Enough! We'll happily sign on to the same health care you have. No way... well you should make due with whatever you're concocting. Otherwise, we will accept nothing less.
2
This needs to be on the front page before it is too late!
1
I can't believe that American Politicians are called Representatives!
Of what? Their own self interests?
So why do they rely on votes from people to get their jobs whose interests they are employed to serve but they actually don't and seem not to get in trouble for not actually helping or promoting the majority of their interests?
In fact, for one of the major aspects of people's lives, health and financial future they actually Don't discuss or reveal how best find the most ideal ways and means and work towards helping improve but instead keep secret and work against most people's best interests and only benefit mostly those who need help or benefits the least of all others who their ideas will help least and hurt the most by the millions!!?
These are your leaders?
You vote them in to do these things?
You pay them to do these damaging destructive things to so many ?
To You?
Golly...who are your enemies if these are your "Representatives"?
Of what? Their own self interests?
So why do they rely on votes from people to get their jobs whose interests they are employed to serve but they actually don't and seem not to get in trouble for not actually helping or promoting the majority of their interests?
In fact, for one of the major aspects of people's lives, health and financial future they actually Don't discuss or reveal how best find the most ideal ways and means and work towards helping improve but instead keep secret and work against most people's best interests and only benefit mostly those who need help or benefits the least of all others who their ideas will help least and hurt the most by the millions!!?
These are your leaders?
You vote them in to do these things?
You pay them to do these damaging destructive things to so many ?
To You?
Golly...who are your enemies if these are your "Representatives"?
3
When Mitch's American Vampire Healthcare Act comes out of the dark, it will be wearing so much lipstick, that Republicans in Congress will swear that 24 million citizens are dancing in the streets to not be under the ACA mandate.
How ironic...
The esteemed Editorial Board complaining that the Republicans are crafting their health bill behind close doors.
And you thought having to "pass (Obamcare) to see what was in it was appropriate?
Have you lost all contact personal and institutional integrity with that sort of hypocrisy?
The esteemed Editorial Board complaining that the Republicans are crafting their health bill behind close doors.
And you thought having to "pass (Obamcare) to see what was in it was appropriate?
Have you lost all contact personal and institutional integrity with that sort of hypocrisy?
1
Et tu, McConnell?
1
According to Paul Ryan, you have to pass the bill in order to find out what is in it.
Why is the GOP stealth and sleaze in trying to destroy healthcare for millions of Americans not being reported every day on the Times front page? Please cover this invidious and purely partisan scheme front and center!
1
This behavior by the Republicans should be criminal. Many will suffer and die because of their greed and their overweening pride. They are shameless in their zeal to harm the American people in order to fund a giant tax cut for themselves and their uber-rich benefactors.
This is brazen, flagrant, hypocritical dismissal of the American people and their needs and desires. Complete corruption.
This is brazen, flagrant, hypocritical dismissal of the American people and their needs and desires. Complete corruption.
As the saying goes: "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." Call your Senators today and everyday. Email them. They work for us. remind them of that.
1
Is there not a TRUE patriot that would "leak" what these crooks are doing ??
1
Mitch McConnell - more insults to our form of government. When are the good people of Kentucky going to relieve our Democracy of this blot. Send him into retirement, memorialize him with a small statue of an ugly man on an elephant. Put a plaque on the statues base saying "Our Shame".
To those who say the Republicans shouldn't or cant do this or should do this or that or care about who they work for or should be helping not hurting....
Guess What?
They couldn't care less what many or even most people think. That's why they are doing all the things that they are doing that are and will hurt so many of the people in the country that they rule.
Yes...rule.
Most of you are letting them do what they do and most of you are either voting for them or allowing them to win the votes to get them in to do the things they do for themselves and a few others.
So this is the reality and the facts.
The Only possible question that needs asking and given an actual answer of some real intent behind it is :
So what are you going to do about it?
Because so far in so many instances on so many things thus far the answer has been: " Not Much"
You need to give a better Answer to the Question you haven't really asked yourselves yet.
Then perhaps you can start to change things for the better. And maybe these people who are doping what they want to do without a care about what you won't do and haven't done so far won't give a hoot about what you want until you actually do something that makes them reconsider.
Like actually doing something to stop them doing what they do to you and give themselves.
Again: So what are you going to do about it?
Guess What?
They couldn't care less what many or even most people think. That's why they are doing all the things that they are doing that are and will hurt so many of the people in the country that they rule.
Yes...rule.
Most of you are letting them do what they do and most of you are either voting for them or allowing them to win the votes to get them in to do the things they do for themselves and a few others.
So this is the reality and the facts.
The Only possible question that needs asking and given an actual answer of some real intent behind it is :
So what are you going to do about it?
Because so far in so many instances on so many things thus far the answer has been: " Not Much"
You need to give a better Answer to the Question you haven't really asked yourselves yet.
Then perhaps you can start to change things for the better. And maybe these people who are doping what they want to do without a care about what you won't do and haven't done so far won't give a hoot about what you want until you actually do something that makes them reconsider.
Like actually doing something to stop them doing what they do to you and give themselves.
Again: So what are you going to do about it?
1
Can someone, anyone please explain to me why the Republicans are allowed to get away with this? I am not being coy, I would like someone to enlighten me. Where are the Democrats, the medical establishment? Where is the rage?
I've transformed myself into a heartless soul. I voted for Obama and he offered insurance to sick and addicted rural folks at subsidized prices. I got nothing from that deal except the hatred of those who benefited from "the Muslim President".
Now, they have elected the Congress and President they asked for, so they deserve the destruction they bring. I'm powerless to stop it, and I no longer care to waste future political capital on their problems. Addicted to opioids? Try cold turkey. Got diabetes or lung problems because of bad lifestyles or jobs in the coal industry? Reform your diet and pay the bills yourselves.
Sorry. I like Bernie, but the help he is offering will only get the hatred of those he tries to help. Better to reform the system at the state level where we have a chance at some agreement.
Now, they have elected the Congress and President they asked for, so they deserve the destruction they bring. I'm powerless to stop it, and I no longer care to waste future political capital on their problems. Addicted to opioids? Try cold turkey. Got diabetes or lung problems because of bad lifestyles or jobs in the coal industry? Reform your diet and pay the bills yourselves.
Sorry. I like Bernie, but the help he is offering will only get the hatred of those he tries to help. Better to reform the system at the state level where we have a chance at some agreement.
where are the honorable republicans who will vote against this bill? Is there no one who will stand up for principled lawmaking?
What goes around comes around. If one remembers correctly, Obamacare was passed in the dark of night, using arcane Senate rules. It never had a chance of passing otherwise. Additionally, there were zero Republican amendments added to Obamacare (check your facts NYT). The Republicans will be rewarded for getting rid of it. Deep down, the Democrats know it too.
As long as Republican Senators can only get the same health care insurance as the rest of us and at the same cost to themselves and their families (no taxpayer subsidies) and forego the gold platted one they enjoy presently, I'm okay with their bill. Give them 12 months and they will be whining.
2
The Senate has been unacceptably quiet lately. Maybe Trump's diversions has always been the plan, no the GOP senators can quietly jam medical and budget bills down our throats. What truly scares me is bills that can pass the Senate without proper review, debate, etc. How can the Dems allow this to happen. If anything a media blitz to Americans on this issue is something.
This "health" bill is one of a series of actions taken by the "pro life" party to dismantle protections to citizens, from defunding Planned Parenthood to the evisceration of the EPA and OSHA. They want to protect the fetus but once you are born you're on your own, it's sink or swim. Europeans and other civilized people must think we are barbarians with our lack of comprehensive medical care, economic inequality and lack of gun control.
I refuse to believe that Americans should be made to take this nonsense and relegate ourselves to lives without health care and help for those who are already barely able to survive on meager government subsistence. We are paying congress and the president to protect and defend us. Instead, they have decided to take the money and run, leaving all of us with what little we will have left after they reward themselves and their rich friends. Looks like we're going to have to stand up as Americans and do something about this ourselves. If we don't we'll only have ourselves to blame when we lose our democracy.......what's left of it.
I'll see you in the emergency room after you've handed over your 401k to the for profit health care industry. No death panel required.
I miss the erudite, cerebral, patient GOP of George Bush. What hath god wrought indeed
1
If a person gets poor or sick, it is a sign from God that he is not one of the chosen ones. If God intended such people to have affordable access to health care He would't have made them ill in the first place. Thank you Donald Trump and the Republicans of the House and Senate for bringing Jesus back to this country and making it great again.
Call your senators. Demand an end to this atrocity.
As an American expatriate retiree living overseas, my advocacy is for those other Americans, like myself, who feel helpless in the face of the various Trump walls that bar them from receiving their earned health care benefits.
Most Americans do not realize that their medicare benefits stop at the waters edge and are invalid outside the United States. This barrier to medicare health benefits is only one of many symptoms of a callous attitude toward the retirees' health needs.
I encourage all like minded American retirees to not engage in a frustrating battle for your late life health care rights but instead reach for the brass ring of an expatriate living overseas.
Go straight to the consulate of your choice and begin the process of starting a new life in another more caring country. Whatever you do, don't sell yourself short in this last battle for your right at retiree happiness!
Most Americans do not realize that their medicare benefits stop at the waters edge and are invalid outside the United States. This barrier to medicare health benefits is only one of many symptoms of a callous attitude toward the retirees' health needs.
I encourage all like minded American retirees to not engage in a frustrating battle for your late life health care rights but instead reach for the brass ring of an expatriate living overseas.
Go straight to the consulate of your choice and begin the process of starting a new life in another more caring country. Whatever you do, don't sell yourself short in this last battle for your right at retiree happiness!
3
I'd like to see a CBO analysis of single payer healthcare or Medicare for all. Then we'd have something concrete to compare it to and argue with to our congressional leaders.
8
It's time to call the Republican Party out for defrauding the American people.
They only work for the rich. They see the United States as a business opportunity.
Never trust anyone around money.
This country is seriously under protected from financial predators.
Unrelenting oversight and prosecution need to be enforced if we are to be safe from people like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.
These people have worked tirelessly to enrich themselves at the expense of the country.
The first order of business by the new Congress was to dismantle the Ethics Committee, a blatant statement of their sinister goals.
Ethics enforcement needs to be greatly strengthened.
Those who would use their position in government to enrich themselves cannot be tolerated.
Those who would destroy the country for personal gain need to be punished.
The time is now.
They only work for the rich. They see the United States as a business opportunity.
Never trust anyone around money.
This country is seriously under protected from financial predators.
Unrelenting oversight and prosecution need to be enforced if we are to be safe from people like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.
These people have worked tirelessly to enrich themselves at the expense of the country.
The first order of business by the new Congress was to dismantle the Ethics Committee, a blatant statement of their sinister goals.
Ethics enforcement needs to be greatly strengthened.
Those who would use their position in government to enrich themselves cannot be tolerated.
Those who would destroy the country for personal gain need to be punished.
The time is now.
5
23M lose their health insurance but 65M get what they voted for.
2
And not one woman allowed into this fascist group.
Why is this not the headline article on the front page?
5
Government healthcare spending will double taxes in this country in a decade. And every decade. It doesn't matter if it happens at the local, state, or federal level. Lyndon Johnson had the U.S. dollar going away this century even without the PPACA because running anythoing through gov't doubles the costs.
Running anything thru the federal gov't quadruples costs if you work really hard at containment.
Running anything thru the federal gov't quadruples costs if you work really hard at containment.
I can only hope that these Senators someday have to use the same health care plan that they vote in for their constituents.
Contact your Senators & McConnell - today!
Contact your Senators & McConnell - today!
2
11 of 113
Ideology is for Sophomores
KEEP
x
to Penny, bcc: editorial, bcc: Representative, bcc: Leonhardt, bcc: Senator, bcc: LONNIE
Please deal with the Trump matter in a non-partisan matter. The man is a maniacal liar regardless of his politics.
Many of us Mr Gosar are totally uninterested in ideology when it comes to our health. We are totally against health care being conflated with politics. We are sick enough without the politics and a terrible medical delivery system. Do not throw out the ACA until you replace it with something BETTER than the ACA. Enough of us go bankrupt filling the venal pockets of the doctors & dentists.. Fix the ACA but keep it until you can improve it.
Ideology is for Sophomores
KEEP
x
to Penny, bcc: editorial, bcc: Representative, bcc: Leonhardt, bcc: Senator, bcc: LONNIE
Please deal with the Trump matter in a non-partisan matter. The man is a maniacal liar regardless of his politics.
Many of us Mr Gosar are totally uninterested in ideology when it comes to our health. We are totally against health care being conflated with politics. We are sick enough without the politics and a terrible medical delivery system. Do not throw out the ACA until you replace it with something BETTER than the ACA. Enough of us go bankrupt filling the venal pockets of the doctors & dentists.. Fix the ACA but keep it until you can improve it.
What will it take for voters to come out in better numbers than 50% of the electorate? And that's for a high profile Presidential election. 20-30% for local races, if you're lucky. Once you allow disasters like Trump to unfold, it's too late - the ballot boxes are closed.
When will Republican voters do some historical fact checking and discover that "trickle down" never works, and instead leads to depressions and recessions? Meanwhile, corporations and the top 1% get bigger and richer even as the rest of us tighten our belts.
Does no one see the rampant hypocrisy of a Trump administration doing just about every thing they said a Hillary administration would do that is negative - and doing it in spades! (Why merely be beholden to banks and corporations? Invite them to major positions in the administration itself, cut out the middle men! Why make just a few foreign policy mistakes? Trash it all! Big league!)
Are we stupid, or incredibly jaded, when we accept Republicans contradicting their own words, or spouting the most inane talking points ("Trump is not a politician, he's not steeped in all this government stuff, you shouldn't expect a 70 year old billionaire to have as much common sense as you do...")?
How can a nation that so many want to say is Christian want to enact so many un-Christian policies? And get fleeced by the 1% in the process!
What the heck is going on with America?
When will Republican voters do some historical fact checking and discover that "trickle down" never works, and instead leads to depressions and recessions? Meanwhile, corporations and the top 1% get bigger and richer even as the rest of us tighten our belts.
Does no one see the rampant hypocrisy of a Trump administration doing just about every thing they said a Hillary administration would do that is negative - and doing it in spades! (Why merely be beholden to banks and corporations? Invite them to major positions in the administration itself, cut out the middle men! Why make just a few foreign policy mistakes? Trash it all! Big league!)
Are we stupid, or incredibly jaded, when we accept Republicans contradicting their own words, or spouting the most inane talking points ("Trump is not a politician, he's not steeped in all this government stuff, you shouldn't expect a 70 year old billionaire to have as much common sense as you do...")?
How can a nation that so many want to say is Christian want to enact so many un-Christian policies? And get fleeced by the 1% in the process!
What the heck is going on with America?
3
The GOP knows exactly what they have been up to since Reagan, and they know that no one will stop them.
They are conning the American people.
They are conning the American people.
Okay. I'm a terrible person. I'll admit it. I know that a terrible number of people will be hurt; but I hope Trumpcare passes. For far too long, the Republican Party has played fast and loose with the truth and made bunch of unrealistic promises to its base, Also, they used divide and conquer to foster their programs, not rationality and leadership. With a big assist Fox News, they've promulgated any cockeyed idea that would yield immediate partisan advantage and on and on and on and on.
So now it's "put up or shut up" time. They've been playing both ends against the middle and now they have to make a very public choice between their base and the rest of the American people. It won't be pretty and it shouldn't be.
So now it's "put up or shut up" time. They've been playing both ends against the middle and now they have to make a very public choice between their base and the rest of the American people. It won't be pretty and it shouldn't be.
1
You're not alone. Trump voters have taken an oath of feudal fealty to Lord Trump. They will have to feel real pain before they let go. Let the tax cuts for the super wealthy sail through, and Trumpcare in its worst iteration, and all the low profile cabinet attacks on employees rights, women's rights, environmental deregulation. Let's see if Trump can negotiate great deals, bring back jobs with his confused conflicted policies. Only If Trump country is no better or (better?) worse off in 2 years, will his supporters realize that the Emperor really has no clothes.
The master demagog Trump is at it again.
Just announced the house bill is mean and used an expletive. (after praising it in the Rose Garden a short time again).
The demagogue is wounded. He is being besieged by the Comey/Russian scandal that can doom his presidency.
He is doing what all demagogues do, give the people what they want at a certain point in time.......ie...affordable health care.
Watch out though....if it is serves his purpose to condemn what he said today, tomorrow, he will do it...
Just announced the house bill is mean and used an expletive. (after praising it in the Rose Garden a short time again).
The demagogue is wounded. He is being besieged by the Comey/Russian scandal that can doom his presidency.
He is doing what all demagogues do, give the people what they want at a certain point in time.......ie...affordable health care.
Watch out though....if it is serves his purpose to condemn what he said today, tomorrow, he will do it...
1
Until our elected officials have to paddle in the same leaky health care boats as the rest of us, we will not achieve a responsible, quality driven health care system rather than one driven by greed and profits.
3
"Republican leadership" That oxymoron is on the fast-track to becoming the icon of all oxymoron.
Once head provocateur Mitch McConnell had successfully led his "wilding" gang to break their oaths to defend the Constitution by denying President Obama his power to fill the empty seat on the Supreme Court, THE ERA OF STYMIED DEMOCRACY had begun.
And so, the GOP Heathcare "wilding" gang is already emboldened and has the predisposition to shutdown the democratic legislative process whenever it suits them.
The Healthcare bill will not be sent to Committee for study, no amendments can be offered, no debate can occur, and even satisfactory time to read it before a vote is doubtful.
A bill formed by one-party and in secret is likely to diminish our benefits, to increase rates, and to bend to the insurers' ever-expanding definition of what constitutes a pre-existing condition.
Therefore, the pushback will be monumental; and the microscope and the judgment of the people will be on McConnell and his "wilding" gang. Those that subvert democratic processes with self-righteous zeal WILL BE STOPPED.
Once head provocateur Mitch McConnell had successfully led his "wilding" gang to break their oaths to defend the Constitution by denying President Obama his power to fill the empty seat on the Supreme Court, THE ERA OF STYMIED DEMOCRACY had begun.
And so, the GOP Heathcare "wilding" gang is already emboldened and has the predisposition to shutdown the democratic legislative process whenever it suits them.
The Healthcare bill will not be sent to Committee for study, no amendments can be offered, no debate can occur, and even satisfactory time to read it before a vote is doubtful.
A bill formed by one-party and in secret is likely to diminish our benefits, to increase rates, and to bend to the insurers' ever-expanding definition of what constitutes a pre-existing condition.
Therefore, the pushback will be monumental; and the microscope and the judgment of the people will be on McConnell and his "wilding" gang. Those that subvert democratic processes with self-righteous zeal WILL BE STOPPED.
1
Can someone please ask these politicians why it is they deserve affordable health care but millions of their fellow Americans apparently do not.
9
Where is the Democratic party, the Senators? Letting Trump distract them, letting the impeachment fantasy entertain us, just not up to the fight of saving health care for 23 million people.
9
Republicans think that a just system does not include government supported health care for anyone, that the market should determine who does and does not receive the care that they need. They really think that markets can do that and provide adequate care for everyone, better than any of those single payer systems across the world that cost half as much as our system and provides better average outcomes than does ours. They are going to do their best to make it happen. No matter what happens, they will never seriously doubt their faith in this strategy, and will fight against any other approach.
13
There are two alternatives to the ACA to reduce the costs of health care supported by the government. First, revise the system to be an extension of Medicare and Medicaid that covers everybody in one big single payer system. Second, do not support health care for anyone through the government. Let those who can afford the care have it and those who cannot do without it.
3
I just did a little math: 6 senators, all white, all Conservative, all male, and representing only 1.25% of the US population, are deciding the fate of the American health care system. They are the two senators each from South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. They will answer to no one but Mitch McConnell. They are drafting their legislation in secret. There are no women, no people of color, no representatives from the most populous states in the country, no moderate Republicans, and no Democrats. There will be no debate. There will be no hearings to include major stakeholders among health care providers, patient advocates, patient groups, and others. This travesty must not be forgotten, and it must be addressed at the ballot box, beginning in the 2018 elections.
28
Regarding "high ACA premiums." Why do I almost never hear commentators discuss the TWO-step nature of the concept: (1) premiums and (2) tax credits that help offset those premiums? To be sure: other things need fixing, like the high deductibles set by too many insurers. But can't our public discussions at least get that premiums+credits concept right? So endangered now, the ACA needs all the accuracy of portrayal it can get.
4
Good question, why indeed.
Could it perhaps be that the "subsidies" being given are eaten up to cover only a minor portion of the increases in premiums and deductible costs?
Come now. If you are complaining about things that aren't being talked about, you might want to include some of the factors that have made nothing almost better than having the offset.
My, my. How the left has become willfully ignorant.
Could it perhaps be that the "subsidies" being given are eaten up to cover only a minor portion of the increases in premiums and deductible costs?
Come now. If you are complaining about things that aren't being talked about, you might want to include some of the factors that have made nothing almost better than having the offset.
My, my. How the left has become willfully ignorant.
If access and affordability are the goal, then some sort of Medicare (with private insurance supplements) would cover more people with the buying power of a large single payer to hold providers accountable. Plus, every citizen would have a choice of doctor because every doctor would be included in the system.
Our current system of choice, private insurance and co-payments is exceptionally confusing. The providers have the power because of pricing opacity, informational inequality, and economic ability to to pursue all who do not pay.
Yet, the "conservative" mantra is competition wins. Well, not for those who lack the resources to even participate in this so-called healthcare system. In addition, the Conservatives are not even wanting to debate the changes to the ACA in public hearings. The Seanate is following the House of Representatives strategy of drafting the bill behind closed doors with little input from Democrats, healthcare professionals, or other industry experts.
The end result is a politically pure legislative outcome that fails to serve the citizens and costs future generations way more than any so-called savings to the current year budget.
Our current system of choice, private insurance and co-payments is exceptionally confusing. The providers have the power because of pricing opacity, informational inequality, and economic ability to to pursue all who do not pay.
Yet, the "conservative" mantra is competition wins. Well, not for those who lack the resources to even participate in this so-called healthcare system. In addition, the Conservatives are not even wanting to debate the changes to the ACA in public hearings. The Seanate is following the House of Representatives strategy of drafting the bill behind closed doors with little input from Democrats, healthcare professionals, or other industry experts.
The end result is a politically pure legislative outcome that fails to serve the citizens and costs future generations way more than any so-called savings to the current year budget.
6
So many of the comments here cry out that under the GOP health plan, which we know will put real healthcare out of reach for very many, millions of people will die. This is true enough. But we should also add that in addition to the people with terminal diseases and fatal accidents, millions more will simply live on in misery. They will itch from untreated skin diseases. They'll be so debilitated by asthma and allergies (where the healthcare debacle meets the EPA debacle) they can't function. They won't be able to walk or stand for long periods because of untreated arthritis, a torn meniscus, or a herniated disc. Fractured bones won't be set and will never heal quite right. Intestinal disorders will trap people in their homes. Menstrual cramps and excessively heavy periods (not something the all-male committee is likely to think of) will knock millions of women off their feet every month.
None of these things is fatal. These people won't die -- not in the immediate way that, for instance, the person with cancer will. They will just trudge along in misery. Many will be unable to work, and will sink into poverty. The rest will just suffer, grimly, for a long time. And America, I suppose, will be great again.
None of these things is fatal. These people won't die -- not in the immediate way that, for instance, the person with cancer will. They will just trudge along in misery. Many will be unable to work, and will sink into poverty. The rest will just suffer, grimly, for a long time. And America, I suppose, will be great again.
19
Contingent...The bottom line of the Obama years is that more people slipped into poverty than made it out.
To the republican party, people needing health care are seen as cockroaches, deserving only a quick spray of poison. Anyone not born of wealth(the majority), are held in contempt. But a strong steady wind is gaining strength and will soon blow these kleptocratic usurpers from their perches on high. Get ready to inherit the chaos; chaos ushered in by republicans but chaos we now claim and use in the name of the American public. Is your position secure?
4
when you've got your health you've got everything... under the aca repeal, opiod epidemic will increase and people denied medical treatment will stop working, unemployment will go up.
3
To some degree, those reading these paragraphs outlining the secretive methods which all except a few detest and flies in the face of democracy, is preaching to the choir.
Are we going to lay back, or would it be of value to barrage the various senators with letter, emails and phone calls to let them know that their dark companions are doing a disservice to this great union?
It seems there is nothing but gnashing of teeth and howling at this charade, but little being done to mount an offensive.
Even in Russia there are now protesters against Putin. We are stronger than that, time to protest in any way possible to let the senators know we do not approve.
Are we going to lay back, or would it be of value to barrage the various senators with letter, emails and phone calls to let them know that their dark companions are doing a disservice to this great union?
It seems there is nothing but gnashing of teeth and howling at this charade, but little being done to mount an offensive.
Even in Russia there are now protesters against Putin. We are stronger than that, time to protest in any way possible to let the senators know we do not approve.
8
What is a zombie nation? It is millions of people in the slow, painful process of dying for lack of medical treatment under the republican ACHA. This is not fantasy, science fiction, or a screenplay. It is Americans unnecessarily dying because they were born in the wrong country and became sick under the wrong political party. Republican politicians have much to fear. Beyond being voted out of office, it's conceivable that terminally ill people could pack their second amendment rights, rights ardently championed beyond all reasonable restraints by these same republicans, off to the nation's capital for existential exchanges with their republican representatives.
6
Many will die,including children, who are born with a pre-existing condition, in order for the wealthy to get another tax break! They get to enjoy the caviar, the yachting, the gold-plated toilet in the new house in the Hamptons while their less-fortunate countrymen die miserable deaths.
America is no longer a country!
America is a jungle!
Survival of the fittest is our mantra!
Both political parties pander to the healthcare racketeers!
People in America no longer matter it is just about money!
We are free to consume, shut up and die!
America is no longer a country!
America is a jungle!
Survival of the fittest is our mantra!
Both political parties pander to the healthcare racketeers!
People in America no longer matter it is just about money!
We are free to consume, shut up and die!
8
Where are the Democrats on this topic or anything for that matter? Everyday Trump and the Republicans do yet another despicable thing and I barely hear any senator, except for Sanders, forcefully speaking out against this madness. On this healthcare issue, for instance, he has been pushing for medicare for all. Why haven't any senators supported this or at least acknowledge that now is the time for a single payer? Sanders also proposed a bill in December which allowed medicare to import cheaper drugs from countries like Canada and senator Booker and the two Democratic senators from Washington actually voted against it, thanks to lobbyist campaign contributions from drug companies. That certainly didn't help the situation, nor did it help when the Democrats actually celebrated when the House passed the abysmal health care bill, saying that this would certainly help assure the Democratic takeover of the house in 2018. How exactly would it do that, if people just see the Democrats celebrating, as if they were happy with the bill?
I know that the Democrats are the minority party right now, but that never stopped the Republicans from speaking out about anything and everything that Obama did. One would think that now is the time that they should be relentless, hold rallies, speak up about how they offer alternatives to what Trump and the Republicans are doing. Their silence on these issues is not only disheartening, it's frightening. It's like they don't even care.
I know that the Democrats are the minority party right now, but that never stopped the Republicans from speaking out about anything and everything that Obama did. One would think that now is the time that they should be relentless, hold rallies, speak up about how they offer alternatives to what Trump and the Republicans are doing. Their silence on these issues is not only disheartening, it's frightening. It's like they don't even care.
11
The Democrats have, over the past eight years, Miriam, condemned themselves to irrelevance by their own hands.
Time for you to stop the whinging and on getting programs and messages that the people can accept and are willing to vote for.
You only have yourselves to blame...Time to get cracking, my dear.
Time for you to stop the whinging and on getting programs and messages that the people can accept and are willing to vote for.
You only have yourselves to blame...Time to get cracking, my dear.
Perhaps Congress should consider changing its' appelation to something a bit closer to their apparent model, The Third Comintern of the Communist Party.
3
My daughter is currently fighting cancer. If this bill passes, she will lose her insurance and die. Must she and her family fight the Republicans as well as cancer?
19
Unfortunately we all need to fight this.
Our Senators need to hear from constituents and be put on notice.
Our Senators need to hear from constituents and be put on notice.
11
How do you know that she will lose insurance.
Aren't you paying your premiums? Is your cell phone and cable connection THAT much more important than your daughter's health?
I am certainly glad that I am NOT your child, babaD.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
Aren't you paying your premiums? Is your cell phone and cable connection THAT much more important than your daughter's health?
I am certainly glad that I am NOT your child, babaD.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
More proof that the GOP cares only about their corporate paymasters. They clearly do not care about the American people.
12
As much as some may want to hope so, myself included; it is a waste of time to wonder and lament about the republican party's lack of concern for the health and well being of anyone other than themselves. This is a group by and for the privileged few. Think Louis XIV and his court, the Tzar or Pasha. Marie Antonette once said "Let them eat cake" when confronted with the poor masses' lack of bread. This is all just fine and dandy for today's republican "leaders".
6
All of this is closer to Marie and Versaille than our vulnerable leaders can fathom. Starving citizens with dying children can not be stopped. A reckoning is coming.
Oh no! Heaven forbid! If only the Republicans were as open and transparent as the Democrats. When Obamacare was drafted and openly debated.....oh yeah, you have to pass it before you get to read it.....never mind.
1
The ACA was passed after 79 hearings and 181 witnesses in the House. There were 53 hearings in the Senate. The Republicans could have participated in creating the bill. They chose to stonewall instead. Where you asleep when that was going on? Never mind, indeed!
9
ACA 79 hearings 181 witnesses in the House and 53 hearings in the Senate. Yet Republicans accused 44 of "ramming" the bill through. Their hypocrisy has no bounds.
23
Yep...ramming. Ramming through closed-door, caucus-only rewrites, dumped on Committee with but hours before the hearings, passed on party-line vote, brought to the floor with parliamentary trickery and under one of the most restricted rules of debate ever seen in the House, and then pass on straight-party vote in the dead of night.
Trumpcare is a death sentence for the poor, vulnerable and sick of the nation. It is the Republican prescription, the xRxs, for tens of millions who are not wealthy or benefit from a decent corporate health care plan. They will fall sick, get sicker, lose productive work time, drain their family financial environment of resources and die earlier. It is Flint Michigan being legislated for the entire country behind closed doors without Democrat or professional or victims' input. Without attention of past and very likely the new CBO.
impact assessment. Done to facilitate tax breaks for the rich.
We have behavioral statistics, actuarial tables and models that will tell us how many millions will heedlessly get sick lose work and die early because they could not afford health care.
What do you call health care reform that prejudices then shortens the life of millions of Americans? That legislates a shortened life for millions? Try "Premeditated Murder" --perpetrated by Republicans and Trump so that the rich financiers that pay for them to retain office can rea[ more than 95% of the tax reform largess. This is nothing short of Premeditated Murder. And if we don't call it out for what it is we're incriminated...
impact assessment. Done to facilitate tax breaks for the rich.
We have behavioral statistics, actuarial tables and models that will tell us how many millions will heedlessly get sick lose work and die early because they could not afford health care.
What do you call health care reform that prejudices then shortens the life of millions of Americans? That legislates a shortened life for millions? Try "Premeditated Murder" --perpetrated by Republicans and Trump so that the rich financiers that pay for them to retain office can rea[ more than 95% of the tax reform largess. This is nothing short of Premeditated Murder. And if we don't call it out for what it is we're incriminated...
12
Thank you. And this from the republicans who accused Obama Care of "death panels killing off granny". Let's talk no health care for 24 million Americans. PATHETIC!
The only way to get this bill passed is the way Republicans are doing it. They are kowtowing to Donald Trump so he will at least get one bill passed that he wants. What a disaster the Trump president is turning out to be. it is even worse than was expected.
11
"Those gains will quickly evaporate when voters learn what they have done."
Really? the voters who put the same people in power who broke the economy will catch on?
Who is dumber. they or you? you should have thought of this before youo helped put Benito trump in power
Really? the voters who put the same people in power who broke the economy will catch on?
Who is dumber. they or you? you should have thought of this before youo helped put Benito trump in power
10
The Republicans will make sure the Medicaid, etc cutbacks don't kick in until 2019, or maybe even 2021, so their voters won't come close to catching on until it's too late.
5
Where is GOP empathy for the sick, special needs and elderly? I just don't understand a hard mind set like that. Shameful.
8
Thank god for the NY Times, Wash Post etc for exposing the depravity of McConnell and his minions behind closed doors. But while I'm glad that the people reading these papers hear about this, I fear that a huge chunk of the country has no idea what is going on.
Where is the DNC when it should be advertising this situations on tv stations and billboards in the Senate districts served by the swing-vote Republicans on this issue?? It's not enough to let things happen and then try to play catch-up in a year or so at election time! If people don't know, they won't react.
Where is the DNC when it should be advertising this situations on tv stations and billboards in the Senate districts served by the swing-vote Republicans on this issue?? It's not enough to let things happen and then try to play catch-up in a year or so at election time! If people don't know, they won't react.
5
I keep coming around to the same refrain. Do the people who vote for these backward, bigoted Republicans really believe that they'll never need health care or get sick?
5
The two biggest Republican lies...1."We are conservative."
2."We are Christian."
2."We are Christian."
18
Amen to that.
This is why I am on the phone to Senator Portman's office with every turn of the news cycle.
9
Shameful. But really, the Republicans lost their sense of shame long ago.
8
Justice Louis D. Brandeis once said "Sunlight is the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman." Apparently, Mitch McConnell and his cronies are either: (1) very afraid that the American public will become aware of the despicable disease inducing legislation that they are concocting; or (2) have no faith in their legislation and/or the American people. Either way, a sad commentary on the current state of affairs.
6
The despicable rich white males that comprise this movement to kill as many Americans as possible in order to give the uber-wealthy a trillion-dollar tax cut are traitors, pure and simple. Not simply to their constituents--excuse me, the people who voted for them; the only constituents these vermin recognize are corporations, and those who sit on their boards--but to every citizen of the country. Health care is not a commodity--it's a right. If you disagree you can stop calling yourself human now.
Particularly galling is the fact that these hypocrites already know whatever secret disaster they come up with for the American public, they themselves will be immune to it. Members of Congress have the best health care in the country, paid for by taxpayers, and that won't change.
When the "forgotten" crybabies we're told put this plague in power start losing their health care, their health, their relatives; does anyone honestly think they'll blame anyone with an "R" next to their name? That would take a kind of courage they simply don't possess--the courage to see reality as it is.
Particularly galling is the fact that these hypocrites already know whatever secret disaster they come up with for the American public, they themselves will be immune to it. Members of Congress have the best health care in the country, paid for by taxpayers, and that won't change.
When the "forgotten" crybabies we're told put this plague in power start losing their health care, their health, their relatives; does anyone honestly think they'll blame anyone with an "R" next to their name? That would take a kind of courage they simply don't possess--the courage to see reality as it is.
8
The President keeps insisting this Bill is tremendous and the American people will be happy with it. One has to wonder why Mitch won't share this good news. He must be the only politician in history who keeps good news under wraps.
8
If I had Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan standing in front of me the only thing I could say to them would be "have you no decency?"
9
The actions of the Republican Party at this time reflect the souls and hearts of a near-majority of American voters. They have all they need and more, and they don't want to help anybody else, even to relieve their fear and suffering and save their lives. They want to punish those they perceive as not working hard enough, living morally and frugally enough or taking good care of their health. The teachings of Jesus cannot penetrate their hardened, selfish hearts. Until the hearts of these American voters change, we will have soulless, heartless Republican politicians making our laws.
3
Did you expect anything else ?
3
Rand Paul? Conservative???? That pork loving special interest crook is no conservative. He just plays one on TV, which too many are gullible enough to believe.
3
Mitch McConnell represents the dead beat State of Kentucky. A state that takes in more government money than it generates back to the Federal government. His GOP secret healthcare plan will likely hurt more Kentuckians than help and then other states will be asked to carry them. Mitch must be quite a huckster to be able to continue this scam on his Senate colleagues for so many years.
6
It's hard to believe how much effort the GOP has put into denying health insurance to tens of millions of Americans. They know what they're doing, obviously. It's also obvious they don't care how much damage they do to america's non-rich citizens. The GOP really is the party of the rich, for the rich.
2
In my I have closely followed our political system, government and foreign affairs for over 50 years since my days as a college political science major. You know one of the elites who who worked hard to earn a middle class living to support a midwestern family. I have never seen such an important piece of legislation, with such huge financial, social and health ramifications, handled so secretly and shamelessly. No hearings by either house. No input from health industry organizations that will be substantially affected by the legislation. No input from the millions of people, sick and healthy, on how changes will affect them. No attempts to solicit a bipartisan effort to make needed changes in the ACA in order to make it better. No women in the group secretly writing a Senate alternative bill. Potentially causing millions of people covered by the ACA to lose their health insurance or who will see their costs sky rocket. Any GOP Senator that votes for this piece of sausage being made in the dark deserves to be retired to a minimum wage job as soon as possible. Is this the kind of legislature and secret government our founding fathers expected, or have we become a majority rules, with no questions asked form of legislative dictatorship? Truly the most disgusting legislative initiative in my fifty plus years as as adult!!!!
