A family member of mine, in Southern Arizona, expressed distaste for Mexican immigrants by citing an impression that, whenever stuck in a hospital waiting room, there always seems to be a large Mexican family, letting kids run unrestrained, taking too much space, and making too much noise. Same person is convinced that all scientists are corrupt and faking results to get more government funding.
Antagonism, I guess, is toward policies: - Primarily supporting the poor ("them, not me") - Advocated by liberals ("wrong by default") - Advocated by Obama specifically ("worst president ever") - Requiring higher taxes ("I can spend it better myself") - Expanding federalism ("government should be smaller") - Involving complex economic analysis ("designed by eggheads")
So any model to benefit greater society in the long while requiring more taxes in the short run sounds like some kind of Faustian proposal from a fork-tongued corrupt academic.
All people who are physically and mentally able should go to work. All people who work should be able to have access to affordable healthcare.
Healthcare should only be provided to those who contribute to society. Those who are on welfare for a short time are also deserving and also all children under the age of 18.
The rest of the people should experience the consequences of their action or inaction in this case.
3
@Marika
Perhaps you could state your age, Marika. From before birth until our 20's we all contribute little towards the cost of our health care or other services.
As a physician, though I worked hard to educate myself, my earnings weren't covering the cost of social services I required, including my education and healthcare; I didn't have a real paying job until I was 35.
So now I pay it forward; there's surplus value in my labor and I'm a contributor. I don't hold grudges against those who can't contribute taxes and services as much as I can. I'm privileged to be able to help.
The balance could shift back the other way any day though; I'll soon retire and the day will come when I will need help again. Until that day, let me help others. And when that day comes when I need help, let others graciously help me.
28
@Marika
"Short-sighted: not thinking enough about how an action will affect the future"
1
@Marika You seem to neglect people who aren't able to work, for whatever reason.
3
I still cannot fathom how the GOP, which has incredibly unpopular positions on so many issues, continues to get votes from people they hurt. Besides healthcare, they have worked overtime to enable fraud in finance and education, moved to trash the environment, ignored the fundamental crisis of our age (climate change), severely limited access to abortion, and disenfranchise millions of voters. People who are not racists or religious fanatics need to vote.
520
@james doohan
Racism. That's basically all trump ran on.
Trump voters weren't all up in arms about economic inequality. That is a false story, and one notices Van Jones (the Loathesome Van Jones (R)) has stopped pedaling his nonsense b/c its demonstrably false.
Unequal opportunities in flyover country vs the coastal elites trope has existed for decades - since the 1980s at least. (To boot, HRC was an unlikeable, charisma-less candidate - too arrogant to actually campaign in states like Wisconsin, PA, and Ohio.)
Your last sentence though, spot on. Judging by the 2018 midterms, however, voters understand the healthcare debate. Know trump and the gop are liars and untrustworthy. Leave it to trump, buffoon, bankruptcy devotee, specailist in failure, to hand the Dems a winning hand.
Oh, and while we're on the topic of trump's imbecility, his little plan to turn Jewish Americans against the Democratic party by pedaling lies and thinly-veiled anti-semitism will fail badly.
21
@james doohan Not just one word. Add, abortion. Until Roe v Wade is overturned in full many, many people will vote Republican no matter what else.
18
Why do “they” vote against their own interests? It has always been a simple bait and switch: Jesus, guns, anti-abortion for the base voters and billions of dollars and lax regulations for the donors. All the analysis in the world won’t change this fact, and by the time the base feels the pain of their actions (and why haven’t they yet?), it will be too late.
16
When Obamacare was passed, my health insurance (which I liked very much) turned into insurance in name only. I pay an extreme amount for the same policy with a deductible that is so high I will never use it. I'm not wealthy.
Just like all government programs designed to help the poor and working class, Obamacare punished the middle class. Thanks for nothing.
8
Because ACA was flawed since republicans forced the removal of a public option.
So thank your republican reps for that
4
@Melissa M.
It is the Republicans who have been blocking all attempts by Democrats to repair the problems after establishing the ACA framework to expand care to millions, including millions of middle class families who were going bankrupt after a cancer diagnosis.
Republicans want to manipulate you to keep you angry at Democrats.
3
@Melissa M. That is a lie. Your health care will explode under Trump's new plan. Oh wait -- he has no plan other than to keep cutting taxes. When will you realize you are handing over the country to those who want to rape it of everyone's money. You can lie to yourself all you want, but if you are honest you'll admit that while Obamacare wasn't perfect, it's better than what Trump will give you: nothing.
3
Professor, you are a decent person, and very logical. The GOP are neither. The vast majority Live in terror of “ those people “ getting any benefits or succor from any Government Program. They would endure suffering for themselves and even their own Children and Grandchildren instead. It truly IS pathological, and the disease is Racism. It’s inculcated early, mostly lifelong, and rarely curable. The only effective treatment is Voting, and Voting for Democrats. Each and every time.
1069
@Phyliss Dalmatian That is what I always said. Baseline is racism. Try living in Alabama. I was insulated by family wealth and education. You are allowed to leave and I have but at 67 i am stuck. One would think it would have been worse in the past. No, it is worse that ever, but racism is not confined to Al.. People just get a certain satisfaction in believing that.
35
@james simpson
I hear you, James. It’s everywhere, but in some places it’s just more acceptable to show it openly. And we drive thru Alabama to visit my Parents in Florida. Best wishes, Sir.
25
@Phyliss Dalmatian
your use of "terror" may be on point per the Terror Management Theory --there was a good article on another median called "Do voters adore Trump because they dread death?"
10
It's about taxes. Specifically, lower taxes for billionaires.
224
@Rob S
It's not just about money. It is about a pathology. Look who they allow to live in the White House.
3
@Rob S
And racism, you forgot the racism...
3
It all comes down to hatred toward Obama. They're just jealous of Obama because Obama's a nice guy. A popular guy. A decent guy. An honest, successful guy. A happily married guy. For bitter people, there's nothing more infuriating than seeing others succeed and be happy.
1716
@Gerber
It has nothing to do with personal feelings, not even towards Obama. It has everything to do with protecting the enormous entrenched interests of their patrons in preserving the current system.
152
@Gerber
I have nothing against Obama and voted for him. Twice.
But under the ACA, we lost the catastrophic coverage which, as modestly successful small business owners able to cover normal health care costs but not wanting
to go bankrupt due to a health catastrophe, was the best and most affordable insurance 'fit' for us. Then the ACA costs kicked in. For two reasonably healthy people in their early 60's in a high cost state, the most affordable 'bronze' plan was priced at $3100 / month.
That came with a $13,500 deductible in addition to the premiums. We found ourselves (barely) over the income cliff and in the 'Medicare Gap'. And completely unable to afford any coverage under the ACA. That's just not right, and there are many of us in that sunken ship.
54
@irene, I have farmer and rancher friends who thank God for the ACA because they now have reasonable priced health insurance; and I have other self employed friends who are over the income cliff and curse it everyday. Surely tweaking the ACA to compensate for the income cliff is preferable than razing it altogether.
435
Yeah, I get it. Republicans hate whatever is good for the 99%. But as long as they repeat their lies over and over again, Joe Public falls for it.
I am amazed humans ever learned to walk upright.
1557
@Marcus W "Let them eat opioids."
63
@Marcus W
Judging from what I see (in one of my neighbors, over 80 and not in very good health), "Joe Public" is not very bright.
51
@Marcus W
"Joe Public..."
Yet, you want his vote... in return for arrogance?
1
President Reagan’s warnings against government help have come to full fruition in the Republicans’ current anti-healthcare fervor. Universal healthcare orchestrated by government is bad because unthinking people have convinced themselves that government really is evil. And indeed, it’s difficult to convince such people otherwise now that Republicans truly have managed to make our government evil.
300
@dpr Repubs sure do love that government is evil private enterprise is good nonsense. Really, government and private enterprise are equally corruptible, but the government is shared power while private is not shared. Therefore, government is the bad guy if you are an aspiring oligarch
9
@dpr
"because unthinking people have convinced themselves that government really is evil."
The usual liberal tripe. We, the deplorable and unthinking (what an awkward English), are convinced that the gov is wasteful and incompetent. We also see an ample evidence for that (I work for the gov).
Remember, when the ACA website went online, what a failed product it was. If Amazon did that, it would've gone bust.
When a private business messes up, it goes under (unless the wasteful gov bails it out). The gov, however, never pays for its mistakes. Actually, they are paid for their mistakes with more than decent pensions and benefits, and speaker engagements, and guaranteed 'professorships.'
Some are even awarded a Nobel prize for having done nothing.
3
@al if the government is wasteful and incompetent, and you work for the government, wouldn't that mean that you and your co-workers are incompetent? And if the government is so bad, why would you work for it? You seem to be advocating for your own unemployment.
26
I am so happy for all the good people in Kentucky who will be losing - well - everything, if this passes. And they can proudly point to their #1 hero, Mitch McConnell, the man they keep voting for to improve their (and our) lives. Thanks again, Kentucky!
1121
@Sbaty
It's the coal runoff in their water that paralyzes the critical faculties of the brain and compels them to vote GOP, denying themselves both healthcare and a clean environment. Reminds me of one of those parasitic fungi that makes ants do strange things to perpetuate itself.
34
@KBronson
Mitch is a reminder as to just how powerful the majority leader is. He is the sole decider as what is brought up for a vote. Now that is what you call power.
The entire population may want a bill that passed the peoples' house and is delivered to the Senate and not even brought up for a vote as though it did not exist.
21
@Sbaty
Is McConnell Larry, Curly, or Moe in the picture accompanying the column?
4
Its hard to believe Republicans really care Americans Health Care and do away Obamacare , ask yourself replace Obamacare with nothing.
The Devil been invite to America Health Care GOP , let pray family hurt or ever die remember 2020 to veto out office Republicans let's battle cry across County for mid-class we need health care not give away Tax's plan for Rich.
I am convinced that the reason Republicans hate Medicare for all is that no one gets filthy rich on it.
276
@Gerhard That may be, but there is a significant degree of Medicare "privatization" that has already occurred. Medicare Advantage plans and Medigap insurance come to mind.
10
@Gerhard
And employees are more afraid to leave jobs with employer sponsored health care. If we got insurance elsewhere we could, more easily, shop for new jobs and careers. We might even start new businesses...that would be competitive with our former employers.
Employer sponsored health care keeps the boot on employees necks. The ownership class likes it that way.
47
@Gerhard
Yes, well not any more. I bought a medical equipment company with reasonable cashflow. Medicare's cuts were so drastic that all of the equipment companies in the area went out of business. One way to skin a cat. Guess I can wear it since I no longer have a shirt.
2
No, republicans do not hate health care. They hate an ever expanding government social net with no call for accountability on the part of the beneficiaries. Medicaid expansion is a joke. It underpays by a long shot, driving up everyone else’s costs and punishing doctors who do the right thing by taking care of people. Nobody tells the Medicaid recipient I saw yesterday to report her cash business and not go to Europe on vacation this week while we foot the bill for her care while she contributes nothing and cheats. The democrats want healthcare for all, as do I, but also want to open the borders to any and all with no regard for paying for the services people want.
Trump was elected because Americans said enough is enough. Is enough enough, or do you want him re-elected?
6
@Ny Surgeon I think there's a solution to your issue. Report the person for Medicaid fraud.
2
@Ny Surgeon
Maybe Republicans do hate the things you claim, to the extent that your claims are accurate. Krugman lays out a factual and logical explanation for there being more to it than that. And facts and logic point more directly to Republicans NOT wanting poor Americans to get nearly as much as they now receive.
1
So what is your solution? Given the average American cannot afford what modern medicine costs? How can that possibly work unless society as a whole pays for it, ny surgeon?
Do you suggest debtors prisons? Just go without and die?
The poorest among us can’t afford to build roads and highways, and yet we have them, because collectively we CAN provide the biggest things of modern life. Pence wants a man on the moon in 5 years, how do you propose we pay for that?
4
It's simple. Republicans hate, really hate, the poor, and hate the idea of helping anyone. They are greedy, selfish, and self-centered. They got theirs, and they aren't going to share it with anyone, no matter what. Funny that the claim to be Christians too.
2
Regarding GOP's motivation: I think it is part of their plan to take over running the country on a permanent basis. It helps keep the huddled masses huddled, and beholden to their rulers.
1
Just can’t fathom why the GOP believes a healthy nation is a bad thing? We are well on our way to becoming a second-rate nation whose leadership has chosen guns over butter... So sad to witness our downward spiral on the world stage...
1
"You don't want YOU"R (code for whites) taxes going to support THOSE PEOPLE (code for non-whites)!"
Simple as that...
The Republican Party attracts bigots and selfish rich white people like dog-dirt attracts flies.
1
As long as Dem's don't fall into the single payer trap, they have just been handed the 2020 election.
Focus on universal access,"Medicare at cost"options, nonprofit insurance platforms, and earned income tax credits for working families whose medical expenses exceed 10% of income. that's enough to win a landslide in 2020.
Anything more than that is both a pipedream fiscally, and a loser in the Electoral College. Put a muzzle on AOC, and steer clear of Sanders and Harris at the convention. They are all losers on this issue.
1
Six years ago this coming June of 2019 my wife was taken critically ill spending three weeks in University Hospital, El Paso, TX, eight weeks in a nursing facility here in Las Cruces, New Mexico recovering to become well enough to come home, then seven weeks of in home nurse visits two times a week with OT and PT at home as well, followed by twenty-five weeks of outpatient PT and OT and traveling to Mayo Brothers in both Scottsdale and Phoenix, AZ for additional medical care as an outpatient. The final bill came to over $200,000. Medicare as currently configured and administrated paid for a large portion of the total bill plus a supplementary health insurance plan my wife has was also used. We had to pay a total of $750. If Medicare had not been administered and delivered as it presently is today, we would be either on the streets or in a tent city.
"Thank you" President Trump for your 2020 budget cutting funding in Medicare and Medicaid!
1
It's not that they hate health care. They just think that making sure everyone else gets it is socialist, and therefore intolerable. They agree it's really too bad that just for lack of money to pay for treatment or insurance, people will get sick and die, but solving that would be socialism and that just won't do. Thanks for understanding.
1
I make my way to a regional ER after a bloody trail accident. I walk in and there 20-30 people sitting around. Intake asks if I’m homeless and insured. No and yes, I go right to the head of the line and get a full work up, CAT scan, EKG, blood panel, and stitches from ER Doctor and nurses. I pay the $90 copay and I’m out in less than 2 hours.
Without insurance I would have probably have waited hours or until I passed out.
1
Why is it so difficult to see that the health of everyone effects the health of everyone else.
