struggles to earn a profit..." It's a shame this couldn't be more precise. Are Americans incapable of recognizing public goods? Is it only when the market can't make a profit that governments act? Such poverty of expression reflects the total route that market fundamentalism has achieved in the US, when people are no longer even to articulate a rationale for government action that transcends the market. Safety, health, education, these are chiefly public goods, not merely private goods, hence they are the domain of government action.
It would be interesting to see if the average American could even name the chief public goods of society, let alone provide a systematic definition for them.
It would be interesting to see if the average American could even name the chief public goods of society, let alone provide a systematic definition for them.
48
The biggest opponent of health care in America has always been insatiable, self destructive profit seeking behavior. That's why the AMA opposed Medicare, an otherwise inexplicable position for an organization that pretended to advance the cause of health care.
And the same forces are at work today, seeking local market hospital consolidation and monopoly, protection against government negotiation of drug prices, burying unfavorable research on ineffective drugs, buying up patents on blockbuster drugs developed with public funds and generally exploiting every opportunity for excessive treatment and billing.
For decades, Americans have bought the "best health care system in the world" line. But with growing transparency and international comparisons, it has become clear that we have both the best, like Cleveland Clinic, and the worst in the developed world. It has also become clear that better outcomes are generally correlated to lower cost, which is why Medicare costs twice as much in Miami as Seattle, with worse outcomes, even after adjusting for age and ethnicity.
The ACA is opposed by many in the industry because it promotes competition, transparency and quality, the three most scary words in the profit seekers world.
And the same forces are at work today, seeking local market hospital consolidation and monopoly, protection against government negotiation of drug prices, burying unfavorable research on ineffective drugs, buying up patents on blockbuster drugs developed with public funds and generally exploiting every opportunity for excessive treatment and billing.
For decades, Americans have bought the "best health care system in the world" line. But with growing transparency and international comparisons, it has become clear that we have both the best, like Cleveland Clinic, and the worst in the developed world. It has also become clear that better outcomes are generally correlated to lower cost, which is why Medicare costs twice as much in Miami as Seattle, with worse outcomes, even after adjusting for age and ethnicity.
The ACA is opposed by many in the industry because it promotes competition, transparency and quality, the three most scary words in the profit seekers world.
61
It is stunning to me that people (read: the GOP) think ACA is about socialism, or even healthcare. It isn't. It is about health insurance. And it is really about reining in costs. ACA is a lever that allows the government to regulate costs that have gotten completely out of control. By ending the "preexisting conditions" nonsense but making insurance coverage mandatory, the insurance pool expands to a point where healthcare providers can no longer hide behind regional differences, or duopolies, or anything else. Now providers must answer for price gouging that hurts the American people. We need to squeeze 40 percent of healthcare costs out of our GDP *TODAY* -- and the ACA is the (first) tool to get that done.
64
Now we need Medicare for all. It would be cheaper and easier to pass, as all Americans know Medicare and only a handful of crackpots oppose Medicare. Hillary Clinton could co-opt her opponent Senator Sanders and seize this initiative.
And W's Prescription drug plan needs another tweak: Medicare must bargain for the lowest price on every medication. That's not socialism either. It's how state and municipal governments operate. The lowest price gets the contract.
Funding? We need to end the earnings ceiling as a criteria for Medicare taxes and then let businesses and citizens know that they are in for a big break....their insurance costs are going down a lot while their Medicare tax will go up a little.
What's most troubling about the fight over establishing universal healthcare is that countries that have it, like it, pay less for it, and have better outcomes. And we don't want that because? a)We trust corporations more than we do our government. b)Our businesses prefer to be at a disadvantage with foreign companies. c)Exceptionalism really means that we are exceptionally gullible d) All of the above.
And W's Prescription drug plan needs another tweak: Medicare must bargain for the lowest price on every medication. That's not socialism either. It's how state and municipal governments operate. The lowest price gets the contract.
Funding? We need to end the earnings ceiling as a criteria for Medicare taxes and then let businesses and citizens know that they are in for a big break....their insurance costs are going down a lot while their Medicare tax will go up a little.
What's most troubling about the fight over establishing universal healthcare is that countries that have it, like it, pay less for it, and have better outcomes. And we don't want that because? a)We trust corporations more than we do our government. b)Our businesses prefer to be at a disadvantage with foreign companies. c)Exceptionalism really means that we are exceptionally gullible d) All of the above.
100
Bernie Sanders has already called for a Medicare for All plan. https://berniesanders.com/news/supreme-court-allows-aca/
Why not just vote for him? He is, after all, the *real* Democrat.
Why not just vote for him? He is, after all, the *real* Democrat.
35
I will, and campaign for him if wins the primary......more importantly, we need universal healthcare!
16
Yes please vote for him in the primaries. I think hillary would literally physically explode once she loses the primary.
5
"Modern American history makes clear that once the social safety net expands in a major way, it’s almost impossible for anyone to reverse it."
Oh really? What about the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" ("welfare reform) which gutted much of the Great Society programs and whittled welfare down to program which now only covers around 4% of the population, most of whom are single women with babies? And they must work and have a five year lifetime limit.
Or HUD? Because of the deregulation of the mortgage industry and zero percent, no doc loans, many people bought homes and HUD housing was torn down and not replaced. Then once they discovered they were unqualified to repay the loans, they discovered that they would have to return to poor minority neighborhoods (AKA "ghettos") where the rental housing is often run down.
Ask the poor and middle class whether or not they still feel the social safety will be there if they suddenly get cancer and have to spend far more than their savings to pay off their medical co-pays. Ask them if they feel safe if they lose their jobs. Will they have enough money to pay their mortgage and for how long? The economic meltdown proved that most social safety nets are in shreds.
To say that our social safety nets are "still solid" because Obamacare, a small program at best that only covers a small, specific segment of Americans, survived a Supreme Court challenge, is ludicrous.
Oh really? What about the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" ("welfare reform) which gutted much of the Great Society programs and whittled welfare down to program which now only covers around 4% of the population, most of whom are single women with babies? And they must work and have a five year lifetime limit.
Or HUD? Because of the deregulation of the mortgage industry and zero percent, no doc loans, many people bought homes and HUD housing was torn down and not replaced. Then once they discovered they were unqualified to repay the loans, they discovered that they would have to return to poor minority neighborhoods (AKA "ghettos") where the rental housing is often run down.
Ask the poor and middle class whether or not they still feel the social safety will be there if they suddenly get cancer and have to spend far more than their savings to pay off their medical co-pays. Ask them if they feel safe if they lose their jobs. Will they have enough money to pay their mortgage and for how long? The economic meltdown proved that most social safety nets are in shreds.
To say that our social safety nets are "still solid" because Obamacare, a small program at best that only covers a small, specific segment of Americans, survived a Supreme Court challenge, is ludicrous.
47
Virtually every issue you mention is part of the traditional Western European social safety net simply because it is a civilized way to live, and it is and has been steadily weakened over many years by way of the Reagan/Thatcher economic and social model. For most Western Europeans the United States is more often than not a threat whatever the political party in power.
23
Ever wondered why immigrants who arrive in France STILL try to make it to Britain?
If Western Europe is suuuch a utopia, why is America the #1 destination?
If Western Europe is suuuch a utopia, why is America the #1 destination?
1