7
Nothing is too scurrilous for Mitch McConnell. Does anyone in Kentucky regret voting for this guy?
2
I wrote months before the presidential election that voters need to be really really angry about American governments that are run by big money for the benefit of big money -healthcare being one example. Well, some voters were angry and voted for Trump because he seemed to address some of their concerns.
Many voted for Sanders but the road roller that was the Clinton campaign saw him off. This country is like a huge oil tanker where the crew are huddled together looking inwards, no-one is on the bridge and the captain is a nut case.
Many voted for Sanders but the road roller that was the Clinton campaign saw him off. This country is like a huge oil tanker where the crew are huddled together looking inwards, no-one is on the bridge and the captain is a nut case.
I truly believe that the Senate should hide EVERYTHING it does behind closed doors. Permanently..........But, I must admit that I was not aware that the Senate did ANYTHING............
2
Thanks for bringing it into the sunshine.
I plan to call my Senator and ask politely when the hearings have been scheduled on this bill. Anyone can do that.
I plan to call my Senator and ask politely when the hearings have been scheduled on this bill. Anyone can do that.
2
I accidentally read McConnell's group as the Death Care Working Group. It may be due to my current readings of fiction based on WWII. Or maybe the eerie feeling I have that history is repeating itself, except that the USA is the antagonist. Who ever thought the USA would be into creating its own Death Camps, where they place their own country people they have contempt for? Oh yes the novel had those who enjoyed the sights of suffering and killings (sorry, deaths). And it had those that detested it and their compatriots. If we continue weakening our own nation by not coming together, another power will take care of us.
2
This is what we've come to. A minority hijacking of American public institutions. They know the president garnered less than the majority of American votes in 2016. They know that they (the congressional Republicans), when adding up all the votes for every sitting Republican, are ALSO a national minority. (Congressional Democrats won a national majority in 2012, 2014, and 2016, yet are seated as the Minority in Congress). But they don't care HOW they won.
They, led by Mitch McConnell and his minions just claim to 'know better' than the American voter what's 'good for America'.
And now we see how they are willing to use that power.
McConnell & Minions are actually making a much more cynical bet than we're giving them credit for. They KNOW passage of whatever bill they're hiding will create a huge storm.
But, as with the government shutdowns before, and the dismissal of constitutional norms regarding SCOTUS appointments (Merrick Garland) under an opposition president, the GOP is counting the short attention span and whatever hyper-partisanship they can muster by 2018 to weather the storm.
McConnell and the GOP believe--using Russian disinformation tactics (the real reason for all those Russian contacts during 2016)--that they have a mechanism by which public opinion can be manipulated enough by 2018 that even the loss of health care by 20+ millions Americans will be forgotten (and forgiven?) by then.
Is McConnell right, America? WIll we accept this minority rule?
They, led by Mitch McConnell and his minions just claim to 'know better' than the American voter what's 'good for America'.
And now we see how they are willing to use that power.
McConnell & Minions are actually making a much more cynical bet than we're giving them credit for. They KNOW passage of whatever bill they're hiding will create a huge storm.
But, as with the government shutdowns before, and the dismissal of constitutional norms regarding SCOTUS appointments (Merrick Garland) under an opposition president, the GOP is counting the short attention span and whatever hyper-partisanship they can muster by 2018 to weather the storm.
McConnell and the GOP believe--using Russian disinformation tactics (the real reason for all those Russian contacts during 2016)--that they have a mechanism by which public opinion can be manipulated enough by 2018 that even the loss of health care by 20+ millions Americans will be forgotten (and forgiven?) by then.
Is McConnell right, America? WIll we accept this minority rule?
8
Reducing health spending with $1.3 trillion means a very big reduction of health personnel, clinics and hospital activities - why is nobody discussing that? In my State of Maine, and many others, health spending is a major part of the economy and the GOP reductions will be a hard hit not least in rural areas. The victims will not be only the health sector but all other business areas that provide food, housing and transportation services will be immediately hit. So where are the grocery stores whose customers will see a significant reduction of buying power? And the auto sector whose customers will not have a job any more? So instead of stimulating a growing economy Trump's policies will reduce the active economy with 5-6% of GDP and move 1.3 trillion to the financial sector. And because the US economy can be expected to shrink the owners will probably invest their new big wealth abroad, the opposite what Trump claims he is doing.
4
Time for a flash mob at the Senate the day they try to vote on a people-killing, anti-American, anti-democracy bill.
Show up for the Senate/house sessions then when the voting starts stand up and shout TRAITORS.
Show up at their home offices and homes as well - particularly Mr. McConnell and his wife's. They want to destroy democracy in America but WE THE PEOPLE WILL NOT ALLOW IT.
Not now. Not ever.
Show up for the Senate/house sessions then when the voting starts stand up and shout TRAITORS.
Show up at their home offices and homes as well - particularly Mr. McConnell and his wife's. They want to destroy democracy in America but WE THE PEOPLE WILL NOT ALLOW IT.
Not now. Not ever.
8
We already have, njglea. We allowed this democracy destroyed when we voted for this aberration of a President, and when we put a majority of Repubs in Congress. Are you happy now in WI, PA, MI? Trump listens to the forgotten men and women of this country, huh? At least we showed the trans and blacks that they can't "abuse" the system anymore, right? Was it worth is to lose your insurance, or that of your aging parents and sick kid? Or mine? A cruel circus, that's all that the US has become.
"Those gains will quickly evaporate when voters learn what they have done." If that were true, the Republicans would not have controlled Congress since 2010.
4
Is this the same group of republicans that complained about Obamacare being pushed through without debate (even though it was nothing like this)?
I swear, the party of morals has no principles and stand for nothing, yet 45 - 50% of the country is ok with this.
What makes it worse is that when legislation is passed that hurts millions of people, the democrats will somehow be blamed for this problem in the future.
I swear, the party of morals has no principles and stand for nothing, yet 45 - 50% of the country is ok with this.
What makes it worse is that when legislation is passed that hurts millions of people, the democrats will somehow be blamed for this problem in the future.
6
There's an obvious reason why Republicans behave like this: because they get with and are in fact rewarded for it. Republicans impeach a president and then win the presidency; Republicans facilitate a Depression-level economic crisis and are given control of both houses of congress, most state legislatures, and governorships; Republicans shut down government and are provided a stronger hand in Congressional seats; Republicans shamefully block a president's constitutional right to a Supreme Court justice of his choosing and are awarded the presidency and both houses of Congress. Until there is real accountability and a political price paid for such behavior, they'll keep at it and it will get worse.
12
The GOP is in the throes of a total moral collapse. At the same time the so-called "religious right" not only stands by, but cheers the party on.
11
The best thing that democrats can do is to let this monstrosity pass. It will inevitable fail and lead to single payer, which will in the long run save more lives plus save more taxpayer and household dollars.
4
Call your GOP senators. Today. And keep calling them. Demand public hearings. Demand that they craft a better bill. Demand that they act like they live in a Democracy. Call. Call. Call.
5
By all means. Phone calls get attention.
I live in a state with Dem Senators and just called their offices.
I said that constituents want to know WHEN the hearings for this bill have been SCHEDULED. I want my Senators to ask this question in public on behalf of constituents, and put the leadership on the spot of having to answer. The staffer was very nice and took the message.
We all need health care regardless of party, and all of us have a right to ask when the hearings on this bill are going to be held! (Ahem!)
I live in a state with Dem Senators and just called their offices.
I said that constituents want to know WHEN the hearings for this bill have been SCHEDULED. I want my Senators to ask this question in public on behalf of constituents, and put the leadership on the spot of having to answer. The staffer was very nice and took the message.
We all need health care regardless of party, and all of us have a right to ask when the hearings on this bill are going to be held! (Ahem!)
3
No public review of something this major. We are out of the realm of democracy. We're Russia.
12
The Republicans are now setting a precedent on how to deliver a bill/create a law that is more reminiscent of how a dictatorship works rather than a democracy. If they proceed with this, they will have constructed their own Waterloo.
Contact your senator NOW and again tomorrow and the next day...
Contact your senator NOW and again tomorrow and the next day...
3
There are two things wrong with Obamacare: 1. High premiums, for high profits for insurers. 2. High subsidies, for high profits for insurers. Single payer now. Medicare for all.
8
Obamacare took us one small step toward a single payer plan, which just about every civilized country now offers. Now a secret cabal of 13 male senators is trying to destroy as much as they can of what little there is. It would be interesting to see just how much senators receive in campaign contributions from insurance companies. It will also be interesting to see whether citizens who are about to lose health coverage, but who voted the current regime into office, will react. I have little faith that these people will act in their own self-interest, but one can only hope.
8
Me too. Problem is, they won't really get the full story of what has been done, if they are only watching FOX news. If millions start losing coverage, they will find a way to pin it on the Democrats.
2
Trumped-Up-Care
5
Ah, the evil Mitch McConnell strikes again. His strategy will be multi pronged. First, give red meat to the Republican base while repeating ad nauseum the lie they had to kill Obamacare to fix it.
Deemphasize that massive tax cuts are its raison d'être - 'just savin money for the American people'.
He'll put off implementation for enough years that people won't feel the immediate consequences. Then hope their passions will dissipate after a few news cycles - with the inevitable distractions provided by the tireless clowns of the Trump circus.
Lastly, if mentioned at all, massive tax cuts will be touted as beneficial for 'all' Americans and 'meeting our promise to the voters'. And the best part will be the likely permanence of the tax cuts. Any future effort by a new congress to mitigate the healthcare and Medicaid cuts will need new taxes. Those battles will have been disentangled from the 'failed' ACA, and fought like every other attempt to tax 'job creators' and 'hard working' citizens. The Bush tax cuts earlier this century never paid for themselves, but there's no talk of reinstating those taxes despite their effect on the deficit and lack of stimulation for job growth. That's just how our modern political system seems to work. At least, that's how Mitch hopes it will go. Pure evil genius.
Deemphasize that massive tax cuts are its raison d'être - 'just savin money for the American people'.
He'll put off implementation for enough years that people won't feel the immediate consequences. Then hope their passions will dissipate after a few news cycles - with the inevitable distractions provided by the tireless clowns of the Trump circus.
Lastly, if mentioned at all, massive tax cuts will be touted as beneficial for 'all' Americans and 'meeting our promise to the voters'. And the best part will be the likely permanence of the tax cuts. Any future effort by a new congress to mitigate the healthcare and Medicaid cuts will need new taxes. Those battles will have been disentangled from the 'failed' ACA, and fought like every other attempt to tax 'job creators' and 'hard working' citizens. The Bush tax cuts earlier this century never paid for themselves, but there's no talk of reinstating those taxes despite their effect on the deficit and lack of stimulation for job growth. That's just how our modern political system seems to work. At least, that's how Mitch hopes it will go. Pure evil genius.
9
For those who didn't vote in 2016, for those who voted for trump, for those who voted for Republican House and Senate members, and for those who voted for Jill Stein, this one's for you. Congratulations, the dreaded death panel is currently meeting to decimate health care and financial reforms. Elections have consequences and we will all suffer for it.
18
Typical dishonest, diuplicitious republicans. Why do americans keep voting these corrupt morally bankrupt leeches into office? You get the government you deserve america.
I want every single American who voted for these deranged, vicious, treasonous GOP dogs to hang their head in shame and own up to the misery their ill-informed, hate-filled votes have wrought. The needless suffering and death that will result from the coming healthcare bill is on your heads, you people. You own this. Thanks for nothing.
14
Seriously....what color is the sky in the GOP world ??
3
Wow. Those house and senate jobs must be the GREATEST jobs in the world. If they weren't, why would these guys shed every bit of decency and humanity they have in order to keep them? Why would they pretend that climate science is wrong? Why would they choose to let Americans die for lack of affordable health care? Why would they want large financial institutions to take advantage of investors, leaving them destitute? Why would they literally do ANYTHING to appease those dark money donors? Maybe I'm wrong, but for me, NO job is worth turning my back on my fellow human.
10
What the Republicans are doing by not subjecting their proposals to public discussion is shameful. Our leaders have lost their moral compass and their courage. If the proposed legislation is good for the country why not bring it up for discussion and explain its merits.
This is raw, naked power looks like. It is certainly not what our Founding Father intended. What would they do if they were alive today? Anyone who has read American History could hazard a guess.
Meanwhile, the Democrats sit meekly on the sidelines, "playing by the rules". They are not the party of FDR, JFK, and MLK.
Caught between these two forces are the majority of Americans. What will they finally choose to do? History has a lesson or two there as well. This is a turning point for our Republic. We will will either stand up and demand our leaders abide by the democracy formed by our Founders, or we will watch as it slips away into totalitarianism. Historians, take copious notes, so that future generations might understand why America fell.
Meanwhile, the Democrats sit meekly on the sidelines, "playing by the rules". They are not the party of FDR, JFK, and MLK.
Caught between these two forces are the majority of Americans. What will they finally choose to do? History has a lesson or two there as well. This is a turning point for our Republic. We will will either stand up and demand our leaders abide by the democracy formed by our Founders, or we will watch as it slips away into totalitarianism. Historians, take copious notes, so that future generations might understand why America fell.
11
These people are beyond disgusting. We, the American people, are not going to be able to see what is being done to our health care system. You can be assured that the secrecy is due to the fact it will decimate the insurance for millions of Americans, reduce Medicaid for the elderly in nursing home, reduce the assistance the disabled need - all on a massive scale so that Billionaires can have a tax cut! I've run out of words. These people are completely immoral. Of course, per Mr. Mulvaney - they are doing us a favor. Just keep that in mind when the full scope of this is revealed.
8
So these senate republicans are pulling the same stunt as their house republicans pulled in keeping their health care bill secret.
Why is it that these senate republicans can not work with their Democratic fellow senators? Shouldn't we, as Citizens, be concerned when people of one party will not work with members of the other party?
This is nothing more than the old republican "Hastert" rule in effect in the senate. The "Hastert Rule" says never bring a bill to the floor for a vote if you need Democrats to vote to pass it and never bring a Democratic bill to the floor for any reason.
Dennis Hastert was the House Speaker before Newt Gingrich. Hastert is now in a Federal Pen for charges of making just under the limit of bank withdrawals so the bank would not have to report the withdrawals and for making false statements to federal investigators. Prosecutors said that the money was to pay for and conceal abuse by Hastert against an unnamed boy years earlier when he, Hastert, was a high school coach.
Why is it that these senate republicans can not work with their Democratic fellow senators? Shouldn't we, as Citizens, be concerned when people of one party will not work with members of the other party?
This is nothing more than the old republican "Hastert" rule in effect in the senate. The "Hastert Rule" says never bring a bill to the floor for a vote if you need Democrats to vote to pass it and never bring a Democratic bill to the floor for any reason.
Dennis Hastert was the House Speaker before Newt Gingrich. Hastert is now in a Federal Pen for charges of making just under the limit of bank withdrawals so the bank would not have to report the withdrawals and for making false statements to federal investigators. Prosecutors said that the money was to pay for and conceal abuse by Hastert against an unnamed boy years earlier when he, Hastert, was a high school coach.
If they do this, let's hope they get it done as quickly as possible. The fallout will take a while to get down to the people who are going to be hurt. With luck, it will hit the poorest voters by Thanksgiving and then work its way up the line until the average American feels the pinch, either directly or through a family member.
Then the Democrats, with even half-way competent leadership, can start hammering out the vote, one person at a time, for 2018 and 2020.
Just go door-to-door and ask real people if they, personally, are better off under Donald Trump with a GOP Congress.
Ask if they, and their family, personally, have better-paying jobs now than they did on January 20, 2017.
Ask if they, and their family, personally, are getting a tax break from Donald Trump and the GOP Congress plan.
Ask them if they ever cared about a wall.
Ask if they, personally, are more worried about a terrorist attack, maybe, sometime, somewhere, or are they worried being able to pay rent next month.
Ask if they care about private schools and vouchers or making sure their own kid has a warm coat and a lunch to take take to their own school.
Ask the people if any campaign promises came true for them.
If the people still think Donald Trump and the GOP Congress are looking out for the interests of ordinary people, then we just have to wait it out until enough of them realize that the American people lost the election of 2016.
Then the Democrats, with even half-way competent leadership, can start hammering out the vote, one person at a time, for 2018 and 2020.
Just go door-to-door and ask real people if they, personally, are better off under Donald Trump with a GOP Congress.
Ask if they, and their family, personally, have better-paying jobs now than they did on January 20, 2017.
Ask if they, and their family, personally, are getting a tax break from Donald Trump and the GOP Congress plan.
Ask them if they ever cared about a wall.
Ask if they, personally, are more worried about a terrorist attack, maybe, sometime, somewhere, or are they worried being able to pay rent next month.
Ask if they care about private schools and vouchers or making sure their own kid has a warm coat and a lunch to take take to their own school.
Ask the people if any campaign promises came true for them.
If the people still think Donald Trump and the GOP Congress are looking out for the interests of ordinary people, then we just have to wait it out until enough of them realize that the American people lost the election of 2016.
8
dems won't fight, dems won't vote - it's who they are
1
Looks like poverty will become a new preexisting condition.
I go along with whatever health care plan these "representives" of the people come up with is their health care plan also.
I go along with whatever health care plan these "representives" of the people come up with is their health care plan also.
5
Neither party should be able to pass legislation of this magnitude without spending sufficient time to produce a well researched law, especially when American lives are at stake. Republicans are keeping their constituents in the dark in addition to their democrat colleagues. That is no way to govern.
Republicans will realize this in November 2018 if & when they are summarily rejected from congress. Of course there is no guarantee this will happen. One thing is for sure though. The republican stranglehold on our democracy led to the Trump presidency. The longer this debacle is allowed to continue, the more radical the opposition will become until there is outright rebellion. This is NOT the country our founders envisioned any longer. Greed of power, control and money have distorted not just government, but religion too. Christianity is no longer guided by the teachings of Jesus. The Devil himself is leading the church...
Republicans will realize this in November 2018 if & when they are summarily rejected from congress. Of course there is no guarantee this will happen. One thing is for sure though. The republican stranglehold on our democracy led to the Trump presidency. The longer this debacle is allowed to continue, the more radical the opposition will become until there is outright rebellion. This is NOT the country our founders envisioned any longer. Greed of power, control and money have distorted not just government, but religion too. Christianity is no longer guided by the teachings of Jesus. The Devil himself is leading the church...
8
we elected and supported the devil in 1980 - there is no real problem we face today that can't be laid at uncle Ronnie's door
3
A middle road between immediate passage of unread bills with a simple majority and the Senate's moribund filibuster rule of allowing a minority to block legislation altogether is what I call the "Mullibuster" rule:
If a bill or confirmation passes with less than say a 3/5 majority, any dissenting representative or senator would be able to request a revote in say two weeks. Then if the measure is exactly the same as originally, a simple majority will give it final passage. The two week delay on controversial measures would give legislators, staffers, journalists, and the blogosphere a chance to actually read and discuss the measure, without a minority being able to block it altogether.
For details, see my blogpost at http://blog.independent.org/2017/03/12/the-mullibuster-option/
If a bill or confirmation passes with less than say a 3/5 majority, any dissenting representative or senator would be able to request a revote in say two weeks. Then if the measure is exactly the same as originally, a simple majority will give it final passage. The two week delay on controversial measures would give legislators, staffers, journalists, and the blogosphere a chance to actually read and discuss the measure, without a minority being able to block it altogether.
For details, see my blogpost at http://blog.independent.org/2017/03/12/the-mullibuster-option/
Doubtless someone else has already said this, but I rush to submit my comment before the window closes.
When will some Republicans with principles—there must be some—announce that on principle alone they will not support a bill that is drafted in this way?
It will take only a few with principles to force the matter out into the open—debate and all the rest.
As for those who appear to be going along with this shameful process, abandoning principle in return for sops, shame on them.
When will some Republicans with principles—there must be some—announce that on principle alone they will not support a bill that is drafted in this way?
It will take only a few with principles to force the matter out into the open—debate and all the rest.
As for those who appear to be going along with this shameful process, abandoning principle in return for sops, shame on them.
3
Senate Majority Leader McConnell might do well to remember Speaker Pelosi’s famous Obamacare line, “We have to pass the Bill so that you can find out what is in it” of March 2010. Eight months she lost her job as Speaker. So McConnell can rush his secretive Trumpcare legislation through the Senate in July 2017 and be ready to lose his job as Majority Leader sixteen months later. Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it and McConnell has been pretty much playing the role of a dead man walking since Trump got elected.
3
If I were a senator or congressman and considering a piece of legislation that is controversial and would perhaps hurt many of my constituents, I would certainly want to put the outline of the bill to my constituents for their review and comments. To flush bad legislation down people's throats under cover of darkness would certainly be worse for me than full disclosure.
Since the american people seem to be in love with republicans witness what we have now as a so-called government, then they shouldn't be gripping since they voted for this band of pirates whose only interest is party and rich donors. The moral is to be careful for what you vote for , for you may get it!
3
Aside from issues involving national security, no bills should be written behind closed doors. The fact that Senate Republicans are doing so speaks volumes. By hiding behind closed doors they are telling the American people that they do not represent those who voted for them, they are telling us that they're up to no good, that their bill does not have people's interests at heart.
Elected representatives who hide behind closed doors are either doing something illegal or so terribly unpopular and wrong that they're afraid to face their constituents. It's time to show these elitist cowards the door.
Elected representatives who hide behind closed doors are either doing something illegal or so terribly unpopular and wrong that they're afraid to face their constituents. It's time to show these elitist cowards the door.
5
Please just let the Republicans punish their base for having voted for them.
2
The Ed. Board informs us of Senate ACA legislation "behind closed doors", barely a whimper, considering the loss of American democracy.
I call "legislation" in secret what it is: DICTATORSHIP,
and the Times should come clean, give up on PC and call it the same.
To describe America as a democracy is pure propaganda when government is run in secret by a few oligarchs who control all three branches and more importantly, they own the press.
Don't tell me this is hysteria when our Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process can be shut down by no more than a political party and 20 million citizens can have their health care taken away.
America is in serious trouble and the Times frets and whines instead of calling for a political revolution immediately.
I call "legislation" in secret what it is: DICTATORSHIP,
and the Times should come clean, give up on PC and call it the same.
To describe America as a democracy is pure propaganda when government is run in secret by a few oligarchs who control all three branches and more importantly, they own the press.
Don't tell me this is hysteria when our Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process can be shut down by no more than a political party and 20 million citizens can have their health care taken away.
America is in serious trouble and the Times frets and whines instead of calling for a political revolution immediately.
5
The blood of the first child who dies without healthcare will be on the hands of Mitch McConnell.
I am always struck by the fact that the United States - the "greatest and richest country in the world" some say - has no universal health insurance. We alone among the nations whose leaders met in Europe a few days ago have no universal care. What is our problem?
Throw these bums out. They are not fit to wash the boots of the hardworking American people they supposedly represent.
I am always struck by the fact that the United States - the "greatest and richest country in the world" some say - has no universal health insurance. We alone among the nations whose leaders met in Europe a few days ago have no universal care. What is our problem?
Throw these bums out. They are not fit to wash the boots of the hardworking American people they supposedly represent.
5
Why is Congress allowed to get away with this? Isn't there anything that requires hearings and comments before a law is passed? More terrifying than the AHCA itself is the clandestine manner being used, which is apparently legal.
5
It may be legal but it is unethical and immoral! And dishonest!
2
It's time for a healthcare bill leak......Americans and other public servants need to know the details of this bill.....
2
I guess millions have to die before the American people finally realize the harm the GOP is doing to the bulk of its citizens.
2
"Opening it to scrutiny before a vote would be the congressional equivalent of exposing a vampire to sunlight" ( the Republican Senate version of the unconstitutional mandated AHCA). NYT. Editorial Board.
Is this any different than 'we have to pass it so we can know what is in it' Democrat version !? Both the conservative Democrats and the conservative Republicans have no problem in voiding your 'right to freely contract with others of your own choosing for your own benefit.' That is because at it's core there is a mistrust of the people to make choices for themselves and the elitist mindset of both conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans to keep those in power to stay in power !?
Is this any different than 'we have to pass it so we can know what is in it' Democrat version !? Both the conservative Democrats and the conservative Republicans have no problem in voiding your 'right to freely contract with others of your own choosing for your own benefit.' That is because at it's core there is a mistrust of the people to make choices for themselves and the elitist mindset of both conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans to keep those in power to stay in power !?
It's called, we have to pass it to know what's in it. Don't you remember that?
This maneuvering has to be, by far, the most gutless, cruel, misogynist, and elitist plan of action ever conceived by King McConnell.
But of course, he blocked Garland for 9 months too.
Time to fly my flag upside down.
But of course, he blocked Garland for 9 months too.
Time to fly my flag upside down.
7
Funny how access to affordable health insurance for low income Alaskan families matters more to Senate Republicans than for low income families in my state, Washington, where already insurance providers have pulled out of two counties with the highest poverty rates. Considering the needs of all the country is, I guess, too much to hope for from this Congress.
I am proud that Washington's two Democratic senators aren't part of the problem - but it's agonizing to be a voting citizen yet so utterly cut off from any participation whatsoever in this law which will affect the fates of so many millions of Americans.
I am proud that Washington's two Democratic senators aren't part of the problem - but it's agonizing to be a voting citizen yet so utterly cut off from any participation whatsoever in this law which will affect the fates of so many millions of Americans.
8
Oregon's two senators are also both Democrats and will not support this mystery bill. So that leaves it for people living in states with Republican senators to make contact with their senators (if you're not a constituent, you can't even leave a comment on a lot of senators' websites). But you can still call McConnell - he has to have his staff take calls from people in blue states, and they do: 202-224-2541.
1
Nothing to worry about. Let them pass their killer bill and Trump sign it into law. It will just get us closer to a Democratic majority and the Medicare for All public insurance plan that is the only humane, fair and cost-effective solution. Unfortunately, good people will suffer and die needlessly in the process.
6
no, they will pass this, blame the fall out on Obama and be re-elected because dems will neither fight nor vote
1
When the democrats voted for Obamacare it led to a republican landslide victory in the 2010 election. It voters hate the republican action they will vote out the republicans. Letting voters decide seems like a quaint idea to most democrats. Democrats seem to be slowly losing interest in democracy.
2
If you peel back the foundation makeup, you will see that Republicans at heart, do not believe government should help people. Not in utero, not at birth, in day care or in school, not with health care or college tuition or a decent job.
Yet, these disadvantaged people -- that is, most Americans -- are supposed to fend for themselves against a hugely profitable medical care industry propped up by a compliant Congress.
Sadly, Democrats too, have their doubts about a national health system. Max Baucus wouldn't even listen to single payer arguments.
If Democrats run on universal health care and impeachment, we will have universal health care and impeachment.
Yet, these disadvantaged people -- that is, most Americans -- are supposed to fend for themselves against a hugely profitable medical care industry propped up by a compliant Congress.
Sadly, Democrats too, have their doubts about a national health system. Max Baucus wouldn't even listen to single payer arguments.
If Democrats run on universal health care and impeachment, we will have universal health care and impeachment.
5
"If you peel back the foundation makeup, you will see that Republicans at heart, do not believe government should help people."
"If Democrats run on universal health care and impeachment, we will have universal health care and impeachment."
If you have universal health care, you have lost your freedom. How much is your freedom worth?
"If Democrats run on universal health care and impeachment, we will have universal health care and impeachment."
If you have universal health care, you have lost your freedom. How much is your freedom worth?
I agree with the entire opinion except the last sentence. I've lost all hope in the voting public, particularly those who will be most affected by the healthcare changes.
3
"The voting public" that you refer to is about 70% white. Whites voted for Trump in every single category from the so-called millennials through the 65 and older. The majority of white men, white women and white college graduates all voted for Trump.
Given all of Trump's slander, racist remarks, threats of violence, the mocking of a disabled reporter, the disgusting misogynist comments about women being fat pigs, slobs and dogs, his "grab-them by the __" filthy remark, slamming a judge because he had a Hispanic surname, never served a lick in the U.S. military yet claims he knows more about fighting ISIS than the generals do, never ran for or served in public office, pondered why, if we have nuclear weapons, can't we use them -- all of this and more should have disqualified the KKK-endorsed white supremacist Trump for the highest office in the land.
The inconvenient truth is, white America is xenophobic and racist. They got the white supremacist that they wanted and voted for.
Given all of Trump's slander, racist remarks, threats of violence, the mocking of a disabled reporter, the disgusting misogynist comments about women being fat pigs, slobs and dogs, his "grab-them by the __" filthy remark, slamming a judge because he had a Hispanic surname, never served a lick in the U.S. military yet claims he knows more about fighting ISIS than the generals do, never ran for or served in public office, pondered why, if we have nuclear weapons, can't we use them -- all of this and more should have disqualified the KKK-endorsed white supremacist Trump for the highest office in the land.
The inconvenient truth is, white America is xenophobic and racist. They got the white supremacist that they wanted and voted for.
3
I'd seriously be interested in seeing how this bill would look if they (Congress) had to rely only on the bill's insurance as well. It is the height of hubris for someone with an expensive comprehensive health care plan paid for by the taxpayers to make decisions limiting tax supported health care for American families.
11
This government is the least transparent I have seen. When you have to hide what you're doing, it isn't government by or for the people. This group (Trump, McConnell, Ryan, et al) should no longer govern. They aren't serving their constituents well through their secretive actions. Plus, their hypocrisy is stunning when you look back at how they all crowed about the manner in which the ACA was passed, which was FAR more open than this process.
9
Why aren't Democrats breaking down that door? It is not as if the Republicans are working on classified, top secret material. Don't Democrats have a right to be present? Republican's continue with their dictatorial, authoritarian, undemocratic, unconstitutional and cheating ways.
Or at the very least they should just lock them in permanently.
Or at the very least they should just lock them in permanently.
8
Claire McCaskill, Democrat from Missouri, raised this issue, and did it very well. Even if you are not her constituent, call her and give her encouragement to continue her fight.
1
Republican senators are sworn to protect their constituents. They are now literally killing them. Shame, shame, shame to these power-driven, money-hungry, soulless and despicable politicians.
10
Mr. McConnell, like President Trump, is a shameless opportunist and hypocrite who is not averse to darkening his own pot with the same carbon he used to blacken the kettle.
In advancing the GOP's pro-plutocrat agenda, McConnell, like Trump, is not averse to employing manipulation, misrepresentation and outright lies.
The authentic leaders of a democratic republic must adhere to what George Washington termed “republican virtues." True statesmen embody virtues developed through adherence to norms such as respect for the rule of law; respect for the three co-equal and independent branches of the federal government; respect for political opponents and a willingness to give their arguments a fair hearing; faithful performance of the civic duties that attend one’s station; respect for public offices and officials; and an acknowledgment of facts when engaged in policy debates.
Trump and McConnell are both masters of disrespect and deceit. Is it any wonder that many Americans feel or believe that our "democratic" institutions are mere embodiments of the greed and lust for power of such men?
American citizens are succumbing to an all pervasive cynicism with respect to politics and politicians. This cynicism will ultimately result in the abandonment of democratic-republican ideals, a further divided citizenry and governance from the top down: Governance over the people, by the plutocrat's minions and lackeys, in the service of plutocratic and kleptocratic interests.
In advancing the GOP's pro-plutocrat agenda, McConnell, like Trump, is not averse to employing manipulation, misrepresentation and outright lies.
The authentic leaders of a democratic republic must adhere to what George Washington termed “republican virtues." True statesmen embody virtues developed through adherence to norms such as respect for the rule of law; respect for the three co-equal and independent branches of the federal government; respect for political opponents and a willingness to give their arguments a fair hearing; faithful performance of the civic duties that attend one’s station; respect for public offices and officials; and an acknowledgment of facts when engaged in policy debates.
Trump and McConnell are both masters of disrespect and deceit. Is it any wonder that many Americans feel or believe that our "democratic" institutions are mere embodiments of the greed and lust for power of such men?
American citizens are succumbing to an all pervasive cynicism with respect to politics and politicians. This cynicism will ultimately result in the abandonment of democratic-republican ideals, a further divided citizenry and governance from the top down: Governance over the people, by the plutocrat's minions and lackeys, in the service of plutocratic and kleptocratic interests.
8
I have only known one reason for people to do things behind closed doors, guarding themselves against the scrutiny of others; shame! I would certainly be ashamed if I were trying to deny healthcare to many of the citizens I was elected to represent. I would be even more ashamed if my reason for betraying these mostly poor, sick and elderly people was to give money to those who can already afford anything they need. The level of shame would be intolerable if these same people I was giving money to were giving me large political contributions! I obviously do not have what it takes to be a Senate Republican.
7
It's simply morally shameful that a rich nation like the US just could not summon the decency to provide affordable health care to its citizens, that it will take away even the tenuous health care that millions of its citizens so badly needed so that it can give an undeserved tax cut to its very wealthy citizens.
Regardless of all the lofty values, ideals and words that the US describes itself and presents to the world, the US has revealed itself to be a nation of emptiness.
Regardless of all the lofty values, ideals and words that the US describes itself and presents to the world, the US has revealed itself to be a nation of emptiness.
7
McConnell's behind the curtain ploys speaks volumes for the contempt he holds voters in. If what they concoct becomes law and the voters don't revolt then the contempt he shows them will be well deserved.
This is the America of Fox new watchers. They do not read, they do not analyze, they do not pursue independent thought. They have learned to be loyal to their sovereign voices: television personalities and radio hosts pretending to be looking out for their best interests, dispensing the same advice over and over: distrust the left, distrust anyone who does not look like us, speak like, and congregate like us.
Why, oh why are so many willing to accept so little? Because they have so few demands: they want America white, armed and pregnant and that is it. All else is beside the point. They want to bury their savings in mason jars in the back yard and they will handle any emergency thorough the barrel of their firearms, shooting intruders who will steal their savings, or themselves in the head lest they have to pay for a hospital.
Better a martyr to their own kind and cause than to help pay for benefits for the others, who live in cities after arriving from distant shores.
Why, oh why are so many willing to accept so little? Because they have so few demands: they want America white, armed and pregnant and that is it. All else is beside the point. They want to bury their savings in mason jars in the back yard and they will handle any emergency thorough the barrel of their firearms, shooting intruders who will steal their savings, or themselves in the head lest they have to pay for a hospital.
Better a martyr to their own kind and cause than to help pay for benefits for the others, who live in cities after arriving from distant shores.
7
Let's run these shameless, spineless cretins out of office and enact single-payer healthcare. Time to join the civilized world.
6
There is no inconsistency between Republicans attacking the process behind the ACA (although it took over a year and followed an open approval process) and the Trumpcare bill they are now secretly considering and strategizing to ram through Congress, assisted by Trump providing the public with all sorts of distractions as cover.
In both cases, they are using smashmouth power politics to serve their puppet-masters, the 1%.
In both cases, they are using smashmouth power politics to serve their puppet-masters, the 1%.
1
And behind it all is tax cuts, that's all the repubs want. Tax cuts. Sad.
2
Craven, cruel cowards. All are repellent but what goes around comes around. Trust me on that.
3
Why why isn't this on the fron page, above the fold. Maybe pair it with an article comparing the gutting of Medicaid, and the ensuing destruction of family savings that will follow, to the GOP proposal to eliminate the estate tax.
6
We need a peaceful civil uprising to put an end to this misery.The GOP has proved themselves so craven they are despicable and should all be indicted for high crimes and misdemeanors.
10
The hatefulness of Trump and his vile supporters has infected me as well. I will take a very satisfying, uncharitable pleasure at seeing ignorant Trump voters lose healthcare.
7
Because this is completely different from passing the 2,000+ page Obamacare bill that, as Pelosi pointed out, no one actually read.
The Democrats DID ramrod the PPACA into law in 2010, with majorities in both the House and the Senate. The result of this? R's win the House that same year, suggesting that the People didn't like the Act with its Health Czar deciding who would live and who would die (i.e., who would have treatments paid for and whose funding would be cut).
Obama bribed senators in several states to get their votes by making every other state pay for the senators' states portion of Medicare as part of PPACA. That wasn't done in "open session". That wasn't publicly broadcast. Instead, we were lied to by the Civil-Activist-in-Chief when he publicly told us "You can keep your doctor." How does the NYT feel about that POTUS lying?
The Democrats DID ramrod the PPACA into law in 2010, with majorities in both the House and the Senate. The result of this? R's win the House that same year, suggesting that the People didn't like the Act with its Health Czar deciding who would live and who would die (i.e., who would have treatments paid for and whose funding would be cut).
Obama bribed senators in several states to get their votes by making every other state pay for the senators' states portion of Medicare as part of PPACA. That wasn't done in "open session". That wasn't publicly broadcast. Instead, we were lied to by the Civil-Activist-in-Chief when he publicly told us "You can keep your doctor." How does the NYT feel about that POTUS lying?
3
There, ladies and gentlemen, is the view from the Tea Party. No facts, no reality. Just the world the way they want to believe it exists.