3
It’s theological. Republicans are Calvinists who believe government is a vile plot against all they hold dear, and should be limited to providing skeletal supports to the populace,
https://www.motherjones.com/mag/2005/12/toc/
2
How can we consider ourselves to be Christians if we are willing to take healthcare away from many millions of our fellow citizens!!!!!!!
2
I wonder if our 400 year culture of slaveholding, KKK, and Jim Crow has bred in many of us the pathologies that Dr. Krugman notes.
1
More typical GOP stinginess mixes with a bit of dog whistle politicking.
2
To the press: please ask the question and hammer all politicians-why is the US the only industrialized country without government run healthcare? Why is US healthcare the most expensive? Why do healthcare CEOs make millions in salary and bonuses annually?
34
@kat perkins Are these questions rhetorical or just naive? The answer is money, dude. The medical-industrial-complex bought our Congressmen and Senators. Agents of foreign a foreign corporation literally wrote the PPACA (Obamacare, an old Heritage foundation idea) as reported here in the NYT. Roche/Genentech wrote the law as a "service" to congressmen. Look it up.
2
@kat perkins
Imho, the answer is quite simple: because half of those eligible to vote, don't bother enough to vote.
Many don't vote because if their ideal politician isn't on the ballot, they believe that the best way to get him there next time is to refuse to vote now - thereby confounding the constitutional freedom of expressing our opinions, and the constitutional power to turn new bills made in Congress more into the direction into which we want this country to move.
Others don't vote because they image that it doesn't matter, or that all politicians are corrupt.
The same cynicism is also constantly cultivated by certain media, especially (but not only) Fox News, who on top of that spread fake news 24/7, so that GOP voters STILL believe that the GOP will improve healthcare when their presidential nominee says them he will, even though for eight long years they had been doing the exact opposite (and now of course continue to do so).
And then there's the education problem: the US not only lags behind many other Western countries when it comes to healthcare, it's also - not coincidentally - the case when it comes to education.
No radical change EVER happens overnight. But if we citizens don't start to wake up and engage, nothing will ever change...
7
@Gregory Scott Nass
That's exactly the kind of cynicism that got us here in the first place.
Obamacare contains HUNDREDS of pages of mandates for insurers (which they obviously don't like), and it's the result of a year of public hearings and debates, with ALL sides involved (hospitals, doctors, patient organizations, nurses, ...).
In the end, Obama obtained a compromise that not only all of these organizations approved of, BUT that could also get a real 60 vote majority in the Senate (and without 60 votes nothing could pass ... whereas the Democrats did NOT have 60 Senators).
Result? 20 million more Americans insured, and an additional half a million American lives saved a decade - and without the SC Medicaid expansion ruling, that would have been 28 million. It also curbed cost increases.
As another Krugman op-ed shows, the Democrats' new HC bill adds subsidies and a public option, which will curb cost increases even more, all while adding another 15 million people. And of course, over time the public option will make us shift to a de facto single payer system.
Other huge advantage of Obamacare: because of the decade-long public debate about it, a clear majority of the American people, including a majority of GOP voters, now support Medicare for All.
Of course, too many people will remain to cynical to vote, in 2020, so I don't see how the votes will be there to get it signed into law. But in the meanwhile, progress will continue to be made...
9
Is it really that difficult to see the motivation?
Rich people might have to pay more in taxes to support the healthcare of others.
43
@S Probably not.Thats the kicker.
1
@S , all is said
@But explain the millions of poor that continue to vote Republican when the GOP stance on the ACA comes at the expense of their own families health. Do the Second Amendment and overturning Rowe supersede the health of your children? It's dumbfounding.
8
And yet my grandmother keeps voting for Trump
5
@Mixilplix
Please tell us some of the things she is saying. Ask her the best 1 or 2 and then the worst 1 or 2...things she can think of about Trump.
1
@Mixilplix So do my parents (in their late 60's with poor health and no ability to retire in site).
2
@Mixilplix Because she has hers. She doesn't care about others.
3
Mr. Krugman, I always read your columns, often find them useful and respect who you are and what you have done in the world. I would like your best answer to my question: Given the nature of capitalism, which without a doubt has driven civilization forward in many ways, and given its required nature to compete and given that the latter has brought us to the edge of the extinction of many species and already the deaths from climate change of many thousands of people around the world and the possible deaths of millions more - don't you think capitalism has outlived its usefulness? Can you help us think seriously about a human alternative?
15
I admire Paul Krugman, I really do.
But there is a problem with a Nobel Prize winner playing armchair psychologist, speculating on the motives of Trump and the Republicans, and labeling them "pathological:"
It gives Republicans an opportunity to deflect from the underlying issue. Which is their wheelhouse, since they have no policies or programs that actually help working and middle class Americans. I can hear it now, Republicans and Fox News screaming on about how that "book-learn'd" professor called them all psychos.
How about until November 2020 Dems and their supporters keep focus on the principle political arguments? Namely:
1) Trump and the Republicans have gutted your healthcare,
2) They will not stop until it is completely gone,
3) They have no plan or intention to replace it with anything,
4) If they succeed, you and/or family members will be in medical debt or bankruptcy the rest of your lives,
5) All Democratic politicians have plans and policies to enhance medical coverage and protect your family.
20
@Dan88,
PK has covered all those issues many times.
This is just one column in which he speculates on motivation.
It's not a be-all, end-all strategic plan.
1
@Dan88
Krugman is an intellectual. Especially today, we urgently need intellectuals, as we need people who go deeper than our most obvious questions and challenges, in order to look at potential causes, so that we can prevent that the same problems happen over and over again.
Your 2020 proposal seem to be politically absolutely perfect: 100% true, entirely clear and easy to understand, and "simple", as a message. It's already because Democrats focused on this message that they massively won the mid-terms (biggest voter gap in three decades).
In the meanwhile, we HAVE to also ask our intellectuals to reflect on WHY the GOP is doing this, which is what Krugman is doing here.
That being said, proposing "cruelty" as main hypothesis doesn't really answer that question, indeed, as "cruelty" is often what we imagine MUST be the motivation of someone inflicting pain when we can't think of any other anymore: if we don't see why a person inflicts tremendous damage on others, we suppose he must LIKE doing so.
It's not that that's not true, it's just that it doesn't really explain what led him to like doing so, and that's where the real intellectual work starts.
And here, I'm not sure that an economist can find the real reasons. After all, conservatism is a political philosophy, so imho we have to study it a bit more to discover how so many GOP politicians, staff, judges etc. today can support and commit such cruel actions. HOW will this MAGA, in their eyes, in other words .. ?
2
Instead of the golden Cadillac health care plan congressional members currently enjoy, they should be given a basic market place plan. Maybe that would help them relate to the majority of their constituents.
19
Congress is required to use their subsidies to buy health insurance on the Marketplace already. Look stuff up, willya?
3
@Robert "willya"
Can you give me some places to call on this? What if they have pre-existing? I am not trying to be smart. Have been on phone for hrs trying to find health insurance.....
@Robert don't let them buy anything above a Bronze plan with a very limited network in a tiny region.
4
Let's look at the basic driving forces for this phenomenon of people voting against their best interests: (1)Voters can be influenced by Marketing Campaigns. (2) The Wealthy who own the Corporations need to make money by selling irrational consumption items at huge profits, (3) to make huge profits they need to escape bearing the cost of pollution and be allowed to sell products which damage the health and well-being of the consumers, (4) so they pay lawmakers to ensure that the right laws are passed, (5) a nexus to promote the wrong messages is established between a section of unscrupulous lawmakers and unscrupulous media and marketers, (6) the gullible succumb to the messages that they are blasted with...and, (7) vote against their best interests. Democracy is being undermined everywhere from within. Let us resolve to fight the good fight.
Mr. Krugman, Is it really all that complicated?
A populace with affordable and totally reliable health care for everyone in the family is a populace far more independent of their employers, far more willing to take risks (which could mean competition for their employers) and far more willing to organize for higher wages and other benefits such as European-style vacation months. It would be a populace in search of the next thing to fix!
It's pretty clear that the current GOP model is to keep the rest of us barefoot, pregnant and in mortal fear of losing what safety net they can cobble together.
12
I dont understand why it is so hard for people not to vote against their own self interest. They must have so much irrational hate that being used by the ultra rich and powerful is ok to them.
8
The Republican party is the party of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. They don't want any of their money going to help people who aren't rich buy health insurance. Why anybody who isn't rich votes for them is beyond me.
10
Judging by what I read from the right wing hardliners, such as Ann Coulter, Mitch McConnel, Steve Bannon, etc., I see that the Republicans' actual believe that it is better for the poor, who cannot afford healthcare, to just die. This may sound cynical, but how on earth do they think that people, who are unable to find jobs or, at any rate, jobs that can pay for their health insurance, can actually take care of themselves in the face of deadly ailments. The conservatives would rather just have them be dead. Simply solution, eh?
5
Trump wants the Obamacare $'s to help fund his wall. Special Olympics $'s, too. Every cut coming up will go toward funding the wall. We'll have a country full of sick, disabled people, but we'll have that wall!
4
No, Republicans really hate people. Denying them access to affordable health care is simply the meanest direct way to express that hatred. Add in Puerto Ricans and disabled children for bonus dollops of gratuitous Trumpian venom.
8
Trump hates the ACA, because it is nicknamed Obamacare Trump really hates Obama. REALLY HATES.
9
Paul,
The reason republicKlans Hate health care Changes is because “corporations are people Too” !
Health care insurers and the pharmaceutical industry are Holding US Hostage and they Like It That Way and these “Wealthy People” pay Congress to Do What They Want and then congress Jumps for them !!
Greed and Control, ...Greed and the power of “filthy lucre” to Influence Law !
Pure and Simple Greed is the cause of Our Turmoil in the Health Care arena...
...it is the Addiction of Their Power that We need to Sever !!!
6
I'm starting to think they're just sociopaths, or are at least mimicing the sociopathy of their Great Leader. Republicans have autistic and blind and mentally challenged people in their families too. They have pre-existing conditions too. They need expensive surgeries too. What are they thinking here? Trump is teaching them how to become sociopathic and not care.
6
Correct answer: "all of the above."
-- More recipients are (or are perceived to be) of color.
-- Money from Big Pharma and Big Insure lobbies.
-- Desire to bloody noses of Obama and his ilk.
-- Atavistic ideological dread of social compact.
-- On and on.
But what I'd like to know is: why now, under new AG? Who's the Barr-whisperer in all of this? Not Bolton. Mick "Hi, I'm a right-wing nutjob" Mulvaney? Who?
3
I agree. Trump and the majority of Republicans are mentally ill crackpots who should be immediately removed from their positions. America Can Do Better.
6
Well, don't forget the role of racism in Trump's psyche. He wants to demolish all things Obama.
3
no one is immune to sweeping technological changes coming down the pike. health care for all will continue to be a bigger and bigger issue. now there are more and more mergers consolidations. every company is scrambling to survive.
Costco is jam packed. the local groc stores r cutting hours.
Larry summers(former Treas Sec.)said there will be a permanent underclass with no jobs. We not only need health care for all but also housing for people who cannot work i.e Malaysia Prime minister Mr Lew enacted. This is a rolling crisis we r experiencing and will get worse and everyone knows it. Less and less people believe in fairy tales.Yes if we give everything away in the store it wont exist. A healthy workforce is necessary 4 a good economy.People must be able to switch out of jobs that r not good for them. They need healthcare to do this. Look at Amazon-$13.00 an hour Ugh
poor working condtions.Yes Jeff Bezos is a genius so they tell me. He has not made my life better. Bizarre upper class with zero Christian values
is needed to insure success
3
That's LITERALLY installing a "death panel".
Obamacare saves an additional half a million American lives a decade.
Destroying it WITHOUT replacing it with something better, contrary to what Trump promised to do (remember his "everybody will be so happy, believe me!"?), means using the power of the government to decide to end those hundreds of thousands of American lives.
Whether you're a liberal or a conservative, you should at least be able to agree that doing so is despicable and utterly immoral.
2
@Ana Luisa Agree on all your words! I would go a little further and call them all murderers.
Since the ACA's passage, with respect to the Affordable Care Act, the working press in America--print and electronic--has aided the hate-mongers and their unwitting chorus by sanctioning their branding the legislation "Obamacare." By editors allowing that term to creep into daily, thoughtless use in their stories, the ACA's opponents must have been gleeful. Intentional racists knew that "Obamacare" would be their dogwhistle "N" word. If most of the press's editors didn't cringe at that, I for one cringe--and doubly cringe at the blindness of characterizing any major legislative act achieved through democratic process with the name of a politician who was supposedly responsible for its passage.
Obama did not pass the Affordable Care Act. Congress did that. Sad how the press has allowed this slogan to continue its polarizing racist appeal. Incidentally, Big Healthcare and Big Pharma must also love the slogan now that Trump is renewing his campaign to entirely do away with--yes-- "Nobamacare."
7
@PaulKrugman It has something to do with the word “care”. They can’t stand that word because it makes them think they are giving in to weakness. They believe cruelty is strength. Maybe we should call it “Needles and Scary Pills for Everybody.” There, fixed it.
2
Trump doesn't want to do away with Affordable Health Care, he wants to do away with OBAMA Care. He hates, no, he despises former President Obama. He wants to eliminate anything connected to Obama and his Presidency. If there is no legislation advanced to replace it, so what, at least another reference to Obama will be gone. When Trump hates you, he hates you forever. The Republicans in Congress understand that and are constrained to sit on their hands and do nothing for fear of Trump's hate list - like McCain did.
1
"Maybe it’s anger at the thought of anyone getting something they didn’t earn themselves, unless it’s an inheritance from daddy."
Conservatives value property rights above human rights. It was so before "Republican" came to mean "conservative"; it was so before the Republican party existed. Conservative thought has never devised an organizing principle more modern or more enlightened than this one.
1
In the end, that will have been all that Trump and the GOP achieved.
Instead of negotiating and obtaining their campaign promises, they will have done nothing at all.
No wall, no health insurance system that insures more Americans and at lower costs, no infrastructure (re)built, no new jobs thanks to trade wars.
The only thing that will remain is yet again the exact opposite of what candidate Trump promised: he will have doubled the deficit, by handing out the wealthiest like himself a gigantic tax cut. And that will be it.
The GOP will have made its own personal wealth great again. And then Democrats will once again have to step in and clean up the damage.
6
Agree, a Republican member of Congress really hates.. and healthcare for our entire citizenry is one of the most important casualties.
1. They really hate giving-up power or failing to obtain power. All else is subordinate to their power. Every calculation is to maximize power and its longevity.
