“We’re talking about a great, great form of health care,” President Trump said at midweek, with all the conviction of someone peddling the fraud of Trump University.
Bravo, Mr. Egan!
Bravo, Mr. Egan!
84
Trumpcare is not just Republican, it's authoritarian in any name, at any time, in any place.
18
It is no longer credible to characterize president Trump as clueless or unintelligent - at least by the measures we use, which place great weight on memory, rather than logic, as intelligence. His actions are illogical only if not considered in the context of shortsighted selfishness. His income and ego have been inextricably entwined judging from past behavior. Treat him as an adult rather than the three-year old child that is suggested by his judgement of worth.
10
Some of this falls on the shoulders of the voters who currently feel that they are paying too much for the ACA insurance premiums.
All I can say is - be hopeful that you don't get sick on Trumpcare. Yes, you might have lower premiums, but your insurance likely won't cover what's wrong with you and your out-of-pocket expenses will be financially overwhelming.
All I can say is - be hopeful that you don't get sick on Trumpcare. Yes, you might have lower premiums, but your insurance likely won't cover what's wrong with you and your out-of-pocket expenses will be financially overwhelming.
31
It is appalling and infinitely sad that present day Republican lawmakers, and "T" seem to be, in the center of their "souls", totally obsessed with disparaging and betraying the following ageless ideals:
"Love one another." and
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Love one another." and
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
29
We work so hard to protect the Trump fans from themselves. Ah well, someone has to care for those who are incapable of caring for themselves.
18
We can barely keep order in the larger cities of our country now. Say a cop shoots a black man or the power goes down for a few days in the summer heat, or a variety of other reasons, even a good event, like a sports championship. We've all seen it on TV - chaos, mayhem, fires, looting, etc.
Wait until the lower classes go a few years (or a decade or more) under the draconian cuts being contemplated by today's Republicans. Then let's have the power grid go down, or a cop shooting, or a Rodney King-type incident again. The cities will explode on a scale not seen since the Russian and French revolutions.
The Republicans of today are playing with fire. They're too blinded by their obeisance to the Koch Brothers and others to see what they're doing. They've probably never had a good history education or any real exposure to urban America in the 21st century.
A curse on all their houses!
Wait until the lower classes go a few years (or a decade or more) under the draconian cuts being contemplated by today's Republicans. Then let's have the power grid go down, or a cop shooting, or a Rodney King-type incident again. The cities will explode on a scale not seen since the Russian and French revolutions.
The Republicans of today are playing with fire. They're too blinded by their obeisance to the Koch Brothers and others to see what they're doing. They've probably never had a good history education or any real exposure to urban America in the 21st century.
A curse on all their houses!
46
I have an nice condo (soon to be paid for) within walking distance of my job. I have great health insurance and will take most of it with me when I retire. When I retire, it will be with a nest egg closing on a million dollars as well as social security and a pension. I'm not telling you this to brag, but to point out that whatever happens I should be fine. That I loath and am horrified at the 'trump don't care' and what will do to America, is based on moral reasons and fear for the destruction of my country. This is evil.
70
Answer: Get the money out of politics. No secret money pacs parading as non-profits. Decide that corporations are not people. Have no voting machines without a paper backup. Make extreme gerrymandering illegal. Then maybe congress will have to start working for us again.
64
If I receive a tax cut from the Republican plan, I will donate the money. It's blood money and I don't want it.
43
Paul Ryan's gleeful chuckling as he reminisces about wanting to gut Medicaid since he was at university (paid for by social security, by the way) says it all.
What is wrong with these people?
What is wrong with these people?
80
Republicans don't care about blood if it belongs to the 99%. Their leadership is pure evil and the rank-and-file go along for the ride.
48
What in heaven's name are the Americans who voted for Trump and elected a majority of Republicans in both Houses of Congress thinking? What it is that they didn't get? Republicans real goal is to have no government "interference" in health care. Republicans have preached forever about removing the government from all facets of business, including the insurance industry. Republicans talk only of "freedom" and "liberty", claiming people should fend for themselves in the whirling dervish that is the complicated and complex insurance marketplace. Who can't figure out what that means? You're on your own, pal.
Democrats talked of the ACA, citing its problems, and proposed improvements to it, talked of repair not replace. Both Hillary and Bernie had substantial plans which they put forth for all to see. Trump and the Republicans had nothing.
Now people who will be most effected, the working poor, the disabled, those using services and benefiting from the ACA, are shocked, shocked, that their benefits will be taken away from them. Where have they bee all this time? Too busy cheering Trump, chanting "Lock Her Up" with respect to Hillary? They picked a Loser when they picked Trump. Some vicious sense of revenge against Hillary sent them to the polls and into the arms of Trump. Now they're outraged at what Trump and the GOP is planning to do. That sheer ignorance is all on those who voted Trump. You got what you wished for, now deal with it.
DD
Manhattan
Democrats talked of the ACA, citing its problems, and proposed improvements to it, talked of repair not replace. Both Hillary and Bernie had substantial plans which they put forth for all to see. Trump and the Republicans had nothing.
Now people who will be most effected, the working poor, the disabled, those using services and benefiting from the ACA, are shocked, shocked, that their benefits will be taken away from them. Where have they bee all this time? Too busy cheering Trump, chanting "Lock Her Up" with respect to Hillary? They picked a Loser when they picked Trump. Some vicious sense of revenge against Hillary sent them to the polls and into the arms of Trump. Now they're outraged at what Trump and the GOP is planning to do. That sheer ignorance is all on those who voted Trump. You got what you wished for, now deal with it.
DD
Manhattan
61
There will be a further shift in the tax burden away from the rich and onto the middle class. Since 1966, there has been a tremendous shift in the tax burdens away from the rich on onto the middle class. Warren Buffett said, "Through the tax code, there has been class warfare waged, and my class has won, It's been a rout."
The forces driving inequality through the class warfare that Warren Buffett points to are cumulative. It is the compounding effect of shift away from taxes on capital income such as dividends, capital gains and inheritances each year as the rich get proverbially richer which is the prime generator of inequality.
This cumulative shift of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy has profound impacts on the economy and securities markets. It creates a cycle where initially the wealthy pour significant amounts into investments they perceive to be safe. This can first cause an increase in economic activity. In 2005 many considered mortgage-backed securities with adjustable interest rates to be essentially risk-free. This was especially true for those rated AAA by Moody's and S&P. This resulted in overinvestment in the real estate sector. The middle class eventually could not service the mortgage debt on their homes nor could they buy enough goods at shopping centers and department stores to generate enough funds to prevent many residential and commercial mortgages from defaulting..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4025083
The forces driving inequality through the class warfare that Warren Buffett points to are cumulative. It is the compounding effect of shift away from taxes on capital income such as dividends, capital gains and inheritances each year as the rich get proverbially richer which is the prime generator of inequality.
This cumulative shift of wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy has profound impacts on the economy and securities markets. It creates a cycle where initially the wealthy pour significant amounts into investments they perceive to be safe. This can first cause an increase in economic activity. In 2005 many considered mortgage-backed securities with adjustable interest rates to be essentially risk-free. This was especially true for those rated AAA by Moody's and S&P. This resulted in overinvestment in the real estate sector. The middle class eventually could not service the mortgage debt on their homes nor could they buy enough goods at shopping centers and department stores to generate enough funds to prevent many residential and commercial mortgages from defaulting..."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4025083
15
"They see the Republican plan as a violation of an ancient oath that the best doctors still swear by — first, do no harm."
Secretary Tom Price should lose his license to practice, even if it would be largely symbolic.
Secretary Tom Price should lose his license to practice, even if it would be largely symbolic.
17
Include Paul Ryan in this censure. He's the main mover in GOP's goal of eliminating government-sponsored health care. Medicare is his announced next target.
23
Republican cruelty has its roots in GOP legislators' responses to their focal reflective question:
What would Scrooge McDuck do?
What would Scrooge McDuck do?
12
Colorado's GOP Senator Cory Gardner, one of the 13 white male GOP authors of the stillborn trump/GOP/Wealthcare bill is too busy to meet his constituents in town hall meetings. But no GOP Senator is ever too busy to meet with a couple of Koch brothers.
Gardner has been "studying the bill closely" prior to deciding how his vote will go. The Kochs are helping on this. When they "donate" to a politician's campaign, they darned well know what they're paying for.
A vote for the current Senate abhorrence will harm millions of American human beings physically and financially. It will condemn many thousands to preventable deaths. It will provide the frosting on Fourth of July cake, as we celebrate being the biggest and the richest emerging nation on Earth.
Gardner has been "studying the bill closely" prior to deciding how his vote will go. The Kochs are helping on this. When they "donate" to a politician's campaign, they darned well know what they're paying for.
A vote for the current Senate abhorrence will harm millions of American human beings physically and financially. It will condemn many thousands to preventable deaths. It will provide the frosting on Fourth of July cake, as we celebrate being the biggest and the richest emerging nation on Earth.
20
The Republican Bill in health care is un-American, trying to create the preconditions for a Communist Revolution. Evidently the Republican party is infiltrated by Communist agents and it's Americans duty to oppose these Communist agents and sympathizers at all cost.
13
Would the blood on the bill be something like the blood on the two-facelift republican party? Trump, the cynical plastic (literally) surgeon strikes again.
5
It would be nice if one could boycott something like health insurance. But therein lies the problem of how Trump and his Republican criminal cohorts can kill the American people at will or ruin us financially without any kind of remedy available to us other than protest, which seems to have no influence these days. In a true democracy we could replace the idiots who would do us harm, but we no longer have a democracy in America. With the Koch's planning to spend $400 million in the next election cycle. unlimited corporate money in politics, more onerous voter registration laws, gerrymandering of districts, weakening of the Voting Rights Act and a President who colluded with a foreign enemy to get elected to the highest office in the land, what is one to do? I wish there were a New America in some far off distant land to which I could venture and begin a new, more hopeful life before the next Civil War begins in this country. The Republicans' goal for a generation has been to establish a permanent ruling majority by any means possible and they have succeeded in doing just that. The Washington swamp they claim they want to drain they are just converting into a sewer instead. In all of this I ask myself over and over again, where is the energized, motivated, organized, unified, dynamic, well funded opposition to the biggest threat to American democracy ever? If anyone finds it, please let me know.
32
"I bet if you asked rich people if they wanted to cut off health care for millions of their fellow citizens in exchange for a bit more money at the end of the year, most of them would say no, that’s crazy."
I think you'll lose that bet. As Ms. Helmsley said "Only the little people pay taxes." Its not enough that all the gains in national income since 1980 or so have gone to those at the top. They resent any suggestion they owe something in return, that money is theirs and keep your paws off it!!
You see it over and over in what they say when in unguarded moments. Like Romney -- " "All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them."
that's their attitude, that taxes are just theft given to the underserving.
I think you'll lose that bet. As Ms. Helmsley said "Only the little people pay taxes." Its not enough that all the gains in national income since 1980 or so have gone to those at the top. They resent any suggestion they owe something in return, that money is theirs and keep your paws off it!!
You see it over and over in what they say when in unguarded moments. Like Romney -- " "All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them."
that's their attitude, that taxes are just theft given to the underserving.
25
Americans have shifted to viewing almost everything as if it were a sports competition. In our case, many voters see themselves as fans of one party or another. This is especially exploited by the Republicans because they basically have nothing to offer the vast majority of their fans except the excitement of the spectacle and the venting of feelings.
Unfortunately, life is not a sports competition. And the winning team in this case does not even care about anyone but a small fraction of their richest patrons. The team can't even play the sport well. What they depend on instead is one of the best propaganda machines in the world, and certainly the best funded in a supposedly "democratic" nation.
When people get used to something it is hard for them to change. Eventually Americans will change, but by then we will have immense damage. There will be an entire generation of people whose lives were unnecessarily harmed. I only hope this won't be channeled into an even more deadly populist movement led by an even worse demagogue.
Unfortunately, life is not a sports competition. And the winning team in this case does not even care about anyone but a small fraction of their richest patrons. The team can't even play the sport well. What they depend on instead is one of the best propaganda machines in the world, and certainly the best funded in a supposedly "democratic" nation.
When people get used to something it is hard for them to change. Eventually Americans will change, but by then we will have immense damage. There will be an entire generation of people whose lives were unnecessarily harmed. I only hope this won't be channeled into an even more deadly populist movement led by an even worse demagogue.
5
Every day, from the White House to the Capitol, from domestic to foreign policy issues, Republicans are proving that they are incapable of governing this great, diverse nation. Period.
3
This Reconciliation Bill for Rich A-holes amounts to economic genocide against people who are not in the 1%. How can Republicans not "believe" in Darwin's theory of evolution, when they're taking social Darwinism to its perverse and wrong extreme?
When there is no middle class left to provide for the needs of the wealthiest, then the wealthiest will eventually die off, too. What do they know of growing their own food, making their own clothes, keeping their homes clean? But somewhere, "survival of the fittest" (not richest) will still mean that some poor person was able to overcome all odds and adapt to the new world. The meek shall inherit the earth, while the arrogant, useless rich will be ground to dust.
When there is no middle class left to provide for the needs of the wealthiest, then the wealthiest will eventually die off, too. What do they know of growing their own food, making their own clothes, keeping their homes clean? But somewhere, "survival of the fittest" (not richest) will still mean that some poor person was able to overcome all odds and adapt to the new world. The meek shall inherit the earth, while the arrogant, useless rich will be ground to dust.
5
The Senate Health "Care" bill is their way of downsizing the population of the US of A.
4
I'm imagining a headline that reads: "Republicans scramble to find perfect ratio of tax cuts to uninsured."
2
There's an easy solution because Trump has declared the House bill is "mean."
So Republican Senators simply need to ask him what has to be changed so it won't be "mean." Otherwise, they're ignoring the head of their party and legislating without any input from him.
Oh lordy, I hope they do that and make it all public! I'd love to hear why Trump thinks it's mean, especially because I don't think he knows anything about the bill.
So Republican Senators simply need to ask him what has to be changed so it won't be "mean." Otherwise, they're ignoring the head of their party and legislating without any input from him.
Oh lordy, I hope they do that and make it all public! I'd love to hear why Trump thinks it's mean, especially because I don't think he knows anything about the bill.
5
Good column, but before Mr Egan disses the 'failed Marxists' he should stop and consider that your typical denizen of Breitbart and the right-wing media sphere consider him a Marxist too, and in no uncertain terms!
1
The RepubliCon party is a mean, cruel party of CON artists who only care for themselves... and thanks to the loyal party members in the Supreme Court, they have "Billionaires United" to get them elected, so they don't really care what the people want. Their expensive media buy CONS (paid for in full by Billionaires United dark money) is all they really need or care about.
10
And Trump said yesterday that if the Repubs can't pass a healtcare bill, they should just repeal the ACA. Carrying out his campaign promises I guess. Tired of winning yet?
3
It's right and it is good to see columnists, commentators, and journalists finally start calling what is going on in this country what it really is - open class warfare and of a cruel, sadistic, and evil kind. The GOP, the conservatives, and all of those who support them, want you dead. And they want all of your money before you go to your grave. They do sadistic, cruel, and evil things because that is who they are. They believe in only one thing, more power and more wealth, for them, and only for them (and maybe also for a few others just like themselves). Everyone else can just die, and hand over their money on the way out.
6
The G.O.P. is like the stickup artist in an old Hollywood movie:
"Your money or your life."
"Your money or your life."
6
Maybe rich folk don't care about the tax cuts in the bill. But they're huge. According to Buffet, someone with typical Senator wealth, around 14 Million, will get a cut of about 450K annually. Half a million dollars. Why? Because they amass passive income. So these Senators don't need lobbyists for the rich to whisper "tax cut" in their ears at night. They know what half a mil is.
5
It's not just Trump; the entire modern Republican party is led by sociopaths.
When did this happen? Although they have always worshiped the market, and think capitalism can do no wrong, Republicans didn't seem to be so needlessly cruel. Did it start under Reagan?
When did this happen? Although they have always worshiped the market, and think capitalism can do no wrong, Republicans didn't seem to be so needlessly cruel. Did it start under Reagan?
6
Perhaps even greater than the Republicans' desire to improve the welfare of the wealthy is their desire to destroy everything government does to help anyone else. In their eyes, the poor are undeserving, the working class need to be motivated to work harder, and the white middle class suckers who vote GOP because they want America to look like them again can look out for themselves.
8
Whether this bill ever passes, the Republicans are going to pay the price in 2018. I have to believe this because to think otherwise is too depressing to contemplate.
5
At some point, those of us who desire to see a nation that cares about justice and equality and freedom and the dignity and worth of every single American need to decide whether the oligarchic, corrupt government we have in Washington, D.C. is consistent with those ideals.
Our system is fundamentally broken and has been for a long time. We can choose to "check out," pay no attention because things going on in the capital disgust us, and deceive ourselves that life will go on as it always has. Or we can get serious about mounting meaningful political opposition.
If we keep going this way, the nation will come apart. We cannot consign millions of our fellow Americans to avoidable deaths so that rich people can pay less taxes.
Our system is fundamentally broken and has been for a long time. We can choose to "check out," pay no attention because things going on in the capital disgust us, and deceive ourselves that life will go on as it always has. Or we can get serious about mounting meaningful political opposition.
If we keep going this way, the nation will come apart. We cannot consign millions of our fellow Americans to avoidable deaths so that rich people can pay less taxes.
5
Here is another way to look at the situation--assume i make that $850k and get that $45k tax break; Grandma is in the nursing home and thru our great planning we have shifted her assets so Medicaid is picking up that tab; Now due to cuts Grandma is going to be thrown out unless we pick up that $10k per month fee....hey we just lost $120k-45k or $75,000........what do we do??
Yes, an absurd , but real scenario, especially for the future of families making a normal income
Yes, an absurd , but real scenario, especially for the future of families making a normal income
2
Republicans are people with a high tolerance for other people's pain.
4
I heard Nancy MacLean of Duke University on Democracy Now yesterday. She has written a book, "Democracy in Chains" that explains this GOP cruelty. There's more to come - much more. The bottom line is they now have a confused and badly run administration - a great time to totally do away with any safety nets, heath care etc for citizens. This is a billionaires dream to do away with the public but they know there are far more of us than them so it is being done quietly and secretly. It is a shocking plan to destroy the US as we know it. They will follow up the harsh and impossible law with more a kind of
shock and awe for all. The book is available now and everyone should read it including Nobel Prize winning economists. That's Nancy MacLean.
shock and awe for all. The book is available now and everyone should read it including Nobel Prize winning economists. That's Nancy MacLean.
2
It was reported elsewhere that the Koch brothers have amassed a $400 million dollar war chest to spend on Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm elections, when the entire House is up for reelection along with elected politicians. But in a recent money raiser in Colorado the Kochs slammed the cashier's window shut on that $400 million, telling Republicans in attendance that they won't see any of if until they repeal Obamacare and pass separate bill cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthy even further.
No Republican candidate can stand up to the Kochs, who have been known to primary one of their own who stepped out of line. That's why the Republicans won't give this up. They have a gun to their heads.
No Republican candidate can stand up to the Kochs, who have been known to primary one of their own who stepped out of line. That's why the Republicans won't give this up. They have a gun to their heads.
10
Does anyone remember the GOP charge of "death panels" during the discussion of Obamacare? They resorted to lies and exaggeration in order to attack the expansion of health care to millions of uninsured Americans.
I would suggest that democrats and opponents of Trumpcare should begin to call the 13 GOP Male Senators who wrote the Senate version the real death panel. After all, the Senate version could result in the premature deaths of thousands of Americans as a result of being denied insurance.
I would suggest that democrats and opponents of Trumpcare should begin to call the 13 GOP Male Senators who wrote the Senate version the real death panel. After all, the Senate version could result in the premature deaths of thousands of Americans as a result of being denied insurance.
9
Thank you Timothy for discussing the tax cut and health care issue! You clearly link outcomes to the proposed law in an interesting article. I would like to hear your take on the president's belief that he must, has a right to, fight back when he feels unfairly targeted in the media. I have not read recently any articles that note that previous presidents have also been called out in the press and have not felt the need to retaliate. For instance, Obama's birth certificate, George W's mangled words, Clinton's infidelity, Ford's tripping, and Reagan's senility.
In fact, if the media were purged of all snide or inflammatory comments it would have closed down Trump's campaign communications. We are all truly laughing at Donald for his inability to apply behavioral expectations to himself. I applaud the media for shedding light on the inappropriate tweets but it has not hit the mark, i.e., ended the tweets. The audience responds to humor (president abhors being the focus of peoples laughter) and modeling of good behavior (the public sometimes needs to be lead to the trough).
In fact, if the media were purged of all snide or inflammatory comments it would have closed down Trump's campaign communications. We are all truly laughing at Donald for his inability to apply behavioral expectations to himself. I applaud the media for shedding light on the inappropriate tweets but it has not hit the mark, i.e., ended the tweets. The audience responds to humor (president abhors being the focus of peoples laughter) and modeling of good behavior (the public sometimes needs to be lead to the trough).
"I bet if you asked rich people if they wanted to cut off health care for millions of their fellow citizens in exchange for a bit more money at the end of the year, most of them would say no, that’s crazy. Taxes don’t register among the top concerns of people, in poll after poll."
If this is true each and everyone of the wealthy needs to join Warren Buffett and say it out loud.
If this is true each and everyone of the wealthy needs to join Warren Buffett and say it out loud.
4
Republicans have been talking about class warfare for years except in their version it's the underclass making war on the ruling class.
6
Republicans are changing the nature of this nation. Equality is based on wealth and land ownership. America is basically a piece of dirt that you fight for. We might just be the most selfish nation on this planet.
4
Can we please put the sense of Warren Buffett on the front page instead of the continuing idiocy of Trump?
8
Republican voters DONT CARE about people who can't afford health care. Save your breath and your sob stories. They DONT CARE. You see, they are "Christians."
9
This is the GOP vision of America, government's only purpose is to clear the tracks for economic barbarism. We can actually step back at this point from leveling (well deserved ) criticism at the 45th president, the GOP congress owns this one. Conservative darlings like Ted Cruz actually believe this monstrosity of legislation doesn't go far enough, evidently the sanctimonious Cruz and his ilk believe that physical suffering in this life will only be lifted by the grace of God (only Christians apply).
It should also be noted that if an American abroad in one of those "dreary failed Marxist" states should happen to fall ill, they can walk into a public hospital and get treated for free.
It should also be noted that if an American abroad in one of those "dreary failed Marxist" states should happen to fall ill, they can walk into a public hospital and get treated for free.
5
Mr. Egan, Trump is not "like" a sociopath; he is one. However, he isn't a particularly smart one.
The smart ones know that you are supposed to shear the sheep, not skin them.
Just ask Madoff. He is a smart one.
The smart ones know that you are supposed to shear the sheep, not skin them.
Just ask Madoff. He is a smart one.
5
Trump's determination to hurt the "losers" in our society and his obsession with "blood," particularly the blood of women, are further evidence that he should be properly diagnosed as a psychopath. If we knew Trump's fantasies, we would be truly horrified, I'm sure. He could have been the model for the movie "American Psychopath." In that movie, the main character played by Christian Bale is sent into a murderous rage by a rival's more attractive business card. That is how Trump reacts to slights that others would not even perceive, for example the Morning Joe tweet rampage. While sociopaths may or may not be sadistic, psychopaths generally are. Cruelty is their calling card.
4
Our country has been heading this way for a long time. But this moment painfully bears out the claim of Larry Bartels that democracy as majority rule is a 'romantic folk tale.' Those elected follow their ideology, not the needs or wishes of voters. See his recent book "The Way Democracy Works--for Realists."
1
Folks on the right are very quick to point out that Buffett can always make a DONATION to the government for medical care. Of course in the real world it does not work this way. Think of the chaos if ALL of us whether it was buying a new car,groceries for the week or paying our income tax did this on a VOLUNTARY basis!
2
The banality of, well, not evil, but indifference.
The absense of empathy, of imagination, and any sense of connection to or wish to alleviate the struggles and suffering of anyone else but oneself.
Welcome to the New America, brought to you by the Republican Party.
The absense of empathy, of imagination, and any sense of connection to or wish to alleviate the struggles and suffering of anyone else but oneself.
Welcome to the New America, brought to you by the Republican Party.
4
Most Republicans are committed to market fundamentalism, to minimally fettered capitalism. Their economic principles are virtually identical with those undergirding the economic decisions of a Mafia don.
Far too many Republicans are regressives: Malthusians and Social Darwinians who, if the had their druthers, would return us to the robber baron glories of the Gilded Age. They lack communal sympathies and worship rugged individualism. They frequently masquerade as devout Christians but their god is Mammon. Mammon's high priests and priestesses are all rugged, atomistic individualists, self-made and in no need of any loyalty that extends beyond the transactional.
Their watchwords: Trust no one and the Devil take the hindmost.
Far too many Republicans are regressives: Malthusians and Social Darwinians who, if the had their druthers, would return us to the robber baron glories of the Gilded Age. They lack communal sympathies and worship rugged individualism. They frequently masquerade as devout Christians but their god is Mammon. Mammon's high priests and priestesses are all rugged, atomistic individualists, self-made and in no need of any loyalty that extends beyond the transactional.
Their watchwords: Trust no one and the Devil take the hindmost.
4
Let them eat cake.
3
In this country, we are now talking about taking health care away from poor people in exchange for more money for the ultra wealthy?? That's the actual debate they are having? What's the next bill on the agenda - one which allows them to prolong their ultra privileged lives by having their brains transplanted into the bodies of healthy young folks? Get out!
3
The overarching unanswered question is this:
Is healthcare a RIGHT , or a PRIVILEGE ?
Until this is resolved, this issue will never be settled.
Is healthcare a RIGHT , or a PRIVILEGE ?
Until this is resolved, this issue will never be settled.
This article needs only a bit more of context. It is cruel. But the bloodiness is far greater... When you add in the cost of Republican (Senate) health care for a median income individual earning $56,000 it is $20,000. And when you look at Americans approaching retirement with anything near adequate social security, pension or other resources the number may be only a little over half. 85% of heads of households close to retirement lack adequate resources. The double edge sword of health care deform and post retirement income/quality of life ensure that many if not a plurality of Americans will be either impoverished by health care costs and/or living in pretty squalid conditions. That translates into a lot of blood, a lot of health care foregone, a lot of poverty with all of the morbidity and mortality and lost productivity this will breed.
That health care reform is to allow rich people to get their unjust rewards from a toxic tax reform elevates this from heinous to a crime against humanity --the decline, morbidity and death of poor and middle-class Americans.
Where is the outrage? Let's begin by calling out the GoP and enablers for what they are doing!
That health care reform is to allow rich people to get their unjust rewards from a toxic tax reform elevates this from heinous to a crime against humanity --the decline, morbidity and death of poor and middle-class Americans.
Where is the outrage? Let's begin by calling out the GoP and enablers for what they are doing!
4
Barack Obama's healthcare plan actually did take tens of thousands away from millions of families across the country - and yet Timothy Egan cooed and giggled and proclaimed Obama himself the best of all possible leaders.
Amazing how one's political loyalties make all the difference in the world.