2
Wrong, there were over 100 meetings and hours of testimony on the ACA. It was all on CSPAN and I watched it all. The republicans added 161 amendments, some which weakened the bill. The quote by Pelosi was taken out of context and referred to people being pleasantly surprised by the protections within. The entire document was out and on the website and I read it all as did Pelosi and others. The republicans got scared and voted it down but it was not because there was any lack of transparency. The part A Medicare trust fund was strengthened by changing the way reimbursement was done. Money was sent from Medicare to Medicaid to cover seniors (30 % of seniors are dual eligible and 70 % of custodial nursing home care is paid for by Medicaid) The donut hole for part D was also being closed. If the ACA is repealed Medicare will suffer. I have had to change doctors numerous times with private insurance changes. You can always keep your doctor if you pay for him/her.
3
The bill was not put together in secret. There were a number of public hearings.
The sludgy sleazy rotting stench that is the GOP terrorists and this sick deplorable regime headed by an mentally incompetent narcissist if not THE personification of EVIL itself is almost too much to read about, watch, witness anymore. We are left desperate for something - and what is the answer to remove all of this gangrenous infection? But the absence of a unified democrat response - an aggressive unified democrat response exposing the gangrene for what it is is equally depressing.
5
Republican, thy name is hypocrite and thou art a coward.
If voters learn what they have done. And if voters don't somehow think its Obama's fault. And if the Press doesn't again get bored with shining that spotlight on McConnell and his gang of thieves and murderers.
Maybe when enough of the morons who voted for these awful people die the lonely deaths that their politicians have planned for them the rest of US can pick up what is left of our Nation and its democracy and rebuild towards something sustainable.
If republicans maintain control of our government another 4 years the human race is finished.
If voters learn what they have done. And if voters don't somehow think its Obama's fault. And if the Press doesn't again get bored with shining that spotlight on McConnell and his gang of thieves and murderers.
Maybe when enough of the morons who voted for these awful people die the lonely deaths that their politicians have planned for them the rest of US can pick up what is left of our Nation and its democracy and rebuild towards something sustainable.
If republicans maintain control of our government another 4 years the human race is finished.
6
One of our family, a physician, refers to it as the "Trumpdon'tcare" bill.
6
The GOP says Obamacare won't work. Then they proceed to sabotage it. Then turn around and say: see, I told you it wouldn't work. In the meantime, instead of fixing they destroy it. Trolls postings notwithstanding, this is how cowards act in the name of idelogy, against all of us, behind closed doors in those smoke filled rooms
8
Mitch is a hateful man full of revenge. He cares for the very wealthy and nothing else. I hope to be able to see the day he is gone from the senate.
2
If anyone believes the Repubs will suffer at the polls when the voters figure out what they've done, just remember that those same voters elected the ignorant bigot and Repub majorities across the country.
4
As one KING said, Will no one rid us of this nest of vipers and traitors that are called the GOP.
3
Gosh, it would be nice if you had an article about this travesty on the front pages of your newspaper.
5
We MUST get the vote out in 2018 and run these morons out of town, including Trumpty Dumpty and his tribe. How is it possible that this so-called democratic government (for and by the people) can get away with these sleazy, back door manipulations? Where are the checks and balances? We're looking more and more like the countries that this idiot at the top considers great examples of government - Philippines, North Korea, Russia, ... They're all taking on Trump's street hustler approach. If this so-called health care plan passes, we should make sure that Congress gets the same benefits. By the way, don't let all these distractions take away from everything else they're trying to get away with. Obama, where are you?
2
The GOP is banking on lightning striking twice: They sold their minority of voters on "Trump is OK and we'll keep him on track" to be able to get him appointed by the Electoral College.
Now the cruel and mean-spirited Majority in Congress are gambling on the flyover states and rural areas to again trust them to do the right thing by healthcare, facts be damned and death panels confirmed.
Welcome to the abattoir, you'll enjoy the accommodations - make yourself at home! (just keep the line moving forward, please. Plenty of room for all!)
They (voters) will probably fold again and support their elected "Judas Sheep" Senate and House Representatives, and again, the joke will be on them.
PT Barnum would be proud.
Now the cruel and mean-spirited Majority in Congress are gambling on the flyover states and rural areas to again trust them to do the right thing by healthcare, facts be damned and death panels confirmed.
Welcome to the abattoir, you'll enjoy the accommodations - make yourself at home! (just keep the line moving forward, please. Plenty of room for all!)
They (voters) will probably fold again and support their elected "Judas Sheep" Senate and House Representatives, and again, the joke will be on them.
PT Barnum would be proud.
4
Keep the pressure up, NYT.
6
Victor Orban's Hungary and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Turkey are authoritarian states that retain the trappings of democracy. Under current GOP leadership, is America on the slippery slope to a similar fate?
President Trump, who disdains ethical and political norms, provides the extreme case. "Family first" and "the end justifies the means" are the only two points on his "moral" compass.
Senate Majority leader McConnell is also a blatant opportunist. "The end justifies the means" provides the sole justification for his and the GOP's unconstitutional Scalia-replacement strategy.
"The Party and its donors first" is McConnell's other guiding principle. This is evident in his secretive approach to replacing Obamacare.
Trump differs from McConnell in that his "famiglia" is smaller. Both are equal in their desire to see their respective "famiglias" prosper, regardless of the cost to others. Both prefer that their decisions and actions are hidden from public scrutiny.
Trump and McConnell, like Orban and Erdogan, both recognize that contemporary authoritarian success is achieved by protecting the interests of plutocrats. For all four "leaders" authoritarian success is not chiefly grounded in their ability to threaten and punish innocent citizens, but rather in their ability to advance the interests of the plutocrats and quasi-kleptocrats who support them.
To what extent is America becoming a seemingly "democratic" state, actually ruled by plutocratic-kleptocratic oligarchs?
President Trump, who disdains ethical and political norms, provides the extreme case. "Family first" and "the end justifies the means" are the only two points on his "moral" compass.
Senate Majority leader McConnell is also a blatant opportunist. "The end justifies the means" provides the sole justification for his and the GOP's unconstitutional Scalia-replacement strategy.
"The Party and its donors first" is McConnell's other guiding principle. This is evident in his secretive approach to replacing Obamacare.
Trump differs from McConnell in that his "famiglia" is smaller. Both are equal in their desire to see their respective "famiglias" prosper, regardless of the cost to others. Both prefer that their decisions and actions are hidden from public scrutiny.
Trump and McConnell, like Orban and Erdogan, both recognize that contemporary authoritarian success is achieved by protecting the interests of plutocrats. For all four "leaders" authoritarian success is not chiefly grounded in their ability to threaten and punish innocent citizens, but rather in their ability to advance the interests of the plutocrats and quasi-kleptocrats who support them.
To what extent is America becoming a seemingly "democratic" state, actually ruled by plutocratic-kleptocratic oligarchs?
5
Something like 60% of Americans favor keeping Obamacare. That's a problem for the GOP congress. When you are trying to pass legislation against the will of the people, it's best done in secret.
McConnell is trusting that, if done swiftly, taking away healthcare for 25 million people won't hurt the GOP in 2018. He must be delusional.
McConnell is trusting that, if done swiftly, taking away healthcare for 25 million people won't hurt the GOP in 2018. He must be delusional.
1
The vast majority of people who will lose there health care are Trump supporters. I don't care about those people and neither should you.
4
When the Ayn Rand wing of the GOP talks about eliminating government confiscation of hard working Americans earnings through taxes they say if you want to give money to charity you are free to do so. They don't let you know that Ayn Rand rejected altruism. Don't look for a helping hand in any form from these folks Appalachians; you're on your own and good luck with that.
When Mulvany talks of compassion for taxpayers one has to wonder what rock this guy crawled out from under. I'm not sure he understands the meaning of compassion. Our system of government hasn't been perfect by any means but at least we as a society have spoke to the better angels of people rather than stir the pot of despair.
Watching Priebus talking during the sideshow called a cabinet meeting about being blessed by Trump, it sounded more like a prayer to a god than a simple statement of appreciation. Really scary chills went through my body. My prayer is that we have the strength as a society to withstand this administration's assault on human decency.
When Mulvany talks of compassion for taxpayers one has to wonder what rock this guy crawled out from under. I'm not sure he understands the meaning of compassion. Our system of government hasn't been perfect by any means but at least we as a society have spoke to the better angels of people rather than stir the pot of despair.
Watching Priebus talking during the sideshow called a cabinet meeting about being blessed by Trump, it sounded more like a prayer to a god than a simple statement of appreciation. Really scary chills went through my body. My prayer is that we have the strength as a society to withstand this administration's assault on human decency.
3
The immorality of the Republican agenda with regards to Americans health care is unconscionable. The American people know better at this point and will let their voices heard during the next election. It will be a pleasure to see all these men be kicked out of office.
2
Can we please stop referring to "moderate" Republicans? There is no such animal in the GOP congress. There are extreme right wingers, which constitute the majority (and beyond them a handful who are beyond extreme), and then there are less extreme right wingers such as Portman and Susan Collins. Which is why these so-called "moderates" pretend to have the queasies about something as thoroughly obnoxious as the GOP health plan and then accept peanuts (not even a fig leaf) to win them over.
So Portman didn't like the 3 year phaseout of expanded Medicaid. After all this could hurt his re-election for one thing. He's offered 7. They'll likely agree on 5 but whatever it is, it ends up with millions of poor Americans in Ohio and Maine and everywhere else going without healthcare down the road. Some moderation!
So Portman didn't like the 3 year phaseout of expanded Medicaid. After all this could hurt his re-election for one thing. He's offered 7. They'll likely agree on 5 but whatever it is, it ends up with millions of poor Americans in Ohio and Maine and everywhere else going without healthcare down the road. Some moderation!
2
This is the tactic of cowardly representatives who do not want to face their constituents on the July 4th holiday break. Knowing how concerned citizens are about this bill they choose to hide this mess.
The Dems need to start proposing alternative legislation. A bill funding opioid intervention....now to include heroin addiction....could be drafted, advertised and supported by the party. That Sessions wants to jail addicts instead of curing them should be widely covered. The cost of prisoners and guards should be compared to the cost for schools and teachers. Being the party of NO won't work to fix what the Trump administration is doing to America. Do something Dems or lose the next election.
The Dems need to start proposing alternative legislation. A bill funding opioid intervention....now to include heroin addiction....could be drafted, advertised and supported by the party. That Sessions wants to jail addicts instead of curing them should be widely covered. The cost of prisoners and guards should be compared to the cost for schools and teachers. Being the party of NO won't work to fix what the Trump administration is doing to America. Do something Dems or lose the next election.
2
McConnell will still keep smirking that whatever he does is for the "American People" - whether they know it or not and whether they want it or not.
Now dictatorship masquerades as democracy. The GOP plans to keep the masks on as tightly as possible.
Now dictatorship masquerades as democracy. The GOP plans to keep the masks on as tightly as possible.
2
I am glad I live in a country that values health care. I feel sorry for you Americans, but it is up to you to create laws and vote for politicians who will support health care to the public.
5
How could this bill possibly represent what any group of voters want? It'll be to see how little they can get away with providing.
The committee consists of 13 white men, average age 60, average net worth $5.3M. (data from tabulated data for members of congress.)
They aren't soliciting data from anyone, most assuredly not the insurance industry that will have to handle policies and claims. Gosh, why would you need to talk to them when you have a bunch of really smart rich white men from red states who themselves don't need public insurance because the taxpayers provide it.
The committee consists of 13 white men, average age 60, average net worth $5.3M. (data from tabulated data for members of congress.)
They aren't soliciting data from anyone, most assuredly not the insurance industry that will have to handle policies and claims. Gosh, why would you need to talk to them when you have a bunch of really smart rich white men from red states who themselves don't need public insurance because the taxpayers provide it.
2
Should this bill pass and the House and Senate can reconcile their separate bills, they will get what they have dreamed of ideologically. What they will get politically will be something very different. If the Republican members of Congress fear their Town Hall meeting now, they will really fear them after their bill passes. I wonder if Mitch has a strategy for that reality, or if he will let his members hang out to dry for the sake of passing his demented anti-Obama healthcare bill?
The Judas-McConnell-Trump Tax Cut Bill is a betrayal of the promises to the American public about healthcare. These people have no consciences.
My Senator Cory Gardner never answers his phone anymore. I am hoping we relieve him of his job and his message tape machine in the next election.
2
Please: Do not refer to "Trumpcare". It is "GOP-care" (or "GOP-NO-Care). and should be refer to as that. GOP wants it (or worse) and they should take the credit or rather responsibility at the elections.
2
Just 24 million people will lose healthcare, and the GOP isn't worried?
And why would they worry, since their plans include efforts to suppress voter registration and access, to the tune of (you guessed it) 24 million voters.
There! Problem fixed!
And why would they worry, since their plans include efforts to suppress voter registration and access, to the tune of (you guessed it) 24 million voters.
There! Problem fixed!
They won't even have 24 million to be concerned about, some of them will have died and not by old age but by medical neglect. These people will be the ones that will have had to choose between food for their families and an out of pocket doctor 's office visit. And if you think that is an outrageous statement, think about taking away the access to medical care for 24 million people. The road to bring more money to the rich will be lined with the bodies of these US citizens. It is virtually impossible to create outrageous, gone to far statements when compared to the statement "loss of healthcare insurance for 24 MILLION people."
The editorial board is appealing to logic, but those who voted in this congress and Trump don't care about logical arguments and facts from what they call "the lies of the dishonest liberal media". It is only when they will be directly affected by the policies of this government that they will react. Maybe they need to be directly hurt by these policies before they wake up. As for those who did not vote, many of them will be affected and it may be a wake up call for them too. Sounds harsh? But if logic and facts won't get through to them, maybe this will.
The Republicans have to pass the bill, so then they'll know what's in the bill, remember?
Minor matters such as "not reading" the Obamacare bill did nothing to deter the right wing hysteria machine from full throat attacks about death panels.
Directly benefiting from Obamacare and from government largess and handouts has not prevented half of Americans from voting for someone who publicly espouses his intent to destroy the very fabric of the state that keeps them alive. When Trump appoints Sarah Palin as supreme court justice, and Ted Nugent as surgeon general, they will squeal in delight.
Ergo, nothing should stop the democrats from spreading complete misinformation and hysteria about this secret Trumpcare.
For instance, not having read it, I believe that Trumpcare will allow all families with $1 million or more per year in income to not pay taxes, and receive free healthcare. The rest can fling themselves off cliffs with segregated lines.
The really cool thing about America is that half of the voters standing in line to fling themselves off said cliffs will vote for Trump again.
Kalidan
Directly benefiting from Obamacare and from government largess and handouts has not prevented half of Americans from voting for someone who publicly espouses his intent to destroy the very fabric of the state that keeps them alive. When Trump appoints Sarah Palin as supreme court justice, and Ted Nugent as surgeon general, they will squeal in delight.
Ergo, nothing should stop the democrats from spreading complete misinformation and hysteria about this secret Trumpcare.
For instance, not having read it, I believe that Trumpcare will allow all families with $1 million or more per year in income to not pay taxes, and receive free healthcare. The rest can fling themselves off cliffs with segregated lines.
The really cool thing about America is that half of the voters standing in line to fling themselves off said cliffs will vote for Trump again.
Kalidan
1
Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan: Two heartless souls.
Karma will eventually catch up to them...
Karma will eventually catch up to them...
1
It's time for the NYT to quit fueling the "fake news" accusation by continuously publishing articles saying Trump's bill couldn't pass even the House (it did), he isn't interested in replacing attorneys-general (he just did, many), that his tax reforms don't have a chance (they have gathering momentum as the health care bill moves through the Senate), and that his infrastructure promise was empty (he's proposed at least one possible plan).
What the NYT is doing is publishing wishes as if they were actual events: it strips the heart out of its progressive leadership to see issue after issue they thought was finished suddenly find life.
Please, editors, put down the happy-gas mask and get back to reporting the news. Telling people what they want to hear is a bartender's job, not that of a serious journalist.
What the NYT is doing is publishing wishes as if they were actual events: it strips the heart out of its progressive leadership to see issue after issue they thought was finished suddenly find life.
Please, editors, put down the happy-gas mask and get back to reporting the news. Telling people what they want to hear is a bartender's job, not that of a serious journalist.
1
"he isn't interested in replacing attorneys-general (he just did, many)". I believe you must have meant Federal Prosecutors; "attorneys-general" cannot be fired by a president, as they are elected state, not federal, officials.
1
Trump's bill did not pass in the House; it did not even come up for a vote. What passed was a hastily assembled, poorly crafted, badly cobbled Frankenstein of a "Republican" House bill.
1
It is Trump's bill, just as our current one is "Obamacare," for better or worse. Your first post's assertion is correct.
Now, do you have any true opinions of your own?
Now, do you have any true opinions of your own?
Vampires to sunlight . . .pretty Bram Stoker-like evil stuff going on here. If that is the case with Republicans, then by all means when the Democrats get back on top their first order of business has to be putting a stake into the heart of each members fellow counterpart. Hopefully their majority will be slight so they don't have to dispatch too many of their own in the frenzy of vampire killing at sunrise. What will they do with all those empty seats on the right side of the chamber?
And our Evangelical, born again, God-fearing Vice President Mike Pence is eagerly standing in the wings to cast the deciding vote to dismantle health care for possibly greater than 24 million people and legislating skyrocketing premiums for 50-65 year old Americans. People will die as a result of this shameful bill. Ideology kills in America. Ideology kills in Iraq. Pushing people to the brink by grotesque policy, or at the end of an AK-47 are similarly immoral.
2
So where are the democrats hiding?
Wherever it is, it is s a great hiding place because they have been hiding there for years.
Wherever it is, it is s a great hiding place because they have been hiding there for years.
These men should be locked up for what they want to do to their fellow Americans. Makes you proud to be part of this country doesn't it!
The Republicans apparently did not learn from the Democrat's despicable formulation of the Affordable Care Act. Who can forget Congresswoman Pelosi's sagely advice to wait until the House had passed Obamacare to see what was in the 2,700+ page bromine for a sickly America?
Seems you can't tell a Democrat from a Republican once they are a majority. How sad.
Seems you can't tell a Democrat from a Republican once they are a majority. How sad.
I'm preaching to the choir here but I'll make the point anyway. There's a good chance the tax cut will pass on the back of public interests. The Republicans will certainly suffer losses in Congress. Unfortunately though, the political calculations fall more heavily on the House than the Senate. Senate Republicans are much less vulnerable in the near term and political memory is short. Besides, party loyalty is powerful leverage. Any principled opposition is the equivalent of going out to graze. At this point, the law is "take it or leave it" for any Republican excluded from active negotiation.
There's another more troubling influence though. Namely: right-wing media. They're already working night and day to mitigate the impact of the inevitable disaster coming. Reshape the narrative and redirect blame. I'm sure Obamacare will continue as an entrenched lighting rod for blame. None of the worst impacts of the law are likely to hit until after 2020 at the earliest anyway. That's plenty of time to spin doctor a story for those willing to be convinced. That's how propaganda works. The victim seeks affirmation or provides a willingness to believe. Everyone else is a waste of time.
The left-wing media is guilty as well. However, unless you actively indulge in the more outrageous elements, you can usually tease out truth from perpetual offense. Best practice: read arguments from multiple sources.
There's another more troubling influence though. Namely: right-wing media. They're already working night and day to mitigate the impact of the inevitable disaster coming. Reshape the narrative and redirect blame. I'm sure Obamacare will continue as an entrenched lighting rod for blame. None of the worst impacts of the law are likely to hit until after 2020 at the earliest anyway. That's plenty of time to spin doctor a story for those willing to be convinced. That's how propaganda works. The victim seeks affirmation or provides a willingness to believe. Everyone else is a waste of time.
The left-wing media is guilty as well. However, unless you actively indulge in the more outrageous elements, you can usually tease out truth from perpetual offense. Best practice: read arguments from multiple sources.
1
Obamacare is falling apart state by state, insurance carrier by insurance carrier. It doesn't and won't work. Also, at least the Republican House and Senate members have READ their bill, unlike Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats with the ACA.
The US states engage in very destructive competition waged by unequal protection of law.
That is so false. How can you repeat such obvious lies. Did you even read the article? It details the process behind the vetting of the ACA.
3
Is it longer than a one page memorandum Trump can read?
1
"When voters learn what they have done."
And there's the catch! Fox & Co. will make sure that never happens (in fact it's part of their job), and the rest of the media will be prostrate.
And there's the catch! Fox & Co. will make sure that never happens (in fact it's part of their job), and the rest of the media will be prostrate.
The only option for the public is to remember the names of the architects of this travesty, mark them well.
ACA works and could have worked better with a modicum of bipartisan effort, but conservative media and the Republican congress decided that the goal of this government is to obliterate anything associated with America's first black president, this is their definition of victory.
ACA works and could have worked better with a modicum of bipartisan effort, but conservative media and the Republican congress decided that the goal of this government is to obliterate anything associated with America's first black president, this is their definition of victory.
8
The ACA is falling apart, state by state, insurance carrier by insurance carrier. How can you say it works?
1
ACA is not falling apart in California. We have a large enough populace to be attractive to payers, and the social conscience to care for our people. We have the social conscience to care for the people of the Rust Belt, too, whenever folks are ready for a serious discussion about a single payer system available for all (actually, would be mandated for all).
I never thought I would become an advocate for a nationalized or single-payer health system for the US, but the cruel and heartless dialogues over the past year and a half have changed my mind. I'm am now very open to the idea.
I never thought I would become an advocate for a nationalized or single-payer health system for the US, but the cruel and heartless dialogues over the past year and a half have changed my mind. I'm am now very open to the idea.
1
Sir. You are wrong. ObamaCare is not falling apart. The republicans and Trump have sabotaged it. Even so it countinues to provide healthcare for millions of families. If the republicans and the president were willing to work w democrats and attempt to fix it and carry out provisions in it that they are obligated to, ObamaCare would work better. On the other hand, the republican healthcare law will take away healthcare from at least 20 million Americans.
3
This is another major battle, and probably a loss, on the certain path to single payer universal health care. Republican obsession with destroying the ACA to open the way for their equally obsessive drive to cut taxes for the rich blinds them to the political fallouts that are sure to come. They will deal with that later, they tell themselves. "We will think of something to confuse or distract the voters". They are in for a big surprise. The loss of health coverage for millions and the accompanying loss of health care jobs will generate a tidal wave of support for a single payer system. The Republican obsession with destroying the ACA, which is a conservative market driven system, will help move the country to the only other viable alternative: single payer universal healthcare or Medicaid/Medicare for all.
3
How does McConnell's tactic to do these things behind closed doors square with giving government back to the people, as spouted by Trump in his inauguration? So much for transparency.
5
Because those were lies, subterfuge, smokescreen, nonsense!
When the GOP talks about giving the government back to the "people," the people they are talking about are their masters from the 0.001%.
Together with several other Senators, Leader Mitch McConnell, and his entire group are very familiar with the ACA, or Obamacare. If the ACA was not complete, or perfect, members of both Houses had all the time, or at least seven to eight years to bring about changes. These members did not initiate any such action. They were all obsessed and frustrated for one reason. Because, the ACA was an Obama era piece of legislation. They hated anything to do with Obama. And all that was happening at the expense of the people.
Today, we are learning that, there does not seem be a solution at sight. Since changes or repeal to the ACA, has now reached the Senate, we, the public have no idea what is happening, or what to expect. If the concerned parties are not consulted, or have no opportunity for their input, what good is it? Conducting discussions behind closed doors is not a plan or even a strategy. This is all a mystery, and the people have a right to demand an explanation. Is Leader Mitch McConnell's only objective is to appease the president, and no matter what the repercussions are, to just garner the votes and have the new bill passed?
To see many millions set to lose their coverage, does this concern the elected politicians? To see millions of people would lose their Medicaid subsidies, will this be within the conscience of Mr. McConnell and those who will support him? Is it in order to deprive our own citizenry of their health care, to benefit the Budget reconciliation?
Today, we are learning that, there does not seem be a solution at sight. Since changes or repeal to the ACA, has now reached the Senate, we, the public have no idea what is happening, or what to expect. If the concerned parties are not consulted, or have no opportunity for their input, what good is it? Conducting discussions behind closed doors is not a plan or even a strategy. This is all a mystery, and the people have a right to demand an explanation. Is Leader Mitch McConnell's only objective is to appease the president, and no matter what the repercussions are, to just garner the votes and have the new bill passed?
To see many millions set to lose their coverage, does this concern the elected politicians? To see millions of people would lose their Medicaid subsidies, will this be within the conscience of Mr. McConnell and those who will support him? Is it in order to deprive our own citizenry of their health care, to benefit the Budget reconciliation?
2
If I were to do something cruel beyond belief, I would do it behind closed doors, too.
11
https://www.emergogroup.com/resources/market-europe
Gives you an idea what the global country performance looks like when it concerns countries delivering quality health care to its citizens. At face value it looks as if the population of the US vs. that of Europe reaches the same averages age; how about quality of life though? I think Obama had the right ideas, maybe without the Republican pushback he would have truly accomplished something?
Gives you an idea what the global country performance looks like when it concerns countries delivering quality health care to its citizens. At face value it looks as if the population of the US vs. that of Europe reaches the same averages age; how about quality of life though? I think Obama had the right ideas, maybe without the Republican pushback he would have truly accomplished something?
4
Remember that his plan is actually Romneycare!
If a White Republican president had proposed it, he'd have gotten support. If a White Republican president had passed it, the call would be to mend it, not end it!
Single-payer beckons!
If a White Republican president had proposed it, he'd have gotten support. If a White Republican president had passed it, the call would be to mend it, not end it!
Single-payer beckons!
1
The Democrats should be on TV everyday now talking loudly about this health care package being designed in secrecy and kept from public hearings. This is a clear message that everyone can understand, and it will resonate with voters of both parties and with independents.
But the Democrats lately seem incapable of the simplest actions to promote the values that they stand for, as we all saw during the Clinton campaign.
But the Democrats lately seem incapable of the simplest actions to promote the values that they stand for, as we all saw during the Clinton campaign.
7
Healthcare is expensive but America has the wherewithal to pay for it. However, by coupling a healthcare bill to a tax plan that benefits people who already have enough money, the GOP forecloses on the possibility of doing what is right and just. Medicare for All is a good place to start thinking about how to fix our healthcare system. But there is no productive thought experiment that can focus on healthcare with a prerequisite of redistributing wealth to the ultra-rich. What are these people thinking? How can they sleep at night?
3
Evil is done, under cover of darkness. GOP, thy name is EVIL. PEROID.
4
We have to pass the bill to find out what's in it.
- N. Pelosi
- N. Pelosi
3
A 10 second google search will help you conclude that your quote was taken completely out of context. But that doesn't matter as I'm sure you are more interested in scoring political points than engaging in a serious debate that will help move our country forward.
2
Would the NYT please republish its circa 2009 laments over the Democrats bribes and coercions and "you have to pass it to see what's in it", and midnight vote
1
When you are so ashamed or embarrassed by Legislation that will affect one sixth of the economy and millions of people then you can bet it is NOT good for the people that they are supposed to be serving,, NOT just the 1%. The GOP is switching from the party of NO to the party of SCREW the people. remember that 47% that will never vote for a Republican decried by Romney. There were 3 million more votes for the Dem candidate last election yet the GOP caters to the 1% that fill their coffers with campaign funds, co-ordinate legislation through ALEC and provide dark money to create divisive campaign ads. Republican, Democrat or Independent we had better rise up and take back control of our country before we are caught under the knuckles of an autoritarian government.
4
WEATLHcare is not HEALTHCcare
4
And exactly how is this different from "You have to pass the bill to find out what's in it" ?
I do not remember the Times complaining when Barack Obama Nancy Pelosi was pulling this.
But then, those were Liberals who obviously could do no wrong.....
I do not remember the Times complaining when Barack Obama Nancy Pelosi was pulling this.
But then, those were Liberals who obviously could do no wrong.....
2
But that bill gave the American people something. A road to having affordable health care. This bill takes it away. Oh, wait it does give us something tax cuts for the wealthy.
2
I really, really hate Mitch McConnell.
3
Here we have a most compelling case in favor of the leaking and publication of government documents. Somewhere there must be a copy clerk, Senate aide, or even a Senator of modest moral fibre who can enlighten the public with the contents of this bill. The investigative reporters of the NYT have their work cut out for them.
2
When I first read "...that Mr. McConnell might cobble together a slim majority..." I thought it read "slime majority." Either reading seems appropriate, doesn't it?
2
Man, do we need a leaker right now!
3
The GOP IS STUPID and hopefully will pay the price. Keeping their bill Secret until the CBO scores it, means it will not surface until the day of the VOTE. That is Undemocratic.
How can the Party in Power be so Afraid??
Their repeal is based on tax cuts, so their bill cannot be much different. It is only a matter of how slowly coverage is denied, how limited coverage will become, and how many perks are offered to gain votes. Repeal in Slow Motion. Meanwhile in realtime, they have sabotaged the ACA causing insurers to pull out or raise rates and leaving many with few or no options. The GOP's entire agenda is about helping the wealthy and damning everyone else! Disgusting!
How can the Party in Power be so Afraid??
Their repeal is based on tax cuts, so their bill cannot be much different. It is only a matter of how slowly coverage is denied, how limited coverage will become, and how many perks are offered to gain votes. Repeal in Slow Motion. Meanwhile in realtime, they have sabotaged the ACA causing insurers to pull out or raise rates and leaving many with few or no options. The GOP's entire agenda is about helping the wealthy and damning everyone else! Disgusting!
1
He just tweeted that 2 million are losing their Obamacare coverage today. Seems upset about it, or perhaps its just phony outrage. Imagine how "upset" he will be when 20 million more lose coverage under Trumpcare.
The Aide says to Axios, "We aren't stupid." Just dangerous. The United States of America is being destroyed by these people
2
When Republicans look at a piece of legislation they ask themselves "what would a cruel and evil person do?" and that is what they do. They have altered the moral North star of this country to allow a man like Trump trample our legal system, ethics, truth and moral turpitude while they formulate legislation that will directly cause the death of some 4000 citizens they are elected to protect. The AMA estimated that for every 850 people with out insurance one will die not to mention the life long damage done to the other 849. They are nothing but evil treasonous skunks in $2000 suits.
1
Vampires are a good metaphor for Republican behavior on the Affordable Care Act. The Russian scandal is sucking up most of the airtime that should be devoted to another scandal on healthcare, however, reap what you sow Republicans when November 2018 rolls around.
NYT, with all due respect, you could be carrying a little more water here. This editorial notwithstanding, you're not exactly splashing this all over the place. I mean, this should be LOUD -- in-depth, name the guilty names and show their guilty faces, make them famous for their crimes against humanity. And I only wish that were hyperbole. In lieu of the Vanity Fair treatment for Chelsea Manning, perhaps, or at least with similarly prominent placement.
7
well we have to pass the bill before we can read it
2
Rand Paul isn't a "conservative," he's a "libertarian." Just like Steve Bannon isn't a "racist," he's "alt-right," and Trumpcare isn't going to "deprive" anyone of anything, it's going to "make America great again." Get your alternative facts straight.
So Mitch McConnell wants to be an apatosaurus in the dead of night? Be careful! The voters in that tail will come back around to whip you!
We need a leaker. Please, a volunteer...
4
Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are evil.
2
The fact that Obamacare was already failing in a number of states seems beyond your comprehension. The elites haven't lost their healthcare yet or seen their premiums rise by double digits? The attempt to repeal and replace with something that works better should not be compared to the grinch who stole Christmas. This is silly, non-productive and sloppy journalism.
1
It's called political sociopathy.
71
Dear NYT editors: The american "voters will never learn what they (republicans) have done." The right-wing propaganda machine will blame it on Obama and democrats. Their low info followers will listen and believe. Gerry-mandered congressional districts will insure the people who voted against We the People return to run roughshod over We the People, again, on something else we need and from which we all benefit. Those ensuing failures will also be blamed on the Dems. The dems will go out with a whimper.
2
"The Senate Hides Its Trumpcare Bill Behind Closed Doors"
I wonder... Eight years ago, did the NYT have a piece titled "The Democratic-Party-dominated Congress Hides Its Obamacare Bill Behind Closed Doors" as the Democrats locked the Republicans out of everything having to do with saddling us with that disaster? Did the NYT ever comment on the plotting and scheming the Democrats used to cram the disaster down our throats, using subterfuge to, among many other things, get around the Constitutional requirement that spending bills have to originate in the House? How about any comment concerning Jonathan Gruber's admission that O'care was passed on ‘stupidity of the American voter’?
What goes around comes around. O'care was imposed on the American people with lies and trickery. The Left can hardly object if it's killed in th shadows.
I wonder... Eight years ago, did the NYT have a piece titled "The Democratic-Party-dominated Congress Hides Its Obamacare Bill Behind Closed Doors" as the Democrats locked the Republicans out of everything having to do with saddling us with that disaster? Did the NYT ever comment on the plotting and scheming the Democrats used to cram the disaster down our throats, using subterfuge to, among many other things, get around the Constitutional requirement that spending bills have to originate in the House? How about any comment concerning Jonathan Gruber's admission that O'care was passed on ‘stupidity of the American voter’?
What goes around comes around. O'care was imposed on the American people with lies and trickery. The Left can hardly object if it's killed in th shadows.
2
Editorial clarity:
America has been hijacked by powerful people who are falsely praising a megalomaniac --- 36% of the American people are shafting the other 64% who are currently having their noses rubbed in mud.
The 64% know the megalomaniac is a fraud-con-man who will live all his remaining days on planet earth in disgrace and dishonor.
That will be the historical legacy of the megalomaniac currently degrading America.
America has been hijacked by powerful people who are falsely praising a megalomaniac --- 36% of the American people are shafting the other 64% who are currently having their noses rubbed in mud.
The 64% know the megalomaniac is a fraud-con-man who will live all his remaining days on planet earth in disgrace and dishonor.
That will be the historical legacy of the megalomaniac currently degrading America.
3
America have been hijacked by powerful people who are falsely praising a megalomaniac. 36% of the American people are shafting the other 64% who are having their noses rubbed in mud.
The 64% know the megalomaniac is a fraud and a con-man who will live all his remaining days on planet earth in disgrace and dishonor. That will be the historical legacy of the megalomaniac currently living in a disgraced White House.
The 64% know the megalomaniac is a fraud and a con-man who will live all his remaining days on planet earth in disgrace and dishonor. That will be the historical legacy of the megalomaniac currently living in a disgraced White House.
1
These maneuvers by the senate majority leader are going too far in the direction of shameless self serving of his priorities, not what is best for the people of this country. The way he denied President Obama the right to choose the next Supreme Court Justice, and now this charade of a health care bill." Have you no sense of decency sir"?
4
One of the gravest threats facing the United States is inequality of income/wealth. Repeal of the ACA income surcharge on income over $2000,000 and cuts to Medicare will increase inequality.
Republican cuts to healthcare are bad government policy as well as egregiously cruel.
Republican cuts to healthcare are bad government policy as well as egregiously cruel.
2
I mean I guess Mitch O'Connell is wealthy, but absolutely no morality whatsoever. He was ok with stealing a SCOTUS nomination so much so that even if Hilary won, he saw no reason to change course. The bill is likely similar to the one the House passed. It will throw millions off healthcare and make it unaffordable to the rest of us. I don't know how these guys sleep at night.
3
"I don't know how these guys sleep at night"
Upside down, hanging from rafters in their cave.
Upside down, hanging from rafters in their cave.
1
Like the drivers victimized during Bridgegate, the rest of us are merely pawns for the entertainment of the rich in this sick game of hurting the citizens they do not represent. Too bad they can't take away the health coverage only from 23 million Republicans who voted for them - they are the only one's they represent and who deserve the consequences of what they voted for.
By conspiring in the dark and springing their attack on the health care coverage of innocent civilians, they are no better that terrorists. This is a terrorist attack by Republicans that will claim more lives than ISIS or Al-Qaeda combined and generate more fear when all is said and done.
The smoke in the smoke-filled-room is from the Republicans frantically slashing and burning the ACA, the Constitution, Bill of Rights and anything democratic they can get their little hands on.
By conspiring in the dark and springing their attack on the health care coverage of innocent civilians, they are no better that terrorists. This is a terrorist attack by Republicans that will claim more lives than ISIS or Al-Qaeda combined and generate more fear when all is said and done.
The smoke in the smoke-filled-room is from the Republicans frantically slashing and burning the ACA, the Constitution, Bill of Rights and anything democratic they can get their little hands on.
3
This is starting to remind me of the potato famine in Ireland. The wealthy land owners shipped food to other countries for profit while 3 million died. Hmmm.
4
The Rs need to pass something, anything, that will take funding away from health care. By doing that, they can they proceed with "rewriting" the tax code that will falsely create funds to cover for all the taxes eliminated on the wealthy and corporations. It will leave the majority of people with higher taxes, more expensive health care, or none at all, depending on their social circumstances.
Mr. Mueller should investigate the Koch bros influence on McConnell and Ryan. They are truly traitors to the oath of office they took.
Mr. Mueller should investigate the Koch bros influence on McConnell and Ryan. They are truly traitors to the oath of office they took.
3
Apparently health is overrated. Republicans couldn't care less about the health of our planet, which affects all of humanity. Why should they care about 24 million individuals?
Maybe if we phrase this in the cruelest way possible will some Republicans wake up to what they are doing. Which is killing off more potential republican voters.