2. They really hate challenges to their power. So, they fear the next primary opponent grinding the Far-Right organ. They fear the monkeys throwing non-compliance feces in their face. They will say and do everything to stay in the graces of super donors.
3. They really hate complainers, so they have intermediaries and avoid Town Halls. They are outwardly polite, but internally condescending toward fools who would have them oppose insurance / healthcare corporations as a member of the pro-corporate party.
2
“Poverty is a kind of violence, the worst kind.” - Gandhi.
Denying healthcare insurance to tens of millions of people because they don’t have a job that gives it to them is a manifestation of what Gandhi said.
It is an act of incalculable cruelty by our rich neighbors against our poor neighbors; you know, the people the rich send to fight and die to protect their property rights back home.
The immorality of the Republican Party is hard to fathom, but its really been fairly obvious since Joe McCarthy was for a short time, their little darling of the anti-communist witch hunt; & Nixon’s treasonous act as a candidate to keep the Vietnam war going in 1968 by conspiring w/ the S.Vietnam government (costing thousands of more lives), to Bush ignoring the threat of terrorism throughout the 1st 9 months of 2001, then lying the nation into an unnecessary war costing $3 trillion then imploding the economy, and now giving us the ever-lying Treasonous Trump.
Anti-communism aside, they were happy to send tens of thousands of factories and millions of jobs to help develope the Chinese Communist Dictatorship if it provided the means to break the backs of the American working class. Again impoverishing their friends and neighbors from the other side of the track who’s lives provide the fodder for their cannons in defense of their property rights.
That party is utterly discusting and unpatriotic to its core.
4
Why, you ask?
Let’s attack this together as a 5-Y
First Y
Because losing your health insurance is stressful. Everything Republicans now support is destabilizing and intentionally designed to increase stress and tension on the American people.
- loss of health insurance
- people separated from their own children st the border in s state sponsored kidnapping campaign
- POC mass incarcerated, tacit support for white supremacsists
- poisoning of our environment see Flint etc
- kneecapping the hurricane Maria victims
- forced birth
- massive voter disenfranchisement efforts
- refusing real help on the student loan and opioid epidemics
- tearing apart our governmental institutions by placing incapable corrupt people at the head and refusing to full staff
- doing nothing in light of our greatest existential threat, global warming
This is far, far too much to be accidental. So what is the reason for this? That’s the Second Why.
5
The GOP re-election plan is simple - in order to give the people the really great medical plan they had in mind all along, first they have to get rid of Obamacare.
Once they have done that, and as soon as the budget is balanced, only then can they reveal the great new medicare plan they have had in mind all along.
If only the hated Democrats had not gotten in their way with the stupid Green Deal thingie.
In short, they will lie and mislead the people again, as they have for the last 50 years. And, the people will fall for it again.
1
One look at this picture of conman Trump and his lackeys sums it up.
Yes a picture is worth a thousand words.
1
Honestly, maybe it's time the Democrats took a page out McConnell and the GOP's Cynical Book of Governance...let the GOP kill healthcare. Then, shovel ALL the blame onto their shoulders. Tell stories of sick children and bankrupt cancer survivors. Heck, even McConnell's paralyzed Kentucky populace might turn against the most cynical man in the world.
1
The key to understanding why Trump hates the ACA and is eager to destroy it, taking health care away from millions and risking the wrath of voters lies in the law's nickname. With an Ahab-like mania, Trump is obsessed with obliterating the Obama legacy. Political ideology is not driving Trump, racism is. Trump's "birther" movement was born of his outrage that a black man could possibly become president and since assuming the office himself has set about undoing everything to which Obama's name could be linked, despite opposition even within his own party. On foreign policy (Russia, Cuba, Nato, N. Korea, Israel), Trump is the Bizarro-Obama. Why is Trump so eager to help Bibi get re-elected PM of Israel? Easy: Bibi and Obama never liked each other. Everything Trump does is motivated by the desire to kill to legacy of our first African-American president.
1
I wonder if the concern is longer wait time as the current medical resources now have to be shared by these folks, who until recently, did not have coverage. Longer wait times etc. Just selfishness
@Bob Smith
Except that in order to prevent this, Obamacare is training additional doctors, nurses etc. ...
Its just delusional thinking.
In their minds they are still defending America from socialized medicine and the budget busting pie in the sky ideas of Democrats. They simply choose to surpress and ignore the budgetary fiasco of their supply side tax cuts.
If Democrats would stick to a basic health care safety net providing for catastrophic care for major injury or disease it might have chance. Including free care for every psychological malady,birth control ,abortions, gender reassignment and such is doomed to fail. Using this issue as a political wedge makes you sound like Hugo Chavez promising free stuff while literally killing the golden goose.
@Lane
By the way, WHY are you comparing Obamacare to what Chavez does, whereas Chavez never even started achieving something like that (an additional half a million American lives saved a decade, and curbing cost increases) and ANY Western capitalist country already went far beyond Obamacare for decades, and with huge success?
And what about the fact that even a majority of GOP voters wants Medicare for all?
One of the reasons why the Democrats had the biggest win in Congress in three decades, during the mid-terms, is precisely because people know that only Democrats believe that a country cannot possibly be called "great" when the government refuses to install an effective health insurance system that insures all citizens.
@Lane
What is it that you guys don't understand about the very notion of INSURANCE?
Insurance doesn't mean you get things for free. It means that we all pay into a collective fund, which then reimburses us when we get sick.
That the minimum wage laws in the US are such that there are tens of millions of hard-working Americans combining two or more jobs and who still can't even pay the rent of a T1 apartment, is not THEIR fault, it's OUR collective fault, as we keep on voting for politicians who pass laws to keep hard-working people poor.
So yes, of course in that case the most decent thing to do is to ask the wealthiest to pay a little more taxes, so that at least those people can stay healthy. Which (= staying healthy) by the way, if you would have paid a little attention you would have known is the exact opposite of what corrupt dictators such as Chavez do ... ;-)
2
Trump puts so little thought behind 99% of what he does and says. It makes our lives unstable wondering what it will be next. This healthcare situation is dangerous on several levels but, most importantly, at this point, it will affect whether people actually live or die in the USA. Republicans are totally implicated in this possible disaster and the fact that they continue to pretend that they are representing ANYONE is a charade. Except, of course, their wealthy donors and big money influences.
2
It’s very simple. Trump wants to get rid of as much Obama legislation as possible. To make it seem like Obama didn’t exist. He hates Obama. The rest is irrelevant.
No matter what happens, we love you forever, Bernie and Liz Warren.
1
Here my suggestion for the 2020 Trump campaign: Survival of the Fittest.
Don't you just hate it when the governmental takes your zillions in investment interest for stuff like health care for the needy?
@Steve
What Darwin meant by "survival of the fittest" was NOT that the "strongest" individual would survive, but that WHEN competition for the same ecological habitat among two species would arise, due to a modification of that habitat, then the species has individuals with genetic mutations that make them more adapted to the new habitat than the other species, will survive, as a species.
Darwin also showed that WITHIN one and the same species, collaboration and compassion (yes, he mentioned that already 1,5 century ago) are much more effective, to thrive as an individual and survive as a group, than aggression and violence ...
What the GOP is doing here, is actively using the government to attack its own citizens and reduce their health.
If Darwin would still be alive, he'd simply call that very dumb...
You would think the Pro Life Republicans would welcome health care for all.
It's the Money. Money. Money.
Pro Life is all a Big Republican Ruse! It's a salve to the woman-dominating evangelicals, and I bet most GOP have lots of stock in the health insurance industry which doesn't like the Obamacare regulations. That's all this is about. Regulating insurance money.
The common thread that runs through republicans is their distain for the idea of giving to those who they believe are undeserving. This goes for both the rich republicans and the poor republicans.
Republican contempt for paying taxes is a manifestation of their fear of the "other", of being taken advantage of. They do not feel they are part of a whole, a community of many types of human beings. They are separate.
1
The “hormonal musk ox” (the Financial Times’ Trump description) just can’t keep his big hooves from pawing at the ACA. The policy begun by Obama and supported by McCain threatens Trump’s so-called manhood like no other. True masculinity reflects a protection of and kindness toward others. But Trump’s version is unkind and destructive: he works actively to destroy the lifelines of millions to the few remaining affordable health insurance options in the US. I wonder if the voters in Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and other states who stand to lose most by Trump’s cruelty will make the distinction between his empty campaign promises on the one hand and his ongoing attempts to essentially kill them by getting rid of decent health care and protection against pre-existing conditions. I hope they start reading or watching reputable news accounts instead of listening to right-wing TV and radio. It’s time they wake up and protect themselves from Trump.
The right wing in Europe and the UK support their government health care for all. Obviously, they don't think of it as socialism. Even Margaret Thatcher supported the NHS that is so popular in Britain.
Also, Conservative politicians seem to hate the idea of letting the gov. negotiate drug prices instead of paying full price? The drug companies have bought them off. Because it isn't anti-Capitalism to try and get a better deal through negotiation. Why are the same drugs so much cheaper in Canada? They aren't a socialist state.
They went beyond ____ (name your terror zone) into pathology quite a ways back. What's truly remarkable is the timing; it's so horrible for them politically, right on the heels of their moment of however dubious a triumph last Sunday's Barr report was.
1
Murica' the rest of the worst may be used to your nonsense. We're fed up. I'm not dumping all Americans in the same boat. I know there are some reasonable folk, but we're all tired of the crap that comes out of your country.
During the Vietnam war, "patriots" would justify our invasion of a land thousands of miles from our shores by asking "do you want to wait to fight Communism until it's occupying Wall Street?" Republicans are fighting health care for the same ideological reason - because they fear even the slightest advance toward their bugaboo, Socialism. They still hate unemployment insurance, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, though some of these have been around for 75 years.
They have bought Marx's claim that capitalism and socialism are in a death-struggle, where only one can survive, whereas the example of Western Europe suggests that social welfare programs are in fact helpful to the health of free enterprise. It's their doctrinal fear and hatred of anything they call "Socialism" that is at the heart of their continued desire to kill Obamacare.
3
I think that many republicans are fundamentalists that believe that government is inherently bad with the exception of the military. They behave like anarchist with the idea to remove all form of government to allow people/market to fight for it individually because any form of government/regulation is bad.
in many cases it may be fine, but assuming it is always right it is a fundamentalists idea.
The first sentence of this essay is false. The issue with the greatest impact on ordinary American's lives is climate change. Much as I care about health care, it pales into insignificance compared to the threat of global catastrophe.
1
Dear 100 million Americans who did not vote in the last presidential election: This is why it's important to do so. And to vote for the candidate who is thinking about YOUR family! Everyone's family will eventually have pre-existing conditions. If we're lucky we won't need a lot of health insurance when we're young. But what if you have the child with cancer? What if you have the problem pregnancy? What if you, like my formerly healthy, fit, marathon running neighbor, develop a brain tumor? What if the drunk driver hits your car with your family in it? What if's can be coped with if health insurance and healthcare is present, if people are covered. Why is this a given in so many countries, but not in ours? Let's say that again, another way: Why could we put a man on the moon almost 50 years ago but in 2019 we are still struggling to make sure all of our people have healthcare? Why is the unfettered greed of the Republican backed insurance industry running this land? Why does one political party care more about re-election and power and money than it does for our citizen's well being? Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why are people still voting against their own best interests or not voting at all? Vote! Vote as though your life depended upon it, because it may.
6
Libertarians and most Republicans believe that government should have no part in the economy. They are happy to accept the consequences because that is the way the world operated in to 1700's.
It matters not that poor people die and early death because they lack the ney to pay for healthcare. In particular, the right wing is upset that the wealthy should have to pay for another person's medical expenses.
4
It's not only Obama Care that he has targeted. He is going deeper - - to Romney Care, the model used for the Affordable Care Act. He is just making sure that Romney will not be a competitor in the 2020 election.
Health care is one of the few things that can clearly differentiate the poor from the wealthy at a first glance (think of dental care and the affordability of joint replacements). In my cynical view this is why the Republicans, advocates for the wealthy, those who consider themselves above all others, our modern royalty, oppose any kind of affordable, government (tax) subsidized healthcare.
3
It's simple. They're terrified at the idea of the U.S. government actually succeeding at helping people further, because it puts the lie to their propaganda that (outside of military and law enforcement) any expansion of government services makes things worse. Every so often, there's probably a GOP politician who wakes up in the wee hours in a cold sweat, and asked by their concerned spouse what's wrong, answers "I had the most horrible nightmare—every one of my constituents won a two-week vacation to Denmark."
9
Hey that Yuge Maga Care Awesomenes plan sounds great! Sign me up.
Wait, you are now saying it’s basically the same plan that I have already have, but you are going to cut some my benefits, my healthcare costs will go up faster than it would have before the rebranding, several million of my fellow citizens will lose their healthcare, I may lose my healthcare if I lose my job and end up with a pre-existing condition that means I could only get prohibitively expensive healthcare in the future. But on the upside, the mega rich will get another tax cut and healthcare industry corporations can make even more profit.
And, above all, Trump can take credit, like rebranding NAFTA; or negotiations with North Korea -who will never give up their nuclear weapons; trade negotiations with China - we now have highest overall trade defecits in a decade; or bringing back coal jobs - industry still dying mainly due to natural gas and newer green energy sources lower prices; pulling out of Paris Accords - planet still being killed by man made climate change; inheriting the Obama economy and promising 3% to 5% GDP growth - now projected at less than 2% after tax cut for wealthy/corporations sugar high over and debt/defecits soaring; pulling out of Iran nuclear deal - with no alternative; Trump rebranding Barr rebranding of Mueller Report - but Trump still a Putin puppet.
Welcome to rebranded America, Trumpistan.
All hail Supreme Leader Trump.
8
If Hollywood were to dream up something like Trump for a script it would be dismissed as unbelievable. The sad and tragic part is that a significant portion of our supposedly adult population supported him and most still do.
This will not end well. I have no crystal ball to predict the details or timing, but the price we will pay for this Administration will be high.
11
see The Great McGinty.
Maybe the public should say that they REALLY REALLY don't want health care, and that they despise the whole idea.
Which would prompt the Republicans to provide it.
10
Republicans, for all their talk about representing the average American are, at heart, elitists. Think about the tax overhaul and who benefitted from it. Think about who is in this administration. Think about how the GOP refuses to consider average Americans needs and favors business and the rich over us. If that's not elitism I don't know what is.
16
How health insurance became equated with health care escapes me. The American systems are nothing more than profit centers feeding on the suffering of their consumers. For profit healthcare is inhumane. It figures the poor excuses for humans beings in the administration (Trump, Mulvaney, et al) support our systems.