As an excellent propagandist, T.E. is able to mix in all those years of hate-the-rich training to go with this sermon. You'll never once hear him admit that the employers and investors having more money in their pockets created tens of millions of jobs under Ronald Reagan and George Bush the Younger.
Those jobs booms also added over 12% to the incomes of the MIDDLE class - the next group Timothy would prefer to have to join the dependency class demanded by progressive commissars.
All I know for sure is that I am seriously relieved that my children did not go through the partisan hate-training T.E. obviously picked up while being subjected to all those years of college.
Amazing how one's political loyalties make all the difference in the world.
As an excellent propagandist, T.E. is able to mix in all those years of hate-the-rich training to go with this sermon. You'll never once hear him admit that the employers and investors having more money in their pockets created tens of millions of jobs under Ronald Reagan and George Bush the Younger.
Those jobs booms also added over 12% to the incomes of the MIDDLE class - the next group Timothy would prefer to have to join the dependency class demanded by progressive commissars.
All I know for sure is that I am seriously relieved that my children did not go through the partisan hate-training T.E. obviously picked up while being subjected to all those years of college.
There is a joke about Republicans. If you woke up one of them, say Mitch McConnell, in the middle of the night and said that there is a mild tremblor, and that he needs to get out of the house. His first response will be, "Cut taxes, everything will settle down."
The Greed-over-People party has had one solution to all problems - cut taxes and the invisible hand, or Ayn Rand, will fix it all. In the days of yore, which is to say during St. Reagan's administration, it was called trickle down economics, but over the past nearly forty years it has become eminently clear that, in reality, it is TRICKLE-UP economics.
The Greed-over-People party has had one solution to all problems - cut taxes and the invisible hand, or Ayn Rand, will fix it all. In the days of yore, which is to say during St. Reagan's administration, it was called trickle down economics, but over the past nearly forty years it has become eminently clear that, in reality, it is TRICKLE-UP economics.
3
And yet Trump's popularity rating among Republicans is 84.%. Let us now extend Trump's comment of shooting someone on 5th Ave. and still having his peoples' support, to shooting his own people and as a group they would still give him their adoration and undying support. The next time Trump attends one of his wildly enthusiastic pep rallies study the faces of the people in the crowd whose lives he will devastate; they really don't come any stupider.
7
"Think of it this way: Your car breaks down. You need it to get to work. Indeed, your livelihood depends on it. You call the Republicans. They scrap the car for cash and leave you on the road."
Love it.
Your colleague (sorry) David brooks wrote about spinners and tuners or turners or something this morning.
Maybe you should have a talk with him.
Love it.
Your colleague (sorry) David brooks wrote about spinners and tuners or turners or something this morning.
Maybe you should have a talk with him.
The priorities of the Republican Party need to be presented without any whitewashing.
Vast quantities of money to wage wars that will never be won so certain corporations can keep making obscene profits on war materials and contracts.
An unending war on the poor to be sure they stay poor. This allows slumlords, legal loan sharks and others to drain them of the little they earn.
A tax structure that funnels money to wealthy areas, insuring the best education for their children and only a meager one for the truly poor. Vouchers will exacerbate this problem not solve it.
This "healthcare" plan is more of the same. Squeeze what you can from the poor (and now the middle class as well) then toss them like trash.
Vast quantities of money to wage wars that will never be won so certain corporations can keep making obscene profits on war materials and contracts.
An unending war on the poor to be sure they stay poor. This allows slumlords, legal loan sharks and others to drain them of the little they earn.
A tax structure that funnels money to wealthy areas, insuring the best education for their children and only a meager one for the truly poor. Vouchers will exacerbate this problem not solve it.
This "healthcare" plan is more of the same. Squeeze what you can from the poor (and now the middle class as well) then toss them like trash.
3
I know this topic has been explored over and over again, but, still I sit in disbelief with my Dad in his retirement friends, all depending on health care that would disappear with this bill, and yet, they say Trump is doing great and so is their Republican representative who is one of the authors of their health care demise. When I confront them with this fact--and this is where things get crazy---they believe that fake news is perpetuating these stories and if anything under Trump their benefits will increase because all those welfare cheaters will kicked off government health insurance. In these conversations I keep thinking of the frog in the boiling water---when do you realize the water is really boiling.
7
Alan Greyson (Democrat, FL 2009-2011, 2013-2017) stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and accused the Republicans of having a healthcare plan based on the philosophy of "IF YOU GET SICK...DIE QUICKLY".
He was brutally chastised by Republicans for saying this to the American people and his fellow legislators. It should now be perfectly clear to all Americans that Representative Greyson's observation was and is absolutely accurate.
The American people must rise-up and force all legislators (Republican & Democrat) at every level of government to be covered by the same healthcare coverage and benefits that all American people are covered by. They must not be allowed to continue to make changes to healthcare and benefits policies that affect the American people but do not apply to them. They must be placed in the same position as all Americans.
He was brutally chastised by Republicans for saying this to the American people and his fellow legislators. It should now be perfectly clear to all Americans that Representative Greyson's observation was and is absolutely accurate.
The American people must rise-up and force all legislators (Republican & Democrat) at every level of government to be covered by the same healthcare coverage and benefits that all American people are covered by. They must not be allowed to continue to make changes to healthcare and benefits policies that affect the American people but do not apply to them. They must be placed in the same position as all Americans.
4
Americans can make a Great Tax Cut, by firing congress and stopping their health insurance coverage.
3
This column is among the very best analyses I've read of this controversial, complicated debate. The examples and figures Tim Egan presents are clear and more than understandable; they allow us to FEEL how Trumpcare would affect the American people.
4
About 80% of the electorate oppose the plan, according to most polls, yet the president and GOP side of congress are working feverishly to pass it. Is there any clearer example of who these elected officials represent? At some point, the working class folks who vote republican -- and vulgarian -- have to realized they are being conned.
1
Why isn't the GOP concerned about a lazy slacker in the White House? A fat man, gaining weight, on the public dole! Who refuses to do his job! And gets a plane, a helicopter and free housing!
4
Taking healthcare away from poor, working class Americans and using those savings to provide tax cuts to those who don't need them is just another form of the class warfare Republicans have been riding to power for years; Trump's campaign followed Republican norms. What's new is that it's now out in the open for everyone to see and it's really ugly.
5
Has Trump, Mitch, the gang of 13 and the billionaires who will get a tax break thought about who is going to mow their grass, clean their homes, cook their meals, pick up their trash, drive them to the golf club, and do all of the other daily chores so they can live in luxury if 10, 20 or 30 million Americans don't have any health insurance, get sick and cannot show up for work. Has society to the GOP come to the point where human beings can be cast aside like a pair of old shoes that are no longer worth keeping. Farmers treat their livestock better than the GOP would treat regular Americans if they get their way.
4
I suggest someone purchase every Senator a book written many years ago by Edmund Burke: "The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire." The similarities between the history of the USA over the last 70 years and the period of AD200 to AD350 are quite striking. The question for the USA is, will the next 70 years mirror AD350 to AD410 when Rome was invaded by The Vandals?
4
Mr. Egan.
Sir.
You write that the super wealthy don't need those big tax cuts.
After reading several books about their lives I sadly have to disagree.
When their neighbor buys a bigger yacht they have to get one even bigger.
( "I'll show him.")
When they are invited to the two times a week parties the lady of the manse must have a new outfit including jewels. ("I'll show her.")
It is one-up-manship writ large.
So have pity on the super wealthy they need that extra money.
It appears that they will get it too.
And this is only the beginning.
Sir.
You write that the super wealthy don't need those big tax cuts.
After reading several books about their lives I sadly have to disagree.
When their neighbor buys a bigger yacht they have to get one even bigger.
( "I'll show him.")
When they are invited to the two times a week parties the lady of the manse must have a new outfit including jewels. ("I'll show her.")
It is one-up-manship writ large.
So have pity on the super wealthy they need that extra money.
It appears that they will get it too.
And this is only the beginning.
3
Taking Little Timmy's car analogy one step further; the Democrats want you to pay for insurance that replaces wiper blades.
3
The end result of all this? Nearly half of the US population will only have health care coverage for inexpensive treatment.
1
Conservatives want to solve the problem of continuing to fund Social Security and Medicare. Reduce the number of elderly receiving retirement benefits reduces the need to increase funding to the programs. How to reduce the number of elderly? Reduce medical coverage which quickens death.
Reducing Medicaid has the same effect. By shortening the life spans of people relying upon Medicaid there will be fewer people drawing upon the entitlement system. Consider the benefits to the SNAP program and funds for education. Eliminate people who are less likely to leave poverty frees up more money for middle class entitlements.
Years ago conservative propaganda touted the phrase Democratic death panels. Perhaps they were prescient except that they were it wasn't a party behind death panels, it was an ideological movement.
This would be far from the first time that ideologues wanted a nation to quickly reduce its population.
Reducing Medicaid has the same effect. By shortening the life spans of people relying upon Medicaid there will be fewer people drawing upon the entitlement system. Consider the benefits to the SNAP program and funds for education. Eliminate people who are less likely to leave poverty frees up more money for middle class entitlements.
Years ago conservative propaganda touted the phrase Democratic death panels. Perhaps they were prescient except that they were it wasn't a party behind death panels, it was an ideological movement.
This would be far from the first time that ideologues wanted a nation to quickly reduce its population.
6
The party and the ideological movement are one and the same: the GOP. I find it so interesting that the party that once openly supported eugenics is now suffering from a fetus fetish that doesn't extend to the already living human beings in our midst.
Perhaps the unwanted fetus needs to be born because s(he) is easily expendable in unneccesary wars. They certainly don't care if these live people continue to live or die.
They have no empathy or even sympathy until it happens to them and theirs.
Perhaps the unwanted fetus needs to be born because s(he) is easily expendable in unneccesary wars. They certainly don't care if these live people continue to live or die.
They have no empathy or even sympathy until it happens to them and theirs.
1
I keep wondering when not if someone is going to actually see if any one of the republicans that support this bill have really read and understand it. I don't mean that an aide read it and gave them an overview but a senator actually read the darn thing. I suppose that if one or more of them had actually done this then we could begin the debate on reading comprehension for the candidates for senate as a first requirement prior to them being able to even file election papers
1
In WWII, Hitler took all of their victims' property, then disposed of them.
Here McConnell, Ryan, and Trump, and the majority of the GOP want to ultimately deprive 22-24million of their victims of health care. And use at least part of the billions in savings to give the majority in Congress who are wealthy, and their patrons who are also wealthy, tax cuts they don't need.
And they could care less about whatever happens to the victims of their charade. Except that their victims, if still living, can help balance the budget by subsidizing it with their tax payments. All while the newspapers show pics of McConnell and Ryan smiling for all their hard work they have done to accomplish this goal.
Here McConnell, Ryan, and Trump, and the majority of the GOP want to ultimately deprive 22-24million of their victims of health care. And use at least part of the billions in savings to give the majority in Congress who are wealthy, and their patrons who are also wealthy, tax cuts they don't need.
And they could care less about whatever happens to the victims of their charade. Except that their victims, if still living, can help balance the budget by subsidizing it with their tax payments. All while the newspapers show pics of McConnell and Ryan smiling for all their hard work they have done to accomplish this goal.
13
Come Tim. Whether or not the tax cut is good or bad (I think it to be very bad), you got it 100% wrong. The tax cut is not taking money from the middle class'bank accounts to give to the uber rich, its stopping taking money from the uber rich to transfer to the upper middle class medical professions via insurance subsidies to pay for the middle class' health insurance.
What both parties ignore is the outrageous cost of heath care coupled with mediocre results. We need to cut costs or improve outcomes enormously. Heath care costs relatively twice as much as in other developed countries whose populations live at least as long as americans.
What both parties ignore is the outrageous cost of heath care coupled with mediocre results. We need to cut costs or improve outcomes enormously. Heath care costs relatively twice as much as in other developed countries whose populations live at least as long as americans.
7
Wrong. Taxing the wealthy is not "taking money from the uber rich." Taxes support the system that allows individuals and corporations to accumulate wealth, including supporting the healthcare of individual workers whose labor is usually the basis of much of that wealth. It is uniquely American not to understand this very basic idea, and makes us, frankly, somewhat barbaric in comparison to the other wealthy nations of the world.
21
The Republicans ran on repealing Obamacare for 10 years; we should let folks die in the streets until the Koch brothers tell us what's acceptable? 10 years, and they never once took the time to formulate a plan? Perhaps we should take a page from the playbook of the physicians you disdain and sue the Republicans for gross malpractice.
4
It is also uniquely American not to understand, or to ignore, that we all have a responsibility to help our fellow Americans according to our means. The ultra wealthy in this country have no reason to gripe at higher taxes when others cannot afford health care. I know it's a radical concept but do try to grasp it, folks. Paying one's share of taxes means the wealthy pay proportionately more. Unless of course you're "smart" and unscrupulous like Trump and pay nothing, in which case shame on you.
4
Health care in now pulling on the very fabric of our society. Half the country can’t afford health care without some form of government subsidy and the other half that can afford it don’t want to subsidize the half that can’t. We all want to be healthy and live a happy long life. This universal human desire is being exploited by big pharma and to some extent by the medical profession. We are also biologically programmed to prefer sweet foods and this human trait is being exploited by Big Food. Sugar-containing processed foods are cheaper to make, addictive and result in much higher profits margins that healthier whole foods. The over consumption of sugar-containing processed foods and drinks are the main reason for the obesity, diabetes, high pressure, and heart disease and related non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which increases cancer risk, that are driving health care costs to unsustainable levels. We need to treat sugar, like tobacco and alcohol, as a vice that requires both public education and tax disincentives as well as other upstream and downstream measures. The biggest threat to our country used to be what Eisenhower coined as the military-industrial complex. Today’s even bigger threat is Big Pharma/Big Food/Big Health Care Complex that controls a lion’s share of our economy. All you have to do is follow the money driving the lobbying and political contributions, to see how this is driving the politics of health care.
10
A good column, explaining the Republican "meanness," as president Trump himself has characterized about the House Bill passed with fanfare he himself presided!
“My wealthy clients barely noticed the taxes resulting from the Affordable Care Act and have not needed to make lifestyle adjustments,” wrote Carolyn McClanahan, a financial planner in Forbes. That's exactly what Warren Buffett who has been pleading for tax-hikes on the rich for several years. On June 29th Buffet said in a Judy Woodruff interview on PBS News Hour, he would get a $680K minus $1 tax cut from the proposed senate bill, which is 17% of his federal income taxes, including Medicare tax, for 2016.
When he was in college Paul Ryan dreamed of ending Medicaid, etc. He was then enamored by Ayn Rand, the anti-Soviet philosopher who left Soviet Union to have a cushy life in the U.S., as she knew she was blessed with, not earned, a powerful brain with which she could rake in a lot of money.
Ryan still has that idea of callousness, which he assumes is no sin - forget what Pope Francis teaches us, what the Sermon on the Mount instructed us.
Well, it looks like Republicans are now thinking of rescinding that tax-cut, as it has become too obvious to the public.
If they want to continue have voters' trust, why not say, "It's too late to repeat Obamacare." To improve their hold on voters improve ACA with a public option.
“My wealthy clients barely noticed the taxes resulting from the Affordable Care Act and have not needed to make lifestyle adjustments,” wrote Carolyn McClanahan, a financial planner in Forbes. That's exactly what Warren Buffett who has been pleading for tax-hikes on the rich for several years. On June 29th Buffet said in a Judy Woodruff interview on PBS News Hour, he would get a $680K minus $1 tax cut from the proposed senate bill, which is 17% of his federal income taxes, including Medicare tax, for 2016.
When he was in college Paul Ryan dreamed of ending Medicaid, etc. He was then enamored by Ayn Rand, the anti-Soviet philosopher who left Soviet Union to have a cushy life in the U.S., as she knew she was blessed with, not earned, a powerful brain with which she could rake in a lot of money.
Ryan still has that idea of callousness, which he assumes is no sin - forget what Pope Francis teaches us, what the Sermon on the Mount instructed us.
Well, it looks like Republicans are now thinking of rescinding that tax-cut, as it has become too obvious to the public.
If they want to continue have voters' trust, why not say, "It's too late to repeat Obamacare." To improve their hold on voters improve ACA with a public option.
14
It is hard to fathom the attitudes of some of these posters. A great country takes care of its own. We don't punish people for having less. Life can be punishing enough depending on your circumstances.
I have been paying into social security and medicare since I was 16. I don't qualify for any help when I'm unemployed except unemployment insurance.
Yes, insurance. That is the nature of some social contracts. Insurance.
I don't envy or begrudge the rich. My life is up to me.
To think that the GOP only rewards the lucky sitting atop the mountain is rewarding people who may not have earned what hey have. It works in both directions.
People in need have not earned what befell them. They just need help.
Insurance is what we try to buy to help when we need help. To take away the options in favor of people who are able to contribute more because of their opportunities is wrong and backward.
The first time I needed to use my insurance I was 20 years old and fell down subway steps. I sent to the ER, was admitted, operated on and had care for 2 weeks. When I checked out of the hospital I paid only for the use of the phone in my room.
We've come a long way from how that worked to now. If congress would learn to legislate a comprehensive bill they might level the field for all and not favor the rich pharma and millionaires. Then insurance might work as it used to.
I have been paying into social security and medicare since I was 16. I don't qualify for any help when I'm unemployed except unemployment insurance.
Yes, insurance. That is the nature of some social contracts. Insurance.
I don't envy or begrudge the rich. My life is up to me.
To think that the GOP only rewards the lucky sitting atop the mountain is rewarding people who may not have earned what hey have. It works in both directions.
People in need have not earned what befell them. They just need help.
Insurance is what we try to buy to help when we need help. To take away the options in favor of people who are able to contribute more because of their opportunities is wrong and backward.
The first time I needed to use my insurance I was 20 years old and fell down subway steps. I sent to the ER, was admitted, operated on and had care for 2 weeks. When I checked out of the hospital I paid only for the use of the phone in my room.
We've come a long way from how that worked to now. If congress would learn to legislate a comprehensive bill they might level the field for all and not favor the rich pharma and millionaires. Then insurance might work as it used to.
30
Among the ultra rich, Warren Buffett is unusual. Despite being worth $76 billion, he doesn’t draw upon his wealth to create a life of vast, visible consumption. As Buffett notes, if the Affordable Care Act’s taxes are repealed, he will get an extra $679,999, which represents 17% of his taxes. That means he pays about $4 million in taxes. Despite $billions in annual gains for his investments, Buffett’s taxable income is well under $20 million. By contrast, consider the income of Spender-in-Chief, Donald Trump. In his 2005 federal tax return, Trump disclosed an income of $153 million, of which $42 million was investment income of a sort that would now be subject to the ACA taxes. As the NYTimes notes, revocation of the ACA would save Trump $1.5 million. https://nyti.ms/2pdMj4j Granted, that’s only 1% entire income for that year, but something tells me that Trump would prefer to hang on to that 1% than see it go to everyday Americans in need of health insurance. After all, we're talking about a man who charges $200,000 to join him on the greens of the "Winter White House." For most members of the ultra wealthy, the ACA taxes matter deeply, which is why people like Trump and the Koch brothers have insisted on repeal of the ACA from the day it came into existence.
13
This piece lays it out in a plain, simple comprehensive manner: If this bill passes, 99 percent of the people who live where I do, in Northeast Ohio, will pay a heavy, heavy toll. In a region of the country with many seniors, an aging population and where $30K is a decent annual salary, families would struggle and older singles would be sunk. I could last, maybe, for two years. It's unfathomable that our government would even consider actually doing this to people. I am flummoxed, bewildered, bitterly disappointed, angry and yes, scared.
32
Yes and 99 percent of that 99 percent voted for Trump. It wants to be said that the poor, uneducated, get what they deserve with Trump, but that's almost as heartless as the entire GOP is.
2
For whom did you vote? If they were Republicans, look in the mirror. They made it clear this is what they would do. Now they are trying to do it.
No one is taking anything away from anyone. Only a very, very few have a right to health care; and no one to health insurance. If the government chooses to provide health care, it is an act of "grace", not (except in the case of wounded and disabled veterans) a legal right that accrues to an individual by virtue of being a US citizen or a legal resident. If the Republicans choose to pass tax cuts, then they simply return money from those who earned it.
1
"If the Republicans choose to pass tax cuts, then they simply return money from those who earned it."
If you read the accompanying essay you'd learn that the tax in question is not on earned income but only investment income.
If you read the accompanying essay you'd learn that the tax in question is not on earned income but only investment income.
13
If the majority of our society declares it so, then healthcare does become a right. And then we ask our government to determine, for public approval, what is the best way to provide for that right.
There is ample provision for this in the General Welfare Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
There is ample provision for this in the General Welfare Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
19
Why would wounded or disabled veterans have the right no one else has? Unless drafted they chose to be in the military and accepted the risk. They were paid, might have gotten some valuable job training.
Rights are not in anyway guaranteed. The Constitution lists an notion of rights in terms of what government may not infringe upon. But even those rights are based upon a lot of consideration of governments and societies before them. As Larry N. wrote if we as a society decide that healthcare is a right then it is a right.
Rights are not in anyway guaranteed. The Constitution lists an notion of rights in terms of what government may not infringe upon. But even those rights are based upon a lot of consideration of governments and societies before them. As Larry N. wrote if we as a society decide that healthcare is a right then it is a right.
3
This is writing righting lies we would rank with classics of Liebling and James Agee. Over and over this column envisions a civilization to make itself redundant - and that loss to paradise is honorably in its sights. There is vanity here. Pride, anyone?
error in transmittal: There is no vanity . .
Buffett for President. Stranger things have happened.
10
The thing that is astonishing in this article is that the funding for the health of the country is so painless to taxpayers despite the horrendous inefficiency and overcharging baked into the system.
There are not enough efforts to manage the costs of medical care by anything other than denial of services. The rest of the developed world gets better health care based on outcomes compared to us--at between 50 and 70% of the cost per person.
Within the announced reductions in funding hide more deadly threats. The new insurance policies will become significantly less comprehensive, and the insurers are permitted to make larger profits and higher expenses for things like marketing. This will be hugely beneficial to insurance companies, and make the actual out of pocket costs for medical care climb far faster than the actual increases in medical costs for most.
The insurance companies are adding no value at great costs to the delivery of medical services. The private investors who purchase mandatory drugs and then raise the prices by many times add additional costs.
Free enterprise and capitalism cannot work for medical care, except for purely optional treatments (lasic, cosmetic plastic surgery, teeth whitening). Sure, boutique services for the truly wealthy can work, but for almost all of us, Republican solutions will either kill or bankrupt us--or both.
There are not enough efforts to manage the costs of medical care by anything other than denial of services. The rest of the developed world gets better health care based on outcomes compared to us--at between 50 and 70% of the cost per person.
Within the announced reductions in funding hide more deadly threats. The new insurance policies will become significantly less comprehensive, and the insurers are permitted to make larger profits and higher expenses for things like marketing. This will be hugely beneficial to insurance companies, and make the actual out of pocket costs for medical care climb far faster than the actual increases in medical costs for most.
The insurance companies are adding no value at great costs to the delivery of medical services. The private investors who purchase mandatory drugs and then raise the prices by many times add additional costs.
Free enterprise and capitalism cannot work for medical care, except for purely optional treatments (lasic, cosmetic plastic surgery, teeth whitening). Sure, boutique services for the truly wealthy can work, but for almost all of us, Republican solutions will either kill or bankrupt us--or both.
10
We already know how to create a system that actually works. It's called Medicare.
17
If you truly want cheaper healthcare, you need to expect that you will get what you pay for. Everyone loves Canadian healthcare until they have to actually use it for something serious. Everyone loves paying 60% tax rates so they can get free healthcare. Here's an idea. Calculate what you would need to pay in taxes above and beyond where you are today, then put all those $ into a HSA. You're now given the incentive to not use health insurance until you really need it, and others who are on Medicaid will gain renewed access to the limited supply of doctors that they do not currently have because Medicaid reimbursement rates are very low. Or....urge your Congressmen to pass a 3% VAT tax on every single item manufactured and consumed in the U.S. If he/she is a Democrat, they will be replaced by a R by 2018.
The first and most fundamental "tax reform" that should happen is that the taxing difference between income from labor and income from capital must disappear. Why should one new dollar in my pocket be taxed differently depending on where it comes from? Income is income, tax it all the same, at the same rates. There's lots of prattle about how "capital gains needs to be lower to encourage investment", to "create jobs" (its always about "creating jobs" - while most investment money chases yields in ever more creative derivatives). Tax it all the same, and let the investment decisions be made solely for the business merits of the proposed investment, not the tax consequences or tax benefits. Eliminate the different rates for capital gains, for dividends, and for 'carried interest'. If, instead of addressing deficits and the accumulated national debt, the political decision is that this must be 'revenue neutral' (although why we'd want to perpetuate a deficit is unclear) then adjust the rates downward to equal the overall intake now. Instead of deductions and exemptions, pass programs that directly address the issues: to "encourage home ownership" pass a grant to first-time home buyers. To encourage large families, pass a 'per-child' grant to parents. Separate social policy from revenue decisions and make it all transparent and clear. This would be REAL "tax reform". And it will never, ever happen.
15
The Kochs and their ilk want their taxes reduced to 0%. They want tax credits on top of that. They want nothing to do with military service, other than that it continue to protect them and their assets, but at no cost to them in the form of their cash or, and especially, their blood. To accomplish this, they buy themselves a political party. They spend more money on this collection avidly willing soul-sellers than they would have to pay in taxes, just to the taxes they can't evade lowered or completely eliminated.
A single dollar can mean the world to many. Many of these people protect the assets of the rich at the cost of their health and lives. This is, to the rich, "equality" in America today.
A single dollar can mean the world to many. Many of these people protect the assets of the rich at the cost of their health and lives. This is, to the rich, "equality" in America today.
22
I think we can be sure that by now, Senators are aware of the various objections from different corners and are working on it.
1
I hope this is sarcasm. "Working on it" in the Trump world means trying to fool the public, a la Trump U.
2
The Republicans????? Working on this????? Bwwwwhahahahahaaaaaa!
2
"The toxic Senate bill . . . is the broadest attack on working Americans by a governing political party in our lifetime."
The House bill was even worse. Ryancare was even worse. Even the Senate would not tolerate it, so they did this instead.
The House bill was even worse. Ryancare was even worse. Even the Senate would not tolerate it, so they did this instead.
10
I'm becoming convinced that the ultimate goal of the Republicans is to winnow the population. As automation increasingly lessens the need for human labor, there is no imperative for the wealthy to pay taxes in order to keep non productive people alive, except possibly as consumers -- or voters.
25
Are you kidding?
That's right. We want you dead. We want your cousins dead. We want your kids and parents dead. What kind of an insane comment is this.....when it's D's clamoring all over themselves to keep infanticide legal...not R's.?
Just wondering--who are the "bad dudes"? What constitutes "terrorism"? Seems to me that the Republican Congress has terrified more Americans than those other ideological fanatics, and is planning to do much more harm to the population.
48
And they will kill more Americans than all the terrorist attacks we have ever had. Annually.