The most affected people will be in poor red States that don't have the luxary of healthcare options as we have in blue Massachusetts to name one. And I'm not saying that what we have is perfect, but I will take our MA healthcare system over anything they might come up with in Alabama, Texas or Mississippi... Once the republicans literally kill off some of their voters, population counts will shift and perhaps the blue States will get control of the house again.
Surely Republicans will understand healthcare a lot better in terms of how many red voters they will kill... but then again their dear leader Trump doesn't really care as long as he can claim a win. Unbelievable!
The most affected people will be in poor red States that don't have the luxary of healthcare options as we have in blue Massachusetts to name one. And I'm not saying that what we have is perfect, but I will take our MA healthcare system over anything they might come up with in Alabama, Texas or Mississippi... Once the republicans literally kill off some of their voters, population counts will shift and perhaps the blue States will get control of the house again.
Surely Republicans will understand healthcare a lot better in terms of how many red voters they will kill... but then again their dear leader Trump doesn't really care as long as he can claim a win. Unbelievable!
One thing seems clear, when Republicans take control only the rich win. Why there has been no great public outcry about the tyranny of Trump, the rich and the GOP tells me this Nation is inside a cancer they have given up fighting. It will destroy them.
It is not only Trump who has destroyed the truth and are flim flam artists. Republicans relish the tactic of lies and obfuscations and this is what you get when the balance of power in Washington breaks down.
Republicans in the Senate are like surgeons who decide to do a life threatening operation on your heart or brain and do not tell the patient. Before you know it you are a basket case or dead and there is nothing left but the grieving. There is not even a way to go to court as that body is often controlled by the surgeons. And then the surgeons tell you that in five years their operation will take affect so don't worry now they will be retired then.
Republicans in the Senate are like surgeons who decide to do a life threatening operation on your heart or brain and do not tell the patient. Before you know it you are a basket case or dead and there is nothing left but the grieving. There is not even a way to go to court as that body is often controlled by the surgeons. And then the surgeons tell you that in five years their operation will take affect so don't worry now they will be retired then.
And just who bears the fault for the night riders legislative attack? Who put these monsters into office?
We did. Our taxes are way outrageous. OTHERS are getting benefits we paid for. We deserve them and they do not.
But why stop here. Lets carry the policy and philosophy forward. Social Security and its ancillary programs reduced to the barest minimums. Snap, school lunch programs, science research, regulations, infrastructure all have to go.
We've elected bean counters who want to keep all the beans for themselves and their ilk.
Wake up. America. We've gotten the people WE voted for.
We did. Our taxes are way outrageous. OTHERS are getting benefits we paid for. We deserve them and they do not.
But why stop here. Lets carry the policy and philosophy forward. Social Security and its ancillary programs reduced to the barest minimums. Snap, school lunch programs, science research, regulations, infrastructure all have to go.
We've elected bean counters who want to keep all the beans for themselves and their ilk.
Wake up. America. We've gotten the people WE voted for.
2
Cowards. The Republicans, at the end of the day, are cowards. They lie to hook their base, and their base rewards them with undying loyalty, even when it means that half the base is going to lose their healthcare benefits. Mind boggling cowards, all of them.
I gather that things are heading back to the days before Obamacare. Millions without healthcare? Back to the paved parking lot. And with all those dying people, there will be plenty of parking spaces for all those limos.
Even if McConnell's apparent claim, that (pardon my paraphrase) "the Dems did it to us with the ACA so we are doing it to them with the AHCA" was supported by reality, does this elected representative believe two wrongs make a right? Does he believe that harming 23 million people can possibly be justified by such an argument?
Well, yes he does.
Well, yes he does.
The are two immediate problems with the US constitution.
1. It has no citizens teeth against conversion to Plutocracy or Corruption.
2 The definition of Treason is too limited.
1. It has no citizens teeth against conversion to Plutocracy or Corruption.
2 The definition of Treason is too limited.
1
It seems to me that Dennis Rodman/Kim Jong Un represent a better symbolic figurehead for the GOP than Trump/McConnell & Co.. The Absurd-cus is in town, either way.
I live in Pennsylvania. Several years ago, the state legislature tried the same gambit. It was late at night. Most decent folks were in bed. No anxious, watchful eyes were fixed on the state capital (Harrisburg) and what might be going on there. Under cover of darkness.
And so these zealous lawmakers--"watchmen of the public weal" as a poet put it!--these upstanding men and women . . . . . .
. . . .VOTED THEMSELVES A CONSIDERABLE PAY RAISE.
After all, most decent folks were in bed. And besides . . . .
. . .who cares?
Who cared? Everyone! Ladies and gentlemen, there was a firestorm of disapproval. A veritable tsunami of incredulous anger. WHO, we all wondered (aloud, at length)--WHO do these people think they are? WHO, we all wondered (aloud, at length) do they think WE are?
You know, I forget what happened to the pay raise. May have gotten rescinded. Or watered down in some way.
Those legislators? My goodness! a fair number lost their seats in the next election. Like Dr. Seuss's Horton ("Horton Hatches The Egg"), we didn't forget. We carried that incredulous anger to the polls. The legislators that DIDN'T lose their seats--well, I do assure you. They was runnin' scared. Mighty scared! Mea maxima culpa! They bent over backwards to placate their scowling constituents. That legislature learned their lesson the hard way. At least some of them did. For a little while anyway.
You listening? You senators?
And so these zealous lawmakers--"watchmen of the public weal" as a poet put it!--these upstanding men and women . . . . . .
. . . .VOTED THEMSELVES A CONSIDERABLE PAY RAISE.
After all, most decent folks were in bed. And besides . . . .
. . .who cares?
Who cared? Everyone! Ladies and gentlemen, there was a firestorm of disapproval. A veritable tsunami of incredulous anger. WHO, we all wondered (aloud, at length)--WHO do these people think they are? WHO, we all wondered (aloud, at length) do they think WE are?
You know, I forget what happened to the pay raise. May have gotten rescinded. Or watered down in some way.
Those legislators? My goodness! a fair number lost their seats in the next election. Like Dr. Seuss's Horton ("Horton Hatches The Egg"), we didn't forget. We carried that incredulous anger to the polls. The legislators that DIDN'T lose their seats--well, I do assure you. They was runnin' scared. Mighty scared! Mea maxima culpa! They bent over backwards to placate their scowling constituents. That legislature learned their lesson the hard way. At least some of them did. For a little while anyway.
You listening? You senators?
1
Rather than the Republican boogeyman trotted out last time, I guess we'll soon find out what "death panels" really look like.
Well what do you know, reasonable health care dies in darkness too. Of all of the nasty, mean and hateful processes this congress has foisted upon us, this takes the cake. My republican legislators are all in favor, and the tea party ones want it to be even worse. Contacting them has been a huge waste of time.
I think the Democrats will do what they can to obstruct this but now seems a good time for a few million women (and men) to get back out there in every corner of the country to protest this monstrosity.
1
Would love to see the Senate climb on board this train wreck of a bill and have them conduct town halls. That would be better entertainment than anything Hollywood could muster. Get the popcorn!!!
"Republican leaders seem to think they will gain a tactical legislative advantage if they can negotiate a deal behind the scenes... Those gains will quickly evaporate when voters learn what they have done."
Voters won't learn what has happened until after the 2020 presidential election because full phase-in is delayed.
However, it is an error to think McConnell has any concern about that: he's got 3 years to make the ACA a disaster to blame everything upon, and to make the AHCA look good by comparison as it "fixes" the engineered failure of one ACA insurance market after another.
Voters won't learn what has happened until after the 2020 presidential election because full phase-in is delayed.
However, it is an error to think McConnell has any concern about that: he's got 3 years to make the ACA a disaster to blame everything upon, and to make the AHCA look good by comparison as it "fixes" the engineered failure of one ACA insurance market after another.
1
In McConnell's and Ryan's world quick and dirty is much better than thoughtful consideration. The way this congress and this administration has been to date shows exactly how little interest they have in ensuring that all Americans have access to the medical care they need when and where they need it. The efforts to dismantle Dodd Frank, to impose a religious travel ban, to prevent any government level agency from protecting consumers mean that Trump and the GOP are more concerned with lining their pockets than doing right by America and her citizens.
Trump cares nothing about jobs. The GOP cares nothing about jobs, civil rights, personal responsibility unless it's other people's not theirs, and has no interest in sharing the wealth. They are courted, wined, dined, and treated like royalty by their corporate sponsors and rich donors. What do they care about the life, health, or interests of the citizens they are supposed to represent? It's more fun to be with those who have money to put in their pockets. If that means you and I cannot receive health care, afford housing or education, have to choose between paying the utility bill or the co-pays, deductibles, etc., for medical care, it's too bad. We weren't born rich so we don't count.
It's great to live in a country that is regressing to what early 20th century Russia was. Let's hope there's a better outcome.
Trump cares nothing about jobs. The GOP cares nothing about jobs, civil rights, personal responsibility unless it's other people's not theirs, and has no interest in sharing the wealth. They are courted, wined, dined, and treated like royalty by their corporate sponsors and rich donors. What do they care about the life, health, or interests of the citizens they are supposed to represent? It's more fun to be with those who have money to put in their pockets. If that means you and I cannot receive health care, afford housing or education, have to choose between paying the utility bill or the co-pays, deductibles, etc., for medical care, it's too bad. We weren't born rich so we don't count.
It's great to live in a country that is regressing to what early 20th century Russia was. Let's hope there's a better outcome.
3
What do the Republicans propose to do when one of the millions who have lost their health insurance arrives at their local hospital emergency room needing care? Do they plan to 1) let the hospital raise prices on everyone else to cover the cost of uncompensated care? 2) provide subsidies to cover this cost? 3) allow hospital after hospital to close its doors in bankruptcy? or 4) kick the sick who lack money or insurance out into the street? Every Republican senator needs to be asked this question again and again until it is answered.
Laws have real life consequences for real people. I am sickened by the Republican game of passing draconian laws and pretending not to know their consequences. I vote in New York State. My senators are Democrats. Whom do I talk to?
Laws have real life consequences for real people. I am sickened by the Republican game of passing draconian laws and pretending not to know their consequences. I vote in New York State. My senators are Democrats. Whom do I talk to?
9
The dnc needs to get themselves in gear and start fighting for us. Bring this into the daylight. To ads internet ads talk shows. Put up some resistance.
5
March, 2008 to March, 2009? That was SEVEN TO EIGHT YEARS AGO. Sure, Americans can still remember the events of September 11, 2001 - twice as long ago - but the committee hearings that spawned The Affordable Care Act weren't "sexy" (there were no explosions, no sex, no hint of scandal). War Is Peace. Ignorance Is Strength. The calendar says it's 2017, but reality tells us it's really 1984. Most Americans are completely disengaged from the political process; they much prefer to whine about a legislative fait accompli. Until that paradigm changes, Republicans have no reason to invite public input. They are all too aware of who bankrolls their election - and re-election -campaigns.
3
After the sickening display of fealty from Trump's cabinet you can only imagine what kind of ring kissing is going on in the Senate.
That grown American men are meeting in secret to take away the healthcare of millions by hook and crook is as grotesque a substitute for good governance that I can ever remember. The promise from their Leader? "It will be seamless, cheaper and better", read: a tax cut for the very wealthiest leaving people with no healthcare.
Aided by the religious right no less. If these vampires as you say still read the Gospel they need to check out the "white-washed sepulchers" bit. It is talking straight to them.
That grown American men are meeting in secret to take away the healthcare of millions by hook and crook is as grotesque a substitute for good governance that I can ever remember. The promise from their Leader? "It will be seamless, cheaper and better", read: a tax cut for the very wealthiest leaving people with no healthcare.
Aided by the religious right no less. If these vampires as you say still read the Gospel they need to check out the "white-washed sepulchers" bit. It is talking straight to them.
6
Ironically it is the religious right in red states who are the most unhealthy, the poorest, the most in need of tax-payer funded healthcare. Fat, smokers, drinkers, no exercise, horrible diet, and the icing on the cake-- heroin and opiate additcions. And they vote GOP, and they worship DT. What on earth is an intelligent american from a blue state to do?
Let's call this what it is - the GOP's "Vampire Care". It will die should it be exposed to daylight. If allowed to slink along in the dark of night, expect the poor and middle class to be bled dry.
2
Not that I approve of what the Republicans are doing, but, you do have to pay attention to the utter ruthlessness of the party---which, democrats, for the last decade at least have lacked. Yes, the democrats have their faults, but, they do have some sense of fairness. The Republicans, however, there is no guile ---and the public should understand this: if we get power, we are going to use it, and use it with impunity.
1
Of course they're hiding. They know the difference between right and wrong, and they have chosen wrong, because it's more profitable for them and their donors. I guess none of them wants to keep their job.
Hopefully, this will not become reality...but if it does then it should apply to every american including the entire government. What is good for one is good for all!
1
Mr. McConnell continues his abuse of power which has become his hallmark since becoming the majority leader. Since stealing a Supreme Court nomination he sees no problem getting away with stealing health care from millions of people. The worst thing about it is that he's right, he will get away with it.
3
The sad thing is that Republican voters still approve of Trump and the Republican Congress. The risk is that, given the electoral college system, they may even cheerfully re-elect them. Especially if the meanest cuts don't go into effect until 2019. What a scam.
1
There is no other word to describe what McConnell and his conspiratorial band of grifters is doing other than despicable.
McConnell is a lot like Trump in many ways. he's just not as flamboyant about it. He doesn't draw the attention to himself, but he will do anything he needs to do to achieve a goal, and will do it without shame or in consideration of "precedent".
If he thinks he can get away with it, he'll do it, and then he'll look at you with that nauseatingly smug smile on his face.
McConnell is a lot like Trump in many ways. he's just not as flamboyant about it. He doesn't draw the attention to himself, but he will do anything he needs to do to achieve a goal, and will do it without shame or in consideration of "precedent".
If he thinks he can get away with it, he'll do it, and then he'll look at you with that nauseatingly smug smile on his face.
"And they are coming up with the legislation behind closed doors without holding hearings, without consulting lawmakers who disagree with them and without engaging in any meaningful public debate."
This is exactly what happened when the Dems passed ObamaCare. Remember Pelosi? "We have to pass it to see what's in it." I don't recall the liberal left screaming then.
I am a practicing physician, and Obamacare is a disaster, actually makes it harder for me to provide safe care. The faster this behemoth is repealed the better.
This is exactly what happened when the Dems passed ObamaCare. Remember Pelosi? "We have to pass it to see what's in it." I don't recall the liberal left screaming then.
I am a practicing physician, and Obamacare is a disaster, actually makes it harder for me to provide safe care. The faster this behemoth is repealed the better.
1
There was a lot of Republican input and involvement in writing the ACA laws. It was only after the law was passed that the Republicans claimed that they had nothing to do with it.
I don't believe you when you claim that ObamaCare prevents you from providing safe professional care to your patients. ObamaCare is a medical insurance plan not a law telling doctors how to treat their patients. Do you also complain that private insurance prevents you from properly treating your patients?
I don't believe you when you claim that ObamaCare prevents you from providing safe professional care to your patients. ObamaCare is a medical insurance plan not a law telling doctors how to treat their patients. Do you also complain that private insurance prevents you from properly treating your patients?
1
The face of evil is very much like "The Lord of the Rings" now. There are the ringwraiths (Congressional Republicans and a few Democrats): they used to be men until they were given rings of power. Now they're empty shells, only doing the enemy's bidding.
There are the orcs, of whom Trump is the leader: clueless and driven by hate.
And there is the enemy itself: the plutocrats. They are (mostly) faceless and all they care about is power, regardless of whatever destruction they cause.
The rings of power here is money in politics. And it will be up to is (the hobbits) to destroy it against all odds. But first we need a wizard (Bernie?) to oust the stewards of Gondor (current Democratic leadership, who are also too much tempted by the power of the ring) and lead the defense against the onslaught on all that is dear.
There are the orcs, of whom Trump is the leader: clueless and driven by hate.
And there is the enemy itself: the plutocrats. They are (mostly) faceless and all they care about is power, regardless of whatever destruction they cause.
The rings of power here is money in politics. And it will be up to is (the hobbits) to destroy it against all odds. But first we need a wizard (Bernie?) to oust the stewards of Gondor (current Democratic leadership, who are also too much tempted by the power of the ring) and lead the defense against the onslaught on all that is dear.
And I thought Republicans were against paternalistic government control, imposing the gov. on Americans.
This is gov. control on steroids.
This is gov. control on steroids.
1
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, like a hold-up artist, will meet behind closed doors with his Republicans to pass the healthcare bill (Trumpcare) that would replace the Affordable Care Act; his main purpose is to reduce Medicaid just enough to give more tax cuts to the rich. We don’t even know with clarity what’s in the bill.
Since 2008, the Republicans in control of Congress have been safeguarding trillions of dollars in tax cuts, exemptions, and loopholes to the rich; they don’t care about the prolonged economic trouble of the rest of the people. What’s the solution? Remember that Congress is in control of our destiny - do some cleaning; be patriotic and get out “voting” during the midterm elections to oust Republicans that are going for reelection in 2018.
It seems America is no longer a democracy; a system of government in which the power is vested in the people. Is Congress allowing America to be ruled by a dictator; one person holding total power over the people?
Since 2008, the Republicans in control of Congress have been safeguarding trillions of dollars in tax cuts, exemptions, and loopholes to the rich; they don’t care about the prolonged economic trouble of the rest of the people. What’s the solution? Remember that Congress is in control of our destiny - do some cleaning; be patriotic and get out “voting” during the midterm elections to oust Republicans that are going for reelection in 2018.
It seems America is no longer a democracy; a system of government in which the power is vested in the people. Is Congress allowing America to be ruled by a dictator; one person holding total power over the people?
1
This is typical Republican strategy: make government against the people.
Why do Republicans HATE Obamacare SO MUCH? Because it's a government program that genuinely helps people. Why does Obamacare have funding problems? That's completely the result of Republican opposition AFAIK that continues today, but Republicans will only blame Obama, say "we must fix it," and then proceed to destroy it.
Who benefits from Trumpcare?
... Republican politicians, because poor, miserable, desperate people are easier to manipulate into making decisions that are against their own best interests; in this case, vote Republican.
... Republican politicians who take campaign contributions from private companies that profit more when government fails people. This probably includes the megachurches that make a business out of fleecing desperate people.
Why do Republicans HATE Obamacare SO MUCH? Because it's a government program that genuinely helps people. Why does Obamacare have funding problems? That's completely the result of Republican opposition AFAIK that continues today, but Republicans will only blame Obama, say "we must fix it," and then proceed to destroy it.
Who benefits from Trumpcare?
... Republican politicians, because poor, miserable, desperate people are easier to manipulate into making decisions that are against their own best interests; in this case, vote Republican.
... Republican politicians who take campaign contributions from private companies that profit more when government fails people. This probably includes the megachurches that make a business out of fleecing desperate people.
Warning: GOP secretive machinations are at work in these closed committees. Some thoughts are:
1. What are the limits to the draconian cuts?
2. Will the Medicaid cuts jibe with the ultimate goal, tax cuts?
3. Can the committee effectively ignore women's health and not lose votes?
4. Can the sparsely populated blue States be given exceptions while taking punitive cuts to urban areas?
5. Can the GOP scapegoat our President in the future by calling this Trumpcare?
6. Will voters learn that Trump has no in-depth knowledge of healthcare?
7. Can the GOP and right-wing media (aka RW-MSM) control the message so that the base remains loyal?
Trumpcare, really? Label the AHCA what it is - Uncare.
1. What are the limits to the draconian cuts?
2. Will the Medicaid cuts jibe with the ultimate goal, tax cuts?
3. Can the committee effectively ignore women's health and not lose votes?
4. Can the sparsely populated blue States be given exceptions while taking punitive cuts to urban areas?
5. Can the GOP scapegoat our President in the future by calling this Trumpcare?
6. Will voters learn that Trump has no in-depth knowledge of healthcare?
7. Can the GOP and right-wing media (aka RW-MSM) control the message so that the base remains loyal?
Trumpcare, really? Label the AHCA what it is - Uncare.
Until the culprits of this catastrophe, Republicans in the Senate, are admonished and threatened with removal from office should they try to sneak across the finish line some draconian health care plan, only then will we the people have our moment in the sun. For some peculiar peccadillo, there are some among the Electorate who have been brainwashed into believing that the American people cannot have what other First World countries enjoy, a system of health care which no one needs to declare bankruptcy to enjoy, a health care system which provides to all of its citizens the health care needed at the time not the one which demands the future recipient ascertains their medical malady and gets only the coverage for what they surmise they might catch in some distant future. What kind of craziness is that? The kind Republicans are attempting to foist upon the American people. Even rank and file Republicans have demanded that they should have the same benefits that those in Congress enjoy. Why are they willing to settle for less? The answer may lie in simply removing these conservative Republican naysayers who tell their constituents it is not possible. Tell them it is, and tell them you'll support someone who can provide them with the possible.
DD
Manhattan
DD
Manhattan
3
As can be seen in this latest GOP legislative scam, this one Senate-owned, in many respects Mitch Mc Connell is way worse than Trump. Mc Connell is smart and evil, whereas Trump is just plain dumb and evil. One wonders why the GOP doesn't just eliminate health care altogether and develop a "Funeral Care" bill that will help all Americans afford the funeral care they will need-- and soon-- and evidently in overwhelming numbers. Surely Mc Connell has plenty of corporate funeral home friends who will help him facilitate such legislation!
1
Says the Board, "The Senate Hides Its Trumpcare Bill Behind Closed Doors"
Said former Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the Affordable Care Act, ""But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."
That same Nancy Pelosi now says that "“The American people and Members have a right to know the full impact of this legislation before any vote in Committee or by the whole House,” about American Health Care Act.
Of course, the Republicans have flipped on this, too. Hypocrisy, anyone?
Said former Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the Affordable Care Act, ""But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."
That same Nancy Pelosi now says that "“The American people and Members have a right to know the full impact of this legislation before any vote in Committee or by the whole House,” about American Health Care Act.
Of course, the Republicans have flipped on this, too. Hypocrisy, anyone?
1
Another shopworn lie by the right wing. Pelosi wasn't implying that the Congress didn't know what was in the ACA. She was saying that because of all of the right wing propaganda about the ACA, the people didn't.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/pelosi-defends-h...
Congress had held hundreds of hearings on the ACA. Republicans have held ZERO hearings on its repeal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/pelosi-defends-h...
Congress had held hundreds of hearings on the ACA. Republicans have held ZERO hearings on its repeal.
2
@ Dougl: "Congress had held hundreds of hearings on the ACA. Republicans have held ZERO hearings on its repeal."
The hearings were a show, nothing more. The Dems had their majorities in both houses of Congress, so it didn't matter what the Republicans wanted. When the Dems in the Senate lost their 60th vote, they resorted to reconciliation, which is exactly what the Republicans are going to do. That's how we got the ACA rammed down our throats. It is poetic justice if the Repubs give the Dems likewise.
Regardless, it is a waste of taxpayer money.
The hearings were a show, nothing more. The Dems had their majorities in both houses of Congress, so it didn't matter what the Republicans wanted. When the Dems in the Senate lost their 60th vote, they resorted to reconciliation, which is exactly what the Republicans are going to do. That's how we got the ACA rammed down our throats. It is poetic justice if the Repubs give the Dems likewise.
Regardless, it is a waste of taxpayer money.
If they should go ahead and pass their dreadful bill, our hope is that it will ensure the Democrats capture the House in 2018 and move to repeal it.
This is entirely about freeing up nearly 1 trillion dollars for the tax cut bill. The GOP are banking on the electorate to overlook the draconian health care bill in favor of a tax break. The Trump base and others may actually find that acceptable. As always, with republicans, it's our most vulnerable citizens who suffer.
101
It's all about the rich folks. The costs of government subsidized health care must be cut so the 1% can get a big tax break. The priorities of the republicans are on display.
Because they shoot themselves with apathy and inaction.
Make it impossible for citizens to access care during an illness, and you will soon find the entire Nation in the middle of a series of disease epidemics.
So. Now, how do you feel about the safety and care of your neighbors?
So. Now, how do you feel about the safety and care of your neighbors?
We watch as the Democrats seem to have no organized, effective, media-driven opposition to this Republican destruction of the Affordable Care Act, all done in secret, behind closed doors. Tens of millions are going to lose their insurance and all that's discussed by Democrats on CNN and MSNBC is the "Russian hacking of our election". One can only assume that in the coming years as the same Republican strategy used here will once again be used to dismantle Medicare and Social Security, we will still hear very little from the Hillary Clinton - John Podesta - Debbie Wasserman Schultz Democrat Party leaders who so effectively lost the Presidential election.
Do you really understand how any of this works???
With a Republican controlled Congress, there's little to nothing that Democrats can do.
And do you think the G.O.P. is going to let them get in the way?
Think again.
With a Republican controlled Congress, there's little to nothing that Democrats can do.
And do you think the G.O.P. is going to let them get in the way?
Think again.
1
The only cure for America's healthcare system is a single-payer model. And it simple to construct and fund: rather than companies and individuals paying for massive monthly premiums to shareholder-driven insurance companies, a much smaller amount would be deducted from paychecks in the form of a Medicare-for-All payment. This would bring enormous financial relief to millions of Americans and tens of thousands of American businesses.
Additional sources of Medicare funding could include a very small tax on all home sales, and retail sales. We're talking about adding a few pennies on each dollar spent to keep ALL Americans healthy.
However, as long as the Republican Party devotes its energy to trickle-down theories while genuflecting to the need for shareholder value over the needs for better patient outcomes, this will be a long struggle
Additional sources of Medicare funding could include a very small tax on all home sales, and retail sales. We're talking about adding a few pennies on each dollar spent to keep ALL Americans healthy.
However, as long as the Republican Party devotes its energy to trickle-down theories while genuflecting to the need for shareholder value over the needs for better patient outcomes, this will be a long struggle
4
While Mitchell McConnell's and the Republican's actions behind the clouds of the Trump Administration's crisis raise concerns about the bill, I would like to see the Editorial Board acknowledge the problems Obamacare is facing in its current state. The ACA has not accomplished what it set out to do and has been a failure in many ways. The republican alternative is appalling, but something must be down. Healthcare reform is needed through bipartisanship. Insures were pulling out of ACA zones long before Trump was shockingly elected. Let's address healthcare through a new perspective: not as Democrats or Republicans, as Americans. The self-motivated insurance companies and hospital chains must be held accountable. In a time of intense division and partisanship, let's come together and compromise. Let's be willing to give and take. As we often forget, our great nation was built on compromise.
1
What problems does ObamaCare that can't be addressed TJ? If your answer is IDK, what's your point?
Some Democrats have previously threatened to bring Senate business to a halt through procedural motions etc. The time has arrived to follow through on this - Trump"care", the systematic undermining of the ACA, dismantling of Medicare are threats to the health and lives of our citizens.
2
So what rock are the elected Democrat senators hiding under? One doesn't even hear from them during these trying times! Even though they are toothless tigers, the Democrats should be out in the public informing the People of the United States what these slithery Republicans are up to!
3
Every member of congress should have the same health care plan the impose on the public, instead of the gold platted plan they created for themselves!
5
So many recent news that have overshadowed an truly important one: the State of Kansas rolled back Sam Brownback's tax cut. I urge the mainstream media and journalists to pay attention to important news other than Trump's daily tweets like Kansas experiment and Panama's just cut diplomatic tie with Taiwan and join the Beijing camp.
Someone, please, ask Paul Ryan about Sam Brownback's legacy at Kansas and its implication on the GOP trickle-down economic doctrine.
Someone, please, ask Paul Ryan about Sam Brownback's legacy at Kansas and its implication on the GOP trickle-down economic doctrine.
4
How is this ever going to be a path that leads to a good outcome?
2
McConnell and his 13 henchmen have drafted nothing more than a dismantling of affordable care, for millions, in the dark. Hope their eyes have adjusted to the lack of light because when the effects of their deeds start to unfold they will not be able to appear comfortably in the public again.
2
The Republicans and Trump campaigned on repealing and replacing the ACA. The bill that passed the House and what we know of the bill in the Senate do neither. There is no repeal; most of the ACA remains the law of the land. The proposed "replacement" is first and foremost a tax cut with some reductions in programs included in the ACA to pay for those tax cuts.
The "replacement" does not meet Trump's promise that the Republican replacement will to "great" and everyone will be happy with what they are getting.
If the Republicans were serious about improving health care, they would drop the repeal and work with Democrats to correct parts of the ACA that are not working.
The "replacement" does not meet Trump's promise that the Republican replacement will to "great" and everyone will be happy with what they are getting.
If the Republicans were serious about improving health care, they would drop the repeal and work with Democrats to correct parts of the ACA that are not working.
2
They believe that the private sector can do anything better for profit than the public sector does on a nonprofit basis. It is a religious belief.
1
The consequence will be less care for those who need it most.
3
I am starting to wonder when the GOP Congress will vote to reinstate slavery. Probably at 3 am with the lights out in secret session having barred the doors against Democratic members. I am not quite certain I am joking here.
7
Just leave Obamacare alone now. It will succeed or fail all by itself. Democrats certainly don't want any changes because that would mean that the product of their year long arguing about whose special interests would be favored was flawed.
Cutting medicaid as baby boomers age is not real progress. Eliminating healthcare for 23 million Americans is not greatness or beauty! Three million dead is a policy of terror. Because its victims are scattered statistics. its risks to reelection are nominal.
7
Demented, grotesque and horrific, Trump's AHCA bill - with which he promised to repeal and replace Obamacare on "DAY ONE" of his administration. So much for the broken-promises and lies of our commander-in-chief till he is hoist by his own petard - figuratively drawn and quartered, tarred and feathered, and run out of town on a rail, as were American felons of the past 242 years.
3
If the medical associations that should be fighting this healthcare bill gave this issue a little more thought, they would realise that when 25 million people lose their health insurance, that's 25 million fewer patients. Doctors: this will hit you right in your pocketbook. Same thing for specialists. If pre-existing conditions deny health care, that's fewer patients for you. Yes, maybe some will be able to pay their way, but most will not and that's less for you.
5
The Democrats did the same thing with Obamacare!!!!
Remember Pelosi's greatest quote of all time !!! You will find out what is inn the law when you read it !
Remember Pelosi's greatest quote of all time !!! You will find out what is inn the law when you read it !
All available FACTS - true, variously documented and verifiable facts - show that the process that produced the Affordable Care Act was, as the Times and many others have reported it, open across party, social and economic lines to review, comment, revision and amendment. And even if for some reason one believes it wasn't, do two wrongs make a right?
1
I'm inclined toward the paradoxical, contradictory mindset of wishing for a real high-casualty train wreck of a bill. Cobbled by ingrates, negotiated by sleazeoids, delivered like a truck of wet newspaper, and DOA. Go ahead, 51 Senators, generate x-ray trash that reveals an accurate diagnosis of your noble institution, expresses your true feelings for the voting public, and that the entire Republican caucus is sleeping together. It is perhaps the best way to influence the 2018 election. Short of stealing it, that is, with gerrymandered legislation not unlike the manipulated, control-freak, negligent, repressive, disingenuous, ethically bankrupt and toxic bilge of your AHCA.
3
My question is for the NYT editors, columnists and reporters: how do you not become bitter and angry having to report on this kind of evil stuff every day? I could not find a way to respond to this Republican hatefulness in a way that wouldn't be so offensive even I wouldn't want to read it. These guys are absolutely the worst. The "party of life" as they have styled themselves for so long is nothing of the sort. One hopes that their religion is correct and that there is a hot and nasty hell waiting for them after they die.
Please just keep reporting on the ordinary people who will be affected by this new bill--how will they feel about Mr. "Make America Great Again" when they are dying of a treatable and preventable illness? But hey, it's better than those awful emails and a woman in the Oval Office--now that would have been unbearable!
Please just keep reporting on the ordinary people who will be affected by this new bill--how will they feel about Mr. "Make America Great Again" when they are dying of a treatable and preventable illness? But hey, it's better than those awful emails and a woman in the Oval Office--now that would have been unbearable!
7
Bad government kills.
5
The GOP is anti-Democracy and anti-American. They are a perversion and a stain on our country.
7
When is the NY Times going to run a full length expose on Mr. McConnell -- including a day-to-day chart of what he is doing and/or trying to hide?
Does USA stand for "United Sheep of America"? (BAAAHHHH....)
Does USA stand for "United Sheep of America"? (BAAAHHHH....)
4
I hope the newspaper will appoint Linda Greenhouse to alert readers to the appointees Trump nominates to the many federal judicial and Justice Department vacancies regularly.
Amen. McConnell is so sleazy, the sleaziest of all in Congress. Next is Paul Ryan. What does it take to get rid of them? The next election is too far away. They've all taken an oath to uphold the constitution and more. They are not looking out for us.
1
This is the Healthcare bill from Hell where 20+ million fellow Americans lose their healthcare insurance in order to fund a massive tax break for millionaires and billionaires, i.e. the only people the Republicans give a damn about.
Perhaps this will finally convince the people who vote for Republicans that they are voting against their own best interests. Unless, of course, they are millionaires or billionaires.
Perhaps this will finally convince the people who vote for Republicans that they are voting against their own best interests. Unless, of course, they are millionaires or billionaires.
Not surprising that they are hiding but they will be found out.
Marvelous too the picture of Trump and his adoring cabinet . Let's see, present in effigy were Goering, Speers etc holding hands with president Hitler/Trump. A leftover familiar fascist scenario. Laughable but but hardly amusing.
Marvelous too the picture of Trump and his adoring cabinet . Let's see, present in effigy were Goering, Speers etc holding hands with president Hitler/Trump. A leftover familiar fascist scenario. Laughable but but hardly amusing.
2
Sort of like how Obama Care was passed! But that was OK for the Dems and NY Times!
No. Compare the timelines.
2
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Did you even bother to read the article? It flat-out states how the process was NOT equivalent.
#alternativefacts
Did you even bother to read the article? It flat-out states how the process was NOT equivalent.
#alternativefacts
2
Like cockroaches, they make their moves in the dark and they scatter when the lights come on.
7
Just like their fearless Leader, the Grifter and Liar in Chief, the Republicans prey on their victims, ignorant Americans.
2
Disgusting. What else can one say?
2
This is indefensibly evil. How do these sociopaths sleep at night?
3
Not a day goes by during this healthcare debacle that I don't contemplate what my plan B will be once these monsters like McConnell rip my already pitiful health insurance to shreds. And so far the plan is this: try like hell not to die. What the GOP is plotting behind Trump's enormous chaotic shadow will destroy this country for good and all the marching in the world will not save us.
3
The republicans should move lock, stock, and barrel to Russia...they would feel right at home working for Putin!
2
I'm in my early 60s and getting a full-time job with benefits is difficult. Once the COBRA runs out, I truly have no idea what my insurance options may be. But, like many in my position, there are contract opportunities, freelance work, and other means to pick up some income. All I want is an insurance option that will carry me to Medicare and one that won't cost well north of $1,000.
The Republicans seem intent on denying people in my position this chance for healthcare. And the reasons are clear. After a lifetime of contributing in a positive way to society, even serving four years in the military, when you reach a certain age, this society doesn't want you. What a sad time we live in.
The Republicans seem intent on denying people in my position this chance for healthcare. And the reasons are clear. After a lifetime of contributing in a positive way to society, even serving four years in the military, when you reach a certain age, this society doesn't want you. What a sad time we live in.
12
As a Veteran, you should check on VA care!
Though they may not have a clinic in your area. And no one should be in your boat! Without healthcare at your age.
Though they may not have a clinic in your area. And no one should be in your boat! Without healthcare at your age.
1
My concern is when the voters will find out what Republicans have done. Obamacare was reviled everywhere since it passed in 2010 and now it's popular. There seems to be a lag that in this case can be literally fatal to many.
2
In the early 2000's coverage began on the sophisticated Republican gerrymandering of voting districts, organizations like the Heritage Foundation laid out the ground work for creating single party rule decades ago. While gerrymandering has always been legal in this country, it has gotten to the point where even Republican judges in Red States have ruled in favor of voters stating the current lines no longer allow for fair representation of its citizens.
Mitch McConnell can act with impunity, as he did with denying a hearing for Judge Garland, and now hiding his McConnellcare undercover of darkness, supported by other Republicans who are comfortable with the knowledge that they can literally rob tax payers and line the pockets of their oligarch bosses without any voter repercussions.
If has become clear that our Representative Government is no longer representative of its people. Other countries like Canada and Australia allow gerrymandering, but it is handled by a non-partisan, 3rd party, not the incumbent political party. Now I know those on the right will cry snowflakes, but look at what has happened since the election. Trumpcare and House labor law dismantlement will give more money to coal bosses, and make black lung and emphysema a pre-existing condition.
Right wingers like to quote Thomas Jefferson "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Sadly they don't recognize the tyrants are in their own party.
Mitch McConnell can act with impunity, as he did with denying a hearing for Judge Garland, and now hiding his McConnellcare undercover of darkness, supported by other Republicans who are comfortable with the knowledge that they can literally rob tax payers and line the pockets of their oligarch bosses without any voter repercussions.