11
@Gene Pittman this is so true. I am convinced my new doctor exists primarily to generate more billable appointments. 4 visits since November and because she thinks she’s “discovered” my Thpe 2, I’m signed up to more and more appointments before she will dispensers package of Lipitor. Madness.
1
The main reason why wealthy Republicans like people to not have health insurance if they don’t have good jobs is that they want poor and working class people to be weak and afraid in addition to just not having much money. In other countries people don’t lose so much if they lose their jobs. Here to lose you job has been to make yourself and your family uninsured or subject to huge insurance costs. The Republican owner class like it this way because it gives them extraordinary power over workers. And Republicans not in the owner class are characterized by displaying schadenfreude when it comes to all kinds of things, not just health insurance.
13
Bingo!
How many people living in red states stated a preference that their governors buy into the Medicare offer from the Federal government?
Some newspapers claimed 59% favored the Medicare buy-in for their states.
Will the Southern Strategy will rise again to bite Republicans on the end opposite the trunk?
1
@M. B. E.
As long its majority white. Not until 2030.
Think we are all scratching our heads in trying to understand the Republican opposition to health care coverage. Many of us are especially perplexed by all this since health care coverage saves and protects lives, and the GOP claims to be the pro-life party. Of course, their claim to be the pro-life party is a canard, one that has been distracting voters for years and causing them to support politicians that have no interest in economic justice for all.
15
While living in Luxembourg nearly 3 years ago, I shattered my left wrist. It was the second shattering of the same wrist, the first happened while ice skating with 3 5 year olds and a 2 year old! I reluctantly went to the recommended public clinic. The doctor, a hand specialist, saw me nearly immediately. After X-rays he told me I needed immmediate surgery or possibly lose function of my left hand due to ligament snagging on broken bone. Within an hour I had met with the anesthesiologist, was admitted, preppped for surgery, all paid up front.
Surgery lasted nearly 3 hours. I stayed overnight for pain control which consisted of paracetamol drip, not very effective, but an honest non narcotic effort. I checked out the next morning. About 2 weeks later I required a second surgery. Total bill, hospital, all doctors, imaging, and removable cast was $5000. Same scenario in the US would be nearly 8 or 9 times that. The Luxembourg hand surgeon was genius...my wrist is better than before my accident, he corrected the US orthopedist’s treatment. I had International health insurance and all but about $300 was reimbursed.
Every Luxembourg citizen has access to this incredible care. Most supplement it with additional private coverage as a security blanket.
I wish the US Federal Government would do an in-depth study of healthcare in these countries and find a solution for all Americans. Being poor here is an early death sentence. Being middle class unhealthy is a bankruptcy sentence.
27
Commonwealth Fund every year does country comparisons. The answers are but Republicans refuse to accept it. It’s very simple. Do not vote for Republicans.
11
@Schimsa the Republican Party believes that governments at all levels should not work for the people. Therefore, the Republicans work to sow dysfunction in any program that benefits people. They double down by blaming the Democrats for the dysfunction.
3
As an American transplant to Australia, where we have universal medical care and spend less than half of what the US spends on healthcare per capita, I wondered for a long time why the right wing in America, which is supposedly fiscally conservative, would prefer the American system.
A bunch of self-satisfied country-club members explained to me that they are happy to pay more, for the privilege of knowing that no one is getting something for free.
Can't beat that logic!
18
Why are we acting like this is a mystery?
It’s Republicans who pocket the excess spending as profit.
Anything that lowers costs hurts their bottom line.
CEO compensation must be maintained. Period.
2
I have read in press reports that this was a Mulvaney idea so I am guessing that this is move one of a political chess game that will result in a new "Trumpcare" in order to dilute the Democratic message.
4
It's their ideology; an ideology that they mask with various lies. Republicans hate the idea that anyone would get something for free in America, unless your parents are filthy rich. It's the whole self-reliance mantra. Then they refuse to raise the minimum wage, enact any meaningful legislation that would keep health insurers honest (patient bill of rights, for instance) and give tax cuts to businesses and people who don't need them and won't spend their windfall on anything that would stimulate the economy. Republican are mainly elected by fools who think they're winning when they're not.
14
It's always amazing Republicans are able to convince most of their supporters to vote against their own self-interests, healthcare being the most extreme example but only one of many.
That's salesmanship!!!
17
@Bobby Clobber
As all dictators know, it's actually quite easy: invest billions in a propaganda machine (Fox "News"), and then constantly tell your voters that all the other media are lying, all while making sure that you keep them as poor and uneducated as possible ...
You don't need to be "smart" to obtain this kind of result. You just have to have grown up in a social environment where everybody was lying and cheating, so that you can't imagine a "moral world order" anymore ...
21
In Trump’s case, I think it’s an unreasoning pathological desire to destroy everything President Obama did, probably because Obama roasted Trump at that White House Correspondents’ dinner.
12
It's not just health care. See this classic of Ted Kennedy on minimum wage from 2007.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SicFn8rqPPE
It's 7 minutes and 24 seconds of your time.
3
How low is America going to sink?
Vote for Democrats!
7
Dr Krugman says "Why? The truth is that I don’t fully get it." Other commenters have pointed out the obvious reason, and even the good doctor mentions it earlier: "their donors really hated the taxes on the rich that pay for the ACA’s subsidies."
And once again as others have pointed out, it's not just the Adelson's or Koch's who oppose the ACA, it's Big Pharma, Insurance, medical device manufacturers, and the AMA -- they know that less spent on medical care means less money paid to them.
Also, I like the graph!
6
May be, if ACA is declared unconstitutional, it will pave the way for a Medicare for All plan. I find it difficult to foresee Democrats putting the ACA back together, while correcting the so called unconstitutional provisions. Also, the country will be more ready for such a move by Democrats after receiving then losing healthcare.
4
@Democrat
The ONLY reason why Medicare for all wasn't possible in 2010 is because the GOP would have been able to make people so scared that they would have almost immediately won the legal power to undo it.
Romneycare was the only way, at the time, to at least already strongly improve the quality of insurance plans, cover all pre-existing conditions il, allow children to stay on their parents' plan until 26, allow people to no longer loose their insurance when they loose/change job(s), and most of all, to insure an additional 20 million people (28, if the conservative Supreme Court wouldn't have made the Medicaid expansion optional).
The result was an additional, almost half a million American lives saved a decade.
So EVEN if conservatives would be able to destroy Obamacare ten years after it was signed into law, Democrats would still have the GREATNESS of having saved half a million American lives to celebrate.
That's why it was worth losing the 2010 mid-terms over it (because of the massive GOP fake news around it). In other words, it's to be able to celebrate this that tens of Democrats in DC were willing to risk their jobs, and then indeed lost them.
Today, however, a clear majority supports Obamacare, and what's even more, a clear majority - INCLUDING a majority of GOP voters - supports Medicare for all.
So yes, the punishment for constantly messing up with Obamacare, as Republican politicians, will certainly be that now Dems CAN pass Medicare for all...
3
Voting down Medicaid expansion by the SC was 7-2, and was based on the ACA's original provision which eliminated all federal Medicaid subsidies if a State refused to expand Medicaid.
@Democrat It won't. If Obamacare is declared unconstitutional, it will be replaced by NOTHING. Within a few years, the cost of health insurance will be so expensive that only the rich will get healthcare and the rest of us will die painful deaths. Its the rich's plan to de-populate the planet.
It's simple. In the Ayn Rand world of Trump Republicans, if you can't buy it, you don't deserve it. It's Thomas Hobbes war of all against all.
8
@writeon1
Except that Hobbes (falsely, as we know now) imagined that this was a "natural" state of human societies, whereas the GOP is passing bill after bill to actively TURN America into a "homo homini lupus" society.
There's no reason whatsoever to vote for politicians intended upon destroy America's greatness.
And yes, being healthy is a necessary condition for becoming great...
8
This is a misunderstanding of Hobbes. But with Trump, there’s no thought to understand or misunderstand. If it’s mean, he’s for it.
I'm not sure most Republicans are really behind this one.
On the other hand, it is definitely a pathology for Trump.
He wants to undo anything done by Obama.
A question is does Mulvaney think the Supreme Court will really overturn it or is it just a great battle to be had leading up to 2020 to get his based riled up and energized?
2
@Independent will Chief Justice Roberts save the Republicans from themselves again?
@Dave Nope. Obamacare is going bye bye. Only the rich will have healthcare in America.
To borrow an uncharitable turn of phrase used by Theresa May to designate her expatriate countrymen, American Republicans seem to be nothing but 'citizens of nowhere'. The contempt they exhibit towards their fellow Americans who have the misfortune of being of modest means renders their allegiance to American ideals as being null and void.
10
Of course Republicans really hate health care. Take a disease like diabetes, it's a tremendous gift to the bottom line of every profit driven hospital. With government involved with protecting the welfare of its citizens, prevention of diabetes will prevail, and those profits take a massive hit.
5
I think is is really simple. If Democrats were right about healthcare, OMG, what else could they be right about?
5
However flawed the healthcare system is, Obamacare made it worse. The fact that the program needs vast tax-payer subsidies is only beside the point. How many NYT readers have lost their primary care doctor because he/she went concierge, charging $2500 annually per person? I have lost two doctors in the last five years because my wife and I can't afford an additional $5000 a year on top of $20,000 in out of pocket premiums for my employee-sponsored health plan. Docs are leaving the current healthcare system in droves due to the heavy-handed Obamacare.
1
@Bill
You can't assess the health(care) of 300 million people by looking at your own situation alone.
What objective studies show it that it insured 20 million more Americans than before, which is saving an additional half a million lives a decade.
That's not making it worse, it's obviously making it much better.
Because the GOP absolutely wants a private sector based insurance system, however, Obamacare of course still retains all the disadvantages that go with such a system - as the ones you've been witnessing.
And now that for two years already, the GOP started messing with it, eliminating the individual mandate which kept premiums 30% lower than what they are today, refusing to inform "we the people" about sign-up deadlines (which artificially lowers the number of people paying into the system, so once again increases costs for those who have health insurance), etc., obviously the disadvantages of such a system became even worse.
That being said, Obamacare is mainly about the individual market, it does not totally change employer-based health insurance...
8
Without the ACA most technicians in my field could not purchase any health insurance. Almost everyone in my field is forced to work contract. Without the ACA, quite frankly, I would have to leave my field and take a lower-paying job just to get employer-paid health insurance. As a person with multiple pre-existing conditions, I *have* to have insurance.
4
@Bill,
Sorry, but my baloney meter went off the scale at your claim of $20,000 in health insurance premiums for two people.
Attempting to initiate a discussion with a wildly improbable claim backed by no evidence is an action done in bad faith.
If you have more substantial backing for that claim, I'll apologize. But for now I just don't believe you.
Perhaps one of the greatest ironies of the GOP stance is that a large portion of their base, ill-educated white working class voters, are among the Americans who are most harmed by the GOP refusal to provide good healthcare access/coverage to Americans.
Many of these people, at least here in SC, seem to think that we need less of a safety net, not a better one. They advocate for a system wherein the community would provide all care for those who cannot care for themselves, while paying lower taxes.
But taxes in SC cannot get much lower. In my area, a modestly sized 3 bedroom home with two baths and a garage costs less than $500 a year in taxes for people over 65 and maybe double that for those under 65. Contrast that to the $5000 in property taxes in many other states for a home of the same market value.
Meanwhile, children in much of the I-95 corridor, a notoriously poor area, are suffering from ill-trained and ill-paid teachers in schools that leak and are otherwise unfit.
This is the mentality that keeps the GOP in office.
10
Time to question every elected official if they are willing to give up their government paid health care. And hold them to it. Period. Start with McConnell.
6
Yes, it is a sad time for Americans. I believe personal greed and selfishness is at the heart of Trump’s decision. But maybe, just maybe, ordinary people will finally get jolted out of their stupor and vote. We have universal healthcare in Oz, and whilst it isn’t perfect, there are safety nets that enable basic, affordable care for all.
Oh, and that grinning man at Trump’s right in the picture is Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, who leads the league in accepting NRA donations. “Blunt by name, blunt by nature.”
5
True conservatives believe in limited government, and hence low taxes. They believe that private enterprise can do virtually anything better and cheaper than the government. With this in mind, the last thing they want to see is a successful government run social program. This just doesn't compute with their world view, hence the never ending assault on the Affordable Care Act.
The same philosophy applies to Social Security and Medicare. Sometimes there is a full frontal assault as in George W Bush's scheme to priviatize Social Security. Other times, instead of managing the costs of these systems, conservatives prefer to starve them, gradually putting them in a financial crisis.
Combine the conservative philosophy described above with the search and destroy politics of today, and our current mess the only logical outcome. We live in a time where on the same day the current administration can back a lawsuit to declare the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, and the president can declare that the Republican party is the party of healthcare! Go figure...
6
Republicans hate health care because they exclusively represent their wealthiest donors. Those donors despise government services or programs that benefit anyone other than themselves, as those programs are funded through confiscation of their entitled wealth as taxes.
Republican constituents believe the only purpose of government is to protect their wealth, and to redistribute more wealth into their entitled pockets. Republicans are zealously committed to fulfilling donors' wishes through tax cuts, deregulation, and demolition of programs and services for the non-wealthy. The harm that does to millions of people is irrelevant, as those people are not their constituents, and thus expendable. Come election time, the propaganda machine will convince enough of them to vote Republican.
Of course, Republicans don't hate health care. They only hate government providing health care to undeserving "takers." They love insurance companies, Big Pharma, and the rest of the medical-industrial complex that prudently invest some of their enormous profits in campaign donations. They dismiss the fact that our system fails so many people as the entirely the fault of people who choose to be poor and/or sick.
Democrats are not blameless. They have failed to clearly communicate the fact that Republicans care only about making the greedy rich richer at everyone else's expense. They have also failed to clearly articulate a progressive agenda to make life better for all Americans.
4
Even with all the ACA's faults, it is irrational to oppose the current system without offering a clear alternative for all of us to see and consider.
Since it makes no political sense in light of the 2018 election results and seems to promise only a steeper hill for GOP candidates to climb, I can only believe that Republican strategy for 2020 is to rely entirely on receiving overwhelming financial aid from the extremely wealthy in a grand effort to flummox uninformed voters into continuing their support.
2
the GOP strategy in every previous election. abortion! guns! socialized medicine! taxes! illegal immigrant invasion! war on Christmas! school busing! Commie menace! global bankers! welfare queens! urban chaos! THEY are coming to take everything you have except your faith! there is everything to fear out there - and only I can fix it!