4
The emphasis on the tax-cut-for-the-rich aspect of this horrendous bill is obscuring the bill's real purpose. I'm sure the Repubs are well aware that the tax cut is of no special benefit to the very rich, that it will have no effect on their life-style. What is really the first priority of Republicans is to strip the government of all social welfare programs. For years they have attacked and attempted to gut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc., and this is only the latest attack. They simply want government out of the business of helping people.
66
$20 trillion debt..soon to be $30 trillion.
When will you accept any reform?
Serious reform.
Why should Medicaid for All be your answer to a healthcare system that was destroyed by ObamaCare?
Why have Democrats not offered a SINGLE idea to fix ObamaCare?
Stop hiding behind #RESIST and engage. You can be part of the solution....of continue to be a major part of the problem.
When will you accept any reform?
Serious reform.
Why should Medicaid for All be your answer to a healthcare system that was destroyed by ObamaCare?
Why have Democrats not offered a SINGLE idea to fix ObamaCare?
Stop hiding behind #RESIST and engage. You can be part of the solution....of continue to be a major part of the problem.
Some social scientists use the term "structural violence" to describe public policies and governmental actions deliberately and gratuitously inflicting pain or damage on segments of the population just because dominant sectors can. There is no indication American society is in such mortal danger that resources now supporting health care must be channeled elsewhere, a sacrifice required for national survival. There is no indication directing $680,000 annually to the wealthiest will lead to more jobs, more scientific breakthroughs, or greater national security. Instead it appears people like Paul Ryan and Mike Mulvaney push an attack on health care for the poor, sick, and marginalized of our society because they are easy targets. Underlying this view is the expectation their targets will remain passive; in fact they count on that.
But as the recent shooting in Virginia directed at members of Congress indicates passivity is not the only reaction possible. What happens when increasing numbers of seniors and others condemned to early deaths, tormented by the suffering of loved ones, or pushed by outrage decide Republican structural violence can cut both ways? What happens when senators must travel in armored cars with police escort, when lobbyists take mortal risks on leaving their offices, and wealthy donors cannot visit the country club? There is a real danger those who are mad as hell will embrace Donald Trump's "Second Amendment solutions", passivity be damned.
But as the recent shooting in Virginia directed at members of Congress indicates passivity is not the only reaction possible. What happens when increasing numbers of seniors and others condemned to early deaths, tormented by the suffering of loved ones, or pushed by outrage decide Republican structural violence can cut both ways? What happens when senators must travel in armored cars with police escort, when lobbyists take mortal risks on leaving their offices, and wealthy donors cannot visit the country club? There is a real danger those who are mad as hell will embrace Donald Trump's "Second Amendment solutions", passivity be damned.
29
You are so right. Reckoning is coming.
1
Actually, USA999, the people who will lose their health-insurance coverage because of Republican sadism could legitimately argue that James Hodgkinson's biggest mistake was in not bringing accomplices.
2
Rather than cutting the safety net, presumably to "motivate" lazy people (and to solidify base), R's should be talking about stemming the 30+ year cycle of middle class erosion that necessitates the need for an increasing larger safety net.
18
I'm all for taking every cent from Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerburg and Elon and the other billionaires and handing out Christmas checks. Where do we get the money though.....next year?
Here is an incredibly sad thought. Imagine that the Republicans secretly agree with the assessment of climate change. Imagine further that they think that downsizing the infirm and elderly will lead to a more aggressively nimble population that will better weather the changing weather. By "lightening the load" or "thinning the herd", they feel like the nation can survive future challenges with greater strength. It's fanciful, and odd, but perhaps just a teeny tiny little bit true?
9
Timothy, let's not get carried away. Kasich is a Midwesterner, but sensible? Look at his stance on other issues that were the center of criticism for many of his right wing ideas when running for president.
16
It helps to realize there are people who have gone so deep down the rabbit hole of libertarian thinking, they believe this sort of thing is just fine.
Yesterday, a man wrote complaining about his high taxes, saying that his after tax income (gross income 350,000) is "only" 170,000" dollars. How is one supposed to put two children through college and put away money for retirement on such a meagre income.
In the same comments section, a woman from Atlanta said that her gross income was 86,000, and she managed to put away 20,000 every year into savings, and would be happy to pay more taxes if she knew it would help people with health care.
There you have it.
Criticizing the Republican Congress is not going to get you anywhere until you figure out a way to get some cult deprogrammers out there.
www.remember-to-breathe.org
Yesterday, a man wrote complaining about his high taxes, saying that his after tax income (gross income 350,000) is "only" 170,000" dollars. How is one supposed to put two children through college and put away money for retirement on such a meagre income.
In the same comments section, a woman from Atlanta said that her gross income was 86,000, and she managed to put away 20,000 every year into savings, and would be happy to pay more taxes if she knew it would help people with health care.
There you have it.
Criticizing the Republican Congress is not going to get you anywhere until you figure out a way to get some cult deprogrammers out there.
www.remember-to-breathe.org
41
Someone with a gross income of 350K taking home 170K is doing something very very wrong. We are in all the highest tax brackets including in a high tax state and our tax totals up to perhaps 32-35% of our income, including property and sales tax.
15
Welcome to NJ! I live in NJ and work in NY. I pay NY state (9%), NY city(4%) , NJ state(9%) and federal (39%)income taxes. On top of that NJ sales tax is 7% and my property tax is $30,000 per year (my home is worth about $1,000,000- hardly a mansion here in NJ).
There are some offsets, but an overall tax burden of 50% is normal for someone earning about $350,000 here.
There are some offsets, but an overall tax burden of 50% is normal for someone earning about $350,000 here.
I should add to my previous comment, the man with the net income of $150,000 complaining about high taxes justified his complaint by stating that he's most upset about taxes because NY is wasting its money on Medicaid, Social Security and other payments to people who give nothing back to society.
Cult deprogrammers, you have your hands full!
Cult deprogrammers, you have your hands full!
1
Americans don’t like talk of class warfare; it reminds us of those dreary, failed Marxists who seldom practice what they preach, like you, Tim? Now tell the TRUTH!
1
Egan is not now and never has been a Marxist. And that's the TRUTH! You asked for it, you got it.
2
Ah, that's what we need now. Red-baiting.
1
This bill is an actuarial "Holocaust Center" designed to slowly exterminate "losers". There is only one appropriate reaction to it's passage, if it happens: Massive non-violent protests that close all Federal Buildings and major roadways, fill the stadiums with arrestees, and completely shut the country down.
39
In the current environment you would probably get martial law.
There is no reason whatsoever to pass healthcare legislation - unless to shore up the ACA or to do the right thing and go for Universal, single payer Healthcare - for everybody.
That or try to fool people.
That or try to fool people.
26
That Warren Buffet wants to do the right thing is commendable. That corporate lobbyists will keep coming to the offices of their (not our) Congressional representatives, conveying instructions from the sources of "contributions" to campaign funds, should be our immediate concern. Until that vicious circle of legalized corruption is broken, we will continue to be looted and plundered by the greedy rich.
29
"Let them eat tweets."
23
I could never fully understand until now how the French in 1789 could get so angry with their ruling elite as to condemn them to the guillotine.
Thank you, Republicans, for helping me understand.
Thank you, Republicans, for helping me understand.
124
...don't forget the tax breaks to insurance companies and other companies associated with the medical industry. You know, like the durable medical equipment Tom Price has a stake in.
23
The irony here is that the Republican propaganda machine (Fox, Limbaugh, etc.) has convinced the white hillbillies (as the term is used by J D Vance) that they are on Buffet's side of this equation. That's why they will vote against their self interest every time. To prevent the Dems from stealing their hard earned income and redistributing it down to the undeserving, lazy, black and brown welfare queens.
19
My liberal son told his conservative grandparents, in response to their voting against their self-interest, 'Unless there is something major I don't know about this family, you shouldn't vote Republican. They don't care about YOU.'
1
I am currently reading "Democracy in Chains" and it really does boil down to racism, Christian fundamentalism, and ignorance. "Hillbilly Elegy" was insightful for me in understanding the "white male" I have grown up with my whole life...Many of them do think they should be "masters of the universe" through indoctrination in the deep history of benevolent sexism that is prevalent in Appalachia. Tragically they are sheep for the slaughter in Koch's America.
1
My tax cut only costs, what, a family-and-a-half? That doesn't seem so bad, but I'll go pray on it . . .
9
The glaring ommission in Mr. Krugman's article is racism. Further, he doesn't trace the root of the rot within the GOP far enough back.- it has been this way since at least the Southern Strategy.
https://politicsmeanspolitics.com/the-trumpian-christian-fascist-soft-co...
https://politicsmeanspolitics.com/the-trumpian-christian-fascist-soft-co...
10
They, the cherished "working Americans" VOTED for this.
Let them sink in their ignorance.
Let them sink in their ignorance.
12
And that statement makes just about as heartless as the GOP wealth care bill.
Please do not allow anyone to "sink in ignorance". Remember that most people voted AGAINST Donald Trump.
1
And take all those who didn't bother to vote with them...
'“We’re talking about a great, great form of health care,” President Trump said at midweek, with all the conviction of someone peddling the fraud of Trump University.'
What an apt description! Americans should remember not only the cruelty of the GOP agenda but also the party's acceptance as their standard bearer of a heartless and patently ignorant buffoon.
What an apt description! Americans should remember not only the cruelty of the GOP agenda but also the party's acceptance as their standard bearer of a heartless and patently ignorant buffoon.
28
Thank you!!
3
"Why such a cruel bill, then? You can start at the top, with a petty, soulless president ...."
Indeed, let's start with Reagan.
Indeed, let's start with Reagan.
33
Amazing that the Religious Right keeps supporting politicians that want to hurt disadvantaged Americans. They are truly the most despicable in my mind and has converted me to a Fully Secular Free thinking thinking individual.
It doesn't matter which brand of the Religious right - all about ignorant paranoia.
Maybe this will wake them up and stop listening to Jerry Falwell Jr & the rest of this evil breed.
It doesn't matter which brand of the Religious right - all about ignorant paranoia.
Maybe this will wake them up and stop listening to Jerry Falwell Jr & the rest of this evil breed.
25
I'd like to approach this with an open mind. What IF the GOP health plan really was better?
On MSNBC, I've seen people interviewed about their health problems and concerned for their lives. Like the boy flat on his back, emaciated because he can't move, and communicates with a computer with index finger movements. So he and his mom are concerned about Medicaid cuts.
My challenge to the republicans would be: How would this boy go on living and continue healthcare under the new plan?
The president makes proclamations like "this will be the greatest health care ever". That doesn't really answer the question for this boy and his mom.
Senate backers respond by saying "this boy will be taken care of with the new bill". That doesn't really answer the question either.
Out here in tv land, most of us wonder how in fact this boy would be taken care of. Can the bill backers walk us through this case, with some specifics?
On MSNBC, I've seen people interviewed about their health problems and concerned for their lives. Like the boy flat on his back, emaciated because he can't move, and communicates with a computer with index finger movements. So he and his mom are concerned about Medicaid cuts.
My challenge to the republicans would be: How would this boy go on living and continue healthcare under the new plan?
The president makes proclamations like "this will be the greatest health care ever". That doesn't really answer the question for this boy and his mom.
Senate backers respond by saying "this boy will be taken care of with the new bill". That doesn't really answer the question either.
Out here in tv land, most of us wonder how in fact this boy would be taken care of. Can the bill backers walk us through this case, with some specifics?
14
It is time for the Blue states to secede, enough of this nonsense from the Confederates. Let those government haters figure out how to pay their own way. We must rid ourselves of this new Red Menace!
21
"...and many of them will die prematurely because they will not see a doctor in time."
Every legislator and the president, now aware of the deadly implications of this bill, now told, if they yet persist and make this law, shall be complicit in the death it will cause. This is called murder.
Every legislator and the president, now aware of the deadly implications of this bill, now told, if they yet persist and make this law, shall be complicit in the death it will cause. This is called murder.
15
Let's finish this sentence another way.
"Such is the bargain — your health care for my tax cut, and my tax cut can pay for another fat contribution to candidates X,Y, and Z."
Surely our politicians understand that millionaires and billionaires don't need more money.
"Such is the bargain — your health care for my tax cut, and my tax cut can pay for another fat contribution to candidates X,Y, and Z."
Surely our politicians understand that millionaires and billionaires don't need more money.
8
Many of them are likely millionaires, so are greedy and self serving.
Bring back the 10% federal luxury tax. I cannot believe the utter lack of knowledge of history on the part of too many people -- and PS because it's pre -1966 you will NOT find too much info on it on the WEB.. Yes, Virginia, in the 50s and the early 90s there was a 10% luxury tax. on everything from junk jewelry to expensive yachts...which is why our boy Bill Clinton got rid of it...- supposedly a sop to Connecticut yacht industry. One can legally buy a 200 million painting and not pay even state tax- totally legally. TAX THE EXTREMES -- all of them. Too expesnive everything.. and on things like automobiles and homes perhaps it will be arbitrary.. but is a gas tax (e.g.) really fair? The only fair taxes are on income.. and something like this -- a tax on the wants not on the needs. LUXUY TAX-- BACK NOW.
17
Yep. Wokrd so well the last time, the tax collected little revenue. The rich stopped buying new planes yachts and jewelry. But, the Luxury Tax devastated the light aircraft industry, the fur industry and the yacht building industry. But the workers deserved to lose their jobs. They catered to the plutocrats and their painted bejeweled "wi,em."
Here is a suggestion for Trump and all those who are part of this sociopathic Republican Administration: Consider reading the Preamble to the Constitution every night and then do an examination of conscience on how well you did that day in advancing the purposes and guiding principles enumerated there: "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility...promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."
Nothing there about championing tax cuts for the well-heeled.
Nothing there about championing tax cuts for the well-heeled.
46
Perhaps it is time to start reading again, Rob. The Founders would never in a million years have agreed to the federal government even knowing all our names, much less supervising the health care or any insurance for our millions of citizens. The philosophy you seem to yearn for crashed late in 1989 in Russia.
Another detail unknown to the non-reading progressives is that Trump is probably the least partisan President we've had in generations. A lifelong big-city Democrat liberal, he only got seriously into politics thanks to a public insult delivered by angry Barack the Brittle a few years ago.
In every important way, your idol Mr, Obama bequeathed us Donald Trump, he of the world's thinnest skin and quickest temper.
Another detail unknown to the non-reading progressives is that Trump is probably the least partisan President we've had in generations. A lifelong big-city Democrat liberal, he only got seriously into politics thanks to a public insult delivered by angry Barack the Brittle a few years ago.
In every important way, your idol Mr, Obama bequeathed us Donald Trump, he of the world's thinnest skin and quickest temper.
The Preamble to the Constitution is the "Mission Statement" for the country. The constitution itself is the "by-laws" How can so many corporate citizens who deal with these types of reality every day in business, not understand this point? Unless they truly don't believe in the "Mission Statement" and it's all just window-dressing and "show" for the Rubes.
1
The Republican health legislation is cruel, heartless and indefensible. For those in power who who espouse the virtues of faith as the foundation of their character, there is nothing at all Christian about abandoning those most in need.
22
Gee, you would think Pious Pence would jump up and denounce it! No? Too busy stuffing his face at the billionaires' banquet table along with most of the supremes.
Warren Buffett is an excellent model that the well-heeled should emulate, and John Kasich is one that all politicians should emulate. Both are the antithesis of the sociopaths in this Republican administration, and understand what is required to advance the public/common good, as well as "Make America Great Again."
19
Thanks to our advertisement-saturated, dumbed-down culture, maybe you can fool far too many Americans most of the time--but hopefully not forever.
If Trump isn't a screaming wake-up call to get back to sanity, political responsibility, and democracy, then we really are hopeless as a citizenry.
If Trump isn't a screaming wake-up call to get back to sanity, political responsibility, and democracy, then we really are hopeless as a citizenry.
19
I'm in the 1%, pay these outrageous taxes, and would undo Obamacare in a minute to reverse them. I find it outrageous, stunning, truly awful that I was targeted to pay for this. Why not fund it like Medicare so that everyone pays? Because Obama made a campaign promise to spread the wealth? My wealth? That I worked for? NO WAY.
I'm not against healthcare for all, even single payer. What I resent deeply is that I was disproportionately targeted, and that I pay far, far more tax than my fair share (50% combined). And yes my tax burden impacts my lifestyle, and the savings that I'll be able to pass to my kids.
I'm not against healthcare for all, even single payer. What I resent deeply is that I was disproportionately targeted, and that I pay far, far more tax than my fair share (50% combined). And yes my tax burden impacts my lifestyle, and the savings that I'll be able to pass to my kids.
1
I find your response truly puzzling. I too am in the 1%, pay 50% taxes and yes it impacts my lifestyle and savings for my kids. However I see the very real value that I get for my tax dollars, especially those spent of social services for the less wealthy. I have travelled to countries with lower taxes on the wealthy where I saw children scrambling over garbage dumps to find food. I've been to countries with higher taxes where the streets were clean, public transportation efficient and crime non-existent. A healthy, well fed, well educated population benefits all of us.
You feel disproportionately targeted by taxes but I feel disproportionately benefitted. Both my husband and myself, now quite wealthy, came from lower class families, his parents were down-right poor. I was born in the charity ward of a public hospital. Our success, all that we have and can offer our children and grandchildren, we owe to living in a country that offers poor children decent healthcare, a decent education and a way upward out of poverty. I'm happy and feel privileged to pay for that.
You feel disproportionately targeted by taxes but I feel disproportionately benefitted. Both my husband and myself, now quite wealthy, came from lower class families, his parents were down-right poor. I was born in the charity ward of a public hospital. Our success, all that we have and can offer our children and grandchildren, we owe to living in a country that offers poor children decent healthcare, a decent education and a way upward out of poverty. I'm happy and feel privileged to pay for that.
53
You sound like a lovely person, thanks!
8
Whaaaa....whaaaa....whaaaa....
My father used to tell folks who complained about paying their share of taxes that he was happy to pay his 50% to the Country that provided him the opportunity to succeed.
Personally I would tax wealth over one billion dollars at 99%.
My father used to tell folks who complained about paying their share of taxes that he was happy to pay his 50% to the Country that provided him the opportunity to succeed.
Personally I would tax wealth over one billion dollars at 99%.
5
I've said it before and I'll say it again: We need campaign finance reform. The current system of unlimited wealth disadvantages the majority opinion in favor of a narrow elite with absolutely no consequences. Case in point: At least 40 Republican Senators support the RRA and over two hundred Representatives voted for the House bill. This despite a massive groundswell of public disgust. Elections are decided on identity politics but policy is entirely about class. Republicans have clearly shown which class they represent.
16
I have read many articles about the unfairness of the Republican health care plan. I believe it. I get it. The thing I don't get is why on earth anybody would want this plan.
9
They don't care about this plan because they get free, unlimited care at Walter Reed Hospital.
And the President gets his free, annual check-up by an Admiral or a General.
And the President gets his free, annual check-up by an Admiral or a General.
Heartless short sighted men who care nothing about the American people and a President who is all image and no substance, who will sign anything without reading it, let alone understanding it, simply to be able to declare a win.
14
Thanks for the numbers. The ongoing criminalization of poverty, vote theft, and stealing from the public to give to the rich would make a grown human cry. WWJD? He certainly would not be "more catholic than the pope" by claiming wealth and power excuse elimination of everyone else.
Sad.
Sad.
20
This bill does not slash Medicaid, it slows the growth to only spending $73 Billion more in the next ten year. I'm struggling middle class and my premiums have gone up 200% in the last four years under Obama Care and no one cared about that. Please stop the melodrama.
5
Ummm. actually everyone cared about that...that's the part of the ACA in need of fixing. But as to WHY the premiums went up look to the drama the GOP has fomented for the last 8 years. The uncertainty created by constant attempts to repeal, the defunding of start-up price supports that caused some exchanges to fail, and the problem with appeasing the GOP with provisions in the bill in the first place to make it an individual priced insurance market rather than a group priced one. I know that my employer pays far less for an excellent group plan with low deductibles than any individual plan on the market. Why the insurance industry in this country is structured that way is beyond understanding. All insurance of any kind - be it property, auto or health is socialized in some ways - a dirty word in our society, but true. Everyone is paying for the person who's house burns down, or the person who gets cancer, the farther this cost is spread around the population whether paid for by employers/individuals or government, the lower the cost should be. Except when you have a profit motive that is out of line with what most people can afford. What would stabilize prices I think, would be for everyone's insurance to be reasonably priced, perhaps supported by the government through some taxation, and everyone having access to the same level of care. It's called Medicare.
15
Have premiums ever gone down? How fast were they rising before the ACA? And how fast will they continue to rise under either the House or the Senate bills? If you're older, we know the answer -- it's an order of magnitude.
That's the comparison.
That's the comparison.
1
Actually, the reason we are having this national debate on health insurance is because so many of us have experienced the same thing you have, and we do care! Maybe you can afford a 200% increase. Most of us can not. We need th subsidies offered under the ACA, and we are also very much in favor of finding ways to slow the growth in cost. The ACA actually included some interesting ideas, like health co-ops, that were almost immediately defended by the GOP. This latest senate version is not a serious attempt to repair the ACA or to innovate. It is a cynical ploy to fulfill a vacuous 7 year campaign promise to people who have no understanding of how our wildly capricious health insurance system operates.
"your health care for my tax cut". That is a widely accepted view of the GOP healthcare bills. But can the rich really be all that impressed by a percent or so tax reduction. As Buffet pointed out tin Judy Woodward, his tax rate already is about 16-17%, a bit less than his lowest paid employee.
The tax cut is a red herring. So is the GOP "concern" about healthcare. The purpose in cutting Medicaid is to create a groundswell of dismay and discontent that will drive home the need to replace representative government with a few billionaire oligarchs whose wealth is sufficient evidence that they are the chosen ones.
The tax cut is a red herring. So is the GOP "concern" about healthcare. The purpose in cutting Medicaid is to create a groundswell of dismay and discontent that will drive home the need to replace representative government with a few billionaire oligarchs whose wealth is sufficient evidence that they are the chosen ones.
11
Both sides are telling us lies. We have an aging population, a shrinking economy, and an ever increasing buffet of high cost medical procedures that everyone wants access to.
Back in the day health care was affordable because there wasn't much of it. My grandparents did not take statins or insulin; did not have by-pass surgery; and only one of the four lived past 70 and saw the inside of a nursing home.
We have to stop pretending that each and every American can have the very best of everything at no cost. I take 3 medications at a cost of $12,000/year. They improve my quality of life but I will not die without them. My father received a hip replacement at 85, he had full blown dementia. Medicare paid the full cost. My sister had a patient who underwent an operation before birth, the child will suffer lifelong complications, the cost for her care will run into the millions.
No one wants to talk about whether or not our tax dollars should be spent to support these types of medical interventions. We have put medical care into a separate category where it is immoral to talk about cost/benefit. As a consequence the decisions are being made ad hoc and do not serve the greater good. Poor children live without crucial care. The elderly get surgery they don't need. Pharma advertisements lead to over-prescription of unnecessary medications.
We need a rational healthcare policy that addresses these difficult choices. Don't hold your breath.
Back in the day health care was affordable because there wasn't much of it. My grandparents did not take statins or insulin; did not have by-pass surgery; and only one of the four lived past 70 and saw the inside of a nursing home.
We have to stop pretending that each and every American can have the very best of everything at no cost. I take 3 medications at a cost of $12,000/year. They improve my quality of life but I will not die without them. My father received a hip replacement at 85, he had full blown dementia. Medicare paid the full cost. My sister had a patient who underwent an operation before birth, the child will suffer lifelong complications, the cost for her care will run into the millions.
No one wants to talk about whether or not our tax dollars should be spent to support these types of medical interventions. We have put medical care into a separate category where it is immoral to talk about cost/benefit. As a consequence the decisions are being made ad hoc and do not serve the greater good. Poor children live without crucial care. The elderly get surgery they don't need. Pharma advertisements lead to over-prescription of unnecessary medications.
We need a rational healthcare policy that addresses these difficult choices. Don't hold your breath.
23
Funny that the rest of the industrialized world provides these benefits to EVERYONE at far less cost that the US. Of course, they do away with for-profit insurers.
9
Stop with the "both sides". Only one side are liars in this discussion and it is the party that promised you that Trumpcare would provide better coverage for less money. And give a tax break to billionaires, too!
The Democrats have been talking about these issues for years. In fact the Republicans immediately shouted "DEATH PANELS". You think that's a "both sides problem"? In fact, it is people like YOU who are at fault in this. Shouting "both sides" are bad is a way to enable the Republican lies. You got your President Trump based on the "both sides are lying" argument and now you own him until you stop with your very dishonest "both sides".
The Democrats have been talking about these issues for years. In fact the Republicans immediately shouted "DEATH PANELS". You think that's a "both sides problem"? In fact, it is people like YOU who are at fault in this. Shouting "both sides" are bad is a way to enable the Republican lies. You got your President Trump based on the "both sides are lying" argument and now you own him until you stop with your very dishonest "both sides".
1
Regarding the GOP politicians perpetrating this outrage, there are some who are doing it because they're ideologues. These are actually the least morally culpable because at least an ideologue has some semblance of conviction. But there are more who are bought and paid for. And with ALL of them there is this, the most disturbing of all: They do this because they can. They can because our gerrymandered voting districts make them impervious to political blow back. So there it is -- there we have it: our democracy no longer exists. It has been killed by a thousand cuts and some major slashes: Citizens United, the loss of the Congress and state houses to the GOP during the 2010 census year which enabled the GOP to engage nationwide in highly sophisticated, computer-assisted gerrymandering, and the voter suppression laws passed by these same GOP state legislatures. A functioning democracy does not permit the passage -- or even the serious consideration -- of a law which would actually kill ten of thousands of its citizens, as would the abomination of a "health care" law now before Congress.
17
The election of Trump was like turning over a rock (call it the US) and revealing all the ugliness underneath. Just a few days from the 4th of July and I am thoroughly ashamed of being an American. To all the citizens of the world who read the NYT and these comments: This president and his administration, and this congress, do not represent me. They only represent the ugly underside of that rock.
46
Frontier Airlines has flights leaving for Edmonton every 3 hours. GOOD LUCK! Eh..
Many of us wish it were possible to leave.
1
V O T E = Victory Over the Establishment It is our only non-violent tool to get out of this horrible situation we have created. Powerful people and groups are working 24/7 to take our voting power and basic freedoms away. That is a fact.
Follow the money and prove it to yourself.
Follow the money and prove it to yourself.
Mr. Egan's comments here to those of us who remember the Reagan years resonate with the notions of "welfare queens" and lazy proletarians who nurse off the efforts of the "working class." The present situation goes back to the GIpper, who like Trump was a hollow public figure. The current GOP is more reflective of Reagan's gentleman rhetoric with the same underlying disregard for the poor than 45's poisonous personal attacks and craving for adulation. The GOP congress know now that anything they can push through will arrive at Trump's desk and be signed without being read or even given a whit of consideration.
36
I often wonder what the citizens of, just for example, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Bhutan, Botswana, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine or the United Kingdom think of our national inability to provide for the health of our fellow citizens.
But probably it's too difficult for them to wrap their minds around our special US reality: one of the richest countries on the planet collectively refuses to use its wealth to protect its own citizens' lives.