If has become clear that our Representative Government is no longer representative of its people. Other countries like Canada and Australia allow gerrymandering, but it is handled by a non-partisan, 3rd party, not the incumbent political party. Now I know those on the right will cry snowflakes, but look at what has happened since the election. Trumpcare and House labor law dismantlement will give more money to coal bosses, and make black lung and emphysema a pre-existing condition.
Right wingers like to quote Thomas Jefferson "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Sadly they don't recognize the tyrants are in their own party.
5
Cowards.
130
Here is an unsettling thought: Legal Truth has no history; the only truth that matters is today’s. The history of Supreme Court rulings has demonstrated the relativistic nature of legal truths.
What Republicans accused Democrats of doing to pass the Affordable Care Act may have been true then; but the fact that they are doing it now is today’s truth and that’s the truth that counts.
The Senate version will be secretly resolved with the House version and Trump will sign whatever it is. The effects won’t be felt until after the 2018 elections and Republicans will maintain control over both houses of Congress because they will have fulfilled the promise to repeal Obamacare.
Trump will survive his first term, but Trumpcare will have started taking its toll by 2020. The bill carries his name (it’s not Republicare). and he won’t get a second term.
And that’s the truth.
What Republicans accused Democrats of doing to pass the Affordable Care Act may have been true then; but the fact that they are doing it now is today’s truth and that’s the truth that counts.
The Senate version will be secretly resolved with the House version and Trump will sign whatever it is. The effects won’t be felt until after the 2018 elections and Republicans will maintain control over both houses of Congress because they will have fulfilled the promise to repeal Obamacare.
Trump will survive his first term, but Trumpcare will have started taking its toll by 2020. The bill carries his name (it’s not Republicare). and he won’t get a second term.
And that’s the truth.
1
This is draining the swamp, the transparency in government that Trump swore to bring to Washington?
In any given situation where there is a right side and a wrong one, Trump and the GOP go "far-right" which is always wrong - wrong for the country, wrong for the economy, wrong for our reputation as the shining light of the world, and horribly wrong for the people - those that voted for him and the majority of us who did not.
Where you can choose to be open to the public, they "forget", or fail to disclose, or outright lie, or conduct our business in the dark - behind closed doors, where only the elite white men are allowed to enter. They talk to and among only themselves, they make the classic back room deals that they are never proud to disclose up on the dais in front of the press and the people.
They thrive in the dark, in the mud and the muck and the mire of the swamp that Trump has bought and fertilizes and feeds daily with his tweets and actions on the national and international stage.
It's a good thing that he has a cabinet to call and force to make public and humiliating pledges of loyalty to himself, who - with a few exceptions - are doing this country no favors and paid no attention to the oath of loyalty to country and Constitution they took when sworn in.
Best he has them he can order to say nice things about him because only 36% of the nation has any good words for him or his Presidency.
In any given situation where there is a right side and a wrong one, Trump and the GOP go "far-right" which is always wrong - wrong for the country, wrong for the economy, wrong for our reputation as the shining light of the world, and horribly wrong for the people - those that voted for him and the majority of us who did not.
Where you can choose to be open to the public, they "forget", or fail to disclose, or outright lie, or conduct our business in the dark - behind closed doors, where only the elite white men are allowed to enter. They talk to and among only themselves, they make the classic back room deals that they are never proud to disclose up on the dais in front of the press and the people.
They thrive in the dark, in the mud and the muck and the mire of the swamp that Trump has bought and fertilizes and feeds daily with his tweets and actions on the national and international stage.
It's a good thing that he has a cabinet to call and force to make public and humiliating pledges of loyalty to himself, who - with a few exceptions - are doing this country no favors and paid no attention to the oath of loyalty to country and Constitution they took when sworn in.
Best he has them he can order to say nice things about him because only 36% of the nation has any good words for him or his Presidency.
5
One glaring problem you omit results from legislative efforts here to create a unitary federal national health insurance modeled after the kind in Britain and its dominions, and the kind in European countries.
Do we wish to have health insurance here like our unequal quality of public education? A federal "one size fits all" health insurance has nowhere been devised for a uniform quality controlled delivery to any country. Look at the mess in Canada's national health insurance serving a population fewer than California's, and the waits Canadians endure for surgeries. Americans would not tolerate the shabby medical service or prescription drug prices for Canadians.
Your editorial omits the fact that millions of Americans do not now, under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), have the ability to purchase any private medical health insurance. And in some states they have no ability to obtain even government and state subsidies. If they live in South Carolina, for instance, their choice of private insurers may be limited to one or two companies.
And one class American workers have no employer medical insurance (single owner self-employed, temps, seasonal workers, paid volunteers, etc.). You complain that the A.C.A. gives the wealthiest "a fat tax cut," when our medical care interests---M.D.'s, dentists, medical specialists, medical drug industry, the care industry---- have a veto over government limits on what they charge us in the present system----a big problem.
Do we wish to have health insurance here like our unequal quality of public education? A federal "one size fits all" health insurance has nowhere been devised for a uniform quality controlled delivery to any country. Look at the mess in Canada's national health insurance serving a population fewer than California's, and the waits Canadians endure for surgeries. Americans would not tolerate the shabby medical service or prescription drug prices for Canadians.
Your editorial omits the fact that millions of Americans do not now, under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), have the ability to purchase any private medical health insurance. And in some states they have no ability to obtain even government and state subsidies. If they live in South Carolina, for instance, their choice of private insurers may be limited to one or two companies.
And one class American workers have no employer medical insurance (single owner self-employed, temps, seasonal workers, paid volunteers, etc.). You complain that the A.C.A. gives the wealthiest "a fat tax cut," when our medical care interests---M.D.'s, dentists, medical specialists, medical drug industry, the care industry---- have a veto over government limits on what they charge us in the present system----a big problem.
2
Bayou Houma
Have you ever been to Canada or had any medical procedure in Canada? Bought any prescription medications in Canada?
We'll I have done both. A few years ago I required a surgical procedure for a pinched nerve in my spine. While I am a US citizen covered at that time by private insurance, I went to a Montreal hospital affiliated with McGill University for a second opinion.
The Neurosurgeon I saw was so concerned he offered to perform a procedure in 2 weeks. Meanwhile the US hosital and Surgeon wouldn't even move my pre-op visit ahead. So I had the surgery in Canada.
I may buy some of my prescription medications while visiting in Canada now. Even covered by a Medigap Part D plan my medication is too expensive in the USA.
Have you ever been to Canada or had any medical procedure in Canada? Bought any prescription medications in Canada?
We'll I have done both. A few years ago I required a surgical procedure for a pinched nerve in my spine. While I am a US citizen covered at that time by private insurance, I went to a Montreal hospital affiliated with McGill University for a second opinion.
The Neurosurgeon I saw was so concerned he offered to perform a procedure in 2 weeks. Meanwhile the US hosital and Surgeon wouldn't even move my pre-op visit ahead. So I had the surgery in Canada.
I may buy some of my prescription medications while visiting in Canada now. Even covered by a Medigap Part D plan my medication is too expensive in the USA.
5
And what do you think US Medicare is? A Federal run Medical care system that operates on 2% overhead that Seniors think is great.
I am so glad to be off the Private Insurance roller coaster of increasing premiums and decreasing benefits with endless paperwork.
I should add I went to Medicare before signing up in the ACA which is a much better system for those not 65.
I am so glad to be off the Private Insurance roller coaster of increasing premiums and decreasing benefits with endless paperwork.
I should add I went to Medicare before signing up in the ACA which is a much better system for those not 65.
4
Skier 6: You were a paying lucky foreigner. You must not know about the inordinate delays for non-emergency medical surgery ----knee surgery, hip surgery for the elderly, general surgeries----the difficulty Canadian patients unsatisfied with the quality of their medical doctors have in finding another doctor, the gouging of dental patients there both by dentists and by hospital emergency doctors for tooth extractions, and the woeful state of medical care of Native Canadian tribes on reserves. Working-class Canadians in all provinces, particularly in the reserves and the Maritimes, have enormous unmet health care needs under the Canadian system.
I refer you also to a CBC-TV news report yesterday on the higher prices that Canadians pay for prescription drugs 6/11/2017 compared to what Americans or New Zealanders pay.
Read the complaints about the Canadian health care system online in the Canadian media comments section by anonymous patients.
I refer you also to a CBC-TV news report yesterday on the higher prices that Canadians pay for prescription drugs 6/11/2017 compared to what Americans or New Zealanders pay.
Read the complaints about the Canadian health care system online in the Canadian media comments section by anonymous patients.
What ever happened to the filibuster? There is no way this tax-cut-for-the-rich bill is revenue neutral. Perhaps the filibuster can only be used by Republicans--just like appointing Supreme Court Justices.
Republicans have taken hubris to new heights. Until the American voters punish them for it, there will be no end to their running roughshod over this country.
Republicans have taken hubris to new heights. Until the American voters punish them for it, there will be no end to their running roughshod over this country.
3
This healthcare bill illustrates a major problem with the republican philosophy: they don't seem to see the big picture or the long-term effects of what they do. (Examples include cutting taxes to hamstring the government, cutting EPA, reducing subsidies for education, etc.) Here they rush through a horrible healthcare bill that will, in the end, show everyone how cruel, greedy and uncaring they are.
5
"The Hunger Games" what an excellent metaphor for the GOP. This is their vision not just for healthcare, but education, the elderly, the disabled, law and order, freedom speech. The GOP is trying to turn America into The Hunger Games...a Paul Ryan - Rand Paul Utopia.
Keep in mind that the Republicans real goal is not to get rid of the ACA, the goal is to get rid of Medicaid! The repeal of the ACA is merely diversion - they are dissolving Medicaid. Next up - Medicare.
Keep in mind that the Republicans real goal is not to get rid of the ACA, the goal is to get rid of Medicaid! The repeal of the ACA is merely diversion - they are dissolving Medicaid. Next up - Medicare.
5
The system isn't working folks. No one wants this, yet this is what we have. Why? HRC. she LOST to TRUMP? The DNC put us in this mess. I am a democrat and I had to hold my nose to vote for her, most couldn't bring themselves to. Now we have...this mess. The system isn't working, intuit if it were, the majority would have spoken, with Trump in jail and impeached. He could share a cell with Hillary. And they both could hope for Sanders mercy, who should be by any lights president of the United States this very moment
2
Yes, "master of the Senate's dark arts," Machiavellian, Mitch McConnell seems about to get the "win" on Trumpcare that Republicans and the President have been clamoring for. It is hard to believe that there aren't three Republican senators who would object on humanitarian grounds to such blatant banana republic form of legislation. But, as with the Obamacare with its "Louisiana purchase" and "Cornhusker compromise," the fix is probably in. The real victims are the tens of millions (including my son) who will probably lose their health care insurance (unless New York steps forward) with many dying as a result, and the nation as a whole that will witness another blow to our Constitutional democracy.
2
The effective remedy for this "dark of night" legislation is hysteria and fear. Dems should immediately start screaming about the new "Only the Rich Live" law and the millions upon millions of average Joes who are going to die an early and painful death so that rich Republicans can get richer. Make up very big numbers. The Budget Office will eventually support some of them.
Trump showed that propaganda and disinformation work well in the USA. Turnabout is fair play.
Trump showed that propaganda and disinformation work well in the USA. Turnabout is fair play.
3
Where are the Democrats pushing for Medicare for all? Why are they not out there educating the masses of this incredible benefit. Health care is a human right, and should not be for profit. The alt-right and the conservatives are not the only ones who hate the Democrats. I despise them for not playing hardball and I have been a Democrat all my life.
2
With all the Trump drama going on these days, do you think anything else can get through??
Not satisfied with your NJ Representative? -- Call them and give them an earful.
Demonizing the Democrats only makes you sound like a Republican.
Not satisfied with your NJ Representative? -- Call them and give them an earful.
Demonizing the Democrats only makes you sound like a Republican.
I honestly don't understand the logic here. If they ram through Trumpcare and 20 million people lose coverage, they'll almost certainly lose the House next year and the presidency in 2020. So what have they accomplished?
I'm trying to game this out ... is the hope that Americans will be too stupid to notice what they've done? (Maybe they are, but I don't think so.) Is it that once Medicaid has been dismantled, it will be impossible for subsequent administrations and congresses to put it back together? (Maybe they're right -- but there's an equally good chance we'll wind up with single payer.)
it just seems like a really stupid kamikaze mission that will hurt a LOT of people, including Republican politicians and their own voters.
I'm trying to game this out ... is the hope that Americans will be too stupid to notice what they've done? (Maybe they are, but I don't think so.) Is it that once Medicaid has been dismantled, it will be impossible for subsequent administrations and congresses to put it back together? (Maybe they're right -- but there's an equally good chance we'll wind up with single payer.)
it just seems like a really stupid kamikaze mission that will hurt a LOT of people, including Republican politicians and their own voters.
2
So an anonymous Republican aide says "we aren't stupid?" Really? That should encourage any thinking person to ask the question: "Hmmm, suppose I was in their shoes ... where's 'teh win' here?"
Whatever the heck they finally vote appears to be designed to do two things: cut a lot of health care, make it possible for the GOP to pass a big tax cut for the rich through reconciliation (because there's no other way they can pass such a thing.)
Let's assume they pull this off, what happens? You think their town hall meetings are fun now? Or ... "what town hall meetings?"
Large numbers of Republicans will lose their offices if the GOP goes through with this. So how are they rounding up the votes? There are only two answers:
* The votes are coming from passionately principled legislators who deeply believe they are the right thing to do, worth sacrificing a career for
* The votes are coming from people who have sold them to a secure source of lifetime income.
Pick one.
Whatever the heck they finally vote appears to be designed to do two things: cut a lot of health care, make it possible for the GOP to pass a big tax cut for the rich through reconciliation (because there's no other way they can pass such a thing.)
Let's assume they pull this off, what happens? You think their town hall meetings are fun now? Or ... "what town hall meetings?"
Large numbers of Republicans will lose their offices if the GOP goes through with this. So how are they rounding up the votes? There are only two answers:
* The votes are coming from passionately principled legislators who deeply believe they are the right thing to do, worth sacrificing a career for
* The votes are coming from people who have sold them to a secure source of lifetime income.
Pick one.
1
Millions deprived of what should be a constitutional right and a huge tax cut for the obscenely wealthy - these are the cornerstones of the Trumpcare fiasco.
America stands proud again as the war on the poor gathers new force.
America stands proud again as the war on the poor gathers new force.
4
Mitch McConnell and the rest of the GOP seem to be on self-destruct. Don't they realize that if their health care bill is so heartless it has to be passed in secret, it will raise such a storm of opposition from voters who will be hurt, or killed, including many in their own base, it will guarantee their defeat in all future elections. And if they do it just to give the wealthy another tax cut, at the expense of the poor, the poor may decide they've had enough and march on Congress with pitchforks. And if Trump signs it just to get a "win," it will be his biggest and final loss.
4
The worse thing for a bad product is good advertising. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Right, we got it.
The question is, if a tree falls in a forest with no ear to hear it, does it make a noise?
Don't you get just a little discouraged, shouting from the rooftop over Eighth Avenue, and hoping there are ears out there to hear?
Fact is, you are preaching to the choir--they don't hear you in Kansas.
Well, that's about as many bromides and clichés as I can pack into one comment, beyond the one about echo chambers.
The question is, if a tree falls in a forest with no ear to hear it, does it make a noise?
Don't you get just a little discouraged, shouting from the rooftop over Eighth Avenue, and hoping there are ears out there to hear?
Fact is, you are preaching to the choir--they don't hear you in Kansas.
Well, that's about as many bromides and clichés as I can pack into one comment, beyond the one about echo chambers.
1
In case you missed this video clip from June 9, watch Claire McCaskill ask Orin Hatch about why there are no hearings scheduled for the Senate "health care" bill. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRt7tqlD-og
83 Year old Hatch seems a bit confused, but clearly his aides have been told to make sure he sticks to McConnell's plan.
Meanwhile, folks in McConnell's home state of KY have reaped the benefits of the ACA. However, their governor is now dismantling it. You can't give so many people access to healthcare in a poor state like Kentucky, and then take it away without some kind of political fall out. This may be McConnell’s undoing.
83 Year old Hatch seems a bit confused, but clearly his aides have been told to make sure he sticks to McConnell's plan.
Meanwhile, folks in McConnell's home state of KY have reaped the benefits of the ACA. However, their governor is now dismantling it. You can't give so many people access to healthcare in a poor state like Kentucky, and then take it away without some kind of political fall out. This may be McConnell’s undoing.
3
Well, like Leonhardt said today, Democrats as usual are just sitting on their hands. I've been a Democrat all my life working on phone banks, walking door to door, and voting in every election since I was 21 (I'm 68). Democrats, the party that can't be bothered to vote, also doesn't yell loud enough. If we don't change soon, we'll have a feudal state very quickly.
1
I dont't get it that the Democrats do not do anything. At least nothing I read here. Do they let this pass by without complaint, without public protest? Someone has to tell them that this is their big chance? No leader there?
Strange.
Strange.
It's a familiar chain of events at this point: another tweet, another distraction, and another opportunity for Mitch McConnell and his fellow servants of the ultra-rich to have their way.
1
Behind closed doors?
"You'll have to pass the bill to find out what's in it." Remember that? Nancy Pelosi on passing The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.
"You'll have to pass the bill to find out what's in it." Remember that? Nancy Pelosi on passing The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.
1
Nice try. Google Pelosi's speech. Read it. Then come back and retract your comment and admit that she was dealing with the lies being told about the bill (which was all part of public discussion). Anyone of the other commenters who have resurrected those words can do that too.
1
Compare the timelines...if...you...dare. Matt 7: 3-5. (And even if your point were correct, tit for tat is what your parents taught you?)
I expect nothing less than this kind of subterfuge from today's Grand Old Party.
Excellent editorial, thanks NYT.
Excellent editorial, thanks NYT.
2
If Democrats in 2009 had behaved like Republicans now, [instead of trying to show how bi-partisan-y they could be], we might have had Single Payer or Medicare-for-all for while by this point.
But, that's just a civilized and humane possibility under the bridge.
But, that's just a civilized and humane possibility under the bridge.
1
After all the screaming about Dems "ramming through" the ACA, the Rs give us this. It is almost impossible to find examples where the GOP is not way on the wrong side of Matt 7: 3/5.
3
The founding fathers developed our democracy around the three branches of government in an effort to distribute power, and with it the obligation to the citizenry. The Judicial doorstep is the last stop. So that leaves just Congress and President to really set the tone.
We already know what the Executive branch is up to. So we now have to rest our faith in Congress and here, I simply can't figure out why a bold, perhaps young group of GOP members don't take advantage at this huge and unprecedented opportunity to LEAD?
I mean, here the door is so wide open it can make a statesman out of state's Representative in no time flat. Yes, it means putting your career on the chopping block to quote reality TV. But if I were a GOP lawmaker, and today I wish I was simply because of the vast void in leadership there, I would stand up for America and with it, get some major free TV airtime for doing so.
McConnell has the keys to the executive Capital bathroom for now. He most likely has his own stall too. But there must be some eager-GOP-beaver that could really make a great career for themselves by simply standing up to the party that is bending so far over we can see their plumber's crack.
We already know what the Executive branch is up to. So we now have to rest our faith in Congress and here, I simply can't figure out why a bold, perhaps young group of GOP members don't take advantage at this huge and unprecedented opportunity to LEAD?
I mean, here the door is so wide open it can make a statesman out of state's Representative in no time flat. Yes, it means putting your career on the chopping block to quote reality TV. But if I were a GOP lawmaker, and today I wish I was simply because of the vast void in leadership there, I would stand up for America and with it, get some major free TV airtime for doing so.
McConnell has the keys to the executive Capital bathroom for now. He most likely has his own stall too. But there must be some eager-GOP-beaver that could really make a great career for themselves by simply standing up to the party that is bending so far over we can see their plumber's crack.
Let this spark the battle cry for 2018: get off your backsides and VOTE, VOTE, VOTE. Enough is enough.
1
The US Treasury belongs to ALL of us. Not just some of us. Not to those who are forced to pay high taxes. Not to corporations. Not to any race or creed or political persuasion.
The US Treasury is like a bank account. Except that every citizen, without exception owns an Equal Part of it.
A GOP plan to raid the Treasury - for the benefit of its wealthy patrons - is THEFT. Pure and simple.
While citizens clamor for healthcare. For ALL of us. GOP Public Servants are conspiring to Steal from us!
Let's not mince words. They want to break one of the Ten Commandments! They are openly conspiring to do that.
Hard-earned money - that belongs to all of us! And actual public servants are planning a heist in secret. Licensed Larceny!
Call these conspirators what they are: Traitors!
The US Treasury is like a bank account. Except that every citizen, without exception owns an Equal Part of it.
A GOP plan to raid the Treasury - for the benefit of its wealthy patrons - is THEFT. Pure and simple.
While citizens clamor for healthcare. For ALL of us. GOP Public Servants are conspiring to Steal from us!
Let's not mince words. They want to break one of the Ten Commandments! They are openly conspiring to do that.
Hard-earned money - that belongs to all of us! And actual public servants are planning a heist in secret. Licensed Larceny!
Call these conspirators what they are: Traitors!
2
Mr McConnell and his ilk will reap what the sow in 511 days. Arizona CD 2 is paying close attention.
1
Republican vindictiveness knows no boundaries.
1
Dr. Rand Paul senator from Kentucky complained when the Congress did the same. Now senate is hiding its Trumpcare bill behind closed doors and will allow debate in the senate with the democrats present before it is passed. Obamacare was rammed in a similar way without any support from the Republicans and we know how it turned out. Obamacare is the craziest system in the world.........Bill Clinton, a democratic president of USA. With loyalty to the party much greater than to the country, this behavior and tactics are no surprise. Just make sure that whatever is passed will be a step toward universal health care.
1
Mean, meaner, McConnell.
1
WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS GUY? That was a popular campaign slogan during Nixon's time. His protests to the contrary, everyone knew that Nixon was a crook. In fact, the Watergate committee gave him a pass for what the IRS had determined to be underpayment on his income taxes, because they deemed that to be a personal matter, not a high crime or misdemeanor. if ripping off the IRS for tax payments owed isn't being a crook, then I don't know what is. The question today is, invoking Trump's image, Would you buy a used car from THIS guy? Or from his partner in crime, McConnell, Vampire of the Senate? Trumptee Dumptee Care is set to strip about 24 million Americans of healthcare insurance. Why? So that tax cuts can be handed out to the 1%, with the result that millions of the 99% will sicken and die! That's why. The public is being asked to place blind trust in the GOP to do right by them with the Trump Care plan. Gee, let's see. The last time students put trust in Trump "university," he had to buy their silence to the tune of $25 million to make fraud charges go away. Now is that the kind of team that earns your blind trust? YES! Blind along with deaf and dumb trust too! Mike Bloomberg warned us that Donald Trump is a con! You want to risk your health insurance where you can't see the details of the plan from the Trumpster Shyster? Trump's plan is DROP DEAD GRAND! 99% = DROP DEAD!
3
"Those gains will quickly evaporate when voters learn what they have done." Will they? I'm constantly amazed at how Republicans enact laws that are not in the interest of the vast majority of Americans, and then easily get reelected.
12
The American experiment in Representative Democracy is failing, or has failed. Our current attempt at rule by banana republic third world strongman is also not going well. Did you see the Cabinet love in with all the Dear Leader worship?
A lot of reflection on meta-governance is very appropriate. Maybe France is leading the way with voters supporting a radical centrist. Who might that be? Tough question.
A lot of reflection on meta-governance is very appropriate. Maybe France is leading the way with voters supporting a radical centrist. Who might that be? Tough question.
8
Trump's ignorance exposes the total ignorance of our so-called elected leaders and the tremendous gullibility and willingness of the voters to stay in step with government ignorance when all the while these feeble leaders knowingly and repeatedly lie to US and themselves continually. They are all soulless fools, liars and crooks.
8
Please be informed that the GOP will pass this bill and the negative effects will be blamed on Democrats. Bullies were few and they always got their comeuppance in my day. Now, they are many and many of those they have bullied and abused turn to them for words of vengeful solace and grandiose praise, no matter the routinely devastating outcome for them.
For the bullied, it is the words, not the whacks that matter. The harder the whack, the more soothing the words sound and the more the bullies are cheered for standing up against decency, which only makes the abused cringe in what they feel is its scornfully condescending presence.
For the bullied, it is the words, not the whacks that matter. The harder the whack, the more soothing the words sound and the more the bullies are cheered for standing up against decency, which only makes the abused cringe in what they feel is its scornfully condescending presence.
3
There can be no error in perceiving that the American Health Care Act has little to do with caring for the ill or crafting health policy. It is merely the vehicle for "reduce(ing) spending on health care by $1.1 trillion over 10 years to give the wealthiest American families a fat tax cut."
9
RIP, United States of America.
Your undoing was an inside job by Trump, McConnell, Ryan, and their vengeful, low information voters.
All their past bemoanings over an e-mail server seem terribly quaint.
Your undoing was an inside job by Trump, McConnell, Ryan, and their vengeful, low information voters.
All their past bemoanings over an e-mail server seem terribly quaint.
11
For those voters who enabled this toxic stew of Trump/Ryan/McConnell We Don't Care About Your Health bill by voting for the GOP, and Trump, and stand to lose what they may have under "Obamacare", I have little sympathy. You will get what you paid for at the ballot box.
As for those GOP Senators and Representatives, they should take a hard look at who they supposedly represent and look at those people in the eye and explain how Trump/Ryan/McConnell care benefits them.
As for those GOP Senators and Representatives, they should take a hard look at who they supposedly represent and look at those people in the eye and explain how Trump/Ryan/McConnell care benefits them.
4
In keeping with the vampire analogy, the Democrats have to drive a stake through the heart of this sinister plot. They should be out en masse warning the people about the impending loss of their health insurance. You can bet that "Fox & Friends" will be as silent as the grave about it. Claire McCaskill cannot be the lone voice here. What’s happened to the soul of the GOP?!
2
Trump and the Republican Party are dark in
ways similar to the most sinister of the
world's governments.
And that is stated teary-eyed, because they are
being allowed to be so destructive to a once-sacred
democracy.
destruction is being allowed to go on and on.
ways similar to the most sinister of the
world's governments.
And that is stated teary-eyed, because they are
being allowed to be so destructive to a once-sacred
democracy.
destruction is being allowed to go on and on.
1
"We won, you lost. To the victor go the spoils." We better get used to this scorched-earth tactic because we will have to live and deal with a one-party rule, no-checks-and-balances for the next 3-1/2 years.
I'm reminded of the passage in Nicolo Machievelli's book, The Prince. In chapter 8 he writes:
"Hence it is to be remarked that, in seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into all those injuries which it is necessary for him to inflict, and to do them all at one stroke so as not to have to repeat them daily; and thus by not unsettling men he will be able to reassure them, and win them to himself by benefits. He who does otherwise, either from timidity or evil advice, is always compelled to keep the knife in his hand; neither can he rely on his subjects, nor can they attach themselves to him, owing to their continued and repeated wrongs. For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer."
Like it or not, America has embarked on the equivalent Holy Roman Empire of the 21st Century with a mega-duke on the throne.
I'm reminded of the passage in Nicolo Machievelli's book, The Prince. In chapter 8 he writes:
"Hence it is to be remarked that, in seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into all those injuries which it is necessary for him to inflict, and to do them all at one stroke so as not to have to repeat them daily; and thus by not unsettling men he will be able to reassure them, and win them to himself by benefits. He who does otherwise, either from timidity or evil advice, is always compelled to keep the knife in his hand; neither can he rely on his subjects, nor can they attach themselves to him, owing to their continued and repeated wrongs. For injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less; benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer."
Like it or not, America has embarked on the equivalent Holy Roman Empire of the 21st Century with a mega-duke on the throne.
4
Elections have consequences, but this election is turning out to have dire ones. Aside from the secret healthcare insurance killing bills created by first the House and now the Senate, we have a president who doesn't know what the truth is and couldn't tell it if he did. Voters and you non-voters and you third-party voters can now enjoy the fruits of your votes over the next decade or so as millions lose healthcare insurance, immigrants are driven out of America, women, minorities and LGBT folks lose their equality and safety, the truth about Russia taking over our country will be obstructed to protect Trump and the GOP's power.
As I sit hear this morning reading the New York Times and responding to today's outrages, I find it hard to believe that just a year ago we lived in a different America altogether. That's not too strong a statement. We have not only lost our way, but indeed most of the frameworks and traditions that we call American are being taken apart piece by piece by Trump and the GOP. The destruction of the last eight years is well underway. If you voted for Trump and the Republicans in Congress, I hope you are enjoying this new America and taking credit for it every chance you get. I want to know who you are. So speak up loud and clear in your support of this carnage.
As I sit hear this morning reading the New York Times and responding to today's outrages, I find it hard to believe that just a year ago we lived in a different America altogether. That's not too strong a statement. We have not only lost our way, but indeed most of the frameworks and traditions that we call American are being taken apart piece by piece by Trump and the GOP. The destruction of the last eight years is well underway. If you voted for Trump and the Republicans in Congress, I hope you are enjoying this new America and taking credit for it every chance you get. I want to know who you are. So speak up loud and clear in your support of this carnage.
This is not and never was a health care bill under the r's. It is a WELFARE bill for the wealthiest among us that don't need additional tax cuts. They already don't pay enough. I'm quite curious what they think the logical end to all of this hatred and removing any sort of safety net from one of the richest countries in the world will be. For the corporate titan economy to thrive, people have to have enough money to buy things. Once the safety net is gone, where will the money come from to drive the economy? Last I heard, about 70% of the economy is driven by consumers, not the .01%. One more luxury private jet or yacht of the top 400 richest simply won't keep the economy going. All they need to do is look at Kansas, that failed Brownback debacle completely demonstrates how wrong their policies are. But they do not care. Their motto has become "I got mine and you can drop dead". Everything they do now, they do in secret because it does not match the will of their constituents or the well-being of America. We live in a sickening greedy cruel un-American mess with these r's at the helm.
6
"We have to pass this bill so we can see what's in it!" Nancy Pelosi, talking about the Affordable Care Act, a bill put together by Democrats and passed by Democrats WITHOUT any input or votes by Republicans. And according to Professor Gruber - an architect of the bill - the bill was passed because of the stupidity of the American voter and a lack of transparency.
And the hypocrisy of Chucky Schumer standing before the cameras exclaiming in that loud voice how the replacement bill for Obamacare is being crafted by Republicans without any input from Democrats. If I'm not mistaken our President specifically asked Democrats to get involved and provide input. BUT, Democrats only want things their way and want no part of correcting the problem they created.
And the hypocrisy of Chucky Schumer standing before the cameras exclaiming in that loud voice how the replacement bill for Obamacare is being crafted by Republicans without any input from Democrats. If I'm not mistaken our President specifically asked Democrats to get involved and provide input. BUT, Democrats only want things their way and want no part of correcting the problem they created.
You clearly didn't read the Op_ed which stated--" The House and Senate came up with several competing bills, held dozens of hearings, accepted Republican amendments and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from public interests groups and the health care industry. The Congressional Budget Office produced several reports to analyze the various proposals and the legislation that ultimately became law."
There's not much to be said for an "analysis" that is best characterized by its inability to think beyond sound bites.
There's not much to be said for an "analysis" that is best characterized by its inability to think beyond sound bites.
1
We should all be watching Mitch "Voldemort" McConnell very, very closely. He is the mastermind behind the idea of (unconstitutionally) refusing to grant Merrill Garland even a hearing for the open seat on SCOTUS. He is the one who said his goal was to make Obama a one-term president.
There is nothing amoral that Mitch won't do. Nothing. Listening to him lie through his teeth whenever his lips are moving is chilling. And unlike Paul Ryan, Mitch has been at this for a long, long time and almost never makes amateurish remarks like "Trump did X because he's new to all this and just learning his way around Washington."
McConnell has one goal on health insurance: pass something, anything, so the Republicans can tell their constituents they did what they promised when they were elected. He and his goons behind closed doors aren't trying to create a good bill. They are only trying to figure out which bones they need to throw to which senators to get the minimum number of votes needed to repeal as much of ObamaCare as they can. And whatever garbage they produce to satisfy the "moderates," they'll tell their voters lies about the actual contents: "Of course you won't lose your coverage." "Of course your pre-existing condition isn't a problem." "Of course thus isn't a guise that will enable us to give more tax cuts to the rich."
There is nothing amoral that Mitch won't do. Nothing. Listening to him lie through his teeth whenever his lips are moving is chilling. And unlike Paul Ryan, Mitch has been at this for a long, long time and almost never makes amateurish remarks like "Trump did X because he's new to all this and just learning his way around Washington."
McConnell has one goal on health insurance: pass something, anything, so the Republicans can tell their constituents they did what they promised when they were elected. He and his goons behind closed doors aren't trying to create a good bill. They are only trying to figure out which bones they need to throw to which senators to get the minimum number of votes needed to repeal as much of ObamaCare as they can. And whatever garbage they produce to satisfy the "moderates," they'll tell their voters lies about the actual contents: "Of course you won't lose your coverage." "Of course your pre-existing condition isn't a problem." "Of course thus isn't a guise that will enable us to give more tax cuts to the rich."
4
SC Congressman Tim Rice is working on Telemedicine- which he thinks will be the savior of healthcare in SC. No matter how many people write to him about the socio-economic impacts of the ACHA currently being considered, he wants to take decent healthcare away from South Carolinians. 1 in 7 jobs, hospital growth, tax dollars - all to be replaced with a computer screen. When I ask him how will people without computers use Telemedicine? (Lots of SC residents are below poverty line) SILENCE. This is sickening. A Congressman who doesn't understand that something can be a useful tool but it is not the whole toolbox. SAD.
2018. We may not be able to get him out of office but we can make it a much harder race.
2018. We may not be able to get him out of office but we can make it a much harder race.
1
The Republicans won control of a majority of both houses of the U.S. Congress and the White House by openly and consistently promising to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare.
Whatever legislative scheme the Senate comes up with behind close doors does not and will not matter to the Trump voting political base. As long as they can claim that they voted exactly how they said they would they will be fine.
Indeed, recent history teaches us that if the Republican Senate majority opened the doors and exposed everything about their healthcare proposal while beating down the bleating bleeping Democrats they would inflame their base of political support even more. The notion that facts and reason matter to Trump Nation more than tenor and tone has consistently been proven wrong.
Indeed, giving the middle finger and the extended tongue along with a verbal suggestion that the Democrats in the Senate have repeated carnal knowledge of themselves before going behind closed doors is the new age method and manner of enlightenment.
Whatever legislative scheme the Senate comes up with behind close doors does not and will not matter to the Trump voting political base. As long as they can claim that they voted exactly how they said they would they will be fine.
Indeed, recent history teaches us that if the Republican Senate majority opened the doors and exposed everything about their healthcare proposal while beating down the bleating bleeping Democrats they would inflame their base of political support even more. The notion that facts and reason matter to Trump Nation more than tenor and tone has consistently been proven wrong.
Indeed, giving the middle finger and the extended tongue along with a verbal suggestion that the Democrats in the Senate have repeated carnal knowledge of themselves before going behind closed doors is the new age method and manner of enlightenment.
1
23 million lost health care coverage = 1 million fewer health care jobs
= reduced aggregate demand = even fewer jobs
Republicans = jobs killing party
oops, I forgot the 800 coal mining jobs saved
= reduced aggregate demand = even fewer jobs
Republicans = jobs killing party
oops, I forgot the 800 coal mining jobs saved
2
I'm sure that there are moral Republicans in the Senate. But these days, I sure can't identify one.
3
This Republican working group is the true "death panel."
2
Why is this even legal?
3
Slavery and Jim Crow were legal.
1
Democrats have gotten so good at fomenting hysteria at any type of entitlement reform that I don't blame Republicans for taking thus approach. Democrats have gotten so rabid and militant that even a dime of reasonable change is a nonstarter to the crazy base. The U.S. is awash is redistributive payments and frankly enough is enough. Time for some cuts so that people who pay their taxes can have some of their money back.
9
Really?
So if you imagine your neighbor has gone berserk, it's ok to steal from them?
Now I've heard it all.
So if you imagine your neighbor has gone berserk, it's ok to steal from them?
Now I've heard it all.
7
Like to know your story, DRS. A person who evidently pulled their own selves up by their own bootstraps. I've actually never run into a person who has done that, including myself. You would be the first.
The American people never asked for healthcare to essentially be the same price as buying a car every year. Let alone the prescriptions. If healthcare was reasonably affordable then most people wouldn't have a problem paying for it. But it's not and quite frankly, in America, it hasn't been affordable since the early 1970's when HMO's started to flex their ugly muscle.
The American people never asked for healthcare to essentially be the same price as buying a car every year. Let alone the prescriptions. If healthcare was reasonably affordable then most people wouldn't have a problem paying for it. But it's not and quite frankly, in America, it hasn't been affordable since the early 1970's when HMO's started to flex their ugly muscle.
7
Being a former taxpayer myself, I bear no malice toward the less fortunate that my taxes may have assisted to have access to food and healthcare. (Do note that 55 cents of the dollar collected in taxes goes to the Pentagon.) You might wonder why I am a 'former' taxpayer. My health insurance premiums, long term care premiums, Medigap premiums, Part D premiums and real estate taxes take a third of my annual retirement income.