". . . today's Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need." What's with the qualifier, "today's?" Dr. Krugman himself has frequently mentioned the lies used by Republicans to oppose medicare in the early '60's. (Google "Reagan recording, medicare.") To the extent the party's behavior reflects a delusion in the base being exploited by the donor class, the condition and its resulting self harm has been common in the base for at least a half century now.
4
The issue is not if Republicans or Democrats hate health care- it is the issue of not understanding the benefits of health care coverage a cost. In the past 24 months, I have spent $17,376.00 and had an out of pocket expense of less that $500.
I am furious that I cannot get a better plan.
Now I am most likely an outlier, as I do cardio five days a week and I limit my gluttony to Friday-Sunday.
I completely understand why Congress has got to act on health care for all citizens.
1
@Henry Most working people were happy with their PPO and HMO plans before the 'affordable' health care plan. Jacking the prices and reducing the doctor choice, and lowering benefits was what happened with the AFA. Now they have less coverage for so much more cost that they have to choose between medication and food, all the while paying high taxes so people with cadillac plans - such as our govt 'representatives' -- can enjoy their lives. Slavery in another form.
Happy, unless they got sick. Before ACA, open heart surgery on my employer plan would cost about $40,000. After ACA, because of the yearly maximums imposed on insurers $2500.
The true value of ACA is seen when you get sick.
That is why we call it health insurance.
7
@ARL, there you go again thinking that your situation is the norm. Many people liked their PPO or HMO plans. Those who could not afford the plans were stuck. Many of those who thought they had great plans discovered the plans weren't so great if they actually tried to use them.
2
"..., today’s Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need."
Minor point: It's not just "today's Republicans". I've been around a long time, and I can recall no time in the last 3/4 century when Republicans did not oppose universal health care. "Socialism" was one of the common justifying refrains. Still is.
8
It’s just simply amazing how many people receiving healthcare from Obamacare, Medicaid and Medicare have no idea that their subsidies are coming from the “ government.”
Government to many of them is inherently bad. Perhaps if they understood this simple fact, they might not vote against their own healthcare interests. Or then again, they just might.
9
Let's not forget that this is the exact SAME administration that is led by a president who as candidate promised to do the exact opposite (= to replace Obamacare with a "great plan" that would insure even more Americans, at even lower costs), and who as soon as he entered into the White House flip-flopped 100% and for an entire year has enthusiastically supported Ryancare (including a big party thrown in the Rose Garden), even though Ryancare would destroy the healthcare of 30 million Americans who wouldn't be able to buy any form of health insurance anymore, all while strongly increases prices for the others.
THAT is what Trump has done for a year, instead of trying to get his wall signed into law.
And when thanks to McCain, a Senator of his own party, Obamacare was at least saved, rather than Ryancare passed, all that Trump has done is to spread lies about him even during and after his death.
This is an immoral administration.
Republicans today clearly believe that morality and democracy are lofty end goals rather than means to move us towards a greater country.
And that in itself is an immoral decision.
5
I called the pharmacy to refill my son's Epi-Pen prescription. They told me it was not "going through" with the insurance, and that they escalated my case to the pharmacy's "Insurance Company Resolution Team," and that it could take days or weeks to resolve, with no guarantee the pharmacy would be able to give me the Epi-Pen. And, I have excellent employer-provided insurance. So, excellent, in fact, that it's why I stay in a job with toxic people and little growth opportunities.
No offense to the men and women who work for insurance companies, or for pharmacies on their "Insurance Company Resolution Teams," but I would like to see their jobs become as obsolete as those for elevator operators and the lamp lighters. I'm now fully on board with single-payer. Like every other developed nation.
13
My interpretation is that the Anglo Saxon male is slowly (or not so slowly) losing his mind!
3
It is not clear to me that Republican politicians are reality-based, in the sense that they get their information from rumor mills like Facebook or Twitter, or "approved" media sources such as Fox News. That means most of them are cut off from factual data sources such as science or trustworthy journalism. Those who DO use factual sources know that their voters do not, & behave in a manner that will reliably deliver those votes. It can look pathological, but it probably just qualifies as stupid or short-sighted, when you exist inside a group of people who are all behaving the way you are.
1
@Rob if they acknowledge reality they are vilified by the for-profit rightwing noise machine and are primaried from the right in the next election cycle.
Whoa, my first glimpse of this photo made me wonder which streaming channel brought out a new zombie series!
2
@ Gerber -
You are right, but missing a point. Race. This obsession with evil Obamacare comes down to race. White middle class and working class people will sacrifice their underemployed grandkids’ need for decent healthcare just so darker skinned people don’t get ahead, get “more” than what they should.
6
Trump Republicans--a redundancy, a tautology--think that this is what their base wants and that they cannot win without their base. There is ample proof that the base continues to support Trump, even against their own interests. The Republicans understand that they cannot win with only their base, but rather than risk losing the base by moderating their positions, they hope to be able to fool enough independents and conservative Democrats one more time.
1
It's clear: Trump supporters want Obamacare to be scapped for two reasons in one word: racism. For one, Trump's base can't stand something great is an achievement of a black President. And secondly, they believe Obamacare is a give-away to "the other" people who don't deserve it.
9
If you were controlled by a foreign power that wants to sow discord in the US and make the populace suffer, this is exactly what one could do. It is no doubt, politically very expensive.
OR perhaps it is to induce rioting. Rioting creates the need for martial law. And martial law, of course is desirable if you are an autocrat.
2
What do you do if, as a house builder, you want your houses to be the best but your competitor is just way better at building houses? You have two options, you can try and improve your houses, or you can destroy his. The GOP has given up on the former.
5
"I try to understand how others think, but in this case I really do find it hard."
That's because they aren't thinking, they're hating.
7
Krugman's mistake was giving conservatives the benefit of the doubt. They're not cynical or strategic, they are just greedy and filled with hate. They WANT to see Americans suffering under unpayable medical bills, because the company that demands those bankrupting payments are the ones lining the pockets of these so-called lawmakers.
The Republican Ideology for over 50 years has been "I've got mine, so you can go screw yourself." How are people still surprised when they realize that a fundamental aspect of conservative ideology is not giving a damn about anyone but yourself?
5
Why?
(1) Because keeping a large fraction of the working class medically indigent weakens possible opponents of the oligarchy, and discourages/scares those who risk losing their employer-provided insurance from annoying the bosses.
(2) Putin wishes to further damage the USA, and has ordered his minions to sabotage the already dysfunctional system.
4
@WP
You're so right. I am disgusted to see how Americans and Europeans are totally oblivious to the covert war being waged upon the West by Putin and Company, via his numerous Trojan horses including Trump and Brexiters ! Democracy is in danger, only those not asleep are aware.
3
Here's another one: Why do many Republicans now oppose coverage of birthcontrol in healthcare plans, and, in fact seem suspicious of even providing information about it? Years ago Republicans were into birth control: it was something they used and it kept down the population of the less well-to-do. What changed?
What changed is that, in courting the religious right, they adopted a pathological position of that group, a position that no one admits to but is the elephant in the room of anti-contraconception: Pregnancy is a punishment for sex outside Christian-sanctioned marriage. I've heard it over and over: "She's pregnant so got what she deserved for fooling around." Tell me you haven't heard that.
6
This supports key goals of the Republican oligarchical masters of keeping down a large part of the American population.
Through not funding public education they weaken prospects of millions of Americans to increase the low cost work force for any jobs they don't outsource.
Through fear mongering by playing on our basest instincts they divide us so we can't come together and solve problems but then blame the government they are working to subvert for not being capable of solving problems.
Through de-funding health care they create a group of people who cannot fight back and they blame as hangers on and not willing to pull their weight. Another group to malign.
I could go on but it is the normal litany of outcomes of their behaviors.
I have had this conversation so many times with friends and family. Why do Republicans hate health care? While we have come up with lots of cynical speculation, we've pretty much agreed there's no comprehending people who just plain don't support a good quality of life based on anything beyond "how much money do you have?" or "how about those corporations?"
1
I have a feeling that conservative feel that, when people have a negative change in their socio-economic status, they are more likely to vote conservative. So, it behooves them to increase suffering in the general population. Those that are already down will continue to be down, so their voting preferences won't change. Those that were in the middle, and now feel hardship, want politicians in office that will improve the economy, will focus on the economy (will appear to focus on the economy). MAGA summarizes this.
4
Republicans just hate everyone except corporate donors, whom they do everything they can to please. But, that's a poor generalization, because the Republicans in the House and Senate no longer actually represent the people they are supposed to; they represent the people with money, lots of money. There are probably perfectly sensible and reasonable Republicans; they just aren't in elected office.
1
Everyone owes Alan Grayson a full and complete apology for tsk-tsking him that he had gone overboard when he said from the floor of the House that the GOP healthcare plan was "Don't get sick. If you do, die." Turns out, sometimes the truth of a political party like the GOP is as venal as you think.
13
Republicans and Trump hate people - unless they're rich, white people. Do we really need any more proof of that then what we have already seen with their hateful, prejudice policies? They don't care if the rest of us get sick and die because their donors, who own the corporations, want to automate their businesses with robots and A.I. and won't need people to work anyway. No workers, no salaries, no pensions, no healthcare - just more profit, more tax breaks and more for them and their descendants. Get rid of the whole lot.
6
I don’t see any path to progress when one of our two parties is relentlessly engaged in destroying more than 100 years of progress and nearly half the electorate is in full-throated approval. The Republicans are an anti-democratic, anti-Constitutional, authoritarian, know-nothing cancer that will destroy this country.
7
We can afford to do single payer. It would save trillions over a decade. Yes its true. See letusbeawarefolks.blogspot.com-we can afford a single payer system for health care.
Total savings at 220 Billion reducing the total cost to 618 Billion (from the now cost of 1.4 trillion).
We now subsidize employers about 161 Billion for their insurance payments.
This leaves about 246 Billion that we need new taxes on to pay for medicare for all. If we were to increase medicare payments from 3% (current) to 6% we could cover most of this. This would cost an average employee about $15-25 a week. Now most families pay many thousands a month. Remember , the public already is paying many trillions out of pocket for health care costs.This also allows coverage of millions without health care.
Business now pay about 1.2 trillion in health care costs. This provides coverage for about 49% of the population.Businesses also pay about 243 billion in Federal taxes. So, corporate America pays 5X for health care that it pays for taxes. They could triple their taxes to pay for medicare (add 400 billion) for medicare for all and still save billions. This would also allow them to stop using health care costs as a reason to not increase wages
Now if we were to go the next step and have Pharmacy companies have to compete for medicare contracts we could see many billion more in savings. Yes we can afford medicare for all and we can't continue to afford the present system.
3
@RichardHead my number one worry about single-payer is Republican congresscritters forcing limits on coverage for anything the evangelical right doesn't like.
People’s attitude to ACA probably tracks their opinion about “the poor”. If they consider most of them to be shiftless layabouts who are happy to sponge from others, then the resultant attitude is something like “I’m not paying extra for them on principle”.
The perception of lack of responsibility among the poor, having made bad decisions (single parents etc.), only adds to the bias against the ACA.
People are prepared to accept additional financial burdens for their circle, what they consider to be related (Blood, race, social status, golf club), but they HATE being taken in by con-artists.
Krugman is right in one respect, health should have been enshrined in the constitution as a right, however, this needs a one-country spirit and a huge amount of education.
3
This article reminded me again of a photograph that is forever stamped in my memory of one that was at the head of a column in this publication not long ago where a poor woman located in a small town in Mississippi had just announced that because of the ACA, for the first time in her life, she had health insurance coverage for her and her family.
The irony(and total contradiction) to all of this is, at the same time, she stated how she didn't like government and standing beside her, was the local "smiling congressional republican representative" whom, at the first opportunity was going to do everything in his power to take it away from her!
This is the type of individual and "poster child" of someone who supports Trump and continually votes Republican so how do you logically explain to someone like her the inherent bizarre contradictions in her attitude and her continuing wish to vote totally against her and her families self-interest? It makes no sense!
Is it just a matter of education OR is someone like her just a "lost cause"?
6
@Deus she is the sort who would say "keep your government hands off my Medicare!"
Health care begins with REAL, ORGANIC food...not the ones sanctioned by the USDA or the FDA. When we eat to feed our cells, we will automatically be healthy. When we say "no" to antibiotics and sterilizing soaps, we maintain our micro biome in our gut that digests our food. The secret to good health is what we put in our mouths...dark leafy greens, vegetables, grass fed beef, pork, pasture raised chicken, organic free-range eggs, raw milk and cheeses. AND, maintaining healthy gut bacteria. Don't eat sugar or foods that turn into sugar, like fruits, carbohydrates, and all grains. Eat the way we used to eat a hundred and twenty years ago. Know the person that cooked your food. Don't eat out; don't buy processed foods. We won't need universal health care if everyone does this.
Health care today only means more people are on meds...because doctors don't know about prevention and the importance of drinking water. The medical recommendation of 6 - 8 cups of water per day puts us in dehydration mode and then they treat patients with meds for symptoms of dehydration, such as headaches, heart problems, high blood pressure, lethargy, kidney problems, dry skin, etc.
Doctors = drug dealers
There is no "health" in Health Care.
I know. At 75 yrs of age, I have no doctors, take no medications, and am extremely active and energetic, raising farm animals and keeping a huge garden.
2
@Denise Anderson
It is clear, in you, I have seen the first person in history who believes they have a "lease on life". Health isn't only about taking care of your body and eating properly. There would be no need for doctors or hospitals if what you say is true for everybody and be guaranteed to work. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
I might also suggest you be careful and make sure you don't hurt yourself if you have a fall tending to your garden. Accidents do happen which have nothing to do with personal health yet, still require people to have healthcare coverage ultimately visit doctors and have to go to the hospital. You are no different.
5
@Denise Anderson
Good for you, bless your heart.
@Denise Anderson,
A healthy life style might improve your odds but it does not guarantee health.
Disease and accidents strike even the most conscientious people.
Universal healthcare will always be needed, so railing against it is at best naive and at worst selfish.
Priorities, people. What good is health care without a Space Force? They are struggling to defend earth on a startup budget of only $13 billion. Where is that money going to come from if not the poor, the sick, and the uninsured?
Sorry. Mitch McConnell is much better at explaining this than I am. When I say it, it just comes out sounding sarcastic.
8
Well, the Space Force will protect us from aliens like those who our control government, won’t it? Don’t aliens control our government? Isn’t that why Republicans say government is the problem not the solution? If the government represented the will of the people, then anything wrong with the government would be the responsibility of the people.
1
We really need universal health care in this country. And given the number of Trump supporters, it should include strong mental health care.