But probably it's too difficult for them to wrap their minds around our special US reality: one of the richest countries on the planet collectively refuses to use its wealth to protect its own citizens' lives.
38
Governments don't have wealth people do. And yes those countries you listed will wonder why the US doesn't take more wealth from their citizens like they do.
5
One thing I can tell you Mitch is that I am 100% grateful to have been born Australian, probably like everyone on that list - and you're right, like everyone I know I find it impossible to comprehend how you've been conned by the insurance industry for decades - big pharma and big insurance have done a real number on the American population. Very sad .
8
Alison, Australia had its one party plan, Medibank. It was a disaster and was repealed when the other party got in office. Not until Australia had a bipartisan plan did its "Medicare" plan become sustainable. So please no lectures from down under.
It's just another step in the Republican plan to destroy the USA as we once knew it.
17
Notice the latent grumblings about bipartisanship and making health care great again? The best thing about the Republican health care debacle is that we all realize that the only real fix is single-payer.
21
Yes, perhaps this is all a painful but necessary detour to arrive at that conclusion!
Timothy Egan is right. We are in the bracket where we pay a significant amount of extra taxes for Medicare and the Obamacare surcharge. We barely notice the extra taxes and it has no effect on our spending or future outlook. We would never accept taking Medicaid and health insurance from others in exchange for cutting our taxes. We think most other wealthy people see it the same way.
We care deeply about providing services for the disabled, such as adults and children with autism, older folks who need nursing care, and poor people. Is the republican plan to put them out on the street to die?
It's very hard to understand the mentality of wealthy folks who really want to cut their already modest taxes and take essential services from the disabled, poor, and elderly. Expressions like morally bankrupt and supremely selfish don't do justice. I can only hope that the proportion of wealthy people with that attitude is very small.
We care deeply about providing services for the disabled, such as adults and children with autism, older folks who need nursing care, and poor people. Is the republican plan to put them out on the street to die?
It's very hard to understand the mentality of wealthy folks who really want to cut their already modest taxes and take essential services from the disabled, poor, and elderly. Expressions like morally bankrupt and supremely selfish don't do justice. I can only hope that the proportion of wealthy people with that attitude is very small.
36
I also pay a lot of these taxes couldn't disagree more. I shouldn't have been targeted with them and would undo Obamacare in a minute. I would also cap Medicaid as it's a runaway budget disaster waiting to happen. Unlike you, I don't feel guilty for my success, and expect others to get their grubby hands out of my pockets.
1
@DRS, thanks for being up front with your views.
However, you incorrectly assume that I feel guilty about my success. I worked very hard for it. Like everyone who did well I also benefited from some luck, and I treated everyone fairly along the way. I'm very proud of all of it.
No, this is about doing the right thing - we all know what that is - and making this country a great place for my kids, the people they interact with, and future generations. The right combination of empathy and enlightened self interest.
However, you incorrectly assume that I feel guilty about my success. I worked very hard for it. Like everyone who did well I also benefited from some luck, and I treated everyone fairly along the way. I'm very proud of all of it.
No, this is about doing the right thing - we all know what that is - and making this country a great place for my kids, the people they interact with, and future generations. The right combination of empathy and enlightened self interest.
6
You should support Medicare for all because it is LESS expensive than for profit health care. You would benefit.
6
Congress takes no such oath. -Oh wait, they kind of do. "...well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office..." Empty words.
8
First, they came after Planned Parenthood but as a male there was only a small chance I would need their services. Then, they came after Medicaid but my immediate family is fortunate enough to have good insurance coverage for the present time. Next, they took the proceeds from the medical care removed from millions of my fellow citizens and gave them to the ultra-wealthy, but even we might see a few dollars taken off our tax bill. Finally, they came after Medicaid just as I was about to need it . . .
18
There is actually solid evidence that the expansion of Medicaid has resulted in more deaths per year than prior to Medicaid expansion. Since the largest tax increase in the history of mankind went in to effect with the passage of the ACA....health outcomes for Americans has declined, costs have soared, and mortality rates have dropped for the firs time in 100 years.
And yet...we hear applause from the Left that this is the Way..the one true path to Gaia.
Enough already. Able bodied Americans should be working. Able bodied Americans don't need Medicaid for All. They need to work. They need to be coached, coaxed and maybe cajoled into working. They might even need a bit of a state subsidy to get them to relocate to the middle part of PA where the job demand is strong, but labor supply is low.
I don't really know what the Progressive end game is...but I can point to millions of people in Eastern Europe, Venezueala and elsewhere who would warn our nation of the perils of 'socialsm' and it's deep rooted desire to control society through a network of academics and 'experts' who have proven themselves to be anything but.
And yet...we hear applause from the Left that this is the Way..the one true path to Gaia.
Enough already. Able bodied Americans should be working. Able bodied Americans don't need Medicaid for All. They need to work. They need to be coached, coaxed and maybe cajoled into working. They might even need a bit of a state subsidy to get them to relocate to the middle part of PA where the job demand is strong, but labor supply is low.
I don't really know what the Progressive end game is...but I can point to millions of people in Eastern Europe, Venezueala and elsewhere who would warn our nation of the perils of 'socialsm' and it's deep rooted desire to control society through a network of academics and 'experts' who have proven themselves to be anything but.
Erica please provide your solid evidence, we are waiting.
12
Great parody!
7
Correlation is not causation!
Nice try...
Nice try...
9
It's interesting. The 3.8% and 0.9% surtaxes were enacted for the first time as part of the ACA and there are some people who thought it was unfair to pay for the ACA with a targeted tax aimed at the people who derived the least benefit from the ACA. Now, just a few years later, others view those taxes as part of the baseline, so undoing them would be regarded by some (including Mr. Egan) as a giveaway to the rich rather than a correction of earlier flawed policy.
The 3.8% Medicare tax on high earners taxes investment income the same way as earned income. Why should minimum wage employees pay this tax (@2.9%) on their first and last dollar, but not high-income taxpayers who earn most of their money from investments?
The fact that these people don't benefit from ACA is a strange argument for not paying the tax. I don't benefit from American military interventions abroad or oil and gas subsidies, but still have a legal obligation to pay my taxes. Or taxes voluntary only when it comes to helping other people?
The fact that these people don't benefit from ACA is a strange argument for not paying the tax. I don't benefit from American military interventions abroad or oil and gas subsidies, but still have a legal obligation to pay my taxes. Or taxes voluntary only when it comes to helping other people?
8
GOP stands for greedy old people. They are easily manipulated because they want to believe that anyone poorer than themselves are that way because they are lazy. Reagan showed them the way to get people to vote against their own best interest. Blame the poor, the immigrant, the minority for all evils including taxes.
27
@Tom: Day that Obama donates a majority percentage of all his honorariums for speaking engagements, and the 60 million signing bonus he received from his publisher back to the people, to us ,the tax paying voters who put him in office, and without whose endorsement he would not have been elected President, is the day that I will agree with you that yes, the GOP has a monopoly on greed.Obama has never done anything, as I understand, that could be qualiifed as altruism,even so much as adopt a homeless pet from an animal shelter, and what is true for him is true for his predecessors. Politicians enter politics to get rich, and incidentally to serve the people, but above all to enrich themselves. Have you ever heard of a politician who entered political arena poor and did not come out wealthy?Remember Karl Moscowitz's wise words: There is only one party, the party of money.
2
"...this is the broadest attack on working Americans by a governing political party in our lifetime."
Don't forget GW Bush's plan to "allow" Americans to invest their Social Security savings in the stock market and manage it themselves. Considering how things went in October of 2008, one might want to ponder how that transfer of funds would have worked out for the poor. Of course, AIG and Goldman Sachs would have survived, so I guess it would have been good for America.
Don't forget GW Bush's plan to "allow" Americans to invest their Social Security savings in the stock market and manage it themselves. Considering how things went in October of 2008, one might want to ponder how that transfer of funds would have worked out for the poor. Of course, AIG and Goldman Sachs would have survived, so I guess it would have been good for America.
24
Correction, the only thing that anyone in America making $55K/year can afford, if everything else in their life is going well, is the monthly premium for the scam that is called health insurance. If you need health care and the need is for something like treatment for a broken limb, cancer, asthma, heart disease, or some other condition or accident, you cannot afford it. That is the reality for most Americans today whether they are being "covered" by their employer's insurance or through the ACA.
13
Here's a radical idea. We have both a significant National Debt and an annual deficit, which the alarmist GOP wail about when it asked to pay for services for the needy, sick or elderly, but seem to ignore when they demand tax cuts for their corporate benefactors and wealthy patrons. Let's eliminate the two tiered system of taxes for income, and tax all income -- earned and unearned (sometimes referred to as investment income) at the same rates. 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 35%, 39.5% -- unearned income taxed at whatever rate your earned income would be taxed. With so many hedge fund/private equity guys (let's face it, they are almost all guys) and other wealthy families and individuals garnering most of their income through capital gains, dividends, etc., why shouldn't they pay the same rate as hard actually working Americans on their income. And the old trope that taxes have already been paid on this money doesn't fly. No one has ever suggested that individuals pay taxes on the amount of the investment. Just on the gain on that investment, which hasn't actually been taxed. So let's be done with the charade that our tax system is either fair or progressive. Only when all income is taxed at the same progressive rates will it be either. And think of all of the good we could do with the increased tax revenues. Reduce the deficit. Pay down the national debt. Fix our roads, bridges, etc. Invest in education, scientific research, innovation. Imagine the dividends on those investments!
22
I have to come back to this one again.
You have answered your own question. When you set up a system where a minority pay all income taxes and the majority think "taxes?" "what are taxes?" or, despite clear evidence to the contrary, believe the "rich" are not paying their share, you have a recipe for heated conflict.
You have answered your own question. When you set up a system where a minority pay all income taxes and the majority think "taxes?" "what are taxes?" or, despite clear evidence to the contrary, believe the "rich" are not paying their share, you have a recipe for heated conflict.
2
Just to get some reality here: the "majority" that you think doesn't pay taxes, pays sales tax, property tax, payroll tax, and state income tax.
18
Also, if the minority you are defending (the rich) pay the majority of taxes it's because our tax system is proportional, meaning that the more money and wealth you have, the higher the percentage of your contribution is going to be (logically...).
So to point out that the rich pay more taxes is equivalent to say that the rich have more money which, of course, it's pretty obvious...
Similarly, to point out that the rich pay the vast majority of taxes, means that the income gap between have and have-nots is very large (which is also pretty obvious...)
So to point out that the rich pay more taxes is equivalent to say that the rich have more money which, of course, it's pretty obvious...
Similarly, to point out that the rich pay the vast majority of taxes, means that the income gap between have and have-nots is very large (which is also pretty obvious...)
3
Susan,
The discussion is regarding Federal income tax rates. Are there proposed changes to property tax and sales tax rates? Those are set by state and local government. Payroll taxes inclusive, the bottom 40% pay 0 to a negative total Federal tax rate. Do the rich not pay property and sales taxes in you neighborhood?
The discussion is regarding Federal income tax rates. Are there proposed changes to property tax and sales tax rates? Those are set by state and local government. Payroll taxes inclusive, the bottom 40% pay 0 to a negative total Federal tax rate. Do the rich not pay property and sales taxes in you neighborhood?
A former friend of mine, a very wealthy woman, who was the only person in her family that worked (because she wanted to, not needed to), once said during a discussion about healthcare, "why should I pay for someone else's healthcare?"
And I have heard that from several other wealthy individuals that oppose medicaid and medicare. -- Just in case you are looking for one reason why some wealthy individuals want to destroy the ACA
And I have heard that from several other wealthy individuals that oppose medicaid and medicare. -- Just in case you are looking for one reason why some wealthy individuals want to destroy the ACA
24
That is so solipsistic and reductive. The health care system is a vast, interconnected network where the parts support the whole, just as the good and bad health of the collective population in the country is interconnected. I don't care how rich you are, if your child goes to school with a kid whose parents refuse vaccinations, it can be the fanciest, most expensive private school in the land and your child could still contract measles, or worse. It doesn't matter if you're the driver or sitting in the back of a limo and there's an accident that results in you being rushed to an overcrowded emergency room visit where you have to wait in a long line based on triage, your bank account isn't relevant, at least until your boutique doctor flies in from the Hamptons.
My retort to people like your friend is, why should I endorse giving you, a trust fund baby who is working for a sense of purpose, not survival, a tax cut when the only people who will benefit from your fattening bank account are the low wage workers who attend to your family's properties?
My retort to people like your friend is, why should I endorse giving you, a trust fund baby who is working for a sense of purpose, not survival, a tax cut when the only people who will benefit from your fattening bank account are the low wage workers who attend to your family's properties?
5
That's Republicanism in a nutshell. Everyone for themselves.
It's no wonder this country is losing its moral compass; the Republican Party has been promoting greed, selfishness, and contempt for "the other" for decades.
It's no wonder this country is losing its moral compass; the Republican Party has been promoting greed, selfishness, and contempt for "the other" for decades.
6
When my relative visited us from Spain and friend asked,"Do you mind that your taxes pay for somebody else's healthcare?" My relative was puzzled. It took him a minute or two to understand the question before he answered, "Of course not."
5
What motivates Republicans to cater to the wealthy and to ignore the price for it that's paid by the poor? Indifference. Nothing to gain by helping the poor. Over thirty years ago I was a Republican who worked as an attorney for a standing committee of the US Senate. What I heard often was,"Nobody cares about poor people; poor people don't vote." Seeing my look of horror the speaker would invariably say, "Sorry, Riley, but that's the truth." And its truth is proven time and time again.
22
The Kochs and their ilk want their taxes reduced to 0%. And then they want tax credits on top of that. They want nothing to do with military service, other than that it continue to protect them and their assets, but at no cost to them in the form of their cash or, and especially, their blood. To accomplish this, they buy themselves a political party. They spend more money on this collection of avidly willing soul-sellers than they would have to pay in taxes to get the taxes they can't evade lowered or completely eliminated.
A single dollar means the world to many. These people protect the assets of the rich at the cost of their health and lives. In America this is called "equality."
A single dollar means the world to many. These people protect the assets of the rich at the cost of their health and lives. In America this is called "equality."
It starts in the schools. De facto "education" is surely an early contributor to the inability to think critically and fairly. Our children learn that criticizing, as the President does on Twitter, is everybody's right. It is essentially seen as a release of frustration. It's a public version of the "ain't it a shame" game. There is only the faintest connection to rational and sober criticism, which is not confined to the negative. In the ELHI universe, criticism is not rewarded; but unofficial complaining is tolerated as a perceived pressure relief valve.
We see the result of over fifty years of clamping down on critical thought. The inconvenience of dissent has dominated political thinking. This is not limited to one Party. The Sixties scared the establishment. Ideas took root in the populace in spite of massive establishment efforts. The individual educated citizen's contribution has been significantly muted. One person-one vote goes against the myth that selfless "experts" and authorities have the only eye on truth. Vetted organizations and licensing authorities screen out original thoughts early in any process that can bring security and wealth to the average individual.
Politicians kiss up to ignorant voters. Those who know how to use the system find a source of abundant control at their fingertips.
We see the result of over fifty years of clamping down on critical thought. The inconvenience of dissent has dominated political thinking. This is not limited to one Party. The Sixties scared the establishment. Ideas took root in the populace in spite of massive establishment efforts. The individual educated citizen's contribution has been significantly muted. One person-one vote goes against the myth that selfless "experts" and authorities have the only eye on truth. Vetted organizations and licensing authorities screen out original thoughts early in any process that can bring security and wealth to the average individual.
Politicians kiss up to ignorant voters. Those who know how to use the system find a source of abundant control at their fingertips.
3
Does anyone wonder why the Republicans are acting as though they never have to get people to vote for them again? I'd keep a close eye on the 'voting fraud commission' and the continued threats to the electoral process (from both within and outside of the government).
21
And, for a clear-eyed analysis listen to Amy Goodman at Democracy Now.
4
I will say this again although I have written it many times and thought and said it many more. We are in this horrible position because too many Americans aren't effective participants in our own government process. First, many don't keep up even on the news or do any reading to inform themselves about what is going on in America that might affect them and those that they care about. Many Americans only get information from Fox and right-wing radio which present everything with a deep bias that amounts to no more than rank dishonesty. These Americans know only the lies and propaganda that they have been presented. And most importantly, too many Americans do not register and vote in their own best interests in every election. Trump and the GOP are in total power because of all of the factors above and probably some foreign interference that has yet to be completely investigated.
If this bill becomes law, Trump supporters will be either shocked to discover that they can no longer afford or get any kind of healthcare coverage or blame Obama and the Democrats because that's what Fox and the GOP have told them is the truth. Many affluent Trump supporters feel and believe that it is about time to stop "helping others" and get the biggest share of the pie for themselves that they can.
America is on the path to destroying itself and much of what it stands for. We ordinary citizens need to wake up.
If this bill becomes law, Trump supporters will be either shocked to discover that they can no longer afford or get any kind of healthcare coverage or blame Obama and the Democrats because that's what Fox and the GOP have told them is the truth. Many affluent Trump supporters feel and believe that it is about time to stop "helping others" and get the biggest share of the pie for themselves that they can.
America is on the path to destroying itself and much of what it stands for. We ordinary citizens need to wake up.
22
Congressional republicans aren't working for any of us. They are still trying to defeat President Obama, and they never will. He wasn't perfect, but he was a president for all of us, even those who inexplicably reviled him for 8 years. Now we have a president for none of us and a republican congress driven to defeat the past rather than win the future. Their so-called policy is driven, in my opinion, by their sad, wounded egos. If they "win," no one wins but themselves, for no reason but for their obsession with a contest in which, whether they win or lose, they will always be "big league losers."
11
"Another eminently sensible Midwesterner, Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, is equally perplexed.”
Sensible??
1) He’s a Republican
2) This guy has done more to stop ALL abortions in Ohio than any other governor!
Ohio Governor John Kasich has put the U.S. one step closer to overturning Roe v. Wade.
On Dec. 13, he signed a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
This latest ban doesn’t contain an exception for rape or incest survivors. It only allows abortions after 20 weeks if a woman is facing a life-threatening medical emergency that will either kill her or cause “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
Reversible impairment, or destruction of bodily function that isn’t “major,” doesn’t count.
The Ohio legislature specifically says that impairment of a woman’s mental health does not qualify as a health exception.
Kasich ALSO wrote a law that a woman CANNOT get an abortion “just because the baby has Down’s Syndrome!” There is NOTHING in Roe v Wade where a woman needs to give a reason for a legal abortion.
The anti-abortion movement is intentionally opaque about their actual goal — BAN ALL ABORTIONS, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST OR A PREGNANT WOMAN’S HEALTH.
Eminently sensible? Choose another hero Mr. Egan.
Sensible??
1) He’s a Republican
2) This guy has done more to stop ALL abortions in Ohio than any other governor!
Ohio Governor John Kasich has put the U.S. one step closer to overturning Roe v. Wade.
On Dec. 13, he signed a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
This latest ban doesn’t contain an exception for rape or incest survivors. It only allows abortions after 20 weeks if a woman is facing a life-threatening medical emergency that will either kill her or cause “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
Reversible impairment, or destruction of bodily function that isn’t “major,” doesn’t count.
The Ohio legislature specifically says that impairment of a woman’s mental health does not qualify as a health exception.
Kasich ALSO wrote a law that a woman CANNOT get an abortion “just because the baby has Down’s Syndrome!” There is NOTHING in Roe v Wade where a woman needs to give a reason for a legal abortion.
The anti-abortion movement is intentionally opaque about their actual goal — BAN ALL ABORTIONS, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST OR A PREGNANT WOMAN’S HEALTH.
Eminently sensible? Choose another hero Mr. Egan.
15
You are incorrect. Hardcore anti-Republicans got the bill passed, but Kasich vetoed this " heartbeat bill". He emphatically protected the rights of people who have been victims of rape or incest.
He did support handing out information to women who have Down's Syndrome fetuses, letting them see what support agencies exist to help families cop with such children.
He did support handing out information to women who have Down's Syndrome fetuses, letting them see what support agencies exist to help families cop with such children.
3
@Jean
This is from John Kasich’s website:
Respecting the Sanctity of Life!
"Throughout his career, John Kasich has been a strong, consistent and committed believer in the sanctity of human life.
During his 18 years in Congress, John Kasich consistently opposed federal funding of abortion and voted to ban partial-birth abortions. As Governor of Ohio, HE HAS ENACTED MORE MEASURES TO PROTECT UNBORN CHILDREN THAN ANY OTHER GOVERNOR IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE, INCLUDING BANS ON LATE-TERM ABORTIONS AND BANS ON ELECTIVE ABORTIONS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS. As a result, on Gov. Kasich’s watch abortions have hit a record low.
Fighting Taxpayer Funding for Planned Parenthood: When John Kasich became governor, the Ohio Department of Health stopped awarding new state dollars to Planned Parenthood. Also, Kasich signed legislation kicking it to the back of the line for the federal government’s family planning grants the Health Department administers. On Feb. 21, 2016, Governor Kasich signed House Bill 294 preventing any taxpayer funds going to organizations that perform abortions like Planned Parenthood.”
https://www.johnkasich.com/respectinghumanlife/
Sure my idea of a “Pro-choice guy!”
This is from John Kasich’s website:
Respecting the Sanctity of Life!
"Throughout his career, John Kasich has been a strong, consistent and committed believer in the sanctity of human life.
During his 18 years in Congress, John Kasich consistently opposed federal funding of abortion and voted to ban partial-birth abortions. As Governor of Ohio, HE HAS ENACTED MORE MEASURES TO PROTECT UNBORN CHILDREN THAN ANY OTHER GOVERNOR IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE, INCLUDING BANS ON LATE-TERM ABORTIONS AND BANS ON ELECTIVE ABORTIONS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS. As a result, on Gov. Kasich’s watch abortions have hit a record low.
Fighting Taxpayer Funding for Planned Parenthood: When John Kasich became governor, the Ohio Department of Health stopped awarding new state dollars to Planned Parenthood. Also, Kasich signed legislation kicking it to the back of the line for the federal government’s family planning grants the Health Department administers. On Feb. 21, 2016, Governor Kasich signed House Bill 294 preventing any taxpayer funds going to organizations that perform abortions like Planned Parenthood.”
https://www.johnkasich.com/respectinghumanlife/
Sure my idea of a “Pro-choice guy!”
4
Ps to Nueschler:
As a Planned Parenthood supporter, I have been annoyed for some time now that they have been too dumb, or stubborn, to subdivide into two different organizations.
One organization could be the abortion provider, the other --renamed if necessary for sake of funding!!!!--- would be the affiliated separate organization that provides routine medical tests, treatments, teaches youth and others about STDs and birth control, and provides birth control.
It has remarkably stupid not to do that. And Planned Parenthood supporters have had heads buried not to be realistic that this would have protected the vast majority of what the organization does for women.
BUT, we are off tangent again, talking about how no side shares 100% of our beliefs and preferences.
We should stay focused on the topic: we need Republicans and Democrats to fight hard, together, to defeat McConnellcare!!!
As a Planned Parenthood supporter, I have been annoyed for some time now that they have been too dumb, or stubborn, to subdivide into two different organizations.
One organization could be the abortion provider, the other --renamed if necessary for sake of funding!!!!--- would be the affiliated separate organization that provides routine medical tests, treatments, teaches youth and others about STDs and birth control, and provides birth control.
It has remarkably stupid not to do that. And Planned Parenthood supporters have had heads buried not to be realistic that this would have protected the vast majority of what the organization does for women.
BUT, we are off tangent again, talking about how no side shares 100% of our beliefs and preferences.
We should stay focused on the topic: we need Republicans and Democrats to fight hard, together, to defeat McConnellcare!!!
1
"I bet if you asked rich people if they wanted to cut off health care for millions of their fellow citizens in exchange for a bit more money at the end of the year, most of them would say no, that’s crazy."
I think that is exactly where you are wrong. Who do you think funds ALEC, the group that writes these mean spirited laws for all the red states?
My bet is that many of these billionaires would say yes to your question. There is always some biblical passage that can be produced to justify your position.
And I bet that many more of these billionaires would SAY no to your question, and then privately order their lapdogs to enact a law that says yes.
I think that is exactly where you are wrong. Who do you think funds ALEC, the group that writes these mean spirited laws for all the red states?
My bet is that many of these billionaires would say yes to your question. There is always some biblical passage that can be produced to justify your position.
And I bet that many more of these billionaires would SAY no to your question, and then privately order their lapdogs to enact a law that says yes.
12
It's not that I disagree, but this is getting tiresome. I understand what is being proposed, I know who is doing it--though I feel less clear than some about the motivation--and I have a pretty good idea of what the impact would be. What I want somebody to tell me is why voters keep electing Republicans. Republicans haven't done anything for anybody who is not seriously rich since 1980, but they have dominated government for most of the time. Their Democratic opposition is clearly incompetent, but you'd think most Americans would have caught on by now.
13
Why Republicans keep winning elections is because they have perfected the art of demonizing others and inflaming emotions of voters who do not think critically about issue, but instead vote out of bitterness, envy and the desire to punish the "undeserving". Only, unfortunately, these same voters will soon find out that they (the unrich) are among the undeserving "Takers". I.E., there is no Republican empathy for the unemployed, disabled, or disadvantaged. My God, if only they had not squandered the trust funds that all "deserving" people are born with, they wouldn't be in the predicament of needing government help with health insurance, retirement income, or just making a living. The poor just need to buck up and pull themselves up, like the rich have always done!
7
Gerrymandering helps.
1
Last November I was astonished and disheartened to realise that there are apparently many people out there who are fine with inflicting suffering on others. What is now shocking some of them is the dawning realisation that they too may suffer. That was not in their minds. It was only supposed to be those lazy, undeserving "others." You know, THEM -- the ones who don't look like me.
Surprise!
Surprise!
Kudos to the many thoughtful journalists and commentators, including some of the right-leaning ones in the NYT and traditional media, for standing up to the insanity of this health care bill. They have named this for what it is-- a result of a deeply broken and morally bankrupt Republican Party, not just another manifestation of Trump's delusions.
The question is when the Democrats will find a voice. A sharp, clear, consistent message. A giant soft ball has been placed on the tee. Can the Democrats at long last just hit it out of the infield?
The question is when the Democrats will find a voice. A sharp, clear, consistent message. A giant soft ball has been placed on the tee. Can the Democrats at long last just hit it out of the infield?
15
The abject stupidity and dishonesty of the Republicans proposal is best exemplified by the 60-65 year old, pre Medicare eligible person. If the Republican plan passes their premiums will rise, discouraging many from buying insurance ( because they cannot afford it without subsidies) and seeking care. When they are finally eligible for Medicare they will arrive at the doctors office with multiple untreated or un diagnosed medical conditions. This is where any "savings" will be eaten up. Medicare costs will skyrocket as those with deferred treatment show up for fully covered care.
As such, the Republicans plan to cut subsidies and provide a tax cut to the wealthy merely shifts costs for some to Medicare....and won't "save" any money at all.
As such, the Republicans plan to cut subsidies and provide a tax cut to the wealthy merely shifts costs for some to Medicare....and won't "save" any money at all.