2
Oh the treachery we see when the Republicans claim absolute Power in government; your healthcare sacrificed for wealthy individual's tax cuts.
In the end we all pay. The whole Republican congress should hide in shame. And their fearless leader should resign for the betrayal he has brought upon this country from Russian collusion, to dismantling regulatory protections, to financial corruption, to possible destruction of the earth by withdrawing from climate change agreements, to the overall disgrace he has brought to our once great place. The saying "I'm proud to be an American" rings hollow under this leadership and the GOP.
In the end we all pay. The whole Republican congress should hide in shame. And their fearless leader should resign for the betrayal he has brought upon this country from Russian collusion, to dismantling regulatory protections, to financial corruption, to possible destruction of the earth by withdrawing from climate change agreements, to the overall disgrace he has brought to our once great place. The saying "I'm proud to be an American" rings hollow under this leadership and the GOP.
158
Obamacare is the conservative Republican Heritage Foundation free market capitalist response to the failed Clinton Administration healthcare initiative. That the ACA is not single payer is not the fault of the Republicans. That foul stench is mostly Joe Lieberman and Joe Manchin.
1
The whole Republican Congress is salivating at the thought of this winning.
Don't Republicans realize that once the details of this monstrosity are revealed to the American people that they will have a war on their hands?
Congressional Democrats had better speak out loud and often to alert the public as to what the Republicans are just about to shove down our throats. And they actually have the nerve to call it "health care reform"?! What an absolute outrage! You can bet your bottom dollar that voters will quickly register their outrage at the polls aimed specifically at the Republican party.
It's virtually guaranteed that the GOP may well have signed their political version of suicide as Democrats should be able to quickly regain control of the House, Senate, and Executive branches of government for some time to come -- perhaps decades.
Hopefully, the vast majority of voters will now finally get the message that the Republican Party could care less about their wellbeing. They are too busy working to please their wealthy contributors.
If the Democrats fail to capitalize on this huge opportunity to finally bury the Republican Party in their own selfish misery, voters should quickly shift their allegiance to a new political party that will.
Congressional Democrats had better speak out loud and often to alert the public as to what the Republicans are just about to shove down our throats. And they actually have the nerve to call it "health care reform"?! What an absolute outrage! You can bet your bottom dollar that voters will quickly register their outrage at the polls aimed specifically at the Republican party.
It's virtually guaranteed that the GOP may well have signed their political version of suicide as Democrats should be able to quickly regain control of the House, Senate, and Executive branches of government for some time to come -- perhaps decades.
Hopefully, the vast majority of voters will now finally get the message that the Republican Party could care less about their wellbeing. They are too busy working to please their wealthy contributors.
If the Democrats fail to capitalize on this huge opportunity to finally bury the Republican Party in their own selfish misery, voters should quickly shift their allegiance to a new political party that will.
172
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars" or in the Democrats, "but in ourselves." The problem is not with the party but with the people who don't care to understand: Both parties are not the same. All politicians are not the same. Democrats don't have to lie about everything to get things done. Republicans do.
Nobody would vote for taking away health care, not funding infrastructure, going off to war at the drop of a hat, giving billions in subsidies to profitable industries, not raising the minimum wage. But they vote to keep the Black and Brown votes down. They vote to keep abortions dark and illegal. They vote for hate and misery, as long as the misery is directed at "those people" over there.
Lies Lies Lies
Nobody would vote for taking away health care, not funding infrastructure, going off to war at the drop of a hat, giving billions in subsidies to profitable industries, not raising the minimum wage. But they vote to keep the Black and Brown votes down. They vote to keep abortions dark and illegal. They vote for hate and misery, as long as the misery is directed at "those people" over there.
Lies Lies Lies
1
"Don't Republicans realize that once the details of this monstrosity are revealed to the American people that they will have a war on their hands?"
I hope the Republican plan gets shot down. I also hope that the Affordable Care Act gets repealed in its entirety. Maybe then we can actually reshape our broken system of health care.
I hope the Republican plan gets shot down. I also hope that the Affordable Care Act gets repealed in its entirety. Maybe then we can actually reshape our broken system of health care.
Who would bid on a house without even seeing it first? The GOP! The so-called party of responsibility.
Would you believe they'd also buy that house without even insisting on a careful inspection of it? Hard to believe, but yes, that's the GOP "plan"!
It beggars credulity that public servants would do that for themselves, let alone for We the People. But that's where we are: actual public SERVANTS imagine they can pull off such an idiotic stunt!
If they think it's such a good investment, let the GOP raise money and pay for it themselves!
Otherwise, let's remind themwho they work for: We the People must demand that any legislation, for the public good, be widely available for perusal, close inspection, wide public discussion and amendment - long before any votes take place.
The House GOP needs to grow up.
They are not our Rulers, but our Servants!
Would you believe they'd also buy that house without even insisting on a careful inspection of it? Hard to believe, but yes, that's the GOP "plan"!
It beggars credulity that public servants would do that for themselves, let alone for We the People. But that's where we are: actual public SERVANTS imagine they can pull off such an idiotic stunt!
If they think it's such a good investment, let the GOP raise money and pay for it themselves!
Otherwise, let's remind themwho they work for: We the People must demand that any legislation, for the public good, be widely available for perusal, close inspection, wide public discussion and amendment - long before any votes take place.
The House GOP needs to grow up.
They are not our Rulers, but our Servants!
112
TheraP: You might buy a house without inspecting it if your plan all along is to flip it on an unsuspecting buyer for maximum profit. In fact, the worse the state of that house (and the lower your cost of purchase), the bigger your profit if you can con the right suckers (aka Trump working class voters who actually believe Trump and Republican talking points) into buying.
House and Senate members have excellent health care for life, paid for by you and I. Their greed knows no limits.
What you need to do is replace the current control of the House to the Democrats and make it very, very clear what you expect from them. If you really want to chart a new course, send the GOP to the dustbin of history.
I love it. The Media in a frenzy over Comey's testimony McConnell continues onward with the repeal of Obamacare. After the repeal of Obamacare the Media continues it's frenzy on Russia while the tax reform bill is crafted and voted on. In other words, a year from now President Trump will have passed major bills while the Media is calling for Sessions to testify for the 100th time.
2
Nancy Pelosi "We have to pass the health care bill so that you can find out what's in it." Ms. Pelosi and the Democratic leadership prevented members of congress from reading the Obamacare legislation originally. That the Republicans use the same strategy to gut it only seems fair.
How about Mr. Obama's Pacific Trade Pact? Talk about secrecy!
Y'all forget fast.
How about Mr. Obama's Pacific Trade Pact? Talk about secrecy!
Y'all forget fast.
1
Stop, just stop. The ACA took a year to pass, and Republicans got every chance to have a hand in it. It was even the subject of at least one televised hearing. Y'all forget real fast...
4
AmarilloMike, I realize you realize you probably don't remember history from 7-8 years ago, but did you even bother to read this editorial? It might have answered your sad excuse for a comeback. What Republicans are doing now is absolutely shameful:
"The Republican effort to undo the A.C.A. bears no resemblance whatsoever to that much more thorough exercise. Congress and the Obama administration spent a year on health care reform from March 2009 to March 2010. The House and Senate came up with several competing bills, held dozens of hearings, accepted Republican amendments and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from public interests groups and the health care industry. The Congressional Budget Office produced several reports to analyze the various proposals and the legislation that ultimately became law."
"The Republican effort to undo the A.C.A. bears no resemblance whatsoever to that much more thorough exercise. Congress and the Obama administration spent a year on health care reform from March 2009 to March 2010. The House and Senate came up with several competing bills, held dozens of hearings, accepted Republican amendments and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from public interests groups and the health care industry. The Congressional Budget Office produced several reports to analyze the various proposals and the legislation that ultimately became law."
5
Re-read he article. The ACA took a year to pass, with over 100 amendments from Republicans.
RIP GOP if they pass this one in the dark.
RIP GOP if they pass this one in the dark.
3
The Democratic Party needs to have television advertisements that expose what is going on with these clandestine meetings with only Republican men!
The American people need to be informed immediately! I can't believe these talks are happening under the cover of darkness!
Doesn't one of these Republicans think "there but for the grace of God go I ?"
Do they not have a soul?
Do they not know families who are devastated by unexpected and huge healthcare bills that wipe them out?
Or do they choose to ignore the suffering around them to give a big tax break to the wealthiest among us.
I hope 2018 gives these heartless Republicans a big defeat!
The American people need to be informed immediately! I can't believe these talks are happening under the cover of darkness!
Doesn't one of these Republicans think "there but for the grace of God go I ?"
Do they not have a soul?
Do they not know families who are devastated by unexpected and huge healthcare bills that wipe them out?
Or do they choose to ignore the suffering around them to give a big tax break to the wealthiest among us.
I hope 2018 gives these heartless Republicans a big defeat!
280
They outright lie to you when they tell you that cutting taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Americans will cause them to create more high paying jobs for the 99%.
7
"Do they not have a soul?"
No. No they don't.
No. No they don't.
7
Everyone has a soul. It is the software our brains acquire after birth from the experience of living. This understanding is the basis of empathy. Many people who believe that the soul originates from God at the instant of fertilization don't ever develop empathy.
4
Here's an idea. Lets get rid of the 4000 shopping channels and make more CSPAN channels. All hearings and debates unless those of true national security are held in the open and televised for all to see. Then the public can contact representatives with their opinions and suggestions. True sunlight, let's
see the sausage being made and then we might have a Congress that does the will of the people.
see the sausage being made and then we might have a Congress that does the will of the people.
7
Sadly, nobody will watch them.
1
I'm sorry, am I missing something? We can vent all we want but unless the Democratic Party puts forth leaders who really lead, nothing is going to change. We need leaders who go on every talk show, who participate in every on line forum, in order to explain how the changes the Republicans are pushing will hurt all of us, whether it is health care, education, or the discarding of sensible regulations of various industries. We have to stop focusing our wrath on the 1% because eventually the misguided policies of the Republican Party will affect everyone.
6
I agree completely with your assessment, Carol. I am a life-long Dem from generations of progressives (my great-great-grandmother was an abolitionist in 1822) and I am grief-stricken by the lack of leadership in our party. This blatant kleptocracy formed by the Trump administration and by the Republican Party should be and easy target by smart opposition forces. Frankly, it was Debbie Wasserman-Schultz who took the party down the rabbit hole of continuous defeat.
Today, the Democratic Party is so behind the curve, who knows when we can bring sanity back to Washington, and to local and state governments taken over by extreme conservatives. The corruption in the Trump administration is so obvious, I would imagine, like you, the Dems fighting hammer and tong on every news media available.
Alas ...
Today, the Democratic Party is so behind the curve, who knows when we can bring sanity back to Washington, and to local and state governments taken over by extreme conservatives. The corruption in the Trump administration is so obvious, I would imagine, like you, the Dems fighting hammer and tong on every news media available.
Alas ...
sounds like 2008 deja vu - one party policy. pols love to run out the example of someone dying due to loss of insurance. they are attacking the wrong problem. aca drove demand but not much consideration was given to supply. medical care is scarce in many areas and no amount of insurance coverage will change it. many predicted a bifurcated system of care for the masses and concierge care (for those of means).
1
Senate Majority Leader McConnell has the #1 goal for all legislation in the Senate to be used to ensure Senator McConnell retains his Senate Majority position. The "purely" Republican legislation can lean left or right, or die altogether, but he'll ensure whatever votes are made best support the Republican Senators running for the next re-election so he can maintain his post. Country? What country?
5
Let's hear from some who support the bill! Oh, there is no bill that anyone has seen, so no GOP voter can debate its merits. How can anyone support this bill, this congress, or this administration?
13
This is NOT what democracy looks like.
I listened to a bit of a Senate Committee hearing on health with HHS Secretary Tom Price fielding questions. The gist of every Democrat's questions was how could Price achieve his goals with such drastic budget reductions. Rather than answer the question, he mentioned statistics from each questioner's state. He was a sleazy politician not someone trying to address honestly problems.
And he always ended by saying he hoped Democrats would support the health care bill. To which each Senator replied that the Republicans had not showed them the legislation nor requested their input.
Infuriating and disgraceful.
I listened to a bit of a Senate Committee hearing on health with HHS Secretary Tom Price fielding questions. The gist of every Democrat's questions was how could Price achieve his goals with such drastic budget reductions. Rather than answer the question, he mentioned statistics from each questioner's state. He was a sleazy politician not someone trying to address honestly problems.
And he always ended by saying he hoped Democrats would support the health care bill. To which each Senator replied that the Republicans had not showed them the legislation nor requested their input.
Infuriating and disgraceful.
15
GOP is on a wild ride that they know will crash. But before they do they need to pay back their donors and that means eliminate the ACA, inheritance taxes and corporate taxes.
When this is done, even if it is in place for a year or two or four. That will give the Koch brothers rime to move the money permanently out of reach of the revenuers. That is what this is all about.
All of these congress people voting against their constituents best interests should be investigated. They have sold us all out while wrapping themselves in the flag.
When this is done, even if it is in place for a year or two or four. That will give the Koch brothers rime to move the money permanently out of reach of the revenuers. That is what this is all about.
All of these congress people voting against their constituents best interests should be investigated. They have sold us all out while wrapping themselves in the flag.
15
Hear, hear...you are foretelling it correctly. What I worry about is that the effect of these bills will not bite until AFTER the 2018 elections. That is another thing they are counting on...
Yes, they should all be investigated, starting with Mc Connell and Ryan. What hypocrites.
Yes, they should all be investigated, starting with Mc Connell and Ryan. What hypocrites.
Within a generation, what is left of the US will have single payer access to health care.
12
In the next generation, there will be nothing left of the US as we know it. Look for A Clockwork Orange, brought to you by the Trump administration and the Republican Congress backing the 1%. The question is who will there be to buy all their stuff and keep them in the gated communities they will need. Or maybe this is Mad Max on the way, dirtier, more terrifying, even more violent without the prettiness of A Clockwork Orange in comparison.
2
This editorial and these comments are thoughtful, logic-based, and take the greater good into account. But Republicans/Trumpists/Conservatives do not read this, do not accept the arguments presented as being reality based, attribute all to liberal whining, and really do not care.
Take the House in 2018!
It is now only about who has the power to shape policy and society. Healthcare, national monuments, environmental policy, voting rights, criminal justice, immigration, education, foreign relations.... This is a fight for the survival of our Democracy, of a way of life that shows some compassion for each other and for our fragile planet.
Only real power can push back against this tide.
Take the House in 2018!
It is now only about who has the power to shape policy and society. Healthcare, national monuments, environmental policy, voting rights, criminal justice, immigration, education, foreign relations.... This is a fight for the survival of our Democracy, of a way of life that shows some compassion for each other and for our fragile planet.
Only real power can push back against this tide.
40
2018 is already looking like a drunk fantasy because the masses still do not realize how much is at stake.
Every year at this time I receive a letter from my health insurance company informing me of a proposed double-digit rate increase they have requested from my state's insurance department.
I am so relieved four months later when my rate hike is "only" mid single digits.
I can only imagine what the horror will be next year at this time, as I, and spouse, are still a few years from Medicare.
We pay about $20,000 a year.
I am so relieved four months later when my rate hike is "only" mid single digits.
I can only imagine what the horror will be next year at this time, as I, and spouse, are still a few years from Medicare.
We pay about $20,000 a year.
18
My income for the entire year is just a little more than what you pay for health insurance. You have the nerve to complain, instead of being grateful that you are in a position to afford to pay that? Millions of Americans, myself included, would consider it the utmost luxury to afford such healthcare as you seem to feel is a burden. I might be wrong, but I assume from your comment that you will welcome the Republican's plan, without even considering that millions of Americans like me could suffer because of it. I understand that you want to save some money. Can you understand how frightening it is for me, and millions like me, who worry about how to pay for one lousy doctor's appointment?
The next time anyone tells you that there is no difference in the political parties as an excuse for not voting, point them to this.
47
I would not be too happy that this Health Care bill passes. It may not earn the ire of all republican voters, because they might set it to be activated after the 2018 election. By that time, it will be too late. The Dems might even win in 2020, but they again will be stuck with a republican controlled House and Senate.
2
This is the perfect Republican setup. "Obamacare failed and left us this. It's Obama's fault."
1
I can image that Trump tweets some inflammatory nonsense immediately as the bill is passed and the Times, Post, Fox, and corporate media elsewhere then focus attention on the tweet.
7
Welcome to the world of sensational distraction while behind the scenes all that makes life worth living in the good old USA is being disassembled rapidly and thoroughly.
1
Until the Republican Party proves to the citizens of America that Medicare from cradle to grave is more costly than the current way we handle this frayed patchwork pair of overalls we call healthcare coverage, they --WE-- would be better off if they would spend their time reading MAD! magazine and twiddling their thumbs. This grudge they are assembling behind closed doors will be ours to bear. To deny us the opportunity to examine it is, well, un-American.
I maintain that the current way the FICA tax is administered is unfair. It should be applied to every dollar earned, not suddenly suspended when your wages pass $110,100. If you got by without that extra 6.2% to that point, you don't need it going forward. (Unless I am mistaken, I believe the employer's FICA responsibility also ends at that dollar amount. Win-Win! Yeah, sure). Then there is the matter of the amount paid by individuals and employers for private health insurance. And then, how onerous would a 0.5% tax on all non-wage, non-salary income be when it would go to covering the costs of health care?
The 1% have the lowest participation rate when it comes to serving in the Armed Forces. It's time they paid for that in greenbacks, since their blood is too precious to shed.
I maintain that the current way the FICA tax is administered is unfair. It should be applied to every dollar earned, not suddenly suspended when your wages pass $110,100. If you got by without that extra 6.2% to that point, you don't need it going forward. (Unless I am mistaken, I believe the employer's FICA responsibility also ends at that dollar amount. Win-Win! Yeah, sure). Then there is the matter of the amount paid by individuals and employers for private health insurance. And then, how onerous would a 0.5% tax on all non-wage, non-salary income be when it would go to covering the costs of health care?
The 1% have the lowest participation rate when it comes to serving in the Armed Forces. It's time they paid for that in greenbacks, since their blood is too precious to shed.
15
Trumpdontcare has little to do with health and nothing to do with caring. It is the PR cover for reducing taxes and removing regulation to enhance profitability. The provision of government directed healthcare is an anathema to most Republican politicians and it is being worked only to appease their new-found base. The outcome will be as little as they can get away with, a dogs dinner of headlines for the press release.
9
The Senate works for the American people. Ha! They work for themselves. The GOP's leader Mitch McConnell should look to how the people of his state suffer. If you look up the facts, it ain't pretty. But with his wife fawning over Trump, why should he worry. "We aren't stupid". But he is mean, callous, and vindictive.
19
As empires fall they divide into factions, each centered around ego filled power hungry creatures who love their own images and thrill at the ability to hurt the poor and the powerless.
It happened in Athens, it happened in Rome, it happened in England, it happened in Moscow, and it is happening here.
Congressional Republicans are just hired thugs for the super rich and powerful. They see themselves as the real Americans, and the fall of America as their true calling, for to destroy the country is to elevate their pathetic egos.
The Republican Party is at war with poor people. They hate us, and deserve our contempt.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
It happened in Athens, it happened in Rome, it happened in England, it happened in Moscow, and it is happening here.
Congressional Republicans are just hired thugs for the super rich and powerful. They see themselves as the real Americans, and the fall of America as their true calling, for to destroy the country is to elevate their pathetic egos.
The Republican Party is at war with poor people. They hate us, and deserve our contempt.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
19
Hired thugs....a very good analogy....
"Exposing a vampire to sunlight." If only that were possible with this Congress and this Administration. Seems like every time someone pokes a hole in the roof to let a ray of sunshine it these vampires manage to step back in the shad. Where is Dr. Helsing when we need him! He's manage to drive stakes through their hearts! (Oh. But they seem to have no hearts . . .)
10
Hot sauce for the goose is hot sauce for the gander.
2
And from what I've discerned there is not a single woman in the room....not that they have anything at stake in all of this!
9
I continually find it astounding that conservatives buy into a fairy tale about "trickle down" and "America first" and yet fail to demonstrate any observational power or critical thinking about the reality. This administration and the GOP that empower it are nothing more than agents for a relative handful of billionaires enslaving the population. EPA? Who needs clean air and water? Coal and oil profits are what matter. Unions?. Who needs a livable wage and safe and equitable and working conditions? Your pension, your Medicare, your Social Security? Let the bankers who know how to invest better than you do have at that money. Education? Let's give it to hedge fund investors under the guise of the US Dept. of Education. They care greatly about your children. Healthcare? Let the folks who deserve good health have it: the rich.
16
The Trump GOP Congress has a single minded mission to reduce taxes on the rich. It just so happens they equally have contempt for the "moochers" who get health care via Medicaid and the Obamacare exchanges. For these soulless greedy society paths (otherwise now known as today's Republican Party) this is all that matters. They don't care if tens of millions are harmed, including those many who foolishly vote for them.
10
I am one of thosr Obamacare exchange "moochers" who stands to lose her healthcare, at the age of 62. The Senate, under McConnell, will do it...they are DETERMINED to do it.
In March 2017, I spent 3 days in the hospital, 2 in intensive care, due to dangerously low hemoglobin. I just had 2 more iron infusions over the past 2 weeks when my Ferritin (the protein that carries red blood cells throughout the body) dropped over 100 points in 5 weeks. I spent a half hour crying just now, because I will not be able to afford health insurance if this passes. I was told my heart could just stop if--when my hemoglobin drops like that again.
I have spent 33 years (and am still working) as a clinical social worker, foing therapy with people who are impoverished. Now I know, from the inside out, what it feels like to have your fate in someone else's hands and be helpless to do anything about what they decide, unilaterally, to do.
In March 2017, I spent 3 days in the hospital, 2 in intensive care, due to dangerously low hemoglobin. I just had 2 more iron infusions over the past 2 weeks when my Ferritin (the protein that carries red blood cells throughout the body) dropped over 100 points in 5 weeks. I spent a half hour crying just now, because I will not be able to afford health insurance if this passes. I was told my heart could just stop if--when my hemoglobin drops like that again.
I have spent 33 years (and am still working) as a clinical social worker, foing therapy with people who are impoverished. Now I know, from the inside out, what it feels like to have your fate in someone else's hands and be helpless to do anything about what they decide, unilaterally, to do.
2
"Never ask how sausages or laws are made." -Bismarck
"Sunshine is the best disinfectant." -Brandeis
"Make America Great Again" -Trump
The cognitive dissonance is jarring.
"Sunshine is the best disinfectant." -Brandeis
"Make America Great Again" -Trump
The cognitive dissonance is jarring.
5
The Republicans rapaciousness, cruelty and appetite for destruction seemingly knows no bound. They are gravely harming the people they are sworn to protect and grinning like the Cheshire Cat at the prospect. It is so profoundly depressing.
11
One of these senators is Pat Toomey of PA. He has yet to hold a town meeting to find out what his constituents want.
13
Add Congressman Andy Harris (MD) to the list of no town meetings....ooops my bad he does them over the phone with no feedback
How dark and contemptible do you have to be to deliberately hide public policy from the public? Let's expose all of these vampires to sunlight.
11
All the Republicans that believe in this kind of governing should just move into some semi dictatorial country so that they can do their dark art without any hindrance.
Or are they already home right here? I fear that's the case with a leader who appreciates constant meaningless praise as Reince was showing how it's done yesterday, or his name up in giant gold letters, or his unfettered greed, and general lack of intellect.
Or are they already home right here? I fear that's the case with a leader who appreciates constant meaningless praise as Reince was showing how it's done yesterday, or his name up in giant gold letters, or his unfettered greed, and general lack of intellect.
7
A one party vote. In secret. No hearings. No doubt in the dead of night. The great and massive, surprise, tax cut for the rich legislation, which will be paid for with the theft of health care for untold millions of oridinary citizens and costing the lives or sickening God knows how many, which the great majority of the public opposes is about to become the law of the land. .
Whether this is madness or evil it shows a sickening contempt for the American people. This is the Republican party. If you want to know how a fascist dictatorship looks, just wait until the bill passes and do nothing.
The people, that’s us, must hit the streets nationwide.and protest, and a stand for democracy,, now bleeding in the gutter thanks to the Republican party and his magnificence. We must make it clear that a vote for Trumpcare is going to be political suicide – before the damage is done.
Since loss of office to a party of millionaires is a risk they csnl take, it should also become clear that after the midterms these Republicans will need to go into witness protection. Protest in their offices and where they live, at home or in Washington. Go to where their mistresses live.
The question is how do people whose government has been overthrown by -fascists make it clear that they will not tolerate the intolerable, keeping in mind that Trump would love another civil war based on race and class like the first one. We need a new Lincoln to oppose Trump and his gang.
Whether this is madness or evil it shows a sickening contempt for the American people. This is the Republican party. If you want to know how a fascist dictatorship looks, just wait until the bill passes and do nothing.
The people, that’s us, must hit the streets nationwide.and protest, and a stand for democracy,, now bleeding in the gutter thanks to the Republican party and his magnificence. We must make it clear that a vote for Trumpcare is going to be political suicide – before the damage is done.
Since loss of office to a party of millionaires is a risk they csnl take, it should also become clear that after the midterms these Republicans will need to go into witness protection. Protest in their offices and where they live, at home or in Washington. Go to where their mistresses live.
The question is how do people whose government has been overthrown by -fascists make it clear that they will not tolerate the intolerable, keeping in mind that Trump would love another civil war based on race and class like the first one. We need a new Lincoln to oppose Trump and his gang.
7
July 4th is coming soon. So good time to quote President Thomas Whitmore: "What do you want us to do?"
Alien/republican response: "Die"
Fitting, no?
There is little doubt the aliens were Republicans. Clear the land of the people. Strip the land for all it's resources. Take all for themselves. Leave nothing behind. Move on.
Alien/republican response: "Die"
Fitting, no?
There is little doubt the aliens were Republicans. Clear the land of the people. Strip the land for all it's resources. Take all for themselves. Leave nothing behind. Move on.
2
The GOP take on Obamacare has always been that it is unfair and too expensive. We gave the GOP the presidency and a majority in both houses of Congress; America has made it clear that lazy freeloaders do not deserve healthcare. Irresponsible parents or bad luck are no excuses. The GOP continually disconnects the cost of insurance premiums and healthcare expenditures; their whole strategy seems to be directed on reducing costs for a healthy plurality. Occasional slips of the tongue reveal their philosophy: good people don't get sick.
205
Welcome to survival of the fittest... It's a jungle out there, folks.
Ken L: It's worse than that. If you don't remove the mandate for ERs to treat people without health insurance, the total cost of medical care to the American taxpayer is actually much more expensive under any of the Republican versions of healthcare. However, their strategy does two things: shifts the cost from the federal level to the state/local level (where discriminatory practices are more easily obscured from review), and line the pockets of insurance and pharmaceutical companies (and their own pockets, via those companies' powerful lobbies).
Healthcare represents 17% of our economy. Think about it. These thoughtless, empty men are willing to risk the future of America for enormous additional tax cuts for their patrons (owners). What about all of those shareholders that oppose the bill, even unseen in the Senate version? They, too, have no voice. Together with an unhinged, dangerous authoritarian president this is really scary stuff my friends.
351
The Red party has the blood of millions Americans on its hands.
By hiding behind reconciliation, a way they can pass a bill with only a simple majority, they're already showed their true colors. Party first, everything else last. Tax breaks for the uber rich means more Super Pac dark money to bolster their campaigns.
Make no mistake -- millions of innocent Americans will suffer and die because of the GOP's unforgivable, maniacal actions.
By hiding behind reconciliation, a way they can pass a bill with only a simple majority, they're already showed their true colors. Party first, everything else last. Tax breaks for the uber rich means more Super Pac dark money to bolster their campaigns.
Make no mistake -- millions of innocent Americans will suffer and die because of the GOP's unforgivable, maniacal actions.
387
Yes--the GOP is the true death panel.
Yes. But worse: Isn't it murder when you deny someone healing medicine or surgery?
"Make no mistake -- millions of innocent Americans will suffer and die because of the GOP's unforgivable, maniacal actions."
How many people have suffered and died, even with the magic of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, or Medicaid?
How many people have suffered and died, even with the magic of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, or Medicaid?
The weaknesses in Obamacare were largely due to the attempt to include Republicans in a bipartisan bill. They disingenuously led on the Democrats as they still believed in honest government, but they were really playing a delay game.
I am surprised that the GOP is so out of touch with their electorate. I doubt there is any Senator including McConnell who would not be in danger of losing his seat if they destroy Obamacare without a valid replacement. Validity will be in the eyes of the beholders, meaning the electorate.
I am surprised that the GOP is so out of touch with their electorate. I doubt there is any Senator including McConnell who would not be in danger of losing his seat if they destroy Obamacare without a valid replacement. Validity will be in the eyes of the beholders, meaning the electorate.
3
I trust that these Republicans have lined up their lobbyist jobs for 2021 and beyond, because the majority of them are going to be out of government service by then.
Honestly, if this is the kind of mean-spirited country they want to live in, I wish they were instead threatening to secede.
Honestly, if this is the kind of mean-spirited country they want to live in, I wish they were instead threatening to secede.
2
There is only one reason to hide the TrumpCare bill from the American people: the bill is too cruel and shameful to withstand public scrutiny.
758
Ted: That's what you do when your children won't like something you are about to do to them "for their own good". Spring the deed on them as a fait accompli. Republican leaders think of the average person as children, spoiled brats or at best too ignorant of what's best for them to be trusted with an opinion not manipulated by spin, lies, propaganda, or outright withholding of the facts.
Agreed. If they were truly proud of what they're doing, they should be going public with it.
And this from the Loser who said there would be coverage for all Americans.
Well, Americans. This is what you voted for? A president who is a habitual liar and a fly-by-night Republican Congress ready to consign you to an early grave?
Haven't you caught on by now that this administration is all about distraction?
Bet you didn't know why the usually omnipresent Mitch McConnell has been missing from the front page lately.
It's because he and his pals are busy trying to ramrod through a bill that had only goal in mind -- to gut the Affordable Care Act, because it was created by the Obama Administration.
But the most heinous part of this confect is the fact that they had seven YEARS to come up with a plan that at least pretended to be in the interest of the American people, yet this is the best thing they could come up with.
So when you lose the health coverage you might now have, and possibly your Medicaid and Social Security next, just remember who made it all possible.
It currently resides in the White House.
Haven't you caught on by now that this administration is all about distraction?
Bet you didn't know why the usually omnipresent Mitch McConnell has been missing from the front page lately.
It's because he and his pals are busy trying to ramrod through a bill that had only goal in mind -- to gut the Affordable Care Act, because it was created by the Obama Administration.
But the most heinous part of this confect is the fact that they had seven YEARS to come up with a plan that at least pretended to be in the interest of the American people, yet this is the best thing they could come up with.
So when you lose the health coverage you might now have, and possibly your Medicaid and Social Security next, just remember who made it all possible.
It currently resides in the White House.
646
They had a lot longer than seven years. From 1994 when the Clinton health care plan, known as The Health Security Act, was officially declared dead until 2010 when the ACA was signed into law (thanks to the Democrats) there was no serious attempt from the Republican side to address the sorry state of affordable health care in the wealthiest nation on the planet. All they can do now is plot and plan to destroy that which what they were incapable of creating.
1
There is nothing "fly-by-night" about this congress. They are a steel eyed group of people who are bought and paid for and do their masters bidding. Unfortunately, the majority of Americans don't read enough or stay engaged enough to see what is happening. If you want to see what is wrong with America, we must all look in the mirror!
@Snowbird
In the light of all this --- Do you really think it makes a difference if it was longer than seven years???
Their goal was (and is) to discredit Obama.
Period.
In the light of all this --- Do you really think it makes a difference if it was longer than seven years???
Their goal was (and is) to discredit Obama.
Period.
1
Just wondering what the Faith and Freedom Coalition will have to say about their Christian President signing the Death-Care Bill? Perhaps the Senate should include a Burial Policy Supplement.
13
The Religious Right only value life before birth. Once you're born they are on their own. They believe in Jesus's words about helping those less fortunate as much as Trump -- that is, not at all.
4
The actions of the Senate, House, and various departments are what we need to focus on fighting. Forget the tweets and the loon in the White House. The hearings and media chatter about who's up and who's down in DC are bread and circus sent to distract us while the "important work" of tearing down the government and further enriching the wealthy takes place behind close doors. If we don't stay focused and protest, we'll all lose in the end.
20
This is just business as usual by the Republicans. They never, ever propose any legislation that would benefit the average American. They just repeal any such programs that the Democrats managed to pass into law.
15
To those commenters who are calling progressives hypocrites for criticizing the GOP's secretive discussions on repealing and replacing ACA, I say this - first, keep in mind that Obamacare was modeled on a Republican plan, the one implemented in Mass. under then-governor Romney. Secondly, and most important, Obamacare increased medical insurance coverage for millions of Americans, whereas AHCA promises to undo that progress and then some. Now, explain exactly which high-minded principles support throwing millions of our neediest fellow citizens out of insurance coverage? I cannot find them in my playbook.
31
The Republican mantra of tax cuts being the solution to all of society's ills is insanely being demonstrated again. Think about this. Obamacare, providing a lifeline to millions, many of whom have never had previous health insurance, is being dissolved to provide tax cuts to the most fortunate. And, here's the kicker, the most fortunate beneficiaries have never even asked for this tax break! It's a kiss from the Republicans, an unexpected valentine to their precious top tax bracket sweethearts. That, my friends, is true love.
19
Republican's undemocratic behavior reflects the undemocratic means by which they were elected, and the undemocratic means by which they mean to stay in power, namely through increasing disenfranchisement of voters who might disagree with them (see today's article on Chris Kobach). McConnell knows that 2018 hangs on fulfilling campaign promises to repeal the ACA. The replacement doesn't much matter as long as it hurts the people the Republican base hates more than it hurts the faithful.
21
Yes, the Republicans do not acknowledge the right of anyone but themselves to govern and actually prefer a one-party (Republican) system in the U.S. Perhaps explains their admiration of Putin and infatuation with Russia.
1
It doesn't really matter what coverage provisions are in the bill - to Republicans. They just want to justify huge tax cuts for individuals and corporations that do not need them.
After McConnell jiggles enough provisions and buys enough votes to get it through the Senate, Republicans will immediately get a $700 billion tax cut plus cut Medicaid by almost $900 billion so they can claim that as a cut in their "tax reform" bill. Plus they are reallocating another $700 billion in general appropriations for Obamacare to pay for their tax credits, high risk pool funding, etc.
Democrats are focused on the provisions - gee we care about what will happen to people! But Americans should focus on the funding and insist that Republicans pay for their bill. If they had to leave $700 billion in Obamacare taxes on the wealthy to pay the $700 billion in new spending in their bill, they would lose interest in "health reform" very quickly.
After McConnell jiggles enough provisions and buys enough votes to get it through the Senate, Republicans will immediately get a $700 billion tax cut plus cut Medicaid by almost $900 billion so they can claim that as a cut in their "tax reform" bill. Plus they are reallocating another $700 billion in general appropriations for Obamacare to pay for their tax credits, high risk pool funding, etc.
Democrats are focused on the provisions - gee we care about what will happen to people! But Americans should focus on the funding and insist that Republicans pay for their bill. If they had to leave $700 billion in Obamacare taxes on the wealthy to pay the $700 billion in new spending in their bill, they would lose interest in "health reform" very quickly.
12
When you see this kind of nonsense from Senate Republicans, even China starts to look more democratic. And I hear they have a national government that actually get things done. How refreshing!
18
The entire GOP has become a cabal of anti-democracy, anti-American elitists out to turn our government into a corporatocracy 'of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich.'
33
And somehow the poor that they hurt will reward them by re-electing them - House, Senate and White House - over and over again.
1
I feel calloused to say this, but I hope this health bill is passed. and that it will lead to the ousting of these fools that call themselves Republicans, but are in reality destroyers of America. The war on America continues. B
10
They won't get ousted. They will get even more seats in the House and Senate. I say this in despair, not in any way praising the pigs that are doing this. But America seems to approve and no matter what they do, republicans keep getting elected.
Because Hillary's emails were soooo criminally horrible (sarcasm).
Because Hillary's emails were soooo criminally horrible (sarcasm).
Obama care was bad because it did not go far enough into truly making healthcare accessible and affordable to the entire population but it was better than nothing (although it should have not penalized people for not being able to afford the premiums.) Republicans intend to dismantle everything and leave us worse off, which seems to be the Republican specialty. It is nauseating to watch all these Republicans in office defending the indefensible and brazenly ransacking the country while no one seems willing to make effective opposition. Democrats, independents, where are you?
476
Aran, I have just made a bunch of phone calls about this and the possible firing of Robert Mueller. I have posted on FB. I have alerted my family and friends to do the same. This is what you and your family and friends need to do! Marco Rubio needs to hear from everyone you know!
2
Sitting on our butts not voting whining about Bernie and that Hillary is so "unlikeable".
Nobody left. We are all still in shock, though, because we've all seen this kind of dereliction of duty before, many times.
My dad would have described the Senate Republicans' backroom, closed-door efforts on healthcare reform efforts as approaching the problem "not too fast, not to slow, just half-fast." And Dad was a reliable Republican vote.