8
It is impossible to underestimate the sheer cruelty of Republicans and most especially their mad (cult leader. Decent people make excuses for them and give them the benefit of the doubt with each successive abuse and then there is the next one and the next one and there is no end to their mendacity. Just new and creative cruelties.
Every day there are stories here and elsewhere about previously naive politicians and others who assumed Republicans had some -- or any -- degree of ethics, morals or patriotism and discover, once exposed to the truth, none of that is true. The party as a whole is pure sociopathy under a cruel, defective cult leader now and the sooner the naive among us open their eyes and admit it, the sooner the pathology can be excised from civic life.
10
@TS Would like to give your comment a million recommends! Oh, so true!
1
I think this is folly on Trump's part that could work beautifully for Democrats if they are able to seize the moment. Critique the insufficiencies and problems of Obamacare and offer an alternative (universal healthcare, for one, finally, this is the moment). Obamacare is a wishy washy band aid solution. Acknowledge it, critique the extremely dangerous Republican alternative to Obamacare, and offer an attractive one. It's an opportunity to show leadership (and not just a defensive position) on perhaps the most important issue long facing the country.
4
It's all based on the Rand system of belief. Every dollar in any publically-supported scheme is taking that dollar from someone who earned it and giving it to someone who didn't.
You can talk to these Rand fanatics about cost-benefit analysis, Christian ethics, and macroeconomics analysis. They won't care. It's a simple dogma: taxation equals theft.
5
You understate the reality of the situation. For whatever reason, perhaps because they are incensed at the idea of having to pay into anything that isn’t exclusively for their own benefit, the Republicans have a pathological hatred of ANYTHING that benefits the poor and the working class. Look st the way they’ve slashed every single social safety net program they can as deeply as they can, preferably abolishing it or at least defunding it. Look at the hypocritical cynicism of passing a HUGE tax cut that adds significantly to the deficit as it mostly benefits the ultra-rich, AND THEN turn right around and say they need to slash those social safety net programs even more deeply TO REDUCE THE DEFICIT!
What we are actually seeing is a whole new kind of bigotry - a financial bigotry by the most selfish group of extremely rich citizens against the rest of us.
2
@George Shaeffer and yet enough votes to put the GOP over the top in many elections come from the white working class and poor.
Republicans don't just hate the idea of poor American's getting the health care they need. They actually hate the poor.
Odd view coming from the party that champions Christianity at every moment. But of course, we all know that they're not true Christians.
6
@Rogue 1303
Republicans don't hate the poor. They would like those without money to improve their financial station in life. If that is not possible, then they should rely on a family member or someone who cares about them to take care of their needs.
@Driven,
All the evidence points to the contrary.
Republicans have no interest in encouraging people to better themselves. They value privilege, not achievement.
Personal greed is their only motivation. If what someone else does profits them, they welcome them. If it doesn't, they don't.
The only energy they expend in regard to the working class is to keep the latter uneducated, subservient, and a source of more profits for those already wealthy.
At this point I think the goal of the GOP is to make the government not work at any level. Their feeling is, if the government helps even a single individual people will believe that the government could fix problems and that is anathema to the GOP. The wealthy donors believe that they are being discriminated against, that people are "taking" things from them. They want to destroy the government so they can run it "the right way". These same GOP donors seem to be oblivious that roads, interstate commerce, schools, hospitals have any connection to a functioning society. They want uneducated serfs that just do as they are told while they live in luxury.
What they should understand is that, as Nick Hanauer put it: The fundamental law of capitalism is: when workers have more money, businesses have more customers, and need more workers. The idea that high wages equals low employment, it's absurd.
When business people take credit for creating jobs, it's a little like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it's the other way around.
Nick Hanauer
3
What I think the Republicans hate is Obama. Getting rid of the ACA is the last piece of their effort to remake the US in a manner such that it appears that Obama was never President. They cannot stand that he was a much greater and consequential president than any of their folks since maybe TR.
3
It is getting harder and harder to care about the people who inflicted this disaster on us.
3
The 18 million people who are at risk to lose care are just the tip of the iceberg.
* Over 130 million citizens have "pre-existing conditions" making their premiums much more expensive, and forcing some to drop coverage.
* Millions more are dependents with no insurance covered by their parents now until age 26. Those who become uninsured will be bankrupted if they become ill--and likely take their parents with them.
* Rural hospitals will lose funding, some will close.
* Only those with medical insurance from their employer are relatively unaffected--until they lose their job and join the gig economy.
Our current system for providing medical care is the most expensive (about 50% more per person) than any other in the world. Based on health outcomes, we are now below the leaders, and dropping. In big parts of the country, our childbirth mortality rates are the 58th "best" in the world, battling it out with Botswana for that place.
Just a guess, but taking huge sums of "government money" out of the system will accomplish 3 things:
1. significantly increase insurance coverage costs for employer funded insurance (and increase copays, and reduce benefits).
2. put financial pressure on a very large fraction of the population. (Bankruptcies "R" USA)
3. kill, maim and destroy quality of life for many millions of citizens.
Why, exactly, is this a good idea?
7
@Mark Johnson It's a good idea because Republican's donors and friends won't have to pay any additional money for Obamacare and will have more money for travel, eating out and going to church to reflect on the sanctity of life BEFORE they are born not after when they need heath care.
1
Republicans hate Obamacare because their donors and friends don't like contributing their share and would rather take another trip abroad or buy another Picasso. Why bother with health insurance for the peons. Republicans only care about the sanctity of life BEFORE they are born not after.
2
The GOP is the party of special interests and extremism and the most outspoken members of the "base" want Obama's signature legislation consigned to oblivion - another nail in their efforts to pretend we never had a black POTUS. In 2017, the Republican Congress did its best to obliterate the ACA even though only 17% of Americans wanted the ACA overturned. Has there been any GOP legislation over the past two years that would make any middle class/working class American think the GOP was in their corner? No. The Republican party uses Fox News to fan our American culture wars so their base will vote against their own self-interest and unfortunately, it works. This is GOP business as usual.
2
Republicans are Old Testament thinkers, and Democrats are New Testament thinkers.
2
I don’t get it either !
Such a rich country unable to solve basic needs such healthcare and education.
Ranging only 46 th for healthcare costs and life expectancy, according to WHO , like a third world country indeed .
It is sad and highly immoral ,the GOP should be ashamed .
It is clear that this trumpian fixed idea to demolish ACA stems entirely from envy for President Obama’s great achievement.
3
"Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. {...} But the harm does not interest them."
They don't CARE ABOUT WHO WILL BE MATERIALLY HARMED unless it's a rich person.
1
Just think about riding the train/plane with people not vaccinated due to lack of access to health care. Or, folks with untreated diseases serving you food at a restaurant, or cleaning your house.
1
I think it is some combination of greed and the fear of being just equal to everyone else, of giving up privilege, and perhaps a touch of racism and misogyny .
2
No, Paul, it's not about 'healthcare'. It's about Trump--as always--and how much he hates Obama. It's personal and as long as ACA is known as Obamacare, it's in danger.
2
That photo- to paraphrase a poker analogy-"there's three of a kind to draw to".
I think the actual reason the GOP goes after healthcare like this is pettier and dumber than Paul thinks it is: it's because healthcare is an issue Democrats identify as something they say they want to improve. Democrats talk about it in their speeches and propose legislation--for better and worse--that purportedly aims to lower costs for us. So that means the Republican Party is compelled to oppose whatever the Democrats say. Today's Republican Party gets its oxygen from just reflexively fighting Democratic policy goals no matter what. "Owning the libs" is one of the key ways they motivate their base to come out and vote. (And, yes, it's probably the most ridiculous.) Their base seems to rejoice when they know a goal of "the libs" has been dashed, whether or not they would have benefited.
It's so preposterously stupid that it's hard to believe. I think it makes us look for more sensible explanations. But if you've ever spoken to a Fox News-addled conservative, you probably got the sense that, more than anything else, it's important for his side to "win" an argument, to make the libs fail or to see people they perceive as Democratic voters get hurt in some way. Any ramification on themselves can be explained away by Trump or some deranged political entertainer as the fault of someone else.
It's a sad time in America.
256
@Lionel Hutz Yes my conclusion after trying to "discuss" things with this group. It has nothing to do with the facts of a policy its them against us and no way will they let us "win". They see we progressives as disciples of the Devil and misguided and their job is to stop us regardless of the issue. They now know that they have rigged the system so the minority will win.
19
@Lionel Hutz
Simple as this: Healthcare for all means increased taxes. And the 1% don't want to do anything for citizens less wealthy than them.
17
@Lionel Hutz
Yes, much is opposition for the sake of opposition, and fueled by selfishness, hate, and ignorance which are now the bedrock of Republican politics. We expect more from our government, from our elected officials, but such is the rat hole that Republicans have chosen to live in when they decide to pursue personal and political goals instead of what is good for America. It is stupid, but not done stupidly. As frustrated and angry as we become to see this, there is little to be gained in searching more deeply for a logic that simply does not exist.
No one is going to respond positively if told he is selfish or stupid or a hater, but addressing ignorance may open the door at least a little. Personal finances decide elections so most people are open to facts affecting them. This is where Democrats’ messaging for 2020 needs to be targeted: most people want pre-existing conditions vs. R’s efforts to dismantle the ACA; did you get a huge tax cut, if you are rich you did; show how a revamped healthcare system will help financially; and so on. The results are not guaranteed, but it’s the right thing to do. Truth and facts are better than lies and distortions.
22
The problem with health care that Republicans cannot wrap their heads around is that I can probably figure out how to feed my neighbor and my family; I can probably figure out to build their house and clean their yard, and build a road or two. But, I cannot be their doctor. And, no one on my street, lives with the knowledge or the tools to mend broken legs, complete surgery, cure grave illnesses, or manufacture life-saving medicines. That is the difference. Life-saving health care is not something I can provide to my family or my neighbors. The rich, and Republicans, believe that health care is a luxury item. No longer. Health care has become more accessible, and the Affordable Health Care Act has been able to succeed in that way. Having health care helps human beings live their lives. Taking that completely away is barbaric and cruel. No thanks. Not in my backyard or yours. We all need doctors to make health care work as well as we can, for ourselves and our neighbors.
4
The Republicans win elections on the basis if voter ignorance, and Conservative memes and nostrums heartening “family values” and traditions that direct their behavior no matter the actual realities on the ground. Take the bar graph presented in this piece depicting job gains and loss of health insurance since Trump took office - most Republican voters would have no idea what that graph signifies but would listen to an interpretation of it by Trump or his ilk, which would describe it as somehow supportive of the wrong-headed Stone Age values of the working class right.
2
More Than Political Ideology: Subtle Racial Prejudice as a Predictor of Opposition to Universal Health Care Among U.S. Citizens
https://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/245/html
3
For a long time health insurance was a perk for those who could work for an institution or a company that could offer you health insurance. Dental insurance was even more of a perk in a well paying job. Civil servants got pensions ( they pay into for at least 10 years) lower salaries but health insurance, and some job security. Civil servants pay into their health insurance, etc. They also pay union dues.
So Medicare for short term health issues for the infirmed or the retired person.
The idea that we should all have health insurance from birth to old age makes health insurance not special or a perk anymore.
1
Like it or not we share the same country, breathe the same air, drink the same water, risk the same illnesses and injuries, suffer loss when others suffer losses, and while some may have greater wealth and social power they cannot have them alone. Republicans simply cannot consider themselves apart from everyone else as they want and remain sone.
Health care is a social issue not a private one. Biology is nature and nature does not favor any human attitude nor save anyone from disease nor injury for right thinking. Republicans need to wake up.
The most effective and efficient health care policies address everybody’s needs and are supported by everybody’s contributions. It annoys some people to think that but it’s reality.
3
Democrats love our tax money.....
Not sure what you mean by that. Most of our taxes go to fund wars to the tune of over $30 million a day for almost 2 decades. As far as healthcare goes, the for profit insurance companies (you know, those that pay execs $25 million bonuses per year) have one of the strongest lobbies and they will fight tooth and nail to maintain their grip on the American people all the while denying care.
Democrats would like to see our tax dollars go to services that benefit all of us, like universal healthcare and a high quality education system, rather than to endless yet profitable wars, and the pockets of the super wealthy.
5
You must not love your tax money. I want it to come back to me in the form of clean water, safe roads and government services like affordable healthcare...etc. A sick workforce benefits no one.
3
@Mystery Lits
I make you a deal. We don't get Medicare for all. But you let Government regulate PROPERLY the Medical and Pharmaceutical (and Financial) businesses. I'm not talking regulating prices, just regulate them.
After all you can argue that it is not the function of the Government to tax and distribute (but you will want your road and Medicare and Social Security, right?). But regulating is. So what you say?
Why don't we talk about the people in those deep red states continuing to cut their own noses off despite their own faces instead of blaming the people they've elected for doing what they voted them in to do.
I'm done with them - I've got mine and am tired or trying to convince them to take my good will and financial assistance.
For those in those states that understand what's at stake and are willing to be helped - I'm sorry. And for those that are too proud, or angry, or manipulated, or brainwashed to take the assistance - I've got mine and you'll get your's. Good luck.
2
@JF Shepard...one can explain/outline til blue in the face about the real benefit of ACA, etc in their lives, but what will always be their #1 voting issue? Roe v Wade.
They would, I think, even vote against Social Security and Medicare, in favor of striking down abortion rights.
1
Oh, Paul. You are so much smarter than this. You, of all people, should know that this is all about money. Health care, as it is conducted in this country, is hugely profitable. Take away the system that keeps the dollars flowing and you have a lot of angry, wealthy people. We can't have that, now, can we?
4
Republicans certainly hate health care, and add to that social security, food stamps, unemployment and workmen's compensation insurance, and public education; and then we get an accurate picture of capitalism driven to its [il]logical end and its most radical political ideology.
6
I was at a meeting recently, where, on a show of hands, about 80% of people present thought having decent healthcare was a privilege ....not a right. A follow up question was answered strongly in favor of a system where healthcare should be "earned".
The meeting was a fairly broad cross section of society - certainly not billionaires and elites.
I think Krugman is on to something when he says the healthcare debate has entered the realms of pathology. There can be no logical reason for a person making < $50k per annum to want the health system as it is, or to want to eliminate Obamacare. Yet it seems like a good proportion do.
4
The dean of my grad school was Nixon's former health care Czar; he gloated over the impending growth of health care from 17% to 33% of GDP in the near future.
Truth time: The GOP loves profit, not limiting the costs of health care, or even necessarily improving outcomes/quality. AMA is a guild for doctors as businessmen with a monopoly. 22 million off ACA insurance...collateral damage.