6
"Taxes don’t register among the top concerns of people, in poll after poll."
That is because most Americans do not pay any Federal income taxes. The bottom 40% have a negative Federal tax rate that also cancels out SS and Medicare withholding. What's to complain about?
Perhaps the "rich" could care less either.
Believe me, the middle class "care" about taxes. I'm a in the 40% and I pay more in taxes than I do for rent. And I live in an expensive city.
That is because most Americans do not pay any Federal income taxes. The bottom 40% have a negative Federal tax rate that also cancels out SS and Medicare withholding. What's to complain about?
Perhaps the "rich" could care less either.
Believe me, the middle class "care" about taxes. I'm a in the 40% and I pay more in taxes than I do for rent. And I live in an expensive city.
2
But you're not the real beneficiary of their policy.
2
Republicans in congress keep going lower and lower but they never seem to hit the bottom.
14
I think you're exactly on the mark, but especially love your phrase "... lost in the banality of the Beltway box score. . . ." This is one of the things that's making policy making from Washington increasingly irrelevant: the obsession with who's up and who's down; who's winning or losing. Discussions would better focus on what advances the greater good than on "the Beltway box score."
7
this is very much an implementation of the Koch fantasy about trimming government. The idea is not so much to give the rich more money, but to starve government, as we see in so many ways with this administration and GOP lead congress, and stopping care, and all the abominations, are just a side effect of loosening the bonds of all kinds on the libertarians. Starve government, and get all the regulatory stuff put aside.
9
"I'm voting to kick out immigrants, build a wall, lock up minorities, bring God back into government, make guns legal everywhere, and make abortion illegal. What's it gonna cost me?"
"Your first born child"
"Your first born child"
7
I have outrage fatigue. I know I should just turn off the news once in a while, but know I can't afford to. I could "wake up" like Rip Van Winkle and find my 95 year old grandmother with dementia living in my basement, no retirement prospects and Alaska given back to the Russians...
10
From an outsider's point of view what is truly incomprehensible is why the people who will suffer the most from the proposed GOP tax cut for the rich are the very people who support the GOP at the ballot box.
12
Down here, we have no clue either.
9
Dude, Trump "has no more empathy than a sociopath" .... because he IS a sociopath.
Sociopaths aren't just people from movies about knives and showers. A study last year found that 20% of CEO's meet diagnostic criteria, for example. During the campaign there were many public statements by professionals about Trump's mental health, or lack thereof. If the shoe fits ...
Sociopaths aren't just people from movies about knives and showers. A study last year found that 20% of CEO's meet diagnostic criteria, for example. During the campaign there were many public statements by professionals about Trump's mental health, or lack thereof. If the shoe fits ...
10
The BCHA is just the latest push by this sinister putsch to claim the spotlight. Consider the other great works of the Republicans and the Trump "administration":
- The EPA seeks to unfetter industry to pollute the only planet we have.
- The DOE touts coal as our underutilized natural resource.
- The DOS is suffering a wasting syndrome, pulling back from international interaction like a turtle withdrawing its head into its carapace.
- The DHS seeks to build a "great, beautiful wall" and pillory any who might seek safety in our borders who have the "wrong" religion or passport.
- The Dept. of Education seeks to support a Christian system of neo-madrassas to dumb down the populace which might otherwise rise up.
- The Treasury Dept. struggles to find more and more ways to take less and less from those who have more and more.
- The HHS makes no fuss about removing Medicaid funding supporting just under half the nation's pregnancies and 64% of nursing home residents. Its undersecretaries for contraception do not support contraception.
Mr. Trump's and his minions systematically are doing less and less for more and more people in the search to do nothing for everyone. Make America Grate Again.
- The EPA seeks to unfetter industry to pollute the only planet we have.
- The DOE touts coal as our underutilized natural resource.
- The DOS is suffering a wasting syndrome, pulling back from international interaction like a turtle withdrawing its head into its carapace.
- The DHS seeks to build a "great, beautiful wall" and pillory any who might seek safety in our borders who have the "wrong" religion or passport.
- The Dept. of Education seeks to support a Christian system of neo-madrassas to dumb down the populace which might otherwise rise up.
- The Treasury Dept. struggles to find more and more ways to take less and less from those who have more and more.
- The HHS makes no fuss about removing Medicaid funding supporting just under half the nation's pregnancies and 64% of nursing home residents. Its undersecretaries for contraception do not support contraception.
Mr. Trump's and his minions systematically are doing less and less for more and more people in the search to do nothing for everyone. Make America Grate Again.
9
some rich folks just want more and more and more - like the Koch brothers. They don't care if the middle class drops dead because "they earned it"
12
It's probably less the money that drives the Koch bros, and more their obsession with what they think is the fundamentally "right" way to run the country. Many rich billionaires think their wealth demonstrates personal virtue and a definitive grasp of God's will.
3
Although there is a tax cut involved in chopping Medicare, its benefit to the rich is a percent of so. The rich can't be too turned on by that. And the impact of removing healthcare is harsh and evident. So what is going on?? Don't tell me Ryan-McConnell are unaware that the rich are neither here nor there on what they are doing and the poor are in big trouble.
Ryan/McConnell are just spin doctors of course, and don't come up with these things on their own. They are doing what their billionaire sponsors ask of them. And what pushes these billionaires? Are they eager to install a fundamentalist Theocracy? Some are. Are they nuts? Some are.
In any event, it's the program of this activist billionaire madhouse that we have to address.
Ryan/McConnell are just spin doctors of course, and don't come up with these things on their own. They are doing what their billionaire sponsors ask of them. And what pushes these billionaires? Are they eager to install a fundamentalist Theocracy? Some are. Are they nuts? Some are.
In any event, it's the program of this activist billionaire madhouse that we have to address.
7
GOP to America: if you can't afford healthcare, you might as well be dead. Slap that on a bumper sticker and careen around the country looking for votes, why doncha.
8
Culling their OWN herd. I've never accused them of being long term planners. At least, not intentionally. Eventually, you get exactly what you vote for. Enjoy.
4
Don't forget that if we allow the Insurance companies to duck and dive as to what they cover we will have lost the war
4
"Think of it this way: Your car breaks down. You need it to get to work. Indeed, your livelihood depends on it. You call the Republicans. They scrap the car for cash and leave you on the road." Precisely.
We have so many problems we as a people and our government should be addressing: climate chaos (wake up Southerners, it's gonna get hotter), education (to be able to address these problems), energy policy (hello sustainables, goodbye nukes and fossil fuels), the reckless endangerment of our water quality (water is life), and on and on ... also we need an EIS before one foot of that hateful wall goes up between us and Mexico...
Instead we're having to fight our "Representatives" just to try to hang on to healthcare...these people are despicable.
We have so many problems we as a people and our government should be addressing: climate chaos (wake up Southerners, it's gonna get hotter), education (to be able to address these problems), energy policy (hello sustainables, goodbye nukes and fossil fuels), the reckless endangerment of our water quality (water is life), and on and on ... also we need an EIS before one foot of that hateful wall goes up between us and Mexico...
Instead we're having to fight our "Representatives" just to try to hang on to healthcare...these people are despicable.
4
Equally reprehensible to the content of Trumpcare is the way McConnell tried to get it passed. Thankfully, enough Americans spoke out against Trumpcare that it gave several GOP senators the courage to resist McConnell's ploy.
The delay was a win for everyday Americans. But it was only a skirmish. Please keep calling your senators and meeting them during the recess. It is within our power to prevent this catastrophe. But each of us must be willing to speak out to our elected officials.
The delay was a win for everyday Americans. But it was only a skirmish. Please keep calling your senators and meeting them during the recess. It is within our power to prevent this catastrophe. But each of us must be willing to speak out to our elected officials.
4
So here's this "must-pass" legislation on the line, and Donald Trump once again goes after women and their blood.
It really affirms that he's living in his own venomous private world, and everyone else is irrelevant, including RepublIcans and all of the people who voted for him. Ironically, his actions may help defeat the bill. (I hope.)
But in the larger picture, it's hard to see how another three and a half years of this man as president ends without truly terrible things happening.
It really affirms that he's living in his own venomous private world, and everyone else is irrelevant, including RepublIcans and all of the people who voted for him. Ironically, his actions may help defeat the bill. (I hope.)
But in the larger picture, it's hard to see how another three and a half years of this man as president ends without truly terrible things happening.
8
Even liberal outrage is notable for its cowardice and craven kumbaya fantasies. If Timothy Egan is foolish enough to bet on on the magnanimity of America's billionaires ("I bet if you asked rich people if they wanted to cut off health care for millions of their fellow citizens....") he'll deserve the drubbing he gets. Adelson, Thiel, Koch, Schwarzman, Steven Cohen -- or Trump? Remember? The guys who wrote themselves the carried interest loophole?
And as for that avatar of decency and good sense, John Kasich, have a good look at him. Snti-abortion, pro-death penalty, shackle the EPA, privatize prisons, restrict collective bargaining, tax cuts, more charter schools, etc. The man couldn't win an election in any other industrial democracy. But here, he's a "moderate", to be praised.
There's a lot to be said for "good sense", but don't look here.
And as for that avatar of decency and good sense, John Kasich, have a good look at him. Snti-abortion, pro-death penalty, shackle the EPA, privatize prisons, restrict collective bargaining, tax cuts, more charter schools, etc. The man couldn't win an election in any other industrial democracy. But here, he's a "moderate", to be praised.
There's a lot to be said for "good sense", but don't look here.
5
Yes, do no harm. It might help us all to spend some time in meditation these next few days. The War for Independence. The desperate need to get out from under Britain's taxation methods. Taking on new ways of fighting so as to confound the British army's well-disciplined militia. The heroism of a few who fearlessly spoke up in assembly after assembly to rouse the hesitant settlers. The years of bloody struggle to gain a small bit of ground and keep going. George Washington's belief in spite of bloody defeats, freezing winters, no food, desertion of soldiers and betrayals. Sam Adams's fury at England's injustice to us. The men---and women----who sacrificed over and over for something they had never witnessed but believed might happen in this new world. Freedom. Oh, God, how can we even consider allowing 22, 000,000 of us go without life-saving health insurance?
3
I wholeheartedly agree with this editorial, but I think one has to include another ambition the GOP bill exposes and that is their intention to start the process of transforming the social safety net into a voucher system, a form of cutting it off at the knees, at least from a funding perspective. Dumping all of the responsibility on the states is just the first step of the process to free up the federal government from mandates that get in the way of the ability of wholly owned and paid for politicians ability to yes, transfer the contents of the federal treasury into the hands of the private sector in the form of large and unnecessary tax cuts on the bogus premise that it will ... for the first time on record .. inspire huge growth and millions of jobs. In fact, research shows that growth and jobs depend on myriad factors, the least of which involves tax cuts for the wealthy. Ladies and gentleman, I would like to call Kansas to the stand.
6
An abomination !
4
There are fair-minded and philanthropic billionaires and millionaires like Warren Buffet, but when I look at Trump and his proudly "gazillionaire" Cabinet and read about the political machinations of the Kochs, the Mercers, and the Adelsons and their ilk, I have the impression they are "voices crying in the wilderness."
8
From reading Jane Mayer of the New Yorker the radical philosophy of the ultra rich Mercer and Koch families is the modern day driver of this horror show. Mr Merced had said that teachers don't make much money because they aren't valuable but his cat is extremely valuable because the cat gives him pleasure.
15
Yes, it's the more-than-somewhat nutsy billionaires that Ryan-McConnell obey. They're after dismantling the Republic and installing their own weird Theocracy. The USA would not be the first example of a country run by demented oligarchs.
3
'That swap would leave 22 million Americans without health care over the next decade, and many of them will die prematurely because they will not see a doctor in time.'
I guess we all know it but are afraid to say it aloud: the very purpose of this new health care act is to alow the useless, unproductive, poor, possibly black or hispanic people, to not stick around for another decade, just to suck the blood of the hardworking, very wealthy, possibly white people.
It is as simple as that.
I guess we all know it but are afraid to say it aloud: the very purpose of this new health care act is to alow the useless, unproductive, poor, possibly black or hispanic people, to not stick around for another decade, just to suck the blood of the hardworking, very wealthy, possibly white people.
It is as simple as that.
10
You forgot the old. It'll definitely cull the old too.
no more empathy than a sociopath makes Trump a ....
3
If the AmericanMedical Association is so righteous why aren't they supporting universal healthcare ?
5
Listen, don't be such a cynic that you try to denigrate people fighting against McConnellcare.
(Or are you really for the other side that wants McConnellcare.)
Every single major healthcare association has come out against McConnellcare. Be thankful for that!
(Or are you really for the other side that wants McConnellcare.)
Every single major healthcare association has come out against McConnellcare. Be thankful for that!
7
If McConnell is as smart as advocates claim, this cannot be real. This bill and this outcome cannot be the endgame in mind. Not by McConnell. Not by anyone with a brain. It keeps the core of Obamacare, it strips millions of healthcare, it threatens Medicaid recipients, and it raises costs on middle America… all the while giving away the store to the wealthy. Even those supporting survival of the wealthiest cannot stand up and claim this is sensible.
So this is not the end game. There are 3 possibilities here:
1. They are floating such a horrible excuse for a bill as a trial to gauge how low they can go. Start with hell personified, then gradually work your way back to something, just short of hell. Just think how palatable a run-of-the-mill bad bill will look compared to this one.
2. They finally started talking about what it means to “repeal and replace” and realized they had no chance. They realized that “Obamacare” was a republican, market-based approach, and that any attempt to truly replace it would takes loads of effort, with little to no improvement… and who needs that headache. Say to the base “we tried”. And by the way, vote for me.
3. They realize that if an electorate will choose Donald Trump, and support him despite his incompetence, lies, and lack of leadership…. Well heck, they’ll accept anything. They get what they deserve and they don’t deserve decent health care unless they have money, or, of course, a seat in congress.
Get ready for #1
So this is not the end game. There are 3 possibilities here:
1. They are floating such a horrible excuse for a bill as a trial to gauge how low they can go. Start with hell personified, then gradually work your way back to something, just short of hell. Just think how palatable a run-of-the-mill bad bill will look compared to this one.
2. They finally started talking about what it means to “repeal and replace” and realized they had no chance. They realized that “Obamacare” was a republican, market-based approach, and that any attempt to truly replace it would takes loads of effort, with little to no improvement… and who needs that headache. Say to the base “we tried”. And by the way, vote for me.
3. They realize that if an electorate will choose Donald Trump, and support him despite his incompetence, lies, and lack of leadership…. Well heck, they’ll accept anything. They get what they deserve and they don’t deserve decent health care unless they have money, or, of course, a seat in congress.
Get ready for #1
14
" Taxes don't register among the top concerns of people,in poll after poll." Yet many wealthy Republicans, when asked, pulled the lever for DJT for exactly that reason despite a myriad of misgivings. And many still stand with him in the hope that their already low tax rates will be lowered and their businesses will be deregulated. The rest of the populace be damned.
7
Those cynical Republicans who fabricated and trumpeted the notion of Obama Death Panels when the HCRA was passed are now proposing what amounts to Trumpcare Death Panels. The irony and hypocrisy shouldn't be lost on anyone, if they're paying attention.
10
The whole point of this bill is to inflict harm on those who are
boor, sick, disabled, and elderly
Since they do not want to "own" the cruelty, they have to lie
to hide what they are really doing.
They had to draft this monstrosity in secret so that no one
would be able to read it. Theyhad to avoid the Senate
Finacne Committee because the bill would die in that
committee. Heller would be a no and that would be that.
Even the least of us knows the difference between
a pat on the back and a kick in the teeth.
Blmaing the Dems who were excluded from the process
takes absurdity to operatic heights.
The GOP message: if you die you die.
Word
boor, sick, disabled, and elderly
Since they do not want to "own" the cruelty, they have to lie
to hide what they are really doing.
They had to draft this monstrosity in secret so that no one
would be able to read it. Theyhad to avoid the Senate
Finacne Committee because the bill would die in that
committee. Heller would be a no and that would be that.
Even the least of us knows the difference between
a pat on the back and a kick in the teeth.
Blmaing the Dems who were excluded from the process
takes absurdity to operatic heights.
The GOP message: if you die you die.
Word
4
Timothy,
Between 1845-1852 two million souls disappeared from Ireland a land of abundance because of mass starvation. The economists said it was the will of God. The landowners devout Christians all, agreed. For the lucky ones a few months of Hell on Earth would bring them to a different place for a million others their suffering would end.
For Ireland's landowner things could not be better. Food was abundant and food exports boomed new land was acquired to feed the pigs and cattle where formerly only impoverished squatters dwelt.
In 1727 Swift published his Modest Proposal long before the blight hit the peasants only food. Swift's Proposal made no pretense that it was aimed at the wealthy and middle class but I often wonder whether they thought of it simply as Art of the Deal for Peasants or an early exploration of food franchising.
What is the importance of the death of a few million lesser beings when growing the economy and enhancing our personal wealth is why God put us here?
Between 1845-1852 two million souls disappeared from Ireland a land of abundance because of mass starvation. The economists said it was the will of God. The landowners devout Christians all, agreed. For the lucky ones a few months of Hell on Earth would bring them to a different place for a million others their suffering would end.
For Ireland's landowner things could not be better. Food was abundant and food exports boomed new land was acquired to feed the pigs and cattle where formerly only impoverished squatters dwelt.
In 1727 Swift published his Modest Proposal long before the blight hit the peasants only food. Swift's Proposal made no pretense that it was aimed at the wealthy and middle class but I often wonder whether they thought of it simply as Art of the Deal for Peasants or an early exploration of food franchising.
What is the importance of the death of a few million lesser beings when growing the economy and enhancing our personal wealth is why God put us here?
12
MM : apt analogy, capturing the mindset of the guardians of private wealth.
2
Thank you Cheryl
Today was another day when I was contemplated ending my comments. I am happy if only one person sees and understands what I am saying. Too many people who might have benefitted from my education know neither history nor literature. We are the same people we were when Socrates corrupted the youth of Athens by demanding a search for truth.
Today was another day when I was contemplated ending my comments. I am happy if only one person sees and understands what I am saying. Too many people who might have benefitted from my education know neither history nor literature. We are the same people we were when Socrates corrupted the youth of Athens by demanding a search for truth.
1
I would like to see Warren Buffett, George Kaiser, Bill and Melinda Gates and a whole host of billionaires and millionaires come together to decry plans for the tax cuts built into the Trumpcare bill. These are all people who have made a commitment to using their wealth to better society. They are folks that know they can give away more than half of all they own and still be rich. It is obvious that the GOP don't listen to or care about the poor and middle class. Surely they will listen to the folks they consider "their peeps," the super wealthy.
4
I would like to see Warren Buffett, George Kaiser, Bill and Melinda Gates and a whole host of billionaires and millionaires, including Jeff Bezos, come together to use their vast wealth as seed money for the start of a new political party, one that includes moderates from each side, that might give the American voter a chance at a candidate that they could vote for instead of having only the option to vote against the lesser evil.
Our society and economy have politically morphed so that almost all benefits are run down to the richest. It must be like a game to the uber rich to manipulate the almost uber rich into working the whole system in the hopes of joining that top 1%.
Some of the more moderate congressmen, governors, and politicians from both parties are starting to speak out against hurting the poor just so the richest can have a few more bucks.
People like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates finally realized that even if they gave away half their great wealth in one year, they would accrue that much more before the end of that year. It's all part of the system.
Maybe instead of picking and choosing who they think needs help the most, these truly uber rich could fund the political party that will allow people to have some input into their own well-being.
Both political parties have contributed to the concentration of wealth at the very top. It is time for a real shakeup in Washington.
Our society and economy have politically morphed so that almost all benefits are run down to the richest. It must be like a game to the uber rich to manipulate the almost uber rich into working the whole system in the hopes of joining that top 1%.
Some of the more moderate congressmen, governors, and politicians from both parties are starting to speak out against hurting the poor just so the richest can have a few more bucks.
People like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates finally realized that even if they gave away half their great wealth in one year, they would accrue that much more before the end of that year. It's all part of the system.
Maybe instead of picking and choosing who they think needs help the most, these truly uber rich could fund the political party that will allow people to have some input into their own well-being.
Both political parties have contributed to the concentration of wealth at the very top. It is time for a real shakeup in Washington.
Um, those people DO Fund the political party that helps people. It's called the Democrats.
But for some reason, when they do fund it, and Democrats take it, you and your ilk decry them as "corporatist shills."
Can't win for losing with you, can we?
But for some reason, when they do fund it, and Democrats take it, you and your ilk decry them as "corporatist shills."
Can't win for losing with you, can we?
1
What I don't understand about the Republicans' insistence on passing this bill is what they're going to get from it. They look at the polls but they don't see the catastrophe for them in 2018 if they persist in passing this monstrosity? Or do they think that Americans will forget what they have done? That 18 months is too long for the public to remember? Or are they planning on disenfranchising the voting public? I just can't believe that they would be that stupid----that cruel, yes, but that stupid, no.
1
What what are we, the average middle class citizens supposed to do about this? We have been protesting at our senate and representatives offices,making phone calls, writing emails and signing petitions. It all seems to fall on dead ears.
Every day there is another piece of ghastly news of something # 45 said or did. And we, the outraged citizens, continue to read about it and are helpless.
I am embarrassed and sickened by the entire administration. In addition have lost several long term friends as they have stuck with their disgusting Republican Party believing the lies. There is no middle ground anymore.
#45 leaves to visit Poland, Germany and France, in which each county has no American Ambassador. A travesty. I can no longer bare it.
Every day there is another piece of ghastly news of something # 45 said or did. And we, the outraged citizens, continue to read about it and are helpless.
I am embarrassed and sickened by the entire administration. In addition have lost several long term friends as they have stuck with their disgusting Republican Party believing the lies. There is no middle ground anymore.
#45 leaves to visit Poland, Germany and France, in which each county has no American Ambassador. A travesty. I can no longer bare it.
379
Grin and bare it.
Here's what you are supposed to do: Keep it up!
That is part of the Republican game plan KMMA. Make you sick and take away your health coverage.
The Republicans are selling the law with a series of lies which generally escape press scrutiny.
First, the goal of the plan is to reduce premiums. Actually, premium reductions are based upon the downgrading of insurance coverage. These downgrades are accomplished several ways: copays and deductibles go up; exclusions from coverages are expanded; annual and lifetime caps are imposed.
Secondly, the Republicans stress "choice"-the consumer's right to choose the policy best suited for them. The choice is the made by the insurer that packages the policy by price and coverage that is most profitable to the insurer. It is clear what the consumer will choose: low income folks will choose the cheapest policy, as will moderate income people who are generally in current good health.
Third, the Republicans wish to reduce health costs. All they are doing is offering cheaper inferior insurance.
The truth, if it be told, is that principled conservatives believe the "free" market and not government should be responsible for health care. Those markets, to them, are more important than human life and well being.
First, the goal of the plan is to reduce premiums. Actually, premium reductions are based upon the downgrading of insurance coverage. These downgrades are accomplished several ways: copays and deductibles go up; exclusions from coverages are expanded; annual and lifetime caps are imposed.
Secondly, the Republicans stress "choice"-the consumer's right to choose the policy best suited for them. The choice is the made by the insurer that packages the policy by price and coverage that is most profitable to the insurer. It is clear what the consumer will choose: low income folks will choose the cheapest policy, as will moderate income people who are generally in current good health.
Third, the Republicans wish to reduce health costs. All they are doing is offering cheaper inferior insurance.
The truth, if it be told, is that principled conservatives believe the "free" market and not government should be responsible for health care. Those markets, to them, are more important than human life and well being.
14
Paul Ryan, due to tragic family circumstances when he was a child, benefitted from the largesse of the U.S. Government. Mitch McConnell, who suffered from Polio, benefitted from the aid of The March of Dimes. Neither of them has to worry about Health Care for themselves or their families. So the health care plans both had in mind seem doubly cruel. But make no mistake, this is just the beginning of the GOP's grand plan to make the lives of the neediest among us more difficult. For example, cutting SNAP benefits is on their list, a program that is cost efficient and is the difference between no good meals and one good meal a day for a lot of people, many of whom are children. Cutting back EPA regulations that would harm our sources of water. Apparently the GOP seems to think food and water is a luxury, but a Congressman recently made an argument for why there should be a housing allowance in that he has to live in D.C. These people have no shame. F.D.R. is rolling over in his grave.
7
Invoking the Hippocratic Oath is a bipartisan exercise--it involves a political determination as to who is doing more harm.
More to the point of medical associations, no major national group (that I can see) believes this bill is good for the health of the nation: American Nurses Assn., American Hospital Assn., American Assn. of Medical Colleges, American College of Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Assn. of Medicaid Directors, American Psychiatric Assn., Federation of American Hospitals, AARP, American Heart Assn., American Lung Assn. American College of Rheumatology, National Ctr. on Addiction and Substance Abuse, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. These are in addition to the AMA (that represents about 20% of the nations physicians).
More to the point of medical associations, no major national group (that I can see) believes this bill is good for the health of the nation: American Nurses Assn., American Hospital Assn., American Assn. of Medical Colleges, American College of Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Assn. of Medicaid Directors, American Psychiatric Assn., Federation of American Hospitals, AARP, American Heart Assn., American Lung Assn. American College of Rheumatology, National Ctr. on Addiction and Substance Abuse, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. These are in addition to the AMA (that represents about 20% of the nations physicians).
8
If you want to take on the tough topic, focus on how to reign in costs. It's easy to give away someone else's money, it's not so easy to give away your own... and it is the middle class that will increasingly carry the load of health care reform. When you see that the $13+ billion tax on health insurers was quickly passed down to people with private (corporate sponsored) health insurance policies, through greatly increased premiums, you will begin to understand that the cost of health care is as much of a problem as the number of recipients.
1
"They see the Republican plan as a violation of an ancient oath that the best doctors still swear by — first, do no harm."
OK, so now what's second?
The writer needs to confront the fact that the ACA is loaded with poor policy like fudging a minimum benefit level to make healthy kids pay more for nothing.
OK, so now what's second?
The writer needs to confront the fact that the ACA is loaded with poor policy like fudging a minimum benefit level to make healthy kids pay more for nothing.
This IS class warfare and the redistribution of wealth and health from those at the bottom that need it most to survive to those who have way too much wealth and health to know what to do with. The pro-wealthy GOP is squeezing the last "trickle" of blood money from the average citizen to float up to their buoyant yachts.
The GOP's motto is Do Harm if it enriches our patrons. They too have the empathy of a sociopath or a Trump.
Marxists seldom practice what they preach - much like free market capitalists seldom practice what they preach (monopolies, unlimited unquestionable growth in spite of Earthly limits, etc).
The GOP's motto is Do Harm if it enriches our patrons. They too have the empathy of a sociopath or a Trump.
Marxists seldom practice what they preach - much like free market capitalists seldom practice what they preach (monopolies, unlimited unquestionable growth in spite of Earthly limits, etc).
5
Republicans have always represented the interests of the wealthy going back to the founders. Their job is to represent the wealthy and ensure that they pay as little as possible in taxes. Warren Buffett is the exception and many of the wealthy see him as a traitor to his class.