"The sins of the fathers will be visited upon their sons" (and daughters). This heartless Quorum of 13, and the rest who support them with passage of this bill will have the deaths of thousands of Americans on them as a result of the bill for the rest of their living days AND on Judgement day,,,and this ill fate will be passed on to their own. We will not forget who was responsible.
8
When's the last time Utah voted Democratic? Are there any Democratic Senators or Reps from Utah? Are you thinking this will change? Or are we just supposed to wait patiently for the after life to fix all this?
1
Advisor says "we're not stupid ". Go ahead and destroy people's lives literally and see how much vote the democrats get in 2018. But remember"we're not stupid geez
3
There is no limit to how low Republicans can go.
14
Or how often they will be rewarded for doing so at the ballot box by the very people they are hurting. I feel like I have fallen through the rabbit hole into Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan in Wonderland, or more like Nightmare Land.
I think it is time for "We the people" (and that includes Trump's supporters) to step up to the plate. Our government is being sold out from under us; our"more perfect union" is in disarray; and our future is being squandered by well-to-do white males in the Republican party. Enough, America!
11
Problem is many Trump supporters feel like the government was already "sold out from under them." So nothing to lose, plus they get the spectacle of so-called elites and liberals freaking out. Good times!
I get that. I also get that they don't care if they have healthcare or an education or a retirement. They want him to stick it to "the man." Unfortunately, "the man" is Trump who has shown blatant disregard for all things other than himself.
If other Republican senators do not get in his way, McConnell will do exactly what is outlined in this op-ed. The idea that he'd be upset by some sort of public shaming by the "liberal media" is far-fetched. If that were the case he would have responded in other situations, most notably the fiasco surrounding Judge Garland.
It is one thing to say that some components of a broad health care plan need to be done behind closed doors. Leaving them shut--with far less discussion than with the ACA--is another matter. It does beg the question as to why our congressional representatives are unable, under so many circumstances, to sit down with each other and work out options that other nations appear capable of handling.
The current congressional Republicans can be seen to be among the ugliest of us. They were elected, by our partisan extremes. Senator McConnell is up for reelection in 2020. Who knows what will happen, but is there any chance the people of Kentucky would elect someone a bit more committed to the nation as a whole? That remains to be seen. Given that their other senator is Rand Paul, who would push through this "revision" (or worse) with no more consideration, do not expect much from that state. Their governor, Matt Bevin, is in line with these counterparts.
Will it take severe cuts in health care for voters of Kentucky to change attitudes? The previous Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, had pushed for coverage expansions for the people of his state.
It is one thing to say that some components of a broad health care plan need to be done behind closed doors. Leaving them shut--with far less discussion than with the ACA--is another matter. It does beg the question as to why our congressional representatives are unable, under so many circumstances, to sit down with each other and work out options that other nations appear capable of handling.
The current congressional Republicans can be seen to be among the ugliest of us. They were elected, by our partisan extremes. Senator McConnell is up for reelection in 2020. Who knows what will happen, but is there any chance the people of Kentucky would elect someone a bit more committed to the nation as a whole? That remains to be seen. Given that their other senator is Rand Paul, who would push through this "revision" (or worse) with no more consideration, do not expect much from that state. Their governor, Matt Bevin, is in line with these counterparts.
Will it take severe cuts in health care for voters of Kentucky to change attitudes? The previous Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, had pushed for coverage expansions for the people of his state.
6
In all of the talk by Republicans as to why they need to pass this bill, not once have I heard them cite improving the overall health of Americans as a goal. Or stopping bankruptcies caused by our American healthcare delivery system. Or bending the cost curve of medical care downward over time. Their only goal seems to be salvaging a political "win" by attempting to keep a promise to their base, who have been mislead all along about the positive effects of the ACA. What kind of people do this? People who believe they will face no consequences for their actions. Well, while t's true they won't suffer from their own legislation because they have great insurance we pay for, t's up to us to make sure they suffer by losing their jobs if they vote for this abomination. PLEASE call your Senators now!
11
Is this a surprise? Hardly.
Although our family is on Obamacare in some ways I hope they pass that dreadful bill and get the fireworks starting. There is part of me that hopes Trump fires Mueller too. Not because the man deserves it but actions have consequences and I'm getting tired of wasting time watching Trump and the GOP dismantle our social safety nets t please a wealthy minority. Shane on you all.
It's quite possible and I'm only just starting to see the seeds of this sprout but it's quite possible that the world might be turning a corner for the better. Protests in Russia could easily get out of control for Putin much like the Arab Spring. The U.K. dug a deep hole for itself too but possibly that might right itself too. Amazing changes are happening in medicine, alternative energy and even cleaning up the plastic in the oceans is starting.
Is it possible that these are just the beginnings of a path to a more healthier world? I hope so. It's hard to imagine how it can continue down this path.
Although our family is on Obamacare in some ways I hope they pass that dreadful bill and get the fireworks starting. There is part of me that hopes Trump fires Mueller too. Not because the man deserves it but actions have consequences and I'm getting tired of wasting time watching Trump and the GOP dismantle our social safety nets t please a wealthy minority. Shane on you all.
It's quite possible and I'm only just starting to see the seeds of this sprout but it's quite possible that the world might be turning a corner for the better. Protests in Russia could easily get out of control for Putin much like the Arab Spring. The U.K. dug a deep hole for itself too but possibly that might right itself too. Amazing changes are happening in medicine, alternative energy and even cleaning up the plastic in the oceans is starting.
Is it possible that these are just the beginnings of a path to a more healthier world? I hope so. It's hard to imagine how it can continue down this path.
12
I simply cannot understand this vendetta against people who are less well off than the fat cats in the GOP Congress. Are they hoping that these people will just die off without adequate healthcare?
Are they so mean spirited and vicious they will actually enjoy the misery they are inflicting on so many?
Can anyone explain their motives?
Are they so mean spirited and vicious they will actually enjoy the misery they are inflicting on so many?
Can anyone explain their motives?
30
Republicans and their voters firmly believe that people do not want government handouts, they don't want free health insurance from the state. They want what everybody else wants, a good job with insurance or the ability to buy health insurance for themselves. Repealing the ACA is a way to reduce the tax burden on the 'job creators' so that they can create more jobs which will help those people disenfranchised by repeal of the ACA achieve the American dream. It may be a flawed philosophy, but it isn't just mean spiritedness.
1
Greed. Raw, unbridled greed.
2
Follow the money. It's as simple as that.
1
It won't matter what the voters think. The GOP is doing this because they believe they have engineered a perfect lock on the polls through gerrymandering, propaganda, and de facto disenfranchisement.
40
Obamacare was written entirely behind closed doors. Pelosi famously to us that we had to pass it to find out what was in it! Obama promised open, transparent debate on his bill broadcast on CSPN. Never happened. Now the hypocritical NYTimes complains. Hypocritical losers
3
Another falsehood scripted for the far-right faithful. ACA was a year in the making with several hearings, amendments from Republicans, more details than most of us wanted to read published daily in the press. Where were you 2009 – 2010?
4
Were you asleep between 2010 and 2011? You don't remember the shameless propaganda by the Tea Party during the ACA debates before it became law in 2011?
2
Read the article please, instead of just the headlines.
2
I can hardly believe this sort of dark and secretive conniving is legal in what at least used to be a democracy.
7
The federal government is falling apart, destroying itself from within, and unable to provide basics like health care and education. And this is one of the richest countries in the world. We are watching free-fall self-destruction. What can be done? Can the states move in where the federal government is collapsing?
13
Yes, and they already started.
3
Probably not in your state, Lainnj. You guys elected Christie!
This is NOT democracy and should be highlighted in the press just as much as the Russia story. What may come out from the GOP party is dangerous to the US citizens. "We" all must be vigilant about this process and help to dismantle this secret tax cut and health care disaster for the public.
2
Accusations of "fake news" evolve into "no news" right before our eyes. The freedom of the press is compromised when the coverage of our government's actions is restricted to vague news stories and editorials written without the benefit of relevant content. The press is reduced to talking about the manner in which a bill is being passed rather than what it says and how it will impact our lives. All accomplished without the benefit of Russian interference. Let us not exaggerate Putin's contributions, we are doing most of this all by ourselves.
4
If this bill passes, it may spur the electorate, including the 40%, to repeal and replace the Congress.
12
Don't count on it. Americans seem to be enamored of and entrenched in their collective stupidity. The majority of the right-wing are in lock-step eagerness to believe ANYTHING one of their own feeds them, no matter how unsubstantiated or outlandish, as long as it comes from one side of the mouth or the other of one of the white men who look like them and throw in an obligatory "in the name of our Lord," and "family values." On the other end, the left range from the majority who voted for stability and consistency with Clinton; to the self-righteous and entitled in-your-face hipsters who were willing to entertain every conspiracy theory about Hilary--including the one where she stole the primary from Bernie; to the raging extremists who hold Snowden as a hero and unwittingly believe some of the most ridiculous theories out of the racist-right. No, I think things need to get a lot worse before they'll get any better.
Wasn't that long ago, The Media (here's looking a you too NYT) waxed poetic about the Senate not being like its Unruly Kin--- the House. The House Gang-of -Thirteen crafted a bill without allowing 422 other members to set eyes on it; now the Senate will vote on a piece of paper no one knows the contents except the title.
It is now time-- to paraphrase Bernie Sanders--- "Enough about the Damn Russians." Congress is killing us- literally. We are losing national monuments, federal parks, air and water quality protections, food protections, transportation safety protections...
Every aspect of a First World quality of life is disappearing to the tune of Republican's Fake
Deep- State- Dirge. We need the proverbial town crier- But Who?
It is now time-- to paraphrase Bernie Sanders--- "Enough about the Damn Russians." Congress is killing us- literally. We are losing national monuments, federal parks, air and water quality protections, food protections, transportation safety protections...
Every aspect of a First World quality of life is disappearing to the tune of Republican's Fake
Deep- State- Dirge. We need the proverbial town crier- But Who?
11
Gee, I don't recall a similar editorial when the Democrats rammed through Obamacare. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
3
Obamacare led to millions of Americans getting healthcare insurance who previously had none.
The Republican bill will lead to over 20 million Americans losing their healthcare insurance who presently have it.
All to fund a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires.
It's clearly apples and oranges. Rotten oranges, in the Republican case.
The Republican bill will lead to over 20 million Americans losing their healthcare insurance who presently have it.
All to fund a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires.
It's clearly apples and oranges. Rotten oranges, in the Republican case.
274
Did you even bother to READ the article before offering your opinion?
"Mr. McConnell’s strategy belies the disingenuous Republican complaint that Democrats jammed the A.C.A., or Obamacare, into law in 2010 without sufficient analysis or discussion. The Republican effort to undo the A.C.A. bears no resemblance whatsoever to that much more thorough exercise. Congress and the Obama administration spent a year on health care reform from March 2009 to March 2010. The House and Senate came up with several competing bills, held dozens of hearings, accepted Republican amendments and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from public interests groups and the health care industry. The Congressional Budget Office produced several reports to analyze the various proposals and the legislation that ultimately became law."
#alternativefacts #getoffoffoxnews
"Mr. McConnell’s strategy belies the disingenuous Republican complaint that Democrats jammed the A.C.A., or Obamacare, into law in 2010 without sufficient analysis or discussion. The Republican effort to undo the A.C.A. bears no resemblance whatsoever to that much more thorough exercise. Congress and the Obama administration spent a year on health care reform from March 2009 to March 2010. The House and Senate came up with several competing bills, held dozens of hearings, accepted Republican amendments and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from public interests groups and the health care industry. The Congressional Budget Office produced several reports to analyze the various proposals and the legislation that ultimately became law."
#alternativefacts #getoffoffoxnews
23
Rammed through? One hundred vetting sessions compared to zero in the Senate. Yeah that is equivalent.
27
The Republican plan is brilliant in its simplicity.
Get elected to Congress. The stage is even set for you with gerrymandered districts. So get in and get free great health care on the tax payers.
And while you are in Congress vote that no one else gets health care.
See? Simple. Brilliant. And if you don't get elected? Well that is too bad. Sorry.
Get elected to Congress. The stage is even set for you with gerrymandered districts. So get in and get free great health care on the tax payers.
And while you are in Congress vote that no one else gets health care.
See? Simple. Brilliant. And if you don't get elected? Well that is too bad. Sorry.
7
If Mitch and his evil cohorts pass this bill, I won't have insurance. I couldn't get it before Obamacare because of my pre-existing condition, and my home state, Georgia, did not expand Medicaid. I'm scared and I'm wondering why this isn't front page news, and I can't believe the blithe unconcern for people like me and millions of others.
14
Well, you can start by voting for Ossoff, then move to a blue state just in case he doesn't make it...
McConnell's secrecy behind his Senate health care bill destroys at least one myth perpetrated by the Times and several of its columnists. Over teh past few months, reports and Op-Ed pieces have suggested that Republican Senate "moderates" (i. e. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Jeff Flake, et al) might stand up to what McConnell an his ilk are about to serve up.
TO the contrary, it is well established that Republican "moderates" do not exist. Indeed, they have been extinct for quite some time. Repulcans now exist as either ultra conservative or less conservative. Indeed, just recently, Nicholas Kristof suggested laughably that Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was one of these "moderates. Nothing could be further from the truth.
And one need not have lived in Arizona for over 40 years, like I have, to know that Flake is a reactionary of the highest political order. For example, since 45's election Flake has move even farther to the right (which we Democrats in Arizona didn't think was possible) to prepare himself for being "primaried" his primary fight next year. The silence of all of the above-named individuals reveals that they will sign on to a very bad deal for the American people.
So no one should be surprised when these "fake" moderates never appear or speak out. Moreover, their silence at this critical juncture reveals that their loyalty lies with the Republican Party and not the welfare of teh American people.
TO the contrary, it is well established that Republican "moderates" do not exist. Indeed, they have been extinct for quite some time. Repulcans now exist as either ultra conservative or less conservative. Indeed, just recently, Nicholas Kristof suggested laughably that Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was one of these "moderates. Nothing could be further from the truth.
And one need not have lived in Arizona for over 40 years, like I have, to know that Flake is a reactionary of the highest political order. For example, since 45's election Flake has move even farther to the right (which we Democrats in Arizona didn't think was possible) to prepare himself for being "primaried" his primary fight next year. The silence of all of the above-named individuals reveals that they will sign on to a very bad deal for the American people.
So no one should be surprised when these "fake" moderates never appear or speak out. Moreover, their silence at this critical juncture reveals that their loyalty lies with the Republican Party and not the welfare of teh American people.
9
Right on. I live in Maine and Susan Collins is a complete fraud. The only times she has voted against the right wing agenda is when it was "safe" to do so i.e when there were always going to be enough votes to pass something
If all the people with cozy little employer provided health plans don't think this will affect them then they are mistaken. Someone has to pay the bill whether the ACA is there or not
If all the people with cozy little employer provided health plans don't think this will affect them then they are mistaken. Someone has to pay the bill whether the ACA is there or not
2
Gerrymandering is killing democracy. Those in power get to write the rules about how power is allocated. Voting doesn't matter once the game is rigged. It's like shooting craps with loaded dice. This Flake guy will go even harder right to assure his primary victory. If he loses, the winner will be farther right than he was. And so on the next time. There is no incentive to compromise to win votes in the middle because they're all gerrymandered up.
If we can't fix this we might as well petition China to join up as part of their country, or just invite Putin to move into the White House and save on long distance phone calls.
Democracy is dead if we can't fix this and how can we expect those in power who benefit from this to do the fixing?
If we can't fix this we might as well petition China to join up as part of their country, or just invite Putin to move into the White House and save on long distance phone calls.
Democracy is dead if we can't fix this and how can we expect those in power who benefit from this to do the fixing?
The Republicans will own the AHCA and the consequences of stripping health insurance from 24 million citizens. For those who voted Republican and lose their insurance, stupidity has consequences.
8
It is always a question of who pays. In case of the expected Senate version of the new and improved health care, funds have to come from those who can afford to pay. Any serious medical issue will cost more than most families can afford. A broken arm from sliding into third base will cost an amount that will kill the savings. To offset the proposed health bill there might be a new category of medical bankruptcy. Something quick and easy: add up the medical bills, attach copies to a bankruptcy petition and poof, all the providers are stuck.
5
Contemptible. Republicans in Congress clearly do not care about the American people. They are well earning the hatred they are receiving.
8
McConnell's tactics deserve the outrage expressed in the editorial, but surprise is another matter. A party which has launched a campaign, on the state level, to inhibit voting by poor and other marginalized groups has already demonstrated its hostility to democracy. An attempt to rush a bill through Congress without public debate, therefore, fits a pattern of behavior that defines the contemporary Republican party.
As for the public reaction, it might not come as soon as the Times assumes. The House version of the bill delays activation of some of the provisions (curtailment of Medicaid, for example) for several years, making it possible that Trump might win reelection before his own followers realize the extent of his betrayal.
As for the public reaction, it might not come as soon as the Times assumes. The House version of the bill delays activation of some of the provisions (curtailment of Medicaid, for example) for several years, making it possible that Trump might win reelection before his own followers realize the extent of his betrayal.
5
This is the great tragedy of American politics and governance: a secretive legislative agenda and back room deals. The GOP is making its bid to lock down the 21st century regarding wealth, prosperity , and/or basic survival in America. They are returning to the gentry model of society: white men owning and controlling the country's resources and having, de facto, exclusive rights to vote. After 241 yrs of a supposed democracy the forces of fascist repression that established slavery are again manipulating governmental power. This, on the eve of a change in the majority status of the white population in America. This time they are unabashed and deadly serious.
Obviously, the forefathers were of two minds regarding their new American experiment: freedom and liberty for the few; or the promise of equal opportunity under the law for all. Trump's rise is an example of the former, the elites have used the white working class's ignorance and racism against them in the election. Now the GOP is operating covertly to engineer the destruction of American lives by redirecting the nation's wealth ("You want Populism? You get worse than nothing.").
There have been other such seminal moments in history before. This is not a fair fight, in that, the right wing is looking to cut off the people from their governance, indefinitely. Such strategic behaviors are eventually self destructive, but the damage will be long and severe. Trump is the tip of the spear.
Obviously, the forefathers were of two minds regarding their new American experiment: freedom and liberty for the few; or the promise of equal opportunity under the law for all. Trump's rise is an example of the former, the elites have used the white working class's ignorance and racism against them in the election. Now the GOP is operating covertly to engineer the destruction of American lives by redirecting the nation's wealth ("You want Populism? You get worse than nothing.").
There have been other such seminal moments in history before. This is not a fair fight, in that, the right wing is looking to cut off the people from their governance, indefinitely. Such strategic behaviors are eventually self destructive, but the damage will be long and severe. Trump is the tip of the spear.
6
A government part cult and part coven, on live camera, pledging devotion and fealty to the President as overlord, refutes the alternative fact: Trump's claim he never seeks allegiance. One by one, the major leaders and officials of government, listened to claims so shocking they staggered the foundations of truth and transparency with the false assertion of “amazing results:” 70 coal miners going to work in a new West Virginia mine, dropping 23 million people from healthcare—increasing deaths by 3 million--to provide a 765 billion dollar tax cut over the next decade for the rich.
West Virginia is a global leader in chemical and polymer research and manufacturing, exporting billions, creating new jobs—but this astonishing transformation is never mentioned by politicians—or the President who prefer the politics of blame and pain over real progress. Instead, the mining communities are losing their community healthcare centers and coverage will be restricted and limited.
Cutting medicaid as baby boomers age is not real progress. Eliminating healthcare for 23 million Americans is not greatness! Three million dead is a policy of terror. Its victims scattered statistics, its risks to reelection nominal.
West Virginia is a global leader in chemical and polymer research and manufacturing, exporting billions, creating new jobs—but this astonishing transformation is never mentioned by politicians—or the President who prefer the politics of blame and pain over real progress. Instead, the mining communities are losing their community healthcare centers and coverage will be restricted and limited.
Cutting medicaid as baby boomers age is not real progress. Eliminating healthcare for 23 million Americans is not greatness! Three million dead is a policy of terror. Its victims scattered statistics, its risks to reelection nominal.
6
President Obama promised that the legislative process for ObamaCare would be shown on C SPAN. Of course that did not happen and the bill was crafted in secrecy.
4
Really? I suppose I the hours I spent watching the Senate hearings on the ACA on CSPAN were just a dream, then. A long dream, since I recall the hearings spanning over several months and including hundreds of amendmends considered in full view of the public.
3
Clearly you did not bother to carefully read the article nor did you follow the links that debunk your bogus claim that the ACA was "crafted in secrecy".
1
"...conservatives like Rand Paul of Kentucky are furious because the draft does not do enough to turn the American health care system into a facsimile of “The Hunger Games.”
I watched my mother's body consume itself for weeks as she starved to death; as she was transformed from a sentient being into some barely alive body that contained some mysterious, miraculous awareness of its painful demise. A soul, some would guess, that could not give up.
She had some money, possibly enough to last a lifetime, given that she was 81. She had children and grandchildren who would not have let her pass alone and impoverished. But she chose to die for fear of becoming a burden. That, after surviving seven hours of surgery for colon cancer. She was fortunate - she had Medicare plus a private health plan.
Well, I guess that Mr. Ryan and company would say, "give me liberty and give me death. Let no man take from me my right to die slowly, painfully, for that is my right!" And oh, by the way it saves "taxpayer money". How hateful.
I watched my mother's body consume itself for weeks as she starved to death; as she was transformed from a sentient being into some barely alive body that contained some mysterious, miraculous awareness of its painful demise. A soul, some would guess, that could not give up.
She had some money, possibly enough to last a lifetime, given that she was 81. She had children and grandchildren who would not have let her pass alone and impoverished. But she chose to die for fear of becoming a burden. That, after surviving seven hours of surgery for colon cancer. She was fortunate - she had Medicare plus a private health plan.
Well, I guess that Mr. Ryan and company would say, "give me liberty and give me death. Let no man take from me my right to die slowly, painfully, for that is my right!" And oh, by the way it saves "taxpayer money". How hateful.
717
The Repubs ard filled with hate. It has consumed them. It will consume us if we don't continue to resist.
5
I am approaching your mother's age, I watched my dad waste away from the same cancer. He elected to die at home with the aide of hospice. He wasted away because that's what colon cancer causes after it metastasizes to the liver.
He didn't want to be a burden either, nor die in pain, nor get looted by a medical industrial complex running out of control.
My sympathies to you and your mom. The end is not pretty. I would not want you or her to be wiped out during the process of passing. But neither do I feel any obligation to pay any and all expenses to extend life a few weeks. There has to be a balance. Insurance is a social contract that has responsibility on both sides. Obama created a monster with an underlying mentality of entitlement to someone else footing the bill
He didn't want to be a burden either, nor die in pain, nor get looted by a medical industrial complex running out of control.
My sympathies to you and your mom. The end is not pretty. I would not want you or her to be wiped out during the process of passing. But neither do I feel any obligation to pay any and all expenses to extend life a few weeks. There has to be a balance. Insurance is a social contract that has responsibility on both sides. Obama created a monster with an underlying mentality of entitlement to someone else footing the bill
I am so, so sorry about your mom, Gary. How awful.
What Republicans are producing is Stealth Care. Something that you can't see until it is upon you, as you lie in your bed of pain. So Portman thinks that removing health care gradually is an acceptable compromise His "principled' position was not based on whether individuals do or do not have insurance, but on the way people lose it.
19
And I suppose you had the same complaints about how Obamacare was written? Obama lied when he promised open, transparent health care debate broadcast on CSPAN. And of course we all know what an utter disaster Obamacare is.
3
Sorry, Obama hate has lost its traction. Next strategy?
1
While you might not have had CSPAN broadcasts, Obamacare came into being after a year and one half of deliberations, congressional meetings, discussions, public hearings, chance for Republicans to offer amendments, some of which were accepted. Have you seen anything of the kind in the present Republican dealings? And by the way, Obamacare is far from disaster and many of the difficulties is has had, have been provoked by the constant opposition of Republican governors and the uncertainty created by what Republicans are going to do to undermine it. I suppose you are in favor of having poor people have insurance. If not, why not, and if yes, wait until you see what your representatives come up with.
1
Servants of the people working hard to take away healthcare for their constituents. I'm ashamed for all of America.
25
"Opening it to scrutiny before a vote would be the congressional equivalent of exposing a vampire to sunlight." This explains precisely the character of the biggest blood-sucker of them all, the vile senate majority leader.
19
So how come total secrecy was ok with Obamacare? Hypocrites.
1
100 hearings, many amendments, one full year with GOP pouting all the way. Public obstruction for a year. Secret? NOT!
3
America, (slightly less than half of us anyway, but who's counting at this point?) this is the anarchy you voted for taking shape. Cherish it. It's time to start thinking about names - say, anarplutocorpracy? Any way you spell it, it's lights out for the average citizen. Enjoy the darkness. At least we won't be able to see the roaches crawling through DC to pick the carcass. Exceptional!
10
The awfulness of the Republicans in W#ashington keeps getting even more awful. They seem only to care about two things: tax cuts for people who do not really need tax cuts and a business environment free of regulations about finance, the environment, and worker protection. Because the Democrats are weak in numbers and unclear in purpose and because many Americans do not pay attention, the republicans and a mentally unstable President are going to inflict a lot of misery on all of us and ironically most misery on those who support Mr. Trump. It seems as if the media, or some of it, is all that protects us. This may the first time since the decade before the Civil War that the American government does not work, does not represent the people
, and is led by a man who lies.
, and is led by a man who lies.
21
Just vote for it!!! Read it later......
4
Your editorial makes the same mistake the democratic Party is making, assuming that opposition to Trumpcare will be enough to unseat the Republican majority. Where are the proposals for reforming Obamacare? Where is the concerted effort to highlight Mr. McConnell's efforts to turn Republican control into a dictatorship, he is the single most dangerous man in the government, not the President. The Republicans will pass something, whether it stinks or not, the President will declare a stunning victory and the democrats will be left holding the bag. We need massive street protests and not at town hall meetings. We need millions on the streets, doctors, nurses, teachers, seniors, athletes, everyone who will be affected. We need the Christians who backed the President to say this is too much, we need the clergy to speak out, is the a bill Jesus would have supported? Most of us will not be affected but does that matter, " ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."
10
If Trump signs a bill and declares victory, it will be a pyrrhic victory at best. The good old days will not return and I suspect that the collapse of the insurance market will be hastened. The irony is that the Republicans will be responsible for a single payer system,even as they reap the whirlwind of losing complete control of the Congress in 2018.
18
After all their hooting and hollering and outright lying about the ACA you almost have to admire their chutzpah.
8
"Opening it to scrutiny before a vote would be the congressional equivalent of exposing a vampire to sunlight."
Who's the vampire and who's the sunlight?
Perhaps the republican healthcare bill is the sunlight, and they are reluctant to expose it to the media vampires?
Who's the vampire and who's the sunlight?
Perhaps the republican healthcare bill is the sunlight, and they are reluctant to expose it to the media vampires?
2
Wouldn't you like to know so you can form that opinion for yourself?
They are obviously not doing it in public so the public will not see what is going on and by the time it passes, it will be too late. I'm sure that they will have an implementation date so that it will not hurt the 2018 elections.
They are obviously not doing it in public so the public will not see what is going on and by the time it passes, it will be too late. I'm sure that they will have an implementation date so that it will not hurt the 2018 elections.
3
Oh, sure...because we all know that a democracy flourishes best when major policies authored by competent people are best formulated in secret, then made into law before anyone has a chance to review them.
P.S. The above comment is sarcasm, in case that wasn't apparent to Mr. Roth.
P.S. The above comment is sarcasm, in case that wasn't apparent to Mr. Roth.
3
You could say the Republican plan is like the sunlight on Mercury. Instantly lethal.
2
Thanks for this editorial.
We all must remember Transparency + Truth = Trustworthiness
We all must remember Transparency + Truth = Trustworthiness
9
C’mon, NYT. This issue has received scant coverage these days. While juicy coverage of Trump has dominated the news cycle, this more mundane topic has been ignored. Every day there should be a HEADLINE trumpeting what McConnell and his minions are doing. Attention must be paid.
44
Thank you for your post! Yes, the Comey testimony and the possible Russian links to the campaign are important and interesting, but are they more important than the future of our healthcare? The day after the Comey testimony, the NYTimes devoted numerous stories and lots of pages to the event. I scoured the paper, and if there was one story about the Senate's health care bill and how it is being handled, it was well buried because I never found it.
4
Yes, I agree. Surely there is an equally interesting and important story to be found in the secrecy surrounding the Senate bill. We need avid reporting on it, not only editorials with which we concur.
This closeted lawmaking is how fascism takes root in a democracy. The Republicans need to understand that they are only a part of the representative process. There are other Americans who need to participate in this dialog as well, especially those who will be most affected. The Republicans don't just work for their oligarchic donor class.
Mitch McConnell has been called the "most transformative" congressional leader in modern times. While that may be true, it is decidedly not goodness. Stealing a Supreme Court seat, orchestrating 8 years of blocking every piece of Democratic legislation, and marshalling stealth tax cuts for the wealthy through Congress hardly helps his own constituents, since many of them have been hurt by his actions. Nor does he help the country at large.
McConnell is the poster child for Congressional term limits. He is in a position to do great harm to America, and he has done exactly that. The fate of the country can't be left in the hands of Kentucky voters alone.
Mitch McConnell has been called the "most transformative" congressional leader in modern times. While that may be true, it is decidedly not goodness. Stealing a Supreme Court seat, orchestrating 8 years of blocking every piece of Democratic legislation, and marshalling stealth tax cuts for the wealthy through Congress hardly helps his own constituents, since many of them have been hurt by his actions. Nor does he help the country at large.
McConnell is the poster child for Congressional term limits. He is in a position to do great harm to America, and he has done exactly that. The fate of the country can't be left in the hands of Kentucky voters alone.
136
Wait until the 2018 elections. Sadly the creepy one McConnell (who has lived his whole life on the dole as has
his wife) is not up for election.
I don't think much of the GOP as far as having smarts and looking further away than their nose. If they don't loose big in 2018 I am going to give serious thought to moving out of this country before it is totally ruined by that group. It is well on its way to be a 3rd world country.
his wife) is not up for election.
I don't think much of the GOP as far as having smarts and looking further away than their nose. If they don't loose big in 2018 I am going to give serious thought to moving out of this country before it is totally ruined by that group. It is well on its way to be a 3rd world country.
3
I'm looking at a printout with the title "Donald Trump's Contract with the American Voter", which I printed off of the campaign's web site a while back. It is described at his "100-day action plan to Make America Great Again". The first set of points has the heading of "Six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collutison in Washington, DC", which starts off as follows:
"FIRST, propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress".
WOW! With everything else that is going on, I haven't heard squat about this. Is the NYT refusing to cover this effort? This should be big news, and after all, HE PROMISED!
"FIRST, propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress".
WOW! With everything else that is going on, I haven't heard squat about this. Is the NYT refusing to cover this effort? This should be big news, and after all, HE PROMISED!
2
Your part of the world is beginning to look better and better to me as a place of refuge and sanctuary. Can I come?
1) Trump's cabinet pukes praise all over him in a national embarrassing display
2) Trump to fire special prosecutor ... slander & defamation machine just getting started
3) Mitch & the boys in the Senate use top secret process on healthcare ... totally complicity with DJT on flushing all governing norms
4) DJT's national security team refuses to answer questions by their oversight committee ... under oath to tell the truth and the whole truth
5) Trump STILL has not said one bad word about Russia, while dissing our closest allies and praising dictators
Nothing is outside the realm of possibility. Nothing! The system of checks and balances is not working.
2) Trump to fire special prosecutor ... slander & defamation machine just getting started
3) Mitch & the boys in the Senate use top secret process on healthcare ... totally complicity with DJT on flushing all governing norms
4) DJT's national security team refuses to answer questions by their oversight committee ... under oath to tell the truth and the whole truth
5) Trump STILL has not said one bad word about Russia, while dissing our closest allies and praising dictators
Nothing is outside the realm of possibility. Nothing! The system of checks and balances is not working.
49
Thank goodness for the states who are trying to establish their own insurance programs, whether it be single payer or something similar to the ACA. I don't doubt, though, that if they're successful, Republicans in Congress will find a way to destroy them, taking away their States rights.
10
The Republicans are anti-democracy authoritarians. They suppress voting, aggressively gerrymander their districts and refuse either input from their constituents or colleagues. Passing a bill that is opposed by 92% of the public is not an exercise in democracy.
37
"Those gains will quickly evaporate when voters learn what they have done."
I'm not so sure. In spite of far less spinnable evidence than a Republican-tailored health care bill, Trump's base remains defiantly intact, raging against any Obama legacy, real and imagined. If Trump, in spite of all evidence to the contrary is "better than Hillary," it's a short leap to "it's better than Obamacare." It doesn't have to be true, it just has to be "truthy."
I'm not so sure. In spite of far less spinnable evidence than a Republican-tailored health care bill, Trump's base remains defiantly intact, raging against any Obama legacy, real and imagined. If Trump, in spite of all evidence to the contrary is "better than Hillary," it's a short leap to "it's better than Obamacare." It doesn't have to be true, it just has to be "truthy."
16
Americans we are in another very consequential civil war. Existentially there are forces that want this Nation to be a Right Wing Authoritarian Plutocracy and Oligarchy, tinged with Confederacy, Theocracy, and Militarism (call it the R side) vs. those that really in the hearts do not (call it the D side).
This "healthcare" scenario is a telling example of the R's existential direction.
The primary weapon in this war is our VOTE. The battles that count will be decided when our ballots are tallied.
The Ds (whether normally leaning Conservative or Progressive) must put aside their nuanced small picture reasoning, cynicism, apathy, and normal distastes to spend their ballots to winning the existential war. They have to recognize that that sort of vigor and unthinking allegiance is the hallmark of the other side; it must be matched.
The R side has these advantages: the Ds have already ceded lots of territory to them, Rs are masters at propaganda - false equivalencies, straw men, red herrings, and distortions of truth, they have 21% of us in their pocket and another 21% that will inevitably succumb to their propaganda, these 42% vote more often than the rest of us – Rs count on the 58%'s lack of good citizenship.
The Ds have 58% of us as potential soldiers, plus facts and good logic, working models to demonstrate concepts, modern social law, and most of the modern World routing for them.
The battles of 2018 and 2020 will decide the fate of our Nation! VOTE!
This "healthcare" scenario is a telling example of the R's existential direction.
The primary weapon in this war is our VOTE. The battles that count will be decided when our ballots are tallied.
The Ds (whether normally leaning Conservative or Progressive) must put aside their nuanced small picture reasoning, cynicism, apathy, and normal distastes to spend their ballots to winning the existential war. They have to recognize that that sort of vigor and unthinking allegiance is the hallmark of the other side; it must be matched.
The R side has these advantages: the Ds have already ceded lots of territory to them, Rs are masters at propaganda - false equivalencies, straw men, red herrings, and distortions of truth, they have 21% of us in their pocket and another 21% that will inevitably succumb to their propaganda, these 42% vote more often than the rest of us – Rs count on the 58%'s lack of good citizenship.
The Ds have 58% of us as potential soldiers, plus facts and good logic, working models to demonstrate concepts, modern social law, and most of the modern World routing for them.
The battles of 2018 and 2020 will decide the fate of our Nation! VOTE!
27
Our 44th President, Barack Obama, liked to say he based his policies on values.
For example. supporting a bill giving hungry preschoolers cereal and milk, which Obama did, was the right thing to do. It reflected his values.
GOP, passing a health bill behind closed doors that will make 23 million people lose their health care does not reflect our values. Clearly, it represents yours.
For example. supporting a bill giving hungry preschoolers cereal and milk, which Obama did, was the right thing to do. It reflected his values.
GOP, passing a health bill behind closed doors that will make 23 million people lose their health care does not reflect our values. Clearly, it represents yours.
22
I don't agree with "repealing" the ACA but it's a bit rich to cry foul about Republicans hiding behind closed doors and crafting whatever they are going to without public debate, hearings, etc. That is precisely what the Democrat controlled house and senate did when the ACA was passed.
6
Read the whole article instead of only the headline please. It describes in detail how the ACA was passed over the course of a year, with numerous hearings, Republican amendments accepted and several Central Budget Office calculations of different versions. All in the open for everyone to see. That is what the Democrat controlled house and senate did when the ACA was passed. It's the Republicans who operate in the dark under strictest secrecy now, trying to ram through what is basically a repeal of the ACA that will leave tens of millions without health insurance, without any replacement.
26
You should try reading the articles you comment on. The Democrats held a year's worth of open discussion of the ACA in 09-10, accepting many amendments to the bill in the process. Consultation didn't result in a single supporting vote by Republicans because they had become "the party of no" by that point. But the process itself was fully consultative, unlike this one,
19
Absolutely untrue. To quote the article and the overwhelming evidence: "The Republican effort to undo the A.C.A. bears no resemblance whatsoever to that much more thorough exercise. Congress and the Obama administration spent a year on health care reform from March 2009 to March 2010. The House and Senate came up with several competing bills, held dozens of hearings, accepted Republican amendments and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from public interests groups and the health care industry. The Congressional Budget Office produced several reports to analyze the various proposals and the legislation that ultimately became law." How many times do you have to tell yourself a lie to believe it's true?