3
I believe a majority of doctors hate the current system and would rather be able to take care of all patients without all the piles of justification paperwork.
3
The long-range plan of the right wing Republicans: reduce the population by 25% by denying healthcare, for start. Those who can afford healthcare (i.e. the wealth evangelicals who made their fortunes because God chose them) will remain & those who are less fortunate will disappear. The ultimate class warfare genocide, the ultimate triage system, the ultimate cattle trains & death panels. Those the Republicans deem undesirables, disposables, old, non-god fearing will be jettisoned, and all the resources will be re-allocated to the 10% at the top.
And the Medical Industrial Complex will be laughing all the way to the bank. LOL, the true pathology.
1
Keep people uneducated, poor, angry and fighting for/over the most basic things.
That way, issues like corporate taxes, climate change, college tuition etc. never appear on their radar.
7
What about taking away from the members of Congress their lavish health insurance paid for by taxpayers who often cannot afford one for themselves? Let them buy their own coverage!
2
Republicans hate the idea that government can do any good and that government should provide nothing to citizens aside from national security
Privatize and profitize everything. That way businesses are free to charge, exploit, and skimp.
3
I fear that a lot of Americans who get health insurance through a job or their spouse's job don't really know much about the healthcare system today -- until they learn that something isn't covered by their policy, or their premiums shoot up, or the cost of their child's drug skyrockets, or they get a hefty bill for their portion of surgical fees -- or they learn, after an emergency, that one of the doctors treating them is not part of the network. Those are "surprise bills" and shocks, and many people don't think about them until they occur. They may also be surprised to learn that many people they know who work full time still don't get insurance through their employers, maybe because it's a small business. Our system is antiquated and really messed up, and very wasteful, and yes, it certainly needs to be reformed, but many powerful entities keep pushing back on change. Just destroying it in favor of "anything goes" will send so many people into chaos, and all because the folks in Congress can't be bothered to work together on real solutions.
2
Democrats should give up pushing healthcare as a right. That is a tough sell even to those people who have benefited from the ACA.
Instead, it's all about the math. The US citizen pays about twice as much for healthcare as any other industrialized nation. But are we getting healthcare that is twice as good? Even if we were, we can't afford it.
We should focus on getting value for our dollar.
1
We are actually getting care that is half as good.
1
@GM
But we can afford a space force, tax cuts for the top 1%, endless military spending and Trump's golf trips.
2
@GM,
The overall cost of healthcare is an abstraction to most people.
They care about their own healthcare, on a personal level.
It's far better to address the impact on them of their own premiums and what they get in return.
I guess Republicans don't get sick.or old.. or die.
3
I would like to see the opponents of this lawsuit concentrate of the actual legality of the law rather than the bad effects of its being declared unconstitutional,
Since the Supreme Court decided that the requirement to purchase insurance was a legitimate use of Congress's power to tax, does the repeal of the tax penalty remove the justification of the individual mandate? And, is the individual mandate severable from the rest of the law or is it, as the writers insisted during debate, something whose removal would make the entire law impossible?
These are the questions an intelligent analysis of the case would consist of; not compassion, class warfare, or any of the other interesting but irrelevant points that are being made.
You can't teach people compassion.
There's nothing you can feed them or inject them with that will change them to compassionate beings.
A person who lacks compassion, like our President and a surprising number of very rich people, just doesn't care but does know that they won't pay a nickel to help anyone else.
What's truly bizarre is that many people without compassion claim to be deeply religious, even born again, Christians. But I suspect that they glossed over the words of Jesus on the subject and headed right for the pictures instead.
6
@Porter
The wealthy pay most of the taxes in this country so you should be saying thank you.
@Driven
Technically true but the % of what they pay and how well they get to live more than makes up for that. Don't forget that most "wealthy" people did not earn it they stole it via manipulation of language on paper or outright taking of things like intellectual property, wage theft (A personal favorite method of our president), denial of payout for insurance, or one of their ancestors did same.
Even these tech wealthy today aside from the coders who made it by taking stock for pay most of the owners are men who stole the original ideas or codes to "develop" what they made their bones with. These "ride share" companies took a new idea for improving dispatch and used it to hijack the industry and steal all the money that went to wages, maintenance and regulation for themselves. That was the express intent of the idea that is Uber and Lyft and ??? to avoid having to pay the proper fees and wages.
Yea "the wealthy" and such fine folks when it comes right down to it or they'd be making sure all of society was much better off in the way that FDR and a lot of his generation of 1%ers did. Paying more in tax is nothing to hang your hat on and certainly nothing to be resentful about when you are so wealthy you can do what you want in life.
@Driven
Really? In the 1960's corporations contributed approximately one-third towards the total amount of money received by the government in tax revenue. Today, that is less than 10% so unless you no longer wish to drive on paved roads, have an army, fire dept, police force, social security and medicare(among other items), in order to maintain those services during that period, who do you think had to make up the difference in revenue?
I can assure you it hasn't been the wealthy which has resulted in the concentration of that explosion of wealth in fewer and fewer hands.
All the while, McConnell and his ilk, including his Secretary of Transportation wife (nepotism, anyone?), get an excellent taxpayer-funded health care. The irony isn't lost in me.
4
They hate Medicare expansion because the ownership class wants to continue paying employees slave wages and keep them showing up for nothing more than insurance.
Without employee sponsored insurance workers have more freedom to leave their jobs and start their own, competitive, business. It's health care slavery.
10
The Republican mindset is not difficult to understand. The rich opportunists are simply that. They have “zero moral compass”, as was so nicely put by Democratic congressional candidate Dan McCready in North Carolina, whose victory was blocked by Republican election fraud.
However, the rich opportunists are enabled by people who are not rich at all, and it’s natural to ask why this group consistently votes against its own interests. A strong emotional need has overcome their rational needs, but what, exactly?
The typical lower-income Republican would feel ashamed to identify as a Democrat. They are like rape victims who wait for years to make an accusation. Or like lapsed Christians who cannot seem to declare themselves as atheist or agnostic.
The easily shamed are easily manipulated, although it takes a certain shamelessness to do this (see zero moral compass, above).
A person of ordinary moral scruples finds it hard to get into either the “fully shamed” or “fully shameless” mindset. We are moral centrists, relativists and rationalizers - but we also feel for others, and for the world around us. We are a mass of inconsistencies.
Politically, the Democrats must find a way to bring the shame-feeling Republicans to reason. There must be rational arguments, obviously, but also an emotional narrative that includes their moral awakening and inclusion. This is beyond the abilities of our social justice posers, but not, I hope, beyond the Democrats as a whole.
To say, "I am a Christian" is the least effective path to convincing another that your are a follower of the biblical Christ.
Shouting or carrying a sign declaring one is a patriot does nothing to demonstrate your love for your country, which is to say your love for the citizens, all of them, of the geo-political area where you live, for the country is the aggregate of its citizen inhabitants.
Declaring you have a better path to providing for the medical needs, be they minor to catastrophic, of Americans and demonstrating time and time again, and again, and again that you have no such "plan," not even an inkling of the outline of one... This is Republican philosophy in a nutshell. No plan, no action, promise, promise, promise.
I am beginning to think that the answer to this is the right wing perception that these are benefits that go to 'them' (other races than white) and the overwhelming desire is to take something away, even if some of 'us' (white people) suffer, at least we will have prevented 'them' from getting something. Because however low 'we' are on the social ladder, 'we' are guaranteed not to be the bottom; 'they' are.
3
Another, maybe the most obvious reason the GOP hates health insurance is that they are paid by donors to represent healthcare industries. Washington is a pretty simple place: you pay me to get elected and once elected I will make up reasons, give speeches, etc. that argues for what you want. Healthcare industries want to make lots of money and have no risk. So even normal, honest coverage is too much. What some corporations want is direct handovers of cash to them by people: absolutely nothing for all the money you have. They are parasites and the GOP are parasites squared.
Where slowly something works out where some people get at least the illusion of health insurance and healthcare is when the government directly pays corporations (subsidizes health insurance) and the customer (the patient) pays the true cost -- only if they have insurance and go in the network. This seems to be the idea of ObamaCare. It is still not quite profitable enough: the parasites are really now destroying their hosts as well. It happens in nature.
I think, Paul, it is the case that like mindless, single celled organisms these legislators just have one thought: more cash for donors at the cost of any lives anywhere -- no matter what.
Nice picture -- they look like what they are.
1
Now that we see Republicans in "all their cruel and cynical Libertarian glory", the ghost of Ayn Rand must be smiling from ear to ear. One has to wonder what Republican propaganda will be spewed forth now since in the 2016 mid-terms, this issue alone cost the Republicans the House.
I hope Americans finally understand the danger of all of this going forward yet, I really still wonder whether or not American voters will finally disregard their own selfish interests and take the necessary steps to elect those that will actually "right the ship" and start acting on behalf of all the citizens and not just the wealthy and the lobbyists.
If you do not, perhaps then we can assume that this cruelty and lack of empathy on the part of the current elected politicians is what America "really is" after all.
1
The Republicans pathology is simple--they detest the idea that someone will get something for nothing. Look at all their positions and it will be clear.
1
@John Libretti I understand your point, but the reality is even uglier than that. Many people pay, in the form of payroll deduction for example, for health care that is doled back out to them in stingy, substandard increments. Many people pay into the public treasury, by way of Medicare deductions for example, to provide health insurance for others when they themselves don't have health benefits.
Americans don't need and aren't seeking something for nothing. We deserve to get something for the something -- the highest health care costs in the world -- we already ARE paying.
2
When we are paying taxes, what we get is not « for nothing. » Unfortunately, for the past 4 decades, we have been getting wars all over the world for our taxes and not much else.
2
The Republicans hate the idea of ordinary Americans having healthcare that's not tied to their employer. Control over health insurance gives employers, particularly large employers that donate to Republicans, control over their employees. If employees were not dependent on their jobs for health insurance they could not be so easily manipulated and mistreated. Nothing a Republican hates more than an employee with choices.
7
It's about the profits of the private health insurance companies. I believe the Republican Party thinks those companies will enjoy a financial windfall if Obamacare is repealed. I suspect they will try to spin a repeal as some sort benefit to economic growth that will trickle down from the rich elite ruling class to everyone else. Republicans couldn't care less about health care itself.
Most of us are somewhere near the middle: we're not the rich who profit from exploiting the unhealthy and the poor, and we may not even be depending on Obamacare.
But I'd like to think we 'middlers' believe that public health care is an essential program for people living in this country.
And we 'middlers' have a LOT of votes.
Don't forget this - VOTE!!
2
US health indicators have been historically well below those of most high-income countries. This has been easy to explain because access of a majority of the population to basic health care has been limited due to high costs and low family income. Most other high-income countries have managed to provide basic public health care to low income population. Ever since the end of the last world war, democrats tried to introduce free public health care for low income population to no avail. Obama care opted for the intelligent viable option to provide not free health care but low cost insurance to finance access to private health care. Now this is still too bad for right-wingers who want to see mortality and morbidity for the non-rich to fall to the levels comparable not to those of middle-income but rather to the levels of low-income countries.
1
One theory is that this is some sort of Trumpian Machiavellian payback for McCain's thumbs down..
But regarding the Republican mainstream support of this, much of it is based on the increases in the policy prices and deductibles, brought on of course by the meddling of the Republicans with Romney's original free market compromise in Massachusetts, adapted for the ACA to try to get the Republicans on board. Thus, the 40% minority is willing to blow the whole thing up, even though they will be most affected. Ironically, they will get even higher pay-as-you go fees from the Republicans, who will never "replace" the ACA. Perhaps preventive care will still be supported, but given the conservative support for the anti-vaccine crowd, I doubt it.
4
So, my mean 16 year old self is thinking, these red states voted for this and they're going to get it. So let them have it, let them see what a world with no healthcare is really about. Then my 50 year old self kicks my 16 year self in the head and reminds her that real people, real families, real sick people are going to suffer and that is just plain wrong. What annoys me to no end is that reasonable people will swoop in and minimize the impact, get blamed for something going wrong and the Republicans will be get off scot free.
4
Unless you’re in the donor class, the GOP doesn’t care about the health, education or welfare of you or your families. Those vaunted “family values” mean their families not yours.
3
If only those 20 million people who benefited from Obamacare would vote in the next election, we'd have a better chance of beating trump.
5
"Why? The truth is that I don’t fully get it." I'm glad you said that. I, too, haven't been able to figure out the Republicans' wanton. directionless hatefulness and destruction. Can pure nihilism be so widespread? A sexual rush generated by destroying things, even themselves? Clearly these people, despite protestations to the contrary, have no values at all--no God, no philosophy, no moral compass, no compassion or even a through about anybody or anything. It's astounding.
2
Why are they doing this? It's simple: they hate anyone who relies on government for basic needs; essentially, middle to low income folks who they clearly think are lazy failures. And because they don't want a democracy.
2
Nobody benefits more than the top 10% in this country. The bottom 40% get what’s left over, the scraps after the wealthy have dined on the fatted calf.
1
@Jessica Mendes
Basic needs should be taken care of by yourself or your family.
@Driven,
I don't think you know what a basic need is.
At bottom, it's life itself.
If the protection of life is not a priority in a nation of such vast wealth as the United States, that nation is sunk in barbarism.
You sound like someone who might be happier living outside of society — but I'll bet that you enjoy all the benefits of government, just like the rest of the hypocrites on the right.
It's like urban commuter rail. Any time the topic comes up, Republicans start yelling "Trolleys!" and foaming at the mouth. Republicanism isn't about policy, or even political strategy. It's nothing but pure hatred, with coded topics like Obamacare to signal when to become enraged. It's us-versus-them tribalism, and even the slightest concession to "them" is utterly intolerable. Of course the people who foot the bill for Republican politics are getting rich thanks to the few bills they do pass. But these days, what thinking person could possibly support the party of Trump and treason, of delusion and scandal? Hatred turns the cerebral cortex off, which is why the Republicans still have a base.
2
I think Mr. Krugman's analysis of the situation is spot on, except for one significant point: This latest inexplicable move is almost certainly the "brain" (as that notion is loosely defined whenever you're talking abut Trump) child of the stable genius in the Oval Office.
I doubt there are many other Republicans who really want to keep beating this dead horse. They are smart enough to know when it's time to change the subject from their latest shellacking at the polls. Trump isn't. He's about the only one too ignorant to comprehend what happened last fall.
That's fine by me.