Republicans opposed the new deal. They opposed the great society. Reagan didn't attack the programs that were created because they were popular. He attacked the government and the mythological welfare queen. By giving people some abstract person to look down on he successfully undermined what we expect our government to do for society as a whole.
This plan is cruel and people will be hurt if it passes. But at least the mask has been lifted from the Republican party and we're able to see who they actually serve. Perhaps this is the wakeup call that the American people needed.
Republicans opposed the new deal. They opposed the great society. Reagan didn't attack the programs that were created because they were popular. He attacked the government and the mythological welfare queen. By giving people some abstract person to look down on he successfully undermined what we expect our government to do for society as a whole.
This plan is cruel and people will be hurt if it passes. But at least the mask has been lifted from the Republican party and we're able to see who they actually serve. Perhaps this is the wakeup call that the American people needed.
6
We continue to make the wrong arguments for health care reform. They are all based on the cost of supplying it to the most people. There are fewer and fewer arguments made for the quality of what we have and how it com,pares with other civilized nations who have all, all, all, gone to a universal system and pay so much less than we do for what they get, which is far better than what we get for what we pay.
What will it take for the congress to finally come to the conclusion that Medicare for all solves the problem, once and for all. It works. It works more cheaply than any other system in use at this moment.
Yet our so called leaders can't seem to muster the will to bite the bullet. Think of the pressure it would take off industry, the entity which continues to wail about the tax levels it's obligated to pay, but never does.
Look at every worldwide measure of health care and see where we stand...not very high and then look at who is ahead of us on every scale. It's a no brainer.
But tax cuts for the very wealthy take precedence. How terribly sad!!!!
What will it take for the congress to finally come to the conclusion that Medicare for all solves the problem, once and for all. It works. It works more cheaply than any other system in use at this moment.
Yet our so called leaders can't seem to muster the will to bite the bullet. Think of the pressure it would take off industry, the entity which continues to wail about the tax levels it's obligated to pay, but never does.
Look at every worldwide measure of health care and see where we stand...not very high and then look at who is ahead of us on every scale. It's a no brainer.
But tax cuts for the very wealthy take precedence. How terribly sad!!!!
6
The above comment should be shouted from the rooftops. But even Moderate Republicans in Congress won't consider it bc they can't look past the costs to see the benefits. Until the American public convinces it's congressional representatives that HEALTHCARE IS A RIGHT NOT A PRIVILEGE, nothing will spur Republicans in congress to do the right thing. In addition, Democrats in Congress need to resist the money of the Insurance and Pharma lobbies and vocally support single-payer gov-funded healthcare for all.
4
It's just disingenuous and sloppy not to factor in the additional economic activity (employment) created by the tax cuts. One may believe it's not worth the health care disruption and the economic gain is minimal comparatively, but it's not zero and should be part of the discussion. Sometimes I think journalists are just ignorant of dynamic economics.
@Richven "additional economic activity" employment "created"? by the tax cuts?! If you had been paying attention the analysts of this bill are predicting a cumulative growth in UNemployment!
3
There has not been any evidence that I've read showing that that tax cuts at the top result in investments that expand employment of opportunities. Tax cuts, and a tax structure which allows wealth to be passed on to heirs in its entirety takes money out of the public stream.
3
What good is a job that doesn't pay enough to allow your children to go to the doctor?
1
This bill authorizes death panels and names Mr McConnell the funeral director.
6
This is the time we need republican and democrat politicians to say no to the leadership and create a bipartisan healthcare (not a tax scheme) bill that will help our country move forward. We need new leadership also; those clowns have no idea how real people live anymore, nor do they care.
3
Let's see if we can understand why tax cuts for the Rich or more generally, income and wealth inequality, is bad for the economy. Economists have a concept called the velocity of money. It is the frequency, how often, that money changes hands in domestic commerce, roughly how useful it is.
Here's an example. Suppose the government gives Scrooge McDuck a Billion for advice on the comic book market, If Scrooge puts the bucks in his basement, and forgets about it, that doesn't help the economy at all. That Billion has a velocity of 0. Also, if Scrooge loses a financial bet to Daddy Warbucks, and the Billion moves from Scrooge's basement to Daddy's, that is a change, but the velocity does not change because it is not a useful change. It doesn't affect commerce.
Money going to the Rich has a lower velocity than money going to the non-rich. The Rich spend a lower percentage of their money. What's a guy or gal who already has so many houses he can't remember how many & an elevator for his horse gonna spend his money on? The answer is he is going to use it to speculate.There is a correlation between inequality & financial speculation. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1661746 Speculation is bad for the economy. That money has a very low velocity. AND it increases risk which we have seen in 2008 ain't a good thing.
Since 2007, the velocity of money has plunged. https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2016/04/a-plodding-dollar-the-recent-dec...
Here's an example. Suppose the government gives Scrooge McDuck a Billion for advice on the comic book market, If Scrooge puts the bucks in his basement, and forgets about it, that doesn't help the economy at all. That Billion has a velocity of 0. Also, if Scrooge loses a financial bet to Daddy Warbucks, and the Billion moves from Scrooge's basement to Daddy's, that is a change, but the velocity does not change because it is not a useful change. It doesn't affect commerce.
Money going to the Rich has a lower velocity than money going to the non-rich. The Rich spend a lower percentage of their money. What's a guy or gal who already has so many houses he can't remember how many & an elevator for his horse gonna spend his money on? The answer is he is going to use it to speculate.There is a correlation between inequality & financial speculation. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1661746 Speculation is bad for the economy. That money has a very low velocity. AND it increases risk which we have seen in 2008 ain't a good thing.
Since 2007, the velocity of money has plunged. https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2016/04/a-plodding-dollar-the-recent-dec...
6
There's one major error in your logic, Mr. Egan. Republicans do not believe they're cutting health care for "working" Americans," they believe they are gutting entitlements for all Americans who supposedly are too lazy to work and save to pay for their own health care. It is the cruel logic of the Puritan work ethic. This logic is the only way Speaker Paul Ryan and Senator Mike Lee of Utah can stand themselves for taking government aid from an eighty eight year old woman in a hospice.
6
Ya indeed -- it's those undeserving "others" who will suffer, not me, not mine.
So people are happy to vote to inflict suffering on others. That scares and depresses me.
So people are happy to vote to inflict suffering on others. That scares and depresses me.
1
My mother's family lost nearly everything in the Great Depression. The farms, the houses, the fertilizer company. The various families collapsed back into one house. Knocks at the back door were met with kindness-- a little something to eat, a coffee a chance to wash up. We seem these day to have fallen a long, long way as a nation amidst wealth she could not have imagined.
6
There are two certainties in life: death and taxes. And Republicans have decided they should occur in that order.
235
Actually no, most republicans seem to want no estate taxes either, so no taxes after death.
1
Not really - they want to eliminate the Estate Tax too.
Not really. The paymasters for the GOP want to eliminate their own taxes completely and that includes the inheritance (in their terms "death tax" - although I think this health care bill qualifies for that moniker now) tax as well.
As for death, well some of them are having all or some of their body (head) frozen in the hope that eventually science will allow them to be reconstituted to resume life where they left off. Others are buying residences in the ultimate gated communities: for use after climate change causes such destruction that everyone who isn't rich cannot survive at all.
They do manage to plan ahead, but only for themselves. The peasants are revolting!
As for death, well some of them are having all or some of their body (head) frozen in the hope that eventually science will allow them to be reconstituted to resume life where they left off. Others are buying residences in the ultimate gated communities: for use after climate change causes such destruction that everyone who isn't rich cannot survive at all.
They do manage to plan ahead, but only for themselves. The peasants are revolting!
Wonderful column! Thank you!
Buffet has indeed been a down to earth, humble though wealthy, common sense gent. He has been speaking out on this issue of unfair tax advantages in federal taxes of the wealthy for at least a couple decades.
He has also tirelessly worked on convincing many billionaires and millionaires to donate most of their wealth to charity in their estates, if not before. Bill and Melissa Gates credit him as the reason they created the Gates Foundation, which is doing so much good throughout the world in delivering healthcare.
As for Kasich: he has been a giant surprise to my NYC native husband and me, a West Coast native. Neither of us voted for him his first term.
We were surprised within the first weeks of his initial term of governor. More than once, he took a position about something, but a day later held another press conference and said he was changing his position, each time he said his critics had spoken out with some excellent points over the past day or so. And, he said, they not only made good points, but were correct, and he had been wrong.
What politician have you ever heard of in America who does that!?
These are two ethical, amazingly decent human beings working very hard as key spokesmen against McConnellcare. We all owe them huge thanks.
Buffet has indeed been a down to earth, humble though wealthy, common sense gent. He has been speaking out on this issue of unfair tax advantages in federal taxes of the wealthy for at least a couple decades.
He has also tirelessly worked on convincing many billionaires and millionaires to donate most of their wealth to charity in their estates, if not before. Bill and Melissa Gates credit him as the reason they created the Gates Foundation, which is doing so much good throughout the world in delivering healthcare.
As for Kasich: he has been a giant surprise to my NYC native husband and me, a West Coast native. Neither of us voted for him his first term.
We were surprised within the first weeks of his initial term of governor. More than once, he took a position about something, but a day later held another press conference and said he was changing his position, each time he said his critics had spoken out with some excellent points over the past day or so. And, he said, they not only made good points, but were correct, and he had been wrong.
What politician have you ever heard of in America who does that!?
These are two ethical, amazingly decent human beings working very hard as key spokesmen against McConnellcare. We all owe them huge thanks.
4
"“My wealthy clients barely noticed the taxes resulting from the Affordable Care Act and have not needed to make lifestyle adjustments,” wrote the Forbes contributor Carolyn McClanahan, a financial planner." I'm not that wealthy, but between my pension and Social Security and my wife's investment income, we're well off here in New Mexico. Here's what I pay: For Medicare, due to the ACA, my Medicare deduction from Social Security went from $105 per month to just under $200 per month. I don't even notice that I get great health care, that I paid for partly for 50 years, for a paltry sum. Is this what Congressional Republicans are complaining about? Give me a break. If I can pony up a small, that's very small, portion of my wealth to help my fellow Americans get health care, like Buffett, it's fine by me. Problem is that Americans are only interested in themselves. If that "silo America" attitude mainly driven my greedy Republicans doesn't change it will all be lost.
6
One of the key passages in Mr. Egan's op-ed is, "And you have a Congress that was largely paid for by influential groups for whom tax cuts are the only reason to get out of bed in the morning."
If we accept statement this as true, and I'm not disputing it, then we have a rotten core of governance that will require constitutional amendments to fix. If our governing bodies, Congress, the presidency and the judiciary, are in fact purchased by those who can afford the price of buying a whole country, then we have no democracy.
We shouldn't talk of plutocrats as some alien cancer that corrupts countries abroad. We are a plutocracy, a system of governance purchased and sustained from the money raised by both major political parties in America.
If we accept statement this as true, and I'm not disputing it, then we have a rotten core of governance that will require constitutional amendments to fix. If our governing bodies, Congress, the presidency and the judiciary, are in fact purchased by those who can afford the price of buying a whole country, then we have no democracy.
We shouldn't talk of plutocrats as some alien cancer that corrupts countries abroad. We are a plutocracy, a system of governance purchased and sustained from the money raised by both major political parties in America.
9
Obamacare is a job killer. Trumpcare is a job-holder killer. Only one of those two statements is accurate.
8
Great column, Mr Egan. One of the great improvements crated by ACA was to make all insurance policies not only cover essential health benefits as well as prevent profit gauging by instituting a medical loss ratio (80% premium must go to medical care) but to also be defined within common language. Allowing consumers to better evaluate choices. Republicans need to come up to that plate of honesty in policy evaluations instead of grandiose statements that hide the true balance of their workings. Who can step up to this?
7
Egan neglects to point out that Liberals who want to take money from the billionaire don't want the billionaire to start or operate businesses that would make healthcare cheaper for everyone. Because they make it exceedingly difficult to do such things - and show no signs of making that easier. So Egan is disingenuous to point out that the billionaire doesn't need the money - the billionaire would readily put his money to work for Americans by investing and starting and fostering new businesses, except Liberals don't want that (q.v., stifling regulations and penalties). The only thing worse: Conservatives don't want that either.
1
I gather you are talking about regulations, which is a separate issue. It's also a more complicated one.
Usually regulations are put in place in response to some situation that worked against the interests of a segment of the population, which can be anything from a mining disaster to a financial meltdown to an extreme weather event to alarming health statistics.
In the short term some of regulations put into place may veer towards the extreme in order to achieve some measure of balance. In that case it may be appropriate to revisit them and assess what they achieved and whether it is worth maintaining them to the same degree.
Conversely, sometimes when time has gone by and people have become more complacent there is an effort to simply gut all of them using a financial argument to justify the action. I would argue that is exactly the wrong way to approach the problem. It's one thing to argue that a particular measure aimed at consumer protection is inhibiting a particular kind of growth; it's quite another to propose eliminating the department altogether.
Usually regulations are put in place in response to some situation that worked against the interests of a segment of the population, which can be anything from a mining disaster to a financial meltdown to an extreme weather event to alarming health statistics.
In the short term some of regulations put into place may veer towards the extreme in order to achieve some measure of balance. In that case it may be appropriate to revisit them and assess what they achieved and whether it is worth maintaining them to the same degree.
Conversely, sometimes when time has gone by and people have become more complacent there is an effort to simply gut all of them using a financial argument to justify the action. I would argue that is exactly the wrong way to approach the problem. It's one thing to argue that a particular measure aimed at consumer protection is inhibiting a particular kind of growth; it's quite another to propose eliminating the department altogether.
4
The billionaire is a billionaire. Are you telling me that he'd start a business if only he had an extra quarter million? That is simply ridiculous.
7
whine whine whine....it seems like the wealthy have been doing pretty well for the past 40 years besides all the crocodile tears we've been subjected to. ahhh, all those stifling regulations (oh, you mean clean air land and water?) you and your emperor have NO CLOTHES!
3
As a 64 year-old, making $52,000 until I was laid off a couple months ago, I'm relieved that I was able to purchase a reasonably decent health insurance plan for myself and my non-working spouse, at a reasonable amount, that will cover us until (I hope) I'm able to get another job.
11
Cowboy, in one year or less you should be eligible for Medicare, job or no job. I am sorry for what you're going through, wish you well for employment and for accessing the health care coverage you need at a cost you can afford. Good luck!
4
You are in the exact predicament the ACA was designed for. Heathwise.
But I feel for your employment concern. We are a harsh society. For people your age, if there's a job loss. I'm ashamed about that. And concerned for you.
My sincere best wishes.
But I feel for your employment concern. We are a harsh society. For people your age, if there's a job loss. I'm ashamed about that. And concerned for you.
My sincere best wishes.
6
"Your money or your life...what's it gonna be, poor American sucker ?"
The spirit of Fake Jesus and the Prosperity Gospel are having a golden age in the Anti-Christ Party, and the Republican House, Senate and President will be damned if any non-rich American lives to tell about it.
Gov. John Kasich of Ohio gets it half-right, which is about the best you can hope for from the half-baked Republican Party that's been marinated in half-truths and falsehoods for 50 years. What Kasich should have said is this:
“And they think that’s great? That’s good public policy? Why are you KILLING me?”
Yes, that's what Republicans are doing...they're killing Americans by giving them 'access' to unaffordable healthcare, shortening American lives with insurance placebo policies, attacking Medicaid because the poor need to just suck it up and die earlier.
Healthcare, which is treated more like a regulated public utility in civilized counties, is somehow considered to be more of a gold necklace by America's punitive, sadistic right-wing hellbent on blaming the poor and the middle class for having the audacity to need help affording the greatest healthcare rip-off in the world.
"How dare the serfs need help staying healthy and alive !?" cry out the medieval Republican overlords.
"We gave them slave wages....how dare they ask for healthcare...such ingratitude for our generosity of spirit !?"
"Now build me a new castle, serf, and drop dead doing it, for the love of Christ !"
"Let us prey"
The spirit of Fake Jesus and the Prosperity Gospel are having a golden age in the Anti-Christ Party, and the Republican House, Senate and President will be damned if any non-rich American lives to tell about it.
Gov. John Kasich of Ohio gets it half-right, which is about the best you can hope for from the half-baked Republican Party that's been marinated in half-truths and falsehoods for 50 years. What Kasich should have said is this:
“And they think that’s great? That’s good public policy? Why are you KILLING me?”
Yes, that's what Republicans are doing...they're killing Americans by giving them 'access' to unaffordable healthcare, shortening American lives with insurance placebo policies, attacking Medicaid because the poor need to just suck it up and die earlier.
Healthcare, which is treated more like a regulated public utility in civilized counties, is somehow considered to be more of a gold necklace by America's punitive, sadistic right-wing hellbent on blaming the poor and the middle class for having the audacity to need help affording the greatest healthcare rip-off in the world.
"How dare the serfs need help staying healthy and alive !?" cry out the medieval Republican overlords.
"We gave them slave wages....how dare they ask for healthcare...such ingratitude for our generosity of spirit !?"
"Now build me a new castle, serf, and drop dead doing it, for the love of Christ !"
"Let us prey"
215
Hyperbole is impossible. This bill is that cruel.
1
Both the Republican Congress and their president, not mine, pure and simply are not representing the will of the majority of Americans, starting with climate change to their ruthless version of "health care", with innumerable issues in-between.
As an RN and advocate for universal health care, daily I awake sickened by the ruthlessness and unconscionable behavior of this self-serving group who were voted into office. They refuse to listen to our doctors, nurses, and hospitals all of which know best the life-saving necessity of treatment and prevention.
The so-called leader of the free world, Trump, McConnell, Ryan et al, have one god, a Golden Calf. Let us hope that collectively we can knock that idol over, and cure, for lack of a better word, the metastatic tumor of greed invasive in our nation's capital.
As an RN and advocate for universal health care, daily I awake sickened by the ruthlessness and unconscionable behavior of this self-serving group who were voted into office. They refuse to listen to our doctors, nurses, and hospitals all of which know best the life-saving necessity of treatment and prevention.
The so-called leader of the free world, Trump, McConnell, Ryan et al, have one god, a Golden Calf. Let us hope that collectively we can knock that idol over, and cure, for lack of a better word, the metastatic tumor of greed invasive in our nation's capital.
87
Proposed changes to the Affordable Health Care Act is the cowards way out. There are plenty of other ways to pay for health care (reducing cost, reducing our military involvement abroad, reducing or eliminating corporate tax loopholes, etc.) but that would require difficult conversations and would be seen as reneging on all the money and promises made that put the politicians in government.
8
It is not like the Republicans have hid their plans. For years they have run on reducing taxes and social spending. This platform has won then great success on the local, state, and federal levels. Obviously this is what Americans want and the Republicans are only doing what they were elected to do.
7
Well said.
Either this is exactly what Americans want or the electorate is clueless beyond belief. I honestly don't know which of these is true but one of them simply has to be.
Either this is exactly what Americans want or the electorate is clueless beyond belief. I honestly don't know which of these is true but one of them simply has to be.
1
If Warren Buffet was so "lovable" the old coot would write one big check to the U.S. gov't; it is not coming. One day a few years ago he finally came to the realization he would not be on the planet indefinitely. As for all of the social programs the democrats strangle us with: they do not work. Democrats ruin blue states, constantly spend, and get those votes from losers but it just keeps going. As long as a democrat receives a pension whether city, state, or federal the rest of us pay just like Medicare, and Medicare. Stop these gov't pensions first; they are killing the U.S. taxpayer.
"Democrats ruin blue states..." Oh. To pick just one example, California leads the nation in growth in its gross domestic product, which grew by 4.2% in 2015 — more than twice the national rate. By contrast, the grand Republican experiment in Kansas has been such a disaster that the Republican legislature overrode Brownback's veto to raise taxes. Overall, blue states subsidize red states — they contribute more to the GDP and use less of the federal budget in support and services.
You have a funny definition for "ruin."
You have a funny definition for "ruin."
38
The man is giving 100% of his wealth away to charity in his estate, with stipulations it actually be spent--not allowed to grow tax free in sheltered foundations. He personally convinced Bill Gates and other billionaires to do the same.
And you are criticizing him for not being generous enough?
What is wrong with the commenters today who want to personally denigrate Buffet and Kasich in these remarks?
Are you really working for the " other side" that wants McConnellcare?
And you are criticizing him for not being generous enough?
What is wrong with the commenters today who want to personally denigrate Buffet and Kasich in these remarks?
Are you really working for the " other side" that wants McConnellcare?
6
I live in a blue state, it's far from ruined. You do know that, on average, blue states are both wealthier and healthier than red?
8
Also consider the positive impact of the ACA on the economy. Not only does the law increase the proportion of our fellow citizens with health insurance, we as a nation are richer when, collectively, we are healthier. The GOP is so shortsighted they miss this fact in their quest to reduce taxes for those who need it the least
20
And we're a happier nation as well! At least some of us take joy in knowing others are cared for.
And think of the happiness we'd have, knowing every single person would have Universal Healthcare!
If only... and it wouldn't be that hard.
And think of the happiness we'd have, knowing every single person would have Universal Healthcare!
If only... and it wouldn't be that hard.
7
"Also consider the positive impact of the ACA on the economy. Not only does the law increase the proportion of our fellow citizens with health insurance, we as a nation are richer when, collectively, we are healthier. The GOP is so shortsighted they miss this fact in their quest to reduce taxes "
Absolutely true. And health care also employs millions...in mostly well-paying jobs, in every state and county in the US. It is the ultimate stimulus.
Absolutely true. And health care also employs millions...in mostly well-paying jobs, in every state and county in the US. It is the ultimate stimulus.
1
Can't we just give the Trump voters what they want and take away their ACA access while leaving the rest of us alone.
42
Mr. Petersen,
Excellent comment.
Excellent comment.
1
until the electorate, especially the 41% of whites who make up the majority minority of Medicaid users vote the insanity that is the current Republican Party out, ie, vote their best interest instead of whatever scary boogeyman the Republican Party has dreamed up for them, it will be business as usual for the Republicans.
One has to wonder about a man like Paul Ryan who proudly boasts that while at a kegger as a young man, his fantasy was destroying Medicaid. Not a girl?
One has to wonder about a man like Paul Ryan who proudly boasts that while at a kegger as a young man, his fantasy was destroying Medicaid. Not a girl?
12
He already had a girlfriend named Ayn Rand.
5
The TrumpNoCare bill is a marker for GOP senators. The vote on this cruel bill will reveal to all Americans which senators are out and out sociopaths. We now know many Republicans in the House of Representatives who supported an equally horrible bill are sociopaths. It's instructive for voters in 2018 and 2020.
10
The republican's plan of: '' take two tax cuts and call me in the morning '' is not going to cut it for the reality of tens of millions of Americans.
Having said that, I am going to flip this little argument on its head and point the blame ( some ) where no one seems to be pointing.
Where are the billionaires ?
Why aren't they on the TV, the internet and tweeting @ the President ? Where are the full page adds saying they don't need that 700k against their billions ? Where are there comments decrying how absolutely cruel it is to take away access to preventative health care\ insurance for their monthly gas bill for their fleet of cars, or to jet here and there ?
Where are any of them condemning republicans and their actions ?
* crickets *
Having said that, I am going to flip this little argument on its head and point the blame ( some ) where no one seems to be pointing.
Where are the billionaires ?
Why aren't they on the TV, the internet and tweeting @ the President ? Where are the full page adds saying they don't need that 700k against their billions ? Where are there comments decrying how absolutely cruel it is to take away access to preventative health care\ insurance for their monthly gas bill for their fleet of cars, or to jet here and there ?
Where are any of them condemning republicans and their actions ?
* crickets *
33
This particular cruelty does not start with Mr. Trump. The Republicans have been waging their incoherent rhetorical war on the ACA since Trump was nothing but an angry clown act on television. The Republicans run on hatred of the poor. They have been escalating their war on the poor since Ronald Reagan sneered his contempt for them. Politically, it's an unqualified success. When you write economic rules to punish the poor, you reward the rich, and vice-versa. Many of the rich will admit that they don't really need the help, but they will not generally bribe politicians to help the poor instead, at least not on the scale that other wealthy people will bribe politicians to do otherwise. And our political system is designed to respond to money, not to ideas about fairness.
11
We are, indeed, quickly becoming a "banana republic".
"Health care" is only the tip of the iceberg.
When an oligarchy starts, it rarely ends.
And we have not only an oligarchy, but a mad dictator at the helm.
"Health care" is only the tip of the iceberg.
When an oligarchy starts, it rarely ends.
And we have not only an oligarchy, but a mad dictator at the helm.
12
This is what most Republican have been about. No heart and no brains as well. This is capitalism at its worse. At one time in the past we have had compassion for our fellow citizens. But that has gone out the window with the Tea Party. And the Tea Party has infected every tier of government. At what point do the Republicans do what is best for the country as a whole? They were elected to represent all of their constituents, not just the few.
Citizens United need to be overturned. This decision by the Roberts Court has single-handedly brought us this disaster that is the Republican Party.
Citizens United need to be overturned. This decision by the Roberts Court has single-handedly brought us this disaster that is the Republican Party.
12
As usual Timothy Egan has it right. For those of us lucky enough to be living away from the US in these difficult times, this bill is simply incomprehensible. But the answer is not just to whine, but also to VOTE! 2018 mid-terms are just 16 months away. The people of France showed that parties can just "disappear" after elections. If the US voters don't react to these Republican obscenities, what are we to conclude? That they simply don't care, and then they must surely deserve their fate.
8
Substitute "oligarch" for the now defunct "conservative" and you begin to understand today's Republican party.
What do you suppose the trump family tax cut will be?
What do you suppose the trump family tax cut will be?
8
Although Paul Ryan would deny it, many of the supporters of this bill subscribe to the basic principles of social Darwinism, the notion that a society and economy advance through a process of competition that ensures the survival of the fittest. Mitt Romney's open disdain for the 'takers' supplies the definition of fitness: economic success. Romney's sense of decency prevented him from accepting the brutal implications of social Darwinism, but many other Republicans seem much less squeamish.
Even before Reagan talked about 'welfare queens,' many conservatives argued that the social safety net supported people who preferred to live off the public dole rather than work. The fact that most recipients of food stamps and Medicaid work did not fit the narrative that welfare sustained a class of parasites who wasted the resources needed to stimulate economic growth.
Hence the argument of senators like Rand Paul, who denounce the GOP bill as too generous on Medicaid spending, implying that more austerity would force the 'takers' to look for a job. And if these people already work, but their jobs do not pay a living wage? Senator Paul and Speaker Ryan cannot claim ignorance of the reality that their bills will destroy lives, but only the lives of people whose lack of economic success demonstrates their unfitness.
Even before Reagan talked about 'welfare queens,' many conservatives argued that the social safety net supported people who preferred to live off the public dole rather than work. The fact that most recipients of food stamps and Medicaid work did not fit the narrative that welfare sustained a class of parasites who wasted the resources needed to stimulate economic growth.
Hence the argument of senators like Rand Paul, who denounce the GOP bill as too generous on Medicaid spending, implying that more austerity would force the 'takers' to look for a job. And if these people already work, but their jobs do not pay a living wage? Senator Paul and Speaker Ryan cannot claim ignorance of the reality that their bills will destroy lives, but only the lives of people whose lack of economic success demonstrates their unfitness.