12
I'm already having anxiety attacks over this. I need to join a support group or I'm going to end up on Xanax. I'm serious. I feel so utterly helpless.
With the Republicans in charge, I am at their mercy and they have no mercy for anyone. My situation is far better than most, but what could happen is what is frightening me.
I'm 61 and in good health but am starting to have a few problems. They could be nothing. Or, they could be something. If they are something, then I now have a preexisting condition.
I have a few bucks in the bank, but one illness will empty that account, even with insurance. The lowest copay I could find on the ACA was 15%. Cancer costs one million to treat. I'm done. Broke. Take away the ACA, and I won't even be able to get insurance.
If I get sick, I will face certain financial ruin in spite of all my efforts to prepare for retirement. This happens to many people between the ages of 50 and 65 when things start to go wrong.
The insanity of our system is that I tell myself, don't get sick until I'm 65. I can't schedule any future illness. This is the source of my anxiety.
The Republicans could very easily ruin whatever is left of my life, be it 3 years or 30. These people are despicable. They play political games with people's lives. They care nothing of facts and the truth. They hide from public view.
And they have a maniac in the White House driving them on.
With the Republicans in charge, I am at their mercy and they have no mercy for anyone. My situation is far better than most, but what could happen is what is frightening me.
I'm 61 and in good health but am starting to have a few problems. They could be nothing. Or, they could be something. If they are something, then I now have a preexisting condition.
I have a few bucks in the bank, but one illness will empty that account, even with insurance. The lowest copay I could find on the ACA was 15%. Cancer costs one million to treat. I'm done. Broke. Take away the ACA, and I won't even be able to get insurance.
If I get sick, I will face certain financial ruin in spite of all my efforts to prepare for retirement. This happens to many people between the ages of 50 and 65 when things start to go wrong.
The insanity of our system is that I tell myself, don't get sick until I'm 65. I can't schedule any future illness. This is the source of my anxiety.
The Republicans could very easily ruin whatever is left of my life, be it 3 years or 30. These people are despicable. They play political games with people's lives. They care nothing of facts and the truth. They hide from public view.
And they have a maniac in the White House driving them on.
703
Bruce
Yes. Multiply your situation by millions.
It is hard to imagine this cruelty in our country of wealth. But then maybe that is the root of the problem. Wealth. Yet so many will have to suffer.
Elections have consequences. Sad.
MIMA
Yes. Multiply your situation by millions.
It is hard to imagine this cruelty in our country of wealth. But then maybe that is the root of the problem. Wealth. Yet so many will have to suffer.
Elections have consequences. Sad.
MIMA
7
You need to rally your friends and family and their friends and family with endless phone calls to make sure this doesn't happen. In addition to the phone calls to Blunt's DC office, you need to show up at his local office to tell his staff that this is intolerable and will determine your vote for or against him in the future. Each of us MUST resist for the good of all of us. I have already made many call and posts on FB about the ACA. I am determined to do whatever I need to to save it.
1
Every human being is born with the pre-existing condition of a use by mortality date.
We are all destined to naturally die when, where and how we are supposed to.
And no human being has ever come back to report on what happens, if anything, on the other side of death.
Elaborate tombs have been built upon the belief that we can and should take our stuff with us. Tomb robbers disagree.
We are all destined to naturally die when, where and how we are supposed to.
And no human being has ever come back to report on what happens, if anything, on the other side of death.
Elaborate tombs have been built upon the belief that we can and should take our stuff with us. Tomb robbers disagree.
1
Though insurance companies are pulling out of markets because of the uncertainty and chaos caused by the GOP & Trump, the latter frequently claims that the ACA is a total failure. Sadly, many on the right will blame Obama and the Democrats for their healthcare desperation.
15
A sinister cabal, about to inflict its evil machinations on US.
16
This is such a lame attempt at pleasing the Republican base who have little to no ideas on policy. Instead of fixing parts of the ACA, the rabid base need a repeal (but keeping the things they like). The same group that has been voting against their self-interest for a few years now are suddenly concerned with what's good for them? More than a dozen articles prove that the states that benefit the most from Obamacare/ACA are states that put the current occupant of the Oval Office in there.
16
This feels like treason against the American people. What's in it for McConnell to rush this through? Follow the money - that's the story. This is home grown terrorism...to destroy America in the effort to line the pockets of our oligarchy
38
I heard morning Joe this morning talking about the fact that this country may never be the same after this dark We are going through.
I could list 1 million reasons why, but I might start with Mitch McConnell who has basically set a dangerous precedent to change the purpose of his Senate. It is advise and consent, not obstruct and delay!
First wily Mitch sets a partisan precedent of not considering a SCOTUS candidate during the final year of a president's term.
Now he's crafting major legislation behind closed doors. And in the most bizarre of worlds, Donald Trump will praise it to the skies if they pass anything.
Mitch McConnell is turning the Senate into his own private autocracy. I don't know what he hopes to achieve, other than tax breaks for the rich, because when the American people realize their Obamacare has moved into Trumpcare which means no care, I can only imagine the uproar.
Of course by then it will be too late. Unless more people get very concerned about what Mitch and his friends are doing behind their backs, and get out and vote in 2018, this stuff will continue.
Think about it: somewhere in the neighborhood of 24 million people are going to lose their healthcare, and states are going to lose vital Medicaid coverage.
People do you like this? Is this why you voted for Donald Trump and the GOP Congress? So you could have your healthcare snatched away?
We worry so much about Russia destroying our democracy, but Mitch is doing a pretty good job.
I could list 1 million reasons why, but I might start with Mitch McConnell who has basically set a dangerous precedent to change the purpose of his Senate. It is advise and consent, not obstruct and delay!
First wily Mitch sets a partisan precedent of not considering a SCOTUS candidate during the final year of a president's term.
Now he's crafting major legislation behind closed doors. And in the most bizarre of worlds, Donald Trump will praise it to the skies if they pass anything.
Mitch McConnell is turning the Senate into his own private autocracy. I don't know what he hopes to achieve, other than tax breaks for the rich, because when the American people realize their Obamacare has moved into Trumpcare which means no care, I can only imagine the uproar.
Of course by then it will be too late. Unless more people get very concerned about what Mitch and his friends are doing behind their backs, and get out and vote in 2018, this stuff will continue.
Think about it: somewhere in the neighborhood of 24 million people are going to lose their healthcare, and states are going to lose vital Medicaid coverage.
People do you like this? Is this why you voted for Donald Trump and the GOP Congress? So you could have your healthcare snatched away?
We worry so much about Russia destroying our democracy, but Mitch is doing a pretty good job.
233
Christine
And if you recall Joe asked that Trump be given a chance in those first days after the election!
Republicans do not care about people losing their healthcare. Plain and simple. It takes me back to the days of Case managing during the recession when people lost their jobs and thus lost their healthcare insurance. It was horrible and heart breaking. McConnell et al have no hearts.
MIMA
And if you recall Joe asked that Trump be given a chance in those first days after the election!
Republicans do not care about people losing their healthcare. Plain and simple. It takes me back to the days of Case managing during the recession when people lost their jobs and thus lost their healthcare insurance. It was horrible and heart breaking. McConnell et al have no hearts.
MIMA
3
Trump's base will support whatever he does, up to and including shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. When they lose their government assistance, they'll blame it on Obama. They truly cannot be reached.
3
Dear Christine
I love reading your insightful comments but please don't use "wily Mitch" it's something Trump would say, not someone as intelligent as you.
I love reading your insightful comments but please don't use "wily Mitch" it's something Trump would say, not someone as intelligent as you.
The Senate sounds determined to pass a bill that, similar to the House bill, strips away insurance for lots of people, but which has no chance of passing both houses.
Both Senators and House members who played this game have seriously gambled with their seats in 2018, hoping they can claim to voters that they only voted for it because they knew it would fail. With Trump actively trying to stomp the life out of the existing ACA health markets, and voters getting nervous about their families' impending loss of medical care, that kind of gamble gets more dangerous every day.
Both Senators and House members who played this game have seriously gambled with their seats in 2018, hoping they can claim to voters that they only voted for it because they knew it would fail. With Trump actively trying to stomp the life out of the existing ACA health markets, and voters getting nervous about their families' impending loss of medical care, that kind of gamble gets more dangerous every day.
14
The GOP has had seven and a half years to work on this bill.
The fact that they just started six months ago should support the notion that all they have done is whine and complain in resonse to the bill.
Sadly, if they'd put their efforts into actually working hard for a solution to benefit the American people, they might look like a real political party with ideas and plans that could uplift and help Americans.
Instead they have added credibility to the notion that they are the party of"no", with every solution to a problem being a tax cut for the rich.
The fact that they just started six months ago should support the notion that all they have done is whine and complain in resonse to the bill.
Sadly, if they'd put their efforts into actually working hard for a solution to benefit the American people, they might look like a real political party with ideas and plans that could uplift and help Americans.
Instead they have added credibility to the notion that they are the party of"no", with every solution to a problem being a tax cut for the rich.
20
Trumpcare is a HUGE tax-cut bill for the rich.
It is not a health care bill.
As Derek Thompson wrote in the Atlantic about the American Death Care Act:
"The GOP is like a dysfunctional extended family whose patriarchs have nothing in common but DNA with one basic genetic instruction: to reduce the punishing burden of being a rich person in America."
If you want to see what millionaire-welfare and billionaire welfare looks like, look behind the closed doors of the Republican Senate where Greed Over People's work is being done.
"Doesn't every American deserve the 'free-dumb' to drop dead early ?"
GOP Death Panels are back, and they are ready to kill non-rich Americans.
It is not a health care bill.
As Derek Thompson wrote in the Atlantic about the American Death Care Act:
"The GOP is like a dysfunctional extended family whose patriarchs have nothing in common but DNA with one basic genetic instruction: to reduce the punishing burden of being a rich person in America."
If you want to see what millionaire-welfare and billionaire welfare looks like, look behind the closed doors of the Republican Senate where Greed Over People's work is being done.
"Doesn't every American deserve the 'free-dumb' to drop dead early ?"
GOP Death Panels are back, and they are ready to kill non-rich Americans.
339
Azalea lover did you happen to be out of the country from 2009-2010? Russia maybe? Or was your TV broken, saying something did not happen does not change the fact that it did.
6
This is the seminal bill to define our nation for the next several generations.
Are we a nation that is willing to take the benefits and pay for them by sacrificing others? Are we the country that assures most people good enough care by assuring that people who have been laid off, who work several part time jobs, who are sick, who are vulnerable get no care at all? (And don't bring up ERs: you cannot treat cancer or diabetes in the ER.)
It looks like we are. We have lost our soul. Or sold it. One or the other. But deep down, the Senate is proving we are hollow at our core.
Are we a nation that is willing to take the benefits and pay for them by sacrificing others? Are we the country that assures most people good enough care by assuring that people who have been laid off, who work several part time jobs, who are sick, who are vulnerable get no care at all? (And don't bring up ERs: you cannot treat cancer or diabetes in the ER.)
It looks like we are. We have lost our soul. Or sold it. One or the other. But deep down, the Senate is proving we are hollow at our core.
16
Ah, how correct the unnamed "aide" was when he said "We aren't stupid".
No, they aren't. They can count on the 62 million Americans who put them in office to carry THAT load.
But, just in case some of those voters are the ones losing healthcare, food stamps, etc., the GOP has got to push any legislation through before next year's elections, just in case that electorate comes to its senses, stops watching television and actually gets out the door and votes.
Otherwise, welcome back to the good old "smoke filled back rooms" where the real dirty work of "fleecing the flock" is done!
No, they aren't. They can count on the 62 million Americans who put them in office to carry THAT load.
But, just in case some of those voters are the ones losing healthcare, food stamps, etc., the GOP has got to push any legislation through before next year's elections, just in case that electorate comes to its senses, stops watching television and actually gets out the door and votes.
Otherwise, welcome back to the good old "smoke filled back rooms" where the real dirty work of "fleecing the flock" is done!
11
Thank God we are all obsessed with Comey melodrama. The Congress is getting ready to deregulated the banks and turn Wall Street loose again on the american public. So it should come as no surprise that the Senate hides It's Trumpcare Bill. Comey is the shining object. Eventually we're all going to wake up and be fighting for the crumbs leftover.
9
I will partially blame the media if the senate is able to pass this monstrosity. This story should be the target of intense investigative journalism. If the politicians are hiding the information, journalists should be shedding light on the process and content. Front page EACH AND EVERY DAY. Please focus on the issues, not the next Trump shinny object ( e.g., congressional testimony).
46
I assume they would not agree. It's a different view to define who "American people" are. Most likely a lot get the status of work slaves, thus not counting (any more).
Most Americans get their news exclusively from TV. For months networks have kept the public focused every hour all day on hashing and rehashing all things Russian with a near total blackout of all other news of significance and consequence to ordinary Americans. The GOP health care bill should be thoroughly reported. So should the rollback of banking regulations and numerous other measures. People can't speak up if they are led to believe that nothing is going on in the halls of government except pesky Russians and their Washington enablers.
A Venal Conclave. We await the fumata blanca of vaporizing 23 million healthcare policies.
9
This is not a healthcare bill. It is a tax cut bill with 99% of the cuts benefiting 1% of the people, giving the Republicans 100% of what they want.
53
While we continue to resist the rollback of the ACA, I'm looking ahead to see where the Democrats are. By Democrats I mean the party leadership, not the rank and file. We know the rank and file party members, and now clear majority of Americans, want universal health care like so many other first world industrial countries. If the GOP manages to get its own factions together to strip what protections the ACA provides, will the Beltway Democrats content themselves with merely complaining about it or will they catch up to where the people are leading and finally, permanently, pass universal health care? Health care is a human right. What will elected Democrats and their professional class enablers do about it?
12
What you ask is simply not possible while Republicans hold majorities in both houses. Unlike Democrats, Republicans are not willing to negotiate in good faith.
And yet, too many of the poorest folks in Appalachia who stand to lose the most will be sold this sham and will gobble it up with gusto. Our democracy is mortally wounded through a thousand bleeding cuts to the body politic by one major political party that is defined by its cruelty and moral bankruptcy and its utter disregard for the livelihoods of ordinary Americans -- including millions who blindly vote for them every election cycle....
15
This bill will not be fully implemented until After the 2020 election.
We are no longer a democratic republic and need to face this reality.
We are now a plutocratic oligarchy run by the corporations with the assist
of a corrupt congress and presidency.
Sadly, money is the sacrosanct player for all these (mostly) old mean men.
I try to comprehend all this but can not get beyond their greed and mendacity.
Signed,
Proudly an E/W coast educated liberal who would like to see healthcare for all
just like We are paying for these representatives and their families.
We are no longer a democratic republic and need to face this reality.
We are now a plutocratic oligarchy run by the corporations with the assist
of a corrupt congress and presidency.
Sadly, money is the sacrosanct player for all these (mostly) old mean men.
I try to comprehend all this but can not get beyond their greed and mendacity.
Signed,
Proudly an E/W coast educated liberal who would like to see healthcare for all
just like We are paying for these representatives and their families.
50
You forgot to include the judiciary. See "Citizens United."
3
One would've thought that the Republican Senators would be of some substance than their counterparts in the House.
But with this same healthcare bill that the Republican senators are trying to shove it through the Congress before July 4th holidays just like what their totally racist Republican House members passed without any congressional hearings or debates, these bunch of 52 Senators are proving to the American people that they're in no form or shape any better than the dogs on our streets.
The fact they're going to put 23 million people out on the streets without any healthcare, is tantamount to creating 'death panel' or putting our 'grandmas and grandpas' in the cold storage in the morgues in all the hospitals while they're still alive.
And at the same time these bunch of moronic Republican Senators and House members and their totally racist president will stuff their pockets with millions of dollars that their super rich friends will be saving from the huge tax cuts that they'll be getting from this totally racist minded bunch of low class human beings who wanted to scrap Obamacare since it was passed in 2010 only because Obama is Black.
We also have to remember what Senate majority leader vowed on the very first day of Obama's presidency.
"We'll make him one time President ".
In other words we'll bring him down.
But since he failed to do that in 8 years, he's making sure now that at least Obama's legacy will be tarnished by replacing Obamacare with Trumpcare.
But with this same healthcare bill that the Republican senators are trying to shove it through the Congress before July 4th holidays just like what their totally racist Republican House members passed without any congressional hearings or debates, these bunch of 52 Senators are proving to the American people that they're in no form or shape any better than the dogs on our streets.
The fact they're going to put 23 million people out on the streets without any healthcare, is tantamount to creating 'death panel' or putting our 'grandmas and grandpas' in the cold storage in the morgues in all the hospitals while they're still alive.
And at the same time these bunch of moronic Republican Senators and House members and their totally racist president will stuff their pockets with millions of dollars that their super rich friends will be saving from the huge tax cuts that they'll be getting from this totally racist minded bunch of low class human beings who wanted to scrap Obamacare since it was passed in 2010 only because Obama is Black.
We also have to remember what Senate majority leader vowed on the very first day of Obama's presidency.
"We'll make him one time President ".
In other words we'll bring him down.
But since he failed to do that in 8 years, he's making sure now that at least Obama's legacy will be tarnished by replacing Obamacare with Trumpcare.
6
A consequence of the Republican replacement for Obamacare will be many employers not providing insurance. In addition to the obvious savings of not paying for employee insurance, there will be another competitive reason to drop health insurance coverage after both employer and individual mandates are gone. Consider two fast food firms trying to hire minimum wage workers. One employer offers the minimum wage plus some (probably meager) health insurance, that requires some partial payments from the employee. The other employer offers the minimum wage and can tell the prospective employee that since there is no health insurance the employee will not have any premium taken from their pay and that will significantly increase their take-home pay. In this way the employer not providing health insurance actually has an easier time attracting low wage workers.
In the USA we have attempted to deal with the combination of inelastic demand and unregulated medical care prices in various ways. One method of keeping medical care expense as a percent of GDP to "only" double that of other developed countries was to have a significant portion of the population uninsured and denied medical care in some circumstances. The existence of large numbers of uninsured (conscripts in the war against rising medical costs) did moderate the growth in health care costs..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1647632
In the USA we have attempted to deal with the combination of inelastic demand and unregulated medical care prices in various ways. One method of keeping medical care expense as a percent of GDP to "only" double that of other developed countries was to have a significant portion of the population uninsured and denied medical care in some circumstances. The existence of large numbers of uninsured (conscripts in the war against rising medical costs) did moderate the growth in health care costs..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1647632
5
Yes as pointed out here the ACA was debated and fought over for one year and debates were televised. Not so now. My solution? Pass whatever bill comes out of the senate and house. The president will sign it and hold it up as a great piece of legislation. And then millions of people will lose health care, the rich will get richer and Trump will proclaim himself the greatest president ever. A few people might die because of lack of care but so what? Let them eat cake.
4
Kasich’s acceptance of a gradual rollback to Medicaid is more impactful that the editors acknowledge. The vampire (the Senate version of the AHCA) may be hiding from the sunlight, but it’s now clear that whatever emerges to be conferenced with the House probably will include such a rollback. In the absence of ANY attempts by Democrats to engage with Trump to begin accumulating markers and to influence policy as best they can, it seems highly probable that he’ll sign such a conferenced bill.
And you will lose. Possibly everything you hold dearest.
You distract yourselves and seek to distract us by harping on McConnell’s tactical moves to keep reflexive attacks of liberals from creating the narrative as Republicans try to remake American healthcare into their vision of it. But by doing so, you miss the whole political point.
Elections have consequences. You lost and we’re muddling toward a healthcare consequence of that loss. And charges of vampirism and sour grapes about an unwillingness to expose vampires to sunlight aren’t going to change the arc of that consequence by one degree unless Democrats get off their duffs and ENGAGE meaningfully with the one guy who will make that consequence law with a signature, or cause that it be moderated before he provides it.
And you will lose. Possibly everything you hold dearest.
You distract yourselves and seek to distract us by harping on McConnell’s tactical moves to keep reflexive attacks of liberals from creating the narrative as Republicans try to remake American healthcare into their vision of it. But by doing so, you miss the whole political point.
Elections have consequences. You lost and we’re muddling toward a healthcare consequence of that loss. And charges of vampirism and sour grapes about an unwillingness to expose vampires to sunlight aren’t going to change the arc of that consequence by one degree unless Democrats get off their duffs and ENGAGE meaningfully with the one guy who will make that consequence law with a signature, or cause that it be moderated before he provides it.
4
Richard, you've made this point several times before. But it takes two to tango. President Trump disses Democrats every opportunity he gets to address them. He has zero interest in the "engagement" you think will work.
14
The Dems "lost" by gerrymandering, Russian interference and Comeys ham handed honesty about Clinton. The Dems lost by gathering 3 million more votes fir POTUS and millions more in house races. Puhleese, we do not have democracy these days.
4
I think this sounds much like the "blame the victim" syndrome, in this case the voting public is victimized. Congress is responsible for creating and passing laws. The president can sign them, not sign them or veto them. Vetos can be overridden by Congress. Also when throwing around terms like "win" and "lose" be sure to offer a caveat of how the wins were achieved, especially when the majority did not support the candidate and therefore gave no mandate. As well, voter suppression, gerrymandering and a host of other ills that are being currently investigated played their part in this "win." Finally who can negotiate with the school yard bully, a lying narristist that will throw his own son in law under the bus when it suits him in his quest to deflect blame and appear glorious.
10
And all of this is being done to allow sufficient space within the Federal budget to allow a $800 Billion tax cutting bill for the uber-wealthy to pass with only 51 votes from the GOP senators. Who's America is this?
16
How many nurses, doctors, hospital administrators voted for Donald Trump or other Republicans?
Can we blame you then for forcing millions of American patients to suffer because they will be unable to obtain their healthcare needs?
There really isn't much to say anymore.
I never dreamed in my fifty years of healthcare career affiliation it would be the United States elected leaders that would cause suffering of my patients.
Can we blame you then for forcing millions of American patients to suffer because they will be unable to obtain their healthcare needs?
There really isn't much to say anymore.
I never dreamed in my fifty years of healthcare career affiliation it would be the United States elected leaders that would cause suffering of my patients.
9
I am sick and tired of the Republicans playing with our healthcare such that nobody who isn't wealthy can possibly plan their future. I am a military veteran in my mid 50s and have saved enough money to retire if I live frugally. My current job has great health benefits, but there is no way for me to leave it to work on my own, thanks to the possibility of having one health incident bankrupt me. This is entirely because of the uncertainty caused by the Republicans.
What I really don't understand is how anyone with half a brain can support the lying and the greed of the Republicans. One thing is certain. Everyone will die, and if you don't die suddenly, you will have to have medical procedures that cost more than most people can afford. I would gladly pay a much higher tax on Medicare to create a universal pool (I.e., Medicare for all), so that I have the ability to plan my life. I am better off than most people.
Unfortunately, it appears that we have so many citizens who don't have the critical thinking ability to see how public policy will affect them, personally. I am despondent and angry that this is even an argument in this country, and take little solace in the fact that someday, when their health falters and they have no means of covering the cost of care, people who support this intransigence now will look in the mirror and understand what this is really all about.
What I really don't understand is how anyone with half a brain can support the lying and the greed of the Republicans. One thing is certain. Everyone will die, and if you don't die suddenly, you will have to have medical procedures that cost more than most people can afford. I would gladly pay a much higher tax on Medicare to create a universal pool (I.e., Medicare for all), so that I have the ability to plan my life. I am better off than most people.
Unfortunately, it appears that we have so many citizens who don't have the critical thinking ability to see how public policy will affect them, personally. I am despondent and angry that this is even an argument in this country, and take little solace in the fact that someday, when their health falters and they have no means of covering the cost of care, people who support this intransigence now will look in the mirror and understand what this is really all about.
43
We are rapidly becoming a country of the haves and have nots. The Republican aristocracy will ensure that they will have the gold plated health care for themselves while the middle-class and the poor will suffer greatly under their poorly crafted austere health care plan. This reminds me of Dickens Tale of Two Cities and we all know the ending of that story.
8
MSS
Haves and have nots is one thing. But have not healthcare?
That's not even civilization.
MIMA
Haves and have nots is one thing. But have not healthcare?
That's not even civilization.
MIMA
4
Will they use this same strategy to end Social Security and Medicare?
Paul Ryan would cheer!
Paul Ryan would cheer!
23
It will be harder to do pn the SSand Medicare front than in this instance but craven coward Ryan, etc. have been trying for years.
Please use social media platforms to alert millions of people.
Please use social media platforms to alert millions of people.
2
You cannot have it both ways. You cannot argue on the one hand that the bill is an unknowable danger due to the dark arts and vampirism of Mitch McConnel, and then argue in the next breath that you know that the provisions of the bill will create a bleak, post-apocalyptic, dystopian "Hunger Games." Your language is revealed as grotesquely hyperbolic when one realizes that if every jot and tittle of Obamacare was repealed we would be returning the dark, dark days of the Clinton years, except we would also still have the benefits of prescription drug coverage for Medicare recipients provided during the second Bush Administration.
1
bush's prescription drug coverage is completely unfunded, meaning every penny spent on it is borrowed from japan and china, raising our national debt billions and billions every year. bribes and salicious threats were issued from the WH in order to get the votes. this was not a win or an accomplishment by bush; this was deceit at its worst. and don't forget the ridiculous donut hole.
6
Those were dark dark days indeed for those without access to healthcare because of preexisting condition and exhorbitant costs. And that number included millions and millions of our fellow citizens.
3
The editorial didn't say that it was an unknowable danger, only, and accurately, that the Senate was keeping it out of the public limelight as much as possible in order to hide its glaring weaknesses and avoid public response.
" then argue in the next breath that you know that the provisions of the bill will create a bleak, post-apocalyptic, dystopian "Hunger Games.""
The editorial didn't argue that. The only thing that is grotesquely hyperbolic is your characterization of it. It point out, correctly, that millions of people will lose their health insurance as a result--and that is as per the CBO.
" then argue in the next breath that you know that the provisions of the bill will create a bleak, post-apocalyptic, dystopian "Hunger Games.""
The editorial didn't argue that. The only thing that is grotesquely hyperbolic is your characterization of it. It point out, correctly, that millions of people will lose their health insurance as a result--and that is as per the CBO.
1
Of course there should be transparency and bipartisanship on such an important, society changing piece of legislation.
Unfortunately precedent was set otherwise when the original bill was passed.
"We have to pass it so we can find out what's in it" Nancy Pelosi.
Democrats could have done all the focus groups in the world but in the end, we have all been finding out the unintended consequences of the ACA after the fact.
Republicans cannot be trusted to do this right but let's not pretend that they are behaving any worse.
Unfortunately precedent was set otherwise when the original bill was passed.
"We have to pass it so we can find out what's in it" Nancy Pelosi.
Democrats could have done all the focus groups in the world but in the end, we have all been finding out the unintended consequences of the ACA after the fact.
Republicans cannot be trusted to do this right but let's not pretend that they are behaving any worse.
3
Democrats conducted over 100 hearings and debated and accepted many republican proposed amendments in a process that took place publically over a year during the passage of the ACA. Nothing the republicans are doing resembles this transparency in any way.
37
From Bernie's post yesterday:
Hours of debate:
Obamacare 160, Trumpcare 0
Committee hearings, roundtables, walkthroughs:
Obamacare 100, Trumpcare 0
Amendments from opposite party:
Obamacare 170, Trumpcare 0
Hours of debate:
Obamacare 160, Trumpcare 0
Committee hearings, roundtables, walkthroughs:
Obamacare 100, Trumpcare 0
Amendments from opposite party:
Obamacare 170, Trumpcare 0
30
Now the Dems didn't have as many hearings on Healthcare as say Benjamin Ghazi but they did have them.
Obscure quotes won't change that fact.
Obscure quotes won't change that fact.
3
So this is what it means to be a Republican: swear loyalty to a person not our country, legislate without the input of voters, terminate those who disagree with the Republican leader, alienate our strongest allies, embrace dictators and Russia, berate the founding fathers notion of 3 equal parts of government, embrace alternative facts, denigrate immigrants, etc. This kind of legislating can only be explained by gluttony, pride, lust, sloth, vainglory, wrath, and despair. The end is near, God help us.
130
@ Red A ....and McConnell and his "merry band of Republican legislators" call themselves Christian, compassionate, charitable. reasonable, fair minded, honest men? "God help us!
1
One has to ask themselves what do republicans think they ultimately gain by destroying health care to over 20 million Americans? Are the Koch brothers personally depositing money in their bank accounts, is trump promising them a lifetime membership to a trump golf course or are they just a group of destructive, deplorable individuals who no matter what public opinion says, are blind, deaf and heartless to the pleas of Americans to improve not destroy the countries healthcare system. When the poor people of Kentucky and elsewhere, middle class families with uneven employment history, evangelical christians with pre-existing conditions and elderly white trump voters loose access to health care they have only themselves to blame. The republicans always say elections have consequences. Perhaps loosing the fundamental right to safe and affordable healthcare at the hands of the people they voter for while the rich enjoy huge tax cuts is just the medicine the doctor ordered to help cure the the sickness of voting against your own self interests.
108
"...or are they just a group of destructive, deplorable individuals..." sums it up quite nicely.
7
So the Senate bill wants to kill us slowlier than the House bill. Because it is the more Christian thing to do? And they are getting away with it because of the Trump circus.
Healthcare for all becoming a fantasy; scratching the Dodd-Frank WS reform so bank's abuse can return; White House nepotism and conflict of interests; rumors that Trump will fire Special Counsel Mueller in a Russiangate fashion and, I am missing all the aggressions to the Constitution.
My nightmares occur when I a am awake. I thank Schumer for making me laugh a little.
Healthcare for all becoming a fantasy; scratching the Dodd-Frank WS reform so bank's abuse can return; White House nepotism and conflict of interests; rumors that Trump will fire Special Counsel Mueller in a Russiangate fashion and, I am missing all the aggressions to the Constitution.
My nightmares occur when I a am awake. I thank Schumer for making me laugh a little.
10
Mr. McConnell and his henchmen may create and pass a healthcare bill that crushes the A.C.A. and destroys the limited accessibility that 23 million Americans gained to healthcare through it. He may be able to convince enough Senators to go along with his backdoor scheme, but he will not win. The chaos the G.O.P. has created in the healthcare insurance market place is more disturbing to the industry than even the horrors they cited during the work up of the A.C.A. It is not only the poor little people who are being hurt by the action of Mr. McConnell. Actual investors, and corporations are beginning to suffer great losses. McConnell may be able to strip healthcare from millions of Americans, but hurting the industry will be the end of his reign in the Senate.
He and the rest of the G.O.P. can insist that it was Obama who created this new healthcare disaster of 2017, but anyone with half a brain knows the truth. The House G.O.P. stepped on a healthcare landmine this spring, and the Senate is being sucked into the explosion by Mitch McConnell. No good will come of this for the American people, the healthcare industry, or McConnell's Senate.
He and the rest of the G.O.P. can insist that it was Obama who created this new healthcare disaster of 2017, but anyone with half a brain knows the truth. The House G.O.P. stepped on a healthcare landmine this spring, and the Senate is being sucked into the explosion by Mitch McConnell. No good will come of this for the American people, the healthcare industry, or McConnell's Senate.
54
This is reminiscent of something to do with health care......with a major health insurance bill........back a few years ago there was a health care bill that was hidden behind closed doors.
What was it called?
Obamacare.
Remember?
At the 2010 Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties in regard to the Healthcare Reform Bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy."
Don't be a hypocrite and accuse others of doing exactly what you did.
What was it called?
Obamacare.
Remember?
At the 2010 Legislative Conference for the National Association of Counties in regard to the Healthcare Reform Bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy."
Don't be a hypocrite and accuse others of doing exactly what you did.
4
Mr. McConnell’s strategy belies the disingenuous Republican complaint that Democrats jammed the A.C.A., or Obamacare, into law in 2010 without sufficient analysis or discussion. The Republican effort to undo the A.C.A. bears no resemblance whatsoever to that much more thorough exercise. Congress and the Obama administration spent a year on health care reform from March 2009 to March 2010. The House and Senate came up with several competing bills, held dozens of hearings, accepted Republican amendments and spent countless hours soliciting feedback from public interests groups and the health care industry. The Congressional Budget Office produced several reports to analyze the various proposals and the legislation that ultimately became law.
28
The ACA was debated from March 2009 to March 2010. They had a special bipartisan committee with Sen Max Baucus and Sen Chuck Grassley heading it up. Many of their meetings were televised. I watched as they had nurses and doctors in favor of single payer arrested. The entire summer of 2009 was open to Tea Party bus in's disrupting democrat's town hall meetings. I went to many of those town hall meetings protesting for our side. Your recollection is incorrect. What the Republicans are trying to do is sneak this though without dealing with angry constituents at town halls. They are trying to stifle debate.
68
Reading comprehension not your strong suite? One year, dozens is hearings, multiple versions, multiple CBO reports. Not similar at all.
14
It's gone way past just differing views. We now have one party that is owned by a few billionaires. It does their bidding and does not listen to the constituency, because they don't even view us as that anymore. We are simply an irritation - a nuisance they sometimes have to deal with. How honorable to take away health insurance from over 20 million of those nuisances. Just so long as they get rid of any taxes on the rich and fabulously rich. Pass the law in the middle of the night and hope those constituents don't rise up and vote you out of office. They plan to sell off OUR public lands!!! They want to privatize our roads and bridges!!! (then those poor down trodden constituents can pay even more of their slave wages to drive to work from depressed suburban areas. (Urban areas are now only for the rich) I could go on and on about their heinous agenda, but the most important thing I can do today is give all of you the info to call your senators: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?Orde... Please call them. Many lives depend on it!!!
86
the Senate Republicans who are involved in this are not Americans.
They are nothing more than common criminals involved in a conspiracy
to deprive real Americans of medical care. They are despicable and reprehensible individuals to ever occupy an office of power. Only a march on
Washington by 23 million people could make a difference.
They are nothing more than common criminals involved in a conspiracy
to deprive real Americans of medical care. They are despicable and reprehensible individuals to ever occupy an office of power. Only a march on
Washington by 23 million people could make a difference.
57
Once again Republicans prove themselves the kings of projection, whatever they accuse democrats of they are secretly admiring. Wasn't secrecy the rally cry of the tea party against the affordable care act. Wow you just can't make this stuff up.
14
This would be a good time to invest in coffin companies and florists.
13
Mitch, bring marshmellows to the place where your soul will wind up in.......
8
Yet more evidence of how deeply undemocratic, how completely incapable of governing the Republican Party is.
Worse still, this closed door legislating reveals the corruption at the heart of a party that talked such a good game for so long, that has been so good at psychological projection.
So long as it was out of power, the Republican Party could maintain the facade of populism, the fiction that it cared about anyone or anything besides the 1% that it truly represents. Now that it actually has to put its policies into action, that facade is falling away to reveal what and who it really works for.
The Republicans can hide their legislation temporarily, but eventually, they have to produce it and vote for it. And when that legislation becomes law and its policies are implemented, Republican voters will finally understand just how thoroughly they've been betrayed.
Worse still, this closed door legislating reveals the corruption at the heart of a party that talked such a good game for so long, that has been so good at psychological projection.
So long as it was out of power, the Republican Party could maintain the facade of populism, the fiction that it cared about anyone or anything besides the 1% that it truly represents. Now that it actually has to put its policies into action, that facade is falling away to reveal what and who it really works for.
The Republicans can hide their legislation temporarily, but eventually, they have to produce it and vote for it. And when that legislation becomes law and its policies are implemented, Republican voters will finally understand just how thoroughly they've been betrayed.
16
No, Teg, I doubt they will. They will stubbornly stick to their guns (no pun intended) for two reasons: 1) They'll blame it on the Dems and Obama, and 2) they will never admit they were lied to betrayed.
The cowardly secrecy is bad enough, but the potential lives lost because they plan to deprive Americans of their health RIGHTS is the sordid spectacle.
Anyone who voted for these malignant monsters of morality is COMPLICIT.
How do you sleep at night?
Anyone who voted for these malignant monsters of morality is COMPLICIT.
How do you sleep at night?
18
What is the most feared thing in congressional Republican hearts, transparency and informed voters. Most of what they advocate is only supported by 30% or less of Americans. No wonder they are behind voter suppression tactics, they know they are a minority party.
73
The adherence to ideological purity continues to astound me. I guess it is easier to steal from the poor when one wraps the crime under the cloak of self righteousness and uses the cover of night and backroom dealing to achieve their goals. What happened to empathy and compassion? What happened to love thy neighbor? What happened to honesty and integrity? All have become four letter words to the Republican Congress.
56
What happened to honesty and integrity is, indeed, a four letter word: Koch
15
What better times the Congressional Republicans could have looked for to execute their conservative agenda of depriving the common people of social security and health care access while extending the tax relief and other state offered benefits to the rich class than the present moment, when President Trump is embroiled in controversies, and has no option but to go with the Congress? Thus, once the House has cleared the amended healthcare bill, the Senate too would surreptitiously pass the healthcare bill before the Congress goes for the recess on July 4.
20