11
You've identified the sole reason for this legislation: "And you have a Congress that was largely paid for by influential groups for whom tax cuts are the only reason to get out of bed in the morning." But you don't take the obvious next step in your analysis. Someone donated lavishly to those groups to make them so influential. Who would do that? Only one significant population: the wealthiest conservative Republicans. As you demonstrate, their huge tax cuts are irrelevant to their lifestyles. No, the money won't go toward more frivolities. It will further support those same influential groups, making them even more powerful! That's always the point: to more permanently cement in place the existing system that enables ever more fabulous inequality. It requires serious resources to pay for that Congress, which means aggressive campaigns and attack ads at every level. It requires a whole universe of phony think tanks and media shills to convince the losers that their pain is the fault of the Democrats, of any remaining, wasteful government benefits (and their recipients), of Muslims, Mexicans, Nancy Pelosi, and any other shiny object that keeps attention away from the inequality that is the root of the problem. And to assuage the winners and losers alike with the fairy tale that the whole system is the ultimate expression of American patriotism and Christian faith, so Republicans in Congress and their supporters can look the other way and imagine that it's all OK.
13
Pause and ask a Republican whether stealing from the poor to give to the rich is fair. He/she is likely to say: 'Why should I care?
10
Can't the Repubs see the endgame of all this? It will be pitchforks, eventually. I don't understand why they imagine it is sustainable over the long run.
Or they don't care--they'll get theirs and that's all.
Or they don't care--they'll get theirs and that's all.
8
Obamacare is the antithesis to Trickle Down. In fact it is the program that has proven that Trickle Down is a scam. For a very modest tax on the rich millions have gotten very expensive healthcare. During this time of increased taxation the rich have flourished, jobs have grown, and the stock market has boomed, exactly what Trickle Down says is impossible. No Obamacare is dangerous to the rich and that is why it must go. The irony of this situation is that most people did not know or realize that a tax on the rich was supporting it. The Republicans themselves have brought this out into the open. Now they must repeal it and lull the masses back into their comas of Trickle Down promised bliss lest the public thinks of taxing the rich more for better roads, schools and bridges.
Obamacare is dangerous because it proves that taxing the rich can help society, not hurt the rich, grow jobs and lift the stock market and that Trickle Down was nothing more than a scam to enrich the few.
Obamacare is dangerous because it proves that taxing the rich can help society, not hurt the rich, grow jobs and lift the stock market and that Trickle Down was nothing more than a scam to enrich the few.
14
We need to reinstate the involuntary confinement laws for the insane that we had in the 50s, when America was great. Then we need to apply those to the sociopaths in the Capitol and White House. Once they are locked away for their own, and society's, safety, we should cut the funds to the institutions they're confined to, and abandon them there, as they are set to abandon the majority of the American people today.
8
Those who need government-funded health care: the poor, the chronically sick, the disabled. Ignored in the current controversy is the fact that no one chooses to be any of these things. To qualify for Medicaid, you have to be poor. You have to sell virtually all of your assets and spend the money on your health care before you can get Medicaid. And what you get is a much lower level of care than those who can afford to buy health insurance, even subsidized health insurance. Most doctors refuse to accept Medicaid because they get far less than from Medicare and private insurers. The waiting time for Medicaid patients to get care is longer. Hospitals also get far less so they can be reluctant to admit Medicaid patients. How can we justify treating the poor, sick and disabled worse than the rest of us?
15
The party that now dominates our 3 branches and state govts is a bigger threat to the US than any Russian hackers. They feel free to legally attack the health, well being and security of Americans.
But this is the end result of our big money campaign finance system that sells our govt to the highest bidder. The megadonors define and set the limits of policy by the lawmakers we elect.
And their preferences set the norms for politics. Their rw media like Fox News etc, molds public opinion by redefining what’s deemed Left, Right, Center. They drag liberals rightward also toward a distorted political center, so we are left unprotected from predators.
Only in a poisoned political culture where the peoples’ well being is the lowest priority, could a cruel health care policy like this even be thought of, much less shamelessly advocated.
But anything is possible in a country where the highest court blatantly lies that corporate billions paying for our elections is really protected 1st amendment ‘free speech’. Was there ever such a blessing bestowed on pure greed and lust for power for both candidates and donors?
If the Supreme Court can lie so shamelessly, why shouldn’t Trump also lie shamelessly? And the Gop congress?
Is campaign finance reform a forbidden topic for NYT columnists? Start talking about the cause, not just more moral outrage at the effects.
But this is the end result of our big money campaign finance system that sells our govt to the highest bidder. The megadonors define and set the limits of policy by the lawmakers we elect.
And their preferences set the norms for politics. Their rw media like Fox News etc, molds public opinion by redefining what’s deemed Left, Right, Center. They drag liberals rightward also toward a distorted political center, so we are left unprotected from predators.
Only in a poisoned political culture where the peoples’ well being is the lowest priority, could a cruel health care policy like this even be thought of, much less shamelessly advocated.
But anything is possible in a country where the highest court blatantly lies that corporate billions paying for our elections is really protected 1st amendment ‘free speech’. Was there ever such a blessing bestowed on pure greed and lust for power for both candidates and donors?
If the Supreme Court can lie so shamelessly, why shouldn’t Trump also lie shamelessly? And the Gop congress?
Is campaign finance reform a forbidden topic for NYT columnists? Start talking about the cause, not just more moral outrage at the effects.
8
You do not have a right to other people's stuff. Even if they have a lot of it.
Sounds simple, eh? There is much to be said, though, for supporting the society that set up the conditions for your financial success.
3
Get out your calculator and you'll find that $677,000 to a billionaire is roughly equivalent to $34 to someone making $50,000 per year... chump change. Voters often underestimate how huge $1,000,000,000 is... and legislators and the plutocrats are happy to cash in on this misunderstanding.
7
Most Americans voted
AGAINST this
Ethically Bankrupt
Monstrosity
of a political party.
Let ALL citizens VOTE!
Let US rid ourselves of the Electoral College!
ONE PERSON-ONE VOTE!
AGAINST this
Ethically Bankrupt
Monstrosity
of a political party.
Let ALL citizens VOTE!
Let US rid ourselves of the Electoral College!
ONE PERSON-ONE VOTE!
7
If the GOP gets its way, it will be profitable to invest in funeral homes.
4
Nah, go for crematoriums. Funerals traditional burial have become too expensive.
And the cuts to Medicaid will affect the elderly poor in assisted living most of all. Dump them on their relatives or on the street? Give them "care" that can only be called below minimum standards?
4
In 1939, Hitler established a program to euthanize disabled children and adults because they represented a burden to German society and were unworthy of receiving resources which were better directed to the war machine. By the end of the war, it is estimated that 200,000 such individuals were murdered under the various programs set up to administer this policy.
Why is cutting off healthcare benefits to roughly 20% of the 17 million disabled or aged persons on Medicaid anything other than slow death for individuals with severe chronic and congenital conditions? What would you call it if it was your parent or child kicked to the side of the road?
If this policy hastens the death of 1% of the 3 million or so disabled/aged persons covered by Medicaid each year, thats 30,000 deaths, and over ten years that would amount to 300,000 casualties to GOP indifference, or carnage of the same order of magnitude as the Nazi program.
The Senate healthcare bill has the added feature of providing slow torture before death as poor disabled and aged individuals struggled to survive without drug therapies, nursing and other vital care.
Is that the country we have become?
Why is cutting off healthcare benefits to roughly 20% of the 17 million disabled or aged persons on Medicaid anything other than slow death for individuals with severe chronic and congenital conditions? What would you call it if it was your parent or child kicked to the side of the road?
If this policy hastens the death of 1% of the 3 million or so disabled/aged persons covered by Medicaid each year, thats 30,000 deaths, and over ten years that would amount to 300,000 casualties to GOP indifference, or carnage of the same order of magnitude as the Nazi program.
The Senate healthcare bill has the added feature of providing slow torture before death as poor disabled and aged individuals struggled to survive without drug therapies, nursing and other vital care.
Is that the country we have become?
757
Yes, max, it is the country we have become, at least from the Calvinist/Social Darwinist Republican perspective.
Eliminating the "moochers" who suck away resources rightly belonging to the Elect is not a bug of these kinds of legislative initiatives, it's a feature. Such Social Darwinists WANT the less hale to eventually expire. Gut the programs, and a certain number of physically and mentally challenged people, not to mention just plain old poor folks, will eventually die and stop "wasting taxpayer money", or at least get so despairing and caught up in day to day survival that they will be unable to vote, organize, or demand government help, and so receive even fewer resources the Elect think rightly belong to the favored. To Republicans, that's a virtuous circle.
Eliminating the "moochers" who suck away resources rightly belonging to the Elect is not a bug of these kinds of legislative initiatives, it's a feature. Such Social Darwinists WANT the less hale to eventually expire. Gut the programs, and a certain number of physically and mentally challenged people, not to mention just plain old poor folks, will eventually die and stop "wasting taxpayer money", or at least get so despairing and caught up in day to day survival that they will be unable to vote, organize, or demand government help, and so receive even fewer resources the Elect think rightly belong to the favored. To Republicans, that's a virtuous circle.
7
I don't remember the German, but I think that the murdered children and adults were said to have "life not worth living." And, no, it isn't yet the country we have become, but it is the country that some in Congress, the White House, and their willing and knowing abettors are trying to turn us into.
"Do not go gently into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light"
"Do not go gently into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light"
yes.
1
I'm hoping Trump and the Republicans do even more and worse. So far it's clear that the pain threshold for the citizens of this country has not yet been reached. Keep going! We need much more of this evil for the scales to fall from the eyes of those who voted for these people.
321
I hope we're not that stupid, but so far it does not look good.
1
The problems is people who have been beaten down no longer think they can make a change. They just endure.
I agree that for the short term the best thing we can do is to shore up the ACA by at least funding it fully. But we should never forget that compared to the health care plans of other developed countries, it is at best 3rd rate.
All other industrialized countries have some form of universal government run health care, mostly single payer. They get at least as good care as measured by all 16 of the bottom line public health statistics, and they do it at 40% of the cost per person. If our system were as efficient, we would save over $1.5 TRILLION each year.
http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/oecd-health-statistics-2014-frequ...
Here are the per capita figures for health care costs in 2013 in PPP dollars (which take cost of living into consideration) from the OECD:
OECD average - 3463
US - 8713
UK - 3235
France - 4124
Australia (similar obesity) - 3966
Germany - 4919
Denmark - 4553
The Netherlands - 5131
Canada - 4361
Israel - 2128
Switzerland (Highly regulated private insurance) - 6325
Let's compare some bottom line statistics between the US and the UK which has real socialized medicine.
Life expectancy at birth:
UK - 81.1
US - 78.8
Infant Mortality (Deaths per 1,000):
UK - 3.8
US - 6.0
Maternal Mortality (WHO):
UK - 9
US - 14
The WHO using a formula developed by The Harvard School of Public Health ranks our system as 38th in the world. (France & Italy are 1 & 2).
"The difference between genius & stupidity is that genius has its limits."
All other industrialized countries have some form of universal government run health care, mostly single payer. They get at least as good care as measured by all 16 of the bottom line public health statistics, and they do it at 40% of the cost per person. If our system were as efficient, we would save over $1.5 TRILLION each year.
http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/oecd-health-statistics-2014-frequ...
Here are the per capita figures for health care costs in 2013 in PPP dollars (which take cost of living into consideration) from the OECD:
OECD average - 3463
US - 8713
UK - 3235
France - 4124
Australia (similar obesity) - 3966
Germany - 4919
Denmark - 4553
The Netherlands - 5131
Canada - 4361
Israel - 2128
Switzerland (Highly regulated private insurance) - 6325
Let's compare some bottom line statistics between the US and the UK which has real socialized medicine.
Life expectancy at birth:
UK - 81.1
US - 78.8
Infant Mortality (Deaths per 1,000):
UK - 3.8
US - 6.0
Maternal Mortality (WHO):
UK - 9
US - 14
The WHO using a formula developed by The Harvard School of Public Health ranks our system as 38th in the world. (France & Italy are 1 & 2).
"The difference between genius & stupidity is that genius has its limits."
23
It might be helpful to point out that there are Republicans who are philosophically opposed to a progressive income tax. And, it's worth noting that taxes on income were invented to pay for wars, so from a certain perspective using income taxes to redistribute wealth looks like a bait and switch to the true believers in minimal government (and a strong military). Pointing out the consequences of not subsidizing health care gets you nowhere with these believers, since to them the ONLY important thing income taxes do (once the military and a militarized police are paid for) is to reduce the incentives to engage in economic activity for both the taxed and the subsidized.
I think that Paul Ryan actually believes something along these lines, based on what he said the other day on Fox, defending on philosophical grounds the cut of taxes on capital gains. And of course he will say in the fact of all evidence to the contrary that tax cuts pay for themselves and raise all boats.
It seems wrong, therefore, to impugn the Republicans for being "mean" or "heartless." It is more useful to think of them as fanatics who have managed to whip up their followers and lead them to their own destruction - along with the rest of us.
I think that Paul Ryan actually believes something along these lines, based on what he said the other day on Fox, defending on philosophical grounds the cut of taxes on capital gains. And of course he will say in the fact of all evidence to the contrary that tax cuts pay for themselves and raise all boats.
It seems wrong, therefore, to impugn the Republicans for being "mean" or "heartless." It is more useful to think of them as fanatics who have managed to whip up their followers and lead them to their own destruction - along with the rest of us.
9
When very rich individuals and large corporations manipulate the tax codes for their own benefit, they essentially free themselves from taxes, making other people suffer through failing public services, such as public education, public health, social services etc. When they design exotic and irresponsible financial instruments, everyone pays for the crises they cause. When corporations rid themselves of trade unions, they curtail the freedoms of their workers. Demolishing public financial regulations and further reducing taxes means freedom for billionaires and corporations from constraints of democracy, giving the very rich 1% even more 'freedom' to exploit the 99%.
13
In order to convince the Republican fence sitters to support the draconian health care bill, the Senate leadership is prepared to spend billions in tax dollars to bribe each one individually by promising special side deals they can use to claim to their constituents that they ultimately will benefit.
For the Republicans the health care disaster they are proposing is a political "twofer," they get to slash government spending, and will do so by further damaging President Obama's legacy. Of course, tens of millions of Americans will suffer the consequences, including the prospect of premature deaths and bankruptcy, but the low information voters won't even be aware of what really is happening.
For the Republicans the health care disaster they are proposing is a political "twofer," they get to slash government spending, and will do so by further damaging President Obama's legacy. Of course, tens of millions of Americans will suffer the consequences, including the prospect of premature deaths and bankruptcy, but the low information voters won't even be aware of what really is happening.
9
The case against the Senate bill is easy to make for taxpayers like Mr. Buffet, and perhaps for those who read Fortune Magazine a regular basis.
The GOP would be wise to pay much closer attention to taxpayers at the opposite end of ACA tax scale- " 0.9 percent Medicare surtax, and 3.8 percent tax on net invested income for couples earning more than $250.000 a year." By good fortune, my wife, in the last few years of her working career before mandatory retirement, makes a little over $250,000 a year. She is saving the maximum amount allowable to her IRA,and then some, knowing the end is near. I'm retired, and living on my savings, plus investment income, when there is some. We are careful with spending, knowing our savings have to last a very long time. The 0.9% Medicare surtax and especially the 3.8% on net investment income is a pretty significant hit. For Mr. Buffet, it's unnoticeable.
Republican's might find more support by moving the tax threshold in Mr, Buffets direction. Alternatively, taxpayers like us who actually feel
the tax bite might be consoled somewhat if all consumers of healthcare, who are able, are required to contribute towards their healthcare. The first suggestion won't happen because it's against Republican dogma. The second won't happen because it's against Republican dogma.
Isn't current polling now indicating most Americans support Obama care, but just want it fixed? It's time to throw out Republican dogma.
The GOP would be wise to pay much closer attention to taxpayers at the opposite end of ACA tax scale- " 0.9 percent Medicare surtax, and 3.8 percent tax on net invested income for couples earning more than $250.000 a year." By good fortune, my wife, in the last few years of her working career before mandatory retirement, makes a little over $250,000 a year. She is saving the maximum amount allowable to her IRA,and then some, knowing the end is near. I'm retired, and living on my savings, plus investment income, when there is some. We are careful with spending, knowing our savings have to last a very long time. The 0.9% Medicare surtax and especially the 3.8% on net investment income is a pretty significant hit. For Mr. Buffet, it's unnoticeable.
Republican's might find more support by moving the tax threshold in Mr, Buffets direction. Alternatively, taxpayers like us who actually feel
the tax bite might be consoled somewhat if all consumers of healthcare, who are able, are required to contribute towards their healthcare. The first suggestion won't happen because it's against Republican dogma. The second won't happen because it's against Republican dogma.
Isn't current polling now indicating most Americans support Obama care, but just want it fixed? It's time to throw out Republican dogma.
13
Imagine how much more you would be able to save for retirement if you were able to keep the money you or your wife's employer now pay for health care that goes toward the 20-25% administrative and profit overhead absorbed by your health insurance company. Medicare for all would make everyone better off financially, except insurance companies and their obscenely compensated CEOs.
13
I think the tax hurts because you (the male partner) get to pay the tax out of your investments - however, your income is really the sum of your investments and your wife's income, since you live together and share expensives, etc.. So, you need to enjoy your wife's very nice income and don't touch your investments until after she retires, or add your incomes together, then look at the overall tax rate increase, which will be certainly less than 3.4%.
The reason the tax increase factored in income (> $250K) and capital gains was because a lot of professionals used to defer their income into stock options to avoid paying income tax and instead pay capital gains. The ACA tax captured some of the difference. The gaming of the tax code probably has benefited you and your wife in the past, so, tough, suck it up!
The reason the tax increase factored in income (> $250K) and capital gains was because a lot of professionals used to defer their income into stock options to avoid paying income tax and instead pay capital gains. The ACA tax captured some of the difference. The gaming of the tax code probably has benefited you and your wife in the past, so, tough, suck it up!
Gov Kasich can't complain about the situation that he enabled through suppressing the vote in Ohio. He shouldn't complain about the oligarch in chief when he could have provided the means - more voting machines, longer hours, more voting locations in the poorer areas - to prevent his rise. He doth complain too much when he knew how to prevent it and did nothing.
107
People, stop this knee jerk reaction of Kasich.
Kasich tries to run an ethical government. Yes, there are bad apples running Republican voting districts even in a state overseen by one of the most ethical politicians in the nation, Kasich himself works hard to undo that.
What absolute nonsense of some of you readers to think Kasich should shut his mouth and stop being the governor most vocal about how McConnellcare would harm the mentally ill and others.
Are you people nuts?!
You want to tell someone with stick a strong, sensible message they have no right to speak, or to lead a revolt in the Republican Party against McConnellcare?
Keep your eyes on the big picture.
In marriages, in personal relationships, in friendships, in jobs, and in ALL mentally healthy dealings with people: it is best to live in the present and not pile every insult and ounce of blame you can on someone for perceived wounds in the past when you are trying to deal with a controversy.
You want to tell Democrats and Republicans not to listen to this man, especially NOW?? Really??!!!
That is one of the dumbest political " purity" tests I have ever heard.
No matter how many voters you would have liked to have had in Ohio, you are now talking about millions and millions of Americans--22 million, to be exact--who absolutely need the great advocacy now of Kasich.
So shut up with your attempt to drive a wedge and stop him!
Kasich tries to run an ethical government. Yes, there are bad apples running Republican voting districts even in a state overseen by one of the most ethical politicians in the nation, Kasich himself works hard to undo that.
What absolute nonsense of some of you readers to think Kasich should shut his mouth and stop being the governor most vocal about how McConnellcare would harm the mentally ill and others.
Are you people nuts?!
You want to tell someone with stick a strong, sensible message they have no right to speak, or to lead a revolt in the Republican Party against McConnellcare?
Keep your eyes on the big picture.
In marriages, in personal relationships, in friendships, in jobs, and in ALL mentally healthy dealings with people: it is best to live in the present and not pile every insult and ounce of blame you can on someone for perceived wounds in the past when you are trying to deal with a controversy.
You want to tell Democrats and Republicans not to listen to this man, especially NOW?? Really??!!!
That is one of the dumbest political " purity" tests I have ever heard.
No matter how many voters you would have liked to have had in Ohio, you are now talking about millions and millions of Americans--22 million, to be exact--who absolutely need the great advocacy now of Kasich.
So shut up with your attempt to drive a wedge and stop him!
3
Kasich won the Republican presidential vote in Ohio. Overwhelmingly Ohio went for him, Don't blame Kasich for the fool in the White House. Republicans should have chosen Kasich.
1
What??? We had weeks of early voting in Ohio. This West Coast native lady (who isn't Republican, and who has nearly all relatives living on West Coast) finds Kasich a breath of fresh air. No one working for the State gets away with anything crooked under his leadership! And he fights harder than any governor in USA for rights of mentally ill and other poor.
Save your venom for politicians who deserve it. And by the way:It is absolutely astounding how much more the homeless rate has multiplied on West Coast. I cannot believe the numbers living under bridges, freeways and everywhere else in Portland, Seattle, and much of California. If you care so much, W.Coast lady, do more about that.
And keep fighting McConnellcare--like Kasich is!
Save your venom for politicians who deserve it. And by the way:It is absolutely astounding how much more the homeless rate has multiplied on West Coast. I cannot believe the numbers living under bridges, freeways and everywhere else in Portland, Seattle, and much of California. If you care so much, W.Coast lady, do more about that.
And keep fighting McConnellcare--like Kasich is!
1
Capital gains are taxed much lower than ordinary income. Removing a tax that is designed to slightly even things out shows how cruel and mean republicans are.
The conversation we should be having is why we have lower rates for investors? These lower rates cost Americans millions of jobs as they short change the funds the government has to support education, healthcare and infrastructure
Americans should be irate that capital gains rates are so low and favor so few and drive the inequality that creates a larger disparity every day
The conversation we should be having is why we have lower rates for investors? These lower rates cost Americans millions of jobs as they short change the funds the government has to support education, healthcare and infrastructure
Americans should be irate that capital gains rates are so low and favor so few and drive the inequality that creates a larger disparity every day
38
We read constantly that polls indicate a strong majority of Americans vehemently opposes the GOP's wealthcare plans. Yet they control all three branches of federal government, as well as a majority of state legislatures. How can this be? Because "we the people" have succumbed to what Orwell presciently and accurately described as Doublethink, the product of decades of GOP Newspeak. In other words, propaganda that has succeeded in brainwashing a substantial segment of our population. Thus we've reached the point where voters say they oppose these plans, while at the same time believing that trump and the GOP are their true and only champions. I had to look at my calendar, because I could have sworn it's 1984.
154
This is enabled by political reporters who cover elections as if they were games with no policy implications.
Do you remember any political reporter discussing the serious healthcare policy proposals of Clinton? Of course not. Every interviewer was too lazy to read about health care policy and so just email email email
Do you remember any political reporter discussing the serious healthcare policy proposals of Clinton? Of course not. Every interviewer was too lazy to read about health care policy and so just email email email
8
The problem with the tax rate structure is that the top tier is $250K and up. A family taking in $250K+ is surely well off, but they are likely to be hard working two-income professionals or small business owners, a far cry from the truly wealthy who take in millions each year, much or all it from investments (in other words, capital rather than labor).
What's needed are more tax tiers up top, for instance for $500K - $1M, $1M - $5M, with incrementally more progressive marginal tax rates. 3.9% is a significant bite for some people who have arrived in the $250K+ bracket, but not so much for the Trumps and Buffetts of the world. And generally speaking the super-rich should be higher top marginal rates than the "merely" well off. in addition, is there any reason why capital gains should be taxed any differently (i.e., less) than other types of income?
Now there's a tax reform discussion we're not likely to hear about.
What's needed are more tax tiers up top, for instance for $500K - $1M, $1M - $5M, with incrementally more progressive marginal tax rates. 3.9% is a significant bite for some people who have arrived in the $250K+ bracket, but not so much for the Trumps and Buffetts of the world. And generally speaking the super-rich should be higher top marginal rates than the "merely" well off. in addition, is there any reason why capital gains should be taxed any differently (i.e., less) than other types of income?
Now there's a tax reform discussion we're not likely to hear about.
483
I agree Mike that there should be more tax tiers up top, even more than $5M. I have an old friend who I haven't seen recently who quit math to run a hedge fund. Before he retired, he made about $2 Billion a year. If I've done the arithmetic right, that's $10M a working day. Now he is retired and only making half that. Of course, because of the carried interest loophole his taxes are probably close to 15%.
But Mike there have been many studies to show that the people who are really making it, who are pulling away from the rest, whose kids go to the best schools, who are the healthiest, who have good retirements, etc. are the upper middle class, the people in the $250K+ bracket.
Richard V. Reeves of the Brookings Institue has been studying them for a while. He has recently come out with a book, "Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It" You can get a taste of it at https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-dangerous-separation-of-the-ameri...
But Mike there have been many studies to show that the people who are really making it, who are pulling away from the rest, whose kids go to the best schools, who are the healthiest, who have good retirements, etc. are the upper middle class, the people in the $250K+ bracket.
Richard V. Reeves of the Brookings Institue has been studying them for a while. He has recently come out with a book, "Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do about It" You can get a taste of it at https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-dangerous-separation-of-the-ameri...
4
Very true. My son is a dentist, with a good income--at least until you factor in student loan repayment (My wife and I were teachers, so we couldn't finance his education), a practice loan, and a home loan. The home loan is the only one that is deductible from his taxes. His actual take home at this point is roughly the same as my wife's and my (modest) retirement pension. He is not happy at how he is treated at tax time, and with little wonder. He is a liberal, but chafes at being lumped with the wealthy in discussions on tax policy.
2
say 4% tax to make things easy, on 250,000 is what, 12,000 dollars? take that out of 250,000 and that leaves the poor family with 238,000 dollars, even tax that by 50% for the other taxes we are paying) and you live off of 117,000 dollars. I could do that easily and still have money left over.
1
The tax cut cruelty has gone on since Reagan. There have always been elements of cruelty and greed in tax cuts for the ultra-rich, not to mention the mendacity behind urban legends like Reagan's welfare queen. Why the outrage now? Republicans long ago made it clear their only loyalty is to the super-wealthy, and they've dragged many Democrats along with them. Maybe people just got tired of pointing out our government has been bought for a long time.
There's also a factor that keeps many of our most influential people at bay, including Democrats: They too, are doing very well. Bernie attained a troublesome prominence by pointing out the obvious. Lots of panic around his popularity, even from the so-called liberal establishment.
There's also a factor that keeps many of our most influential people at bay, including Democrats: They too, are doing very well. Bernie attained a troublesome prominence by pointing out the obvious. Lots of panic around his popularity, even from the so-called liberal establishment.
24
Well Mr Egan, our "petty, soulless president" has already tweeted today that if Republican Senators can not come to agreement on a healthcare bill they should simply repeal "Obamacare" and deal with a replacement at some future time. Such thinking says it all. Basically screw you America, either Trump gets the "win" or you can just die.
986
Obamacare cannot be repealed under reconciliation with 51 votes. Our president, who "knows health care very well", must have missed the briefing.
5
@Concerned MD
Precise and TRUTH: There should be T-shirts made up of the last sentence and all of us march on Washington wearing them.
Count me in.
Precise and TRUTH: There should be T-shirts made up of the last sentence and all of us march on Washington wearing them.
Count me in.
4
Things like this make you understand the old cry: "A pox upon him!"
Interesting that in the olden days it was the curse of a terrible illness that was used. Incredible that in the days of modern medicine an actual "leader" would try to implement such a curse.
Interesting that in the olden days it was the curse of a terrible illness that was used. Incredible that in the days of modern medicine an actual "leader" would try to implement such a curse.
And despite all the excellent points made by Mr. Egan and others, this bill will pass. They'll make a few tweaks, and the Repulblicans that are making a show of opposing it now will give in and vote the party line, like they always do.
Why would Republicans care what people think about their policies? Half the country votes for them every time regardless, because to those people it's like rooting for a football team. And Fox News will feed them some bull about how everything is the liberals' fault, and they'll believe it, like they always do.
Why would Republicans care what people think about their policies? Half the country votes for them every time regardless, because to those people it's like rooting for a football team. And Fox News will feed them some bull about how everything is the liberals' fault, and they'll believe it, like they always do.
209
These are my thoughts exactly. Identity politics is a sport. Even if you get injured playing, as long as the team wins you feel good. Trump and Fox won't focus on data, dialectical discussions, etc. They will focus on identities. It's worked so far and will continue to work. Let this thing pass and see how they deal with their ever worsening reality.
Time for another march on Washington, even bigger than January's.
1
The Republican zeal for cutting taxes is as blind and fanatical as burning witches at the stake. We know they are out there. We have to find them burn them alive!
The same mental forces are operating here. The lives of the witches didn't matter. Their children didn't matter. All that matters was that they were burned.
As far as Republicans are concerned, the negative effects of tax cuts are not a problem. Who gets hurt is not a problem. Taxes must be cut! The most holy of tax cuts must go to the rich. The more tax cuts are skewed to the rich, the easier it will be for the Republicans to get into heaven. Every billionaire they help is a greater deed than burning 10 witches!
If one opposes the Republican tax cut god, they have a test for you. They will throw you into a lake. If you drown, that means you were not a witch and went to heaven. If you survive, you used witchcraft which proved you are a witch. Then they burned you at the stake anyway.
That's the logic they use for their tax cut mania. They even have think tanks to back up their witch burning. They have politicians with medical degrees who swear by it. We use to have doctors that bleed people to death. Looks like we still do.
The same mental forces are operating here. The lives of the witches didn't matter. Their children didn't matter. All that matters was that they were burned.
As far as Republicans are concerned, the negative effects of tax cuts are not a problem. Who gets hurt is not a problem. Taxes must be cut! The most holy of tax cuts must go to the rich. The more tax cuts are skewed to the rich, the easier it will be for the Republicans to get into heaven. Every billionaire they help is a greater deed than burning 10 witches!
If one opposes the Republican tax cut god, they have a test for you. They will throw you into a lake. If you drown, that means you were not a witch and went to heaven. If you survive, you used witchcraft which proved you are a witch. Then they burned you at the stake anyway.
That's the logic they use for their tax cut mania. They even have think tanks to back up their witch burning. They have politicians with medical degrees who swear by it. We use to have doctors that bleed people to death. Looks like we still do.
82
Every penny they chop from public spending cuts domestic product.
300,000 Americans will die each year to finance that tax cut! For Republicans, death is the source of new wealth. Decrease is the new increase! Their excess creates waste. No longer jobs and towns abandoned, decaying, but real death scattered as statistics to hide its stark, cruel reality.
27
The Republicans opposed FDR's New Deal. They were against Johnson's Great Society. Some in the party managed to reconcile themselves to the new political reality and for a time the Republican establishment embraced a larger role for government in American life. But some in the party never accepted the legitimacy of the welfare state or the regulatory state. They still dreamt of rolling back the New Deal legacy and returning to an era when the less fortunate among us were left to shift for themselves and the most rapacious had a clear field of play in a laissez-faire economy. Once down and out, this faction now controls the Republican party. Their repeal of Obamacare is just the beginning. Their ultimate goal is the same as it ever was --to set the clock back to a time before the New Deal.
120
Politicians in Great Britain took their deregulatory zeal to the next level, ignoring the pleas of fire department officials to ban the use of flammable in new construction. Deregulation won, and there are 79 bodies to show for it. Please tell me again, who is pro-life?
3
We must shout it from the rooftops: 40 years after the New Deal America was humming right along; building a huge middle class, a highway system, and a space agency (all with government largess). 40 years after Reagan we can't even fill our potholes.
Can't run a Nation as big as this on the cheap and expect much.
Can't run a Nation as big as this on the cheap and expect much.
4
The other day a caller to NPR Brian Lehrer' s show questioned why he, a millennial, has to subsidize healthcare of a middle age fellow citizen. Society where "I" trumps "We" will always find enthusiastic supporters for programs that put self-interest before selflessness, a necessity in liberal democracies.
132
Someone should have responded to that entitled child that the middle age man put him through k-12 schooling!
4
If he's lucky, he will get to middle age himself, and maybe even old age. Everyone, sooner or later, gets sick or old or both.
3
Mr. Egan cites Carolyn McClanahan who claims that her “wealthy clients barely noticed the taxes resulting from the Affordable Care Act and have not needed to make lifestyle adjustments.” However, Ms. McClanahan works with modest millionaires, not billionaires. There is a significant difference between the comfortably affluent and the ultra wealthy. The NYTimes analyzed the effect of Trump’s tax proposals on his 2005 federal tax return — the only year the public has seen. Trump would rack up $1.5 million in tax savings just from repeal of the ACA, https://nyti.ms/2pdMj4j Granted, that’s only 1% of the $153 million in income he reported that year, but $1.5 million is a significant sum.
Over the years, Trump has not been known as a generous philanthropist, unlike Warren Buffett, so that $1.5 million could be the entirety of Trump’s annual charitable givings. It's certainly ballpark for Melania's bills from Dolce & Gabbana and other designers. For the ultra wealthy, the ACA taxes mattered deeply, which is why people like Trump and the Koch brothers have insisted on repeal of the ACA from the day it came into existence: the 1% does not want to give even 1% of its wealth to everyday Americans so they can afford health insurance. The lovable billionaire Warren Buffett is the exception that proves the rule.
Over the years, Trump has not been known as a generous philanthropist, unlike Warren Buffett, so that $1.5 million could be the entirety of Trump’s annual charitable givings. It's certainly ballpark for Melania's bills from Dolce & Gabbana and other designers. For the ultra wealthy, the ACA taxes mattered deeply, which is why people like Trump and the Koch brothers have insisted on repeal of the ACA from the day it came into existence: the 1% does not want to give even 1% of its wealth to everyday Americans so they can afford health insurance. The lovable billionaire Warren Buffett is the exception that proves the rule.
41
As George Santayana might have said, Republicans who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. This demonization of Obamacare is exactly the same as Republican opposition to Medicare over 50 years ago, as outlined by Nick Kristof back in 2009 (linked below). How accurate were those scare claims? Are seniors sorry Medicare became well established despite Republican efforts to torpedo it? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/opinion/19kristof.html
19
In our ever-more-compartmentalized society, how many members of Congress live next door to someone on Medicaid? How many even KNOW anyone on Medicaid? On the other hand, how many members of Congress try to get to know millionaires - or to become millionaires themselves as lobbyists after leaving Congress? How many depend on millionaires for re-election? Let's make this simpler: Follow the money.
62
Most of the members of Congress already are millionaires in their own right. They serve the billionaires in hopes of joining them.
There was that famous experiment wherein people would turn down a benefit to themselves if it came bundled with a benefit to what that person felt was an "undeserving" other person. So much of the conservative mindset is summed up in that experiment: the conviction that we can reliably distinguish -- and agree on -- deserving from undeserving fellow humans. Trivially falsifiable of course, but very resilient.
93
The rich folks who will get the money from the (let's be honest) tax cut bill don't need the money, and never earned the money in the first place. Nobody has ever actually EARNED a billion dollars. Why now another upward redistribution? Why does a guy (say trump), guys who never produced any good or service, who are a huge drag on the economy, get in the way of any meaningful advancement of the commonwealth or improvement in the human condition, need more money?
143
Warren Buffett is not only a wise investor, he's a wise man. He favors a single-payer healthcare system. But the GOP must proceed with this tax cut to continue their Randian quest to remove all the new Deal and New Society social safety net. John Kasich and a few other republican governors deal first-hand with the struggles of their constituents and , unlike many of their party members in the House and Senate, represent everyone in their states, not just the 1%.
161
Correction-it should read "Great Society".
1
Actually, the 3.9% tax on investment income does bite the middle class - when they sell a house for a gain of more than the exclusion amount.
And the GOP has made great propaganda out of that, calling it a "sales tax" on your house.
And the GOP has made great propaganda out of that, calling it a "sales tax" on your house.
12
The IRS lets a single homeowner exclude $250,000 in profit and married homeowners $500,000.
But if you're concerned about real estate magnates like our president, then you have a point. It's not a particularly sharp one, though.
But if you're concerned about real estate magnates like our president, then you have a point. It's not a particularly sharp one, though.
33
Well it is a tax -- and you pay it when you sell.
It won't apply to me in my Rustbelt home, since the value of my home fell by 70% during the recession and never recovered. But I have friends in bigger coastal cities, whose homes have appreciated to $600-$800K and more. The exclusion is $500K per couple -- they WILL pay and a lot.
It won't apply to me in my Rustbelt home, since the value of my home fell by 70% during the recession and never recovered. But I have friends in bigger coastal cities, whose homes have appreciated to $600-$800K and more. The exclusion is $500K per couple -- they WILL pay and a lot.
2
@Concerned Citizen: Sorry to hear that. In the Detroit Metro Area the recovery has been selective. I know of offers being made without a contingency on appraisal or inspection. Not sure who is absorbing that in the mortgage processing chain but I can't but help feel we will see the son of the mortgage meltdown sometime soon.
5
I guess that the modern GOP believes that Mitt Romney low-balled the number of "moochers" in 2012. Romney stated that 47% of population existed to mooch off of America, but the GOP now acts like 99% of the US mooches off of the virtuous millionaire and billionaire class.
The GOP must say a brief prayer of thanks everyday that for the Supreme Court justices that gave them the Citizens United ruling, which allows the 'hard working' billionaires to rescue their hard earned money by buying elections.
The tax cut proposed in the latest Health Care bill is the least that the GOP can do to celebrate the real heroes of America, the 1%, who bought so many of the GOP members seats last election cycle.
The GOP must say a brief prayer of thanks everyday that for the Supreme Court justices that gave them the Citizens United ruling, which allows the 'hard working' billionaires to rescue their hard earned money by buying elections.
The tax cut proposed in the latest Health Care bill is the least that the GOP can do to celebrate the real heroes of America, the 1%, who bought so many of the GOP members seats last election cycle.
241
The 1% starts at an income of $365,000 a year. That's pretty much every member of Congress. It's also every columnist, editor and important writer here at the NYT.
There are only 4000 billionaires in the entire USA. It is unlikely that they are all conservative Republicans -- Buffet, Soros, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates -- are all lefty liberals.
There are only 4000 billionaires in the entire USA. It is unlikely that they are all conservative Republicans -- Buffet, Soros, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates -- are all lefty liberals.
Let us not forget that two former presidential candidates, Senators Cruz and Rand, oppose this bill as too generous, too expensive or as "Obamacare lite." If it were not for the opioid epidemic affecting the white working class there might have been insufficient opposition within the Republican caucus to delay the vote.
457
let's also not forget that at least one of the two senators mentioned, sleeps with the Bible beneath his pillow. the unholy allying of Jesus Christ's social message of allaying the suffering of the poor and the disadvantaged, with the Republican battle cry of 'self-reliance and choice,' is particularly galling and hypocritical.
8
That is an excellent point. Nothing softens the hard hearts of the (r)s more than rural white drug addicts. It is the suffering of those angry old white men that is keeping the Death Panel bill, disguised as a tax cut for the rich, from unanimity within the G.O.T.P.
3
You know a bill has to be worse than Obama care if Ted Cruz opposes it.
Good on 'Uncle Warren' for stepping forward, telling the politicians " No " - more in his income class should publicly do the same, especially the rest of the 400 wealthiest tax-payers:
http://www.businessinsider.com/repealing-obamacare-7-million-tax-cut-for...
those who are already making an average $300 million$ per year, who don't need the average tax cut of another $7 million$ per year.
This crowd of 400 should stand up as a group of red-blooded Americans to shout down the rank class war GOP'ers are waging in D.C., so that the scales fall away from voters' eyes as to what is happening in this wealthcare being sold as healthcare debate - a teachable moment in history is upon us, and the opportunity should be grasped.
After all, we know from the Gillens/Page study that the desires of the political donor class this group of 400 represents are the only things that politicians eventually take action on:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/04/24/gilens_and_page_find_that_r...
Resist !
http://www.businessinsider.com/repealing-obamacare-7-million-tax-cut-for...
those who are already making an average $300 million$ per year, who don't need the average tax cut of another $7 million$ per year.
This crowd of 400 should stand up as a group of red-blooded Americans to shout down the rank class war GOP'ers are waging in D.C., so that the scales fall away from voters' eyes as to what is happening in this wealthcare being sold as healthcare debate - a teachable moment in history is upon us, and the opportunity should be grasped.
After all, we know from the Gillens/Page study that the desires of the political donor class this group of 400 represents are the only things that politicians eventually take action on:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/04/24/gilens_and_page_find_that_r...
Resist !
96
RL,
W. Buffet is a good guy by the standards of his class, but don't give him too much credit. He adds $2-3 billion to his fortune every year, but declares (and pays taxes on) an income of about $12 million.
It's true he'll have to pay capital gains on the whole $76B if he converts it to cash, but in the meantime he has had 40 years of compounding his profits without paying a penny on any of it except the tiny portion he takes out every year in cash.
And if he converts it all into a foundation before he dies, his heirs will control it forever, still without paying any taxes on it.
Is it really beyond our capabilities to create a system for taxing non-cashed-out profits? I suppose a politician who even suggested such a thing would find himself outspent in the next election 500 to 1. But that's an awfully big pile of money that skips past the IRS while the rest of us are struggling to make our after tax ends meet.
W. Buffet is a good guy by the standards of his class, but don't give him too much credit. He adds $2-3 billion to his fortune every year, but declares (and pays taxes on) an income of about $12 million.
It's true he'll have to pay capital gains on the whole $76B if he converts it to cash, but in the meantime he has had 40 years of compounding his profits without paying a penny on any of it except the tiny portion he takes out every year in cash.
And if he converts it all into a foundation before he dies, his heirs will control it forever, still without paying any taxes on it.
Is it really beyond our capabilities to create a system for taxing non-cashed-out profits? I suppose a politician who even suggested such a thing would find himself outspent in the next election 500 to 1. But that's an awfully big pile of money that skips past the IRS while the rest of us are struggling to make our after tax ends meet.
4
GT - Alas and alack, none of us are pure as the driven snow, but at least Buffett is self-made, a better role model for spreading around a lot more of his fortune and resisting the lure of vulturedom than some others of his economic class, who actively deploy their fortunes against us:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/mercer-bannon/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/mercer-bannon/
1
Most of those super-rich people are liberal Democrats. Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates. George Soros, etc.
The idea that "all rich people are Republicans" is badly out of date, and unrealistic in the extreme. Most rich people are liberals.
The idea that "all rich people are Republicans" is badly out of date, and unrealistic in the extreme. Most rich people are liberals.
Follow the money.
Follow the money.
Follow the money.
In the 1960's thousands of people who protested a war became millions including society's most influential leaders taking to the street in moral outrage. What is wrong with us now? Why has being entertained led to complacency where we sit at home spewing opinion rather than gathering in a show of force? Why have we allowed our democracy to be purchased away from us?
We have allowed the need to pay for elections to be turned into an unseemly form of leverage for an agenda that even the word minority fails to capture how obscenely out of touch it is. To the point that the public will no longer matters. Polls may be ignored with impunity.
This has happened because we allowed it to happen. We have been given the birthright of democracy and to our shame all we can do is shrug in response to its theft. When a few coins from the rich means more to our leaders than the welfare of our citizenry, it is time to revolt. To take back what belongs to all of us and now just the few. The rich have declared class warfare. We can no longer afford to ignore that fact. We can no longer endure this gilded age.
Follow the money.
Follow the money.
In the 1960's thousands of people who protested a war became millions including society's most influential leaders taking to the street in moral outrage. What is wrong with us now? Why has being entertained led to complacency where we sit at home spewing opinion rather than gathering in a show of force? Why have we allowed our democracy to be purchased away from us?
We have allowed the need to pay for elections to be turned into an unseemly form of leverage for an agenda that even the word minority fails to capture how obscenely out of touch it is. To the point that the public will no longer matters. Polls may be ignored with impunity.
This has happened because we allowed it to happen. We have been given the birthright of democracy and to our shame all we can do is shrug in response to its theft. When a few coins from the rich means more to our leaders than the welfare of our citizenry, it is time to revolt. To take back what belongs to all of us and now just the few. The rich have declared class warfare. We can no longer afford to ignore that fact. We can no longer endure this gilded age.
324
Geeze Louise, where have you been? There have been marches, protests, sit-ins, demonstrations, and town halls all spring, all across the country. If you've been glued to the TV set to see what's happening in the street, you're missing it. The only thing that brings out the big cameras is violence and burning cars, which just plays into the hands of the opposition. (see latest NRA ad)
Get off yer duff and join us!
But remember the immortal words of the late great John Lennon:
“When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.”
Get off yer duff and join us!
But remember the immortal words of the late great John Lennon:
“When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.”
8
They now know how to handle non-violence and humor very well. Over the last thirty years they've spent many of their billions finding out the best methods.
1
Amen! Shout it from the rooftops.
"this is the broadest attack on working Americans by a governing political party in our lifetime."
I don't think so. Or maybe your lifetime is just shorter than mine. American workers have been under attack since at least 1981, though a good argument could be made that this all started with the Powell Memo ten years earlier.
You're right, Mr. Egan, this is an attack on working Americans. But it's certainly not out of character for the GOP. It's standard operating procedure for them and has been for decades; this is just an escalation. The only thing Republicans love more than low taxes on the rich are even lower wages for the rest of us. Haven't you been paying attention?
I don't think so. Or maybe your lifetime is just shorter than mine. American workers have been under attack since at least 1981, though a good argument could be made that this all started with the Powell Memo ten years earlier.
You're right, Mr. Egan, this is an attack on working Americans. But it's certainly not out of character for the GOP. It's standard operating procedure for them and has been for decades; this is just an escalation. The only thing Republicans love more than low taxes on the rich are even lower wages for the rest of us. Haven't you been paying attention?
400
Ahhhhh, The Powell Memo. My son's future father-in-law teaches in the Directed Studies Program at Yale. At a birthday dinner for my future daughter-in-law, this past March, the conversation at one end of the table was about a syllabus he was developing for a class the following fall. He was looking for significant dates that changed things, the status quo, or better yet prompted significant changes in policy because of the event... in Amerika. 9/11, the day the Wall fell, JFK assassination. You know, maybe those events you recall when they happened when someone mentions it 20 years later. Think about it. I piped in, "How about the Powell Memo. That was pretty significant."
3
The bill is an amoral insult to the American people perpetrated by a party in love with wealth and patrons that fund their campaigns.
Just take a look at Trump's cabinet: billionaires all, several under investigation for insider trading, which didn't stop their confirmations.
America is a country that worships and covers wealth in all forms. Those that have it want to keep it and get more – it's never enough. Many who don't have it admire the wealthy and aspire to be like them.
The values of common good and collective purpose have gone missing in this century, but these attitudes began under Reagan.
History shows us how many ancient societies died when the gap between rich and poor grew too great. We are at that point now: this horrendous bill, the product of a cruel, morally bankrupt Republican Party, is simply showing us in living color the values of the people currently in power.
Not only is this legislation terrible, it's likely to get passed in some form or another, raising another question that continually gets asked in this forum: why do those who stand to lose the most under Trumpcare continue to vote against their own self interest?
Just take a look at Trump's cabinet: billionaires all, several under investigation for insider trading, which didn't stop their confirmations.
America is a country that worships and covers wealth in all forms. Those that have it want to keep it and get more – it's never enough. Many who don't have it admire the wealthy and aspire to be like them.
The values of common good and collective purpose have gone missing in this century, but these attitudes began under Reagan.
History shows us how many ancient societies died when the gap between rich and poor grew too great. We are at that point now: this horrendous bill, the product of a cruel, morally bankrupt Republican Party, is simply showing us in living color the values of the people currently in power.
Not only is this legislation terrible, it's likely to get passed in some form or another, raising another question that continually gets asked in this forum: why do those who stand to lose the most under Trumpcare continue to vote against their own self interest?
544
Erratum: "covets" wealth, not covers.
5
"History shows us how many ancient societies died when the gap between rich and poor grew too great."
History shows no such thing; more like the opposite. How long did the Middle Ages last? What about the ancient kingdoms, like the Akkadians, the Persians, the Hellenistic kings, the Roman Empire? How long did the Middle Ages last? What about imperial China, Mogul India, Japan, or Russia throughout the ages? All were empires that lasted for hundreds of years, ruled by an oligarchy and powered by slaves, serfs, or peasants living at subsistence levels. If Trump and the GOP get their wishes, we will have a Dark Age that lasts a very long time.
History shows no such thing; more like the opposite. How long did the Middle Ages last? What about the ancient kingdoms, like the Akkadians, the Persians, the Hellenistic kings, the Roman Empire? How long did the Middle Ages last? What about imperial China, Mogul India, Japan, or Russia throughout the ages? All were empires that lasted for hundreds of years, ruled by an oligarchy and powered by slaves, serfs, or peasants living at subsistence levels. If Trump and the GOP get their wishes, we will have a Dark Age that lasts a very long time.
4
It's called stupidity. No point in looking any further.
2
No one but the desperately ill or the destitute have purchased or attempted to purchase insurance through the byzantine maze that is Obamacare. Why? Well with premiums costing thousands per year with deductables of thousands more (rates for singles) anything short of a catastrophic incident becomes a choice of paying rent or seeing a doctor. The culprits? Hospitals and physicians, big pharma and the AMA all of which conspire, lobby and purchase politicians to keep medical care in the US the most expensive, least reliable and least utilized (by the vast majority) in the developed world. The destitute
and chronically ill are @ 65% of the utilization curve; the wealthy - who purchase concierge medicine and are NEVER part of the equation except for the low healthcare taxes they hardly notice - a count for another 15%. The other 20% are employed, generally earning between $55K and $150K per household and receive some sort of health insurance through their workplace - note that the great majority of this 20% are government workers and retirees receiving what amounts to an untaxed platinum plan. Want to spread the wealth? Start taxing government-provided health plans bigly - starting with congress, then the executive branch and all federal, state and municipal plans. Tax it as you would income, because in today's world, that's exactly what this largess is. Then we'll see just how neighborly these folks are.
and chronically ill are @ 65% of the utilization curve; the wealthy - who purchase concierge medicine and are NEVER part of the equation except for the low healthcare taxes they hardly notice - a count for another 15%. The other 20% are employed, generally earning between $55K and $150K per household and receive some sort of health insurance through their workplace - note that the great majority of this 20% are government workers and retirees receiving what amounts to an untaxed platinum plan. Want to spread the wealth? Start taxing government-provided health plans bigly - starting with congress, then the executive branch and all federal, state and municipal plans. Tax it as you would income, because in today's world, that's exactly what this largess is. Then we'll see just how neighborly these folks are.
10
QuackWatch makes at least two very good points. One is that underlying all the past and current debate about "healthcare" is the fact that maintaining wellness is prohibitively expensive to most Americans, something that the Senate bill does nothing to address. (Health Savings Accounts, for instance, are useless for the great majority of Americans who barely manage to pay the bills week-to-week.)
The second point, which is related to the first, is the huge tax break given to those fortunate enough to have employer-sponsored insurance; something generally unavailable to the rest of us. Health care is expensive. If we are going to be serious about this issue, then, as QuackWatch points out, we need to view these plans as taxable income.
The second point, which is related to the first, is the huge tax break given to those fortunate enough to have employer-sponsored insurance; something generally unavailable to the rest of us. Health care is expensive. If we are going to be serious about this issue, then, as QuackWatch points out, we need to view these plans as taxable income.
8
"No one but the desperately ill or the destitute have purchased or attempted to purchase insurance through the byzantine maze that is Obamacare." I don't think so. Many self employed people I know, including my sister, have insurance through an Obamacare exchange. She is very well and not destitute, thank you.
Shutting down or gutting these exchanges is a great way to deter small business formation and keep people tied to their jobs. We know that enforcing non compete contracts is a good way to curb economic growth because people cannot chase their dreams. I suspect we will find the same here.
I agree that taxing health plans as insurance would help level the playing field, but until we move to a single payer system, we are putting wallpaper on a cracked wall.
Shutting down or gutting these exchanges is a great way to deter small business formation and keep people tied to their jobs. We know that enforcing non compete contracts is a good way to curb economic growth because people cannot chase their dreams. I suspect we will find the same here.
I agree that taxing health plans as insurance would help level the playing field, but until we move to a single payer system, we are putting wallpaper on a cracked wall.
15
My son, daughter-in-law, and grandson all have their health insurance through Obamacare. None of them is desperately ill or destitute, nor have they reported having to go through a Byzantine maze to get coverage. Of course, we live in California, a state that has worked hard to make Obamacare work.
10
It should be increasingly clear to Americans that they cannot vote themselves out of this oligarchy we have now set up for themselves. The bloodbath of class warfare and revolution is an inevitable fact of the middle to late half of this century. The political class has absolutely failed us, in every measurable way, and with firearms outnumbering citizens in this failed state, the blood will start to flow as the New Deal bargains with the working class disappear. People like to invoke the judgement of future historians when weighing large and cynical political outcomes like this "health care" bill, but it is my firm belief that whatever shattered remnants of humanity still cling to life a couple centuries hence, studying and remarking upon the obvious moral mistakes of our times will not be among their occupations.
100
As John Kennedy said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable."
Thomas Piketty's research found that only through warfare or revolution did large amounts of inequality go away. He was unable to find a single instance where large scale inequality dissolved peacefully.
Sad!
Thomas Piketty's research found that only through warfare or revolution did large amounts of inequality go away. He was unable to find a single instance where large scale inequality dissolved peacefully.
Sad!
13
Exactly what I have been saying for a long time. Too bad that I am so old that I will be dead before it happens. I would really like to take part in it. I even have a few congressional types on my personal favorites list. But that's how it is. I think the republicans will get away with this one, but when they go after Medicare and Social Security that will be an assault too far. Bigly uprising will happen then. All I can say to those selfish and greedy creeps in congress is.... What goes around comes around.
3
Fathers would weep!