1
I was in the audience about 20+ years ago to listen to a representative from the Cato Institute and a left-leaning think tank debate the merits of consumer-driven health care. The positions weren't new, but I remember to this day the observations of the Cato Institute rep. She was shocked -- sincerely shocked -- that anyone would make a decision on what job to take based on the benefits it offered. If you didn't have health insurance and thought you needed it, it wasn't a big deal -- just get on your spouse's plan or find an individual policy. Gawd.
The right -- clueless to the point of cruelty, then and now.
2
This may not perhaps be the most pressing issue, but, speaking of mental health, what is it with Trump and the overcoat? He's wearing it in every picture, even indoors.
2
I hope they succeed at eliminating Obamacare. This will help Dems a lot during the 2020 elections!!
As a great Republican President once said, " You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." Abraham Lincoln
The only people being fooled by the Republicans today are those in the negative first and second deviation on the Bell Curve. Even there, when their health care is gone they will realize that the ideals of Herbert Spencer that animate the Republicans will not serve their interests.
Even really stupid people can have an 'Aha' moment. I hope it comes soon.
3
One correction:
It's not " unreasoning hatred of the idea that government policy may help some people get health care."
It is: unreasoning hatred of the idea that government policy may help those people get health care.
To Trump Republicans U.S. means us, and we (of White European ancestry who founded the US) should not be accepting those people or giving those people health care, especially that plan from that Kenyan guy.
I'm puzzled. If Republicans were consistent they would oppose any suggestions that businesses provide their employees with health insurance. Especially as we become a "gig economy". One answer: health care itself has become Big Business.
Prior to the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 it was non-profit. The Act allowed it to become for-profit. No surprise that costs would soar- from 6.9% of GDP to 17.8%. The U.S. spends on average twice per capita for healthcare, with poorer outcomes, as other wealthy countries with single payer insurance.
1
The belief is based on several principles:
1. Private healthcare is profitable healthcare.
2. Public healthcare requires government funding, and Republicans don't want taxes on the wealthy.
3. Public healthcare requires government expansion and Republicans want to eliminate as much government as they can.
4. Any health care assistance to those who can't afford it, is seen as helping people the Republicans hate.
5. Finally, and I think the most insidious factor is that, for many of their constituents, health care contravenes god's law: god gave these people diseases and didn't love them enough to make them wealthy enough to pay for treatment, so god wants them to suffer or die. Treating them is consider to violate god's intent.
5
@David Hartman
Correct on all counts
1
I bill insurance for behavioral health services, and most of our billing for children was through our state Medicaid program. The state decided to make all Medicaid managed care, meaning we now have three insurance companies acting as middle men, plus behavioral services are still carved out to the state program for children in foster care. As a result, my administrative burden was quadrupled, we are now playing by four sets of rules instead of one, my time to file claims shrank 50 percent with two of the companies and 75 percent with one. This at a tiny nonprofit regional counseling center that sees people on a sliding scale for as little as $10. We rely on the revenues of Medicaid and insurance, as well as our own fundraising and our local United Way, to finance service to all regardless of ability to pay. The private sector is NOT solving my problems.
4
I think it because basically, the Republicans worship the wealthy and feel that the non-wealthy are just leeches, They pander to their middle and lower class base by pushing the race, "christianity" and abortion buttons. Those voters are worse off than they were under Obama but they truly believe that they are better of or in the alternative they would be better off if Obama had not taken away their benefits and given them to the undeserving poor, non-whites.
3
Rs hate health care for all because they can't have people seeing the govt as a force for good in their lives. Because then there goes the idea that the for-profit market is the only force than can solve our ills.
3
I must admit that I rarely agree with Mr Krugman and this case is no example. However if we are all so excited about Obama care then everyone in the nation ( save perhaps the military) should be thrown into the same pool. That would include Government employees ( at all levels, local, state and federal) and most especially ALL of our elected officials. Oh, and we should probably restrict the ability for anyone to pay for anything out of pocket and out of the system. So no private care. For anyone under any circumstances. Unions, in the system, Goldman Sachs employees in the system, Chuck Schumer in the system. If everyone else is good with that than I am too but I think we all know everyone else won’t be amenable to those terms. I suspect neither Mr Krugman not most others counted amongst the nations elite would be pleased. But hey, prove me wrong.
@chris oc What is it you are trying to say?
I think our dear leader is now angrier and more emboldened to start just breaking what he can. He has always wanted to erase anything Obama. It doesn't matter what it destroys or who it hurts. His followers are fine with it even though it affects them, as long as it hurts those other people. This has been shown to be the case for the last 2 plus years. Republicans in congress are totally on board with anything he does. He is vindictive and petty and a child. But he knows that something even as stupid as this will not cause his followers to drop him. Your little chart says it all.
1
Paul Krugman is usually very bright. I don't know why he "doesn't get it" this time.
Trump is a racist who hated that Obama was elected President twice. He wants to undo everything Obama did.
I think it's really that simple. After all, Trump isn't a very deep thinker.
3
I objec these influence-peddling GOP psychopaths enjoying premium health-care plans on my dime.
Trump and his GOP court jesters are getting enough in bribes and kickbacks as it is.
1
May I be so bold as to suggest that Paul and those who cling to the Republican "pathology" thesis read some history, and not just contemporary events as history. Health care is a cost, which may seem obvious but is nonetheless true. It is a cost born by businesses in considerable part. As a business party with an antediluvian confederate wing attached to it, the Republicans naturally oppose health care. This has been true for about a century. One of the reasons FDR removed national health care from the Social Security Act of 1935 was his fear that the combination of business reaction and southern (read no health care for blacks) would scuttle old age pensions.
1
I've been saying this for some time. The GOP mantra on healthcare is "Stay Healthy, Get Wealthy, or Die." They just don't come out and say it like that.
4
Healthcare is the fith largest economy in the US.
That says it all.
Big profits for all the players and corrupt from the top down.
4
Unfortunately the average red state voter is an idiot. No other way to say it. The likes of J.D. Vance can attempt to explain the stupidity away and empitize with them but watching them repeatedly vote against their best interest and being conned by the likes of Trump makes sympathizing difficult if not impossible. The irony of the whole Trump Reality Show is that the Goobers enable him to play his role as the perfect vessel for the Plutocrats. Give them a red hate, let them listen too him stoke their small minded prejudices and they react like Pavlov’s dogs and vote for the crowd that enables the Plutocrats to robe the Country.
6
Republicans hate anything which President Obama has anything to do with. Christians, all. I may be petty, but wish it was on my power to put the shoe on the other foot. Do unto others, as they would do unto you. They are a greedy, miserable crew.
3
My explanation? Plain stupidity.
But please, let's not push them to change.
Instead, let the haters keep hating healthcare all the way to their political demises.
2
Bottom line they hate people.
2
The reason is crystal clear: trump is a racist. He hates president Obama and everything he successfully did during his administration. trump cannot stand Obama successes and he has a psychotic urgency to undo everything Obama did.
1
They are sadists, that's all you need to know. They get off on babies in cages, people dying from lack of health care. Why does anyone elect these people??
3
Republicans have no humanity. They adhere to a 'it is mine, why should I help you' mentality.
3
“We’re going to work with our doctors. We’ve got to do something. ... We’ll work something out ... Nobody knows health care better than Donald Trump.” — Interview with ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” January 30, 2016
...Excellent! The nation’s best expert on health care is going to fix it! Can’t wait.
“Together we’re going to deliver real change that once again puts Americans first. That begins with immediately repealing and replacing the disaster known as Obamacare … You’re going to have such great health care, at a tiny fraction of the cost—and it’s going to be so easy.” — Campaign rally in Florida, October, 2016
....at a tiny faction of the cost!.....and it’s going to be so easy! This is sounding better and better!!
“It’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”— Meeting with governors at White House, February 28, 2017
....but, I thought it was going to be so easy?....and you’re our number 1 expert??.....and where is the viable plan to replace Obamacare at a tiny fraction of the cost??? You mean, all this time you’ve been lying? I’m shocked! Guess I’ll have to vote in 2020.
3
Choice is not a concern for those who resist any kind of universal coverage. I think being held financially (criminally?) accountable for the damage done to our collective health by product “Y” is what keeps them up at night. Or, perhaps, not being allowed to market their wares at all.
There is not one conservative in the republican party today. Not one.
The koch bothers financed coup on our democracy has been going on for a half century but we did not pay any attention.
Right now it is pretty hard to deny, but it might just be too late.
3
During the recent mid-term elections, there were clips of people from red states, avid Trump supporters, who didn't know that the health care they were receiving was because of the Affordable Care Act. They didn't seem to know that their health care was the hated "Obama Care" that Trump and the Republicans are against.
Supporters of the ACA need to advertise on Fox News to explain that getting rid of "Obama Care" means those Trump supporters will lose their health coverage.
Really!
3
The reason Republicans think they can ditch ObamaCare is their based has been taught to think they will still have coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Trump had it almost right when he said they will become "the party of health care." He just forgot to add the word "No."
4
@A voice in the desert
I'm stunned at your first sentence.
I think that you have it!
That's why the Republicans never called the ACA, "Trumpcare".
3
Republicans only answer to their wealthy patrons.
They live by the Republican Holy Grail of decentralized government and not dispensing freebies to those allegedly unwilling to work for them. Never mind exorbitant physicians’ fees, hospital bills, and the ludicrous cost of prescription drugs.
Many Republicans are motivated by a variation of a psychological truth Margaret Mead articulated—that people are willing to admire others from a distance, but less willing to admire those close to them.
It is not that Republicans cannot tolerate those unlucky enough not to be able to afford private healthcare, but that their self-definition hinges upon the deprivation and suffering of others.
Too many people are struggling with inadequate healthcare.
Even under the ACA, insurance is too expensive.
We need to say it like it is.
5
Cheer up. Betsy de Vos is now trying to chop funding (as in completely eliminate) for the Special Olympics, so if you thought for one second that these clowns had gone as low as they could possibly go...
6
I like you, Paul.
You're an articulate, genial man, smart and diplomatic.
But you are lacking in one area: You have no street-smarts.
You should have figured this out long ago.
The R's TOLD you that they had no plan.
They simply wanted health care for the poorest to be gone.
That's all.
They have been saying the same things over and over since Tricky Dick: Poor people bad, rich people good.
Check out Betsy DeVos this morning.
She's the billionaire Sec. of Education that has zeroed out "Special Olympics".
Why?
Well, she hasn't been able to exactly explain that yet, but I propose "Occum's Razor", where the simplest answer is usually the correct one.
She is zeroing them out of the budget BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO.
(Sorry for shouting. My bad.)
This is akin to Republicans zeroing out Planned Parenthood, birth control and abortion - AND cutting every program for those who are legally eligible, like food stamps, housing, equal pay, medical care.... BECAUSE THEY WANT TO.
Of course they have no "plan".
I noticed that 50+ years ago.
That's why they sneer and jeer, scoff, make jokes or shrug indifferently.
It is because they have no plan.
Nor do they wish for one.
Heritage? Cato? Federalist Society?
What lovely words they all put out.
But never, ever do they have a plan.
They haven't a clue how societies fit together.
And, here's the truth: They really, truly, don't care.
Check out Betsy today.
She really doesn't have a clue on why she is doing this.
And she just doesn't care.
8
To me it is fairly simple the Republican leadership hates certain things: people in need , people of color , and people who do not look exactly like them. They are not interested in democracy or fairness -- it is about power and subjugation and they will use fear and threats to achieve their ends. Unfortunately "the best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
3
Please check my comment NYT pub'd 3/18 re "Democrats Pledged to Lower Health Costs, " as no time to fully rewrite. (I'm an Independent- take each issue alone, not politically.) Jist- opened- too much spent for end-of-life, ALL ages. Living Wills should be required, including being obeyed as neither of my parents' were, causing unnecessary suffering & huge cost (doc. est'd about 60% of all health care spent re person of average hlth is in last 6 months of life). My master's thesis (Severely Defective Newborns, Whether to Treat or Not) in Health Advocacy was used in another grad. hlth program- end quote from noted pediatrician- "If I have managed to get one baby to live somewhat normal life, what have I done to other 999?" I said keeping infants alive < 2-3lbs is cruel.... There are lots parallels re excess treatment all ages, also excess testing, ETC! I ended saying spending too much for small % of people takes $ from those more helpable-now adding- vast majority, including many severely or chronically ill or injured.
The story in this article is a perfect example of what the republicans have done to our system.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/03/25/post-surgery-complications-thanks-breakdown-billing/Di2Q8H7ER0xPDfMkHe7fbO/story.html
That is not an accident it is the design of the system. If even one of the people done over like this end up paying that money they have made a huge profit for the minimal expense of automatically billing everyone. We all know that most people end up paying because they just are not able to handle this sort of intentional confusion meant to make them give up or to anger them into yelling so the other party can justify hanging up forcing them to start over again.
Did you know that the shenanigans we put up with today from "call centers" and bad phone service used to be illegal? That was one of those regs that were too onerous.
3
TLDR: The right doesn't agree with my party's arguments of compassion, and are thus evil and have mental illnesses.
Well at home in the OPINION section.
2
Miserly old guys in suits heling themselves to your resources. The Republicans hate people.
3
Pathology is accurate. Punish the people that put you in office. They are masochists. That's why they voted for a sadist. They want to die in a cardboard box on the street. And Trump is obviously miserable so maybe this is his method of leaving gracefully before any more dirt is unturned. Look at his tortured face. He's desperate.
3
@dave beemon
Naw. He's not 'tortured', he's just lost two-thirds of his hair.
Not only does it make his butt and gut look bigger, it also makes the top of his head look smaller. You no longer see his poof-hair - you only see his face. That's his normal look. Mean. Shifty. Constipated.
Next to him, Mitch looks positively jolly.
Mitch is the likely suspect on "Who Swiped Trump's Hair"?
1
Professor--Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-clas Americans getting ANYTHING they need.
They really do seem to revel in the suffering of others. And that is pathological.
4
The Republicans do not offer an alternate vision of progress at all. They are fundamentally regressive and autocratic. They are taking us down the road to becoming Brazil, with the vast majority huddled in tattered favelas while the wealthy hide behind gated walls and shuttle by helicopter to their office towers, all the while engaging in roiling corruption.
Our Constitution is under threat from them. They’re voting down the separation of powers, blocking the opposition from appointing justices, and I firmly believe they’d do away with voting rights amendments, habeas corpus, equal protection and a host of other fundamental tenets of our democracy. Frankly, I think they’d be pleased to return black and minority voters to being counted as three-fifths of a person.
4
@Jay
Republicans are a party of the past and always have been, they are incapable of understanding the present day world around them and the future? Forget it.
2
@Jay
And women having no vote at all.
1
Every one is clearly missing the point. I am 27. When I turned 25 and was removed from my parents plan (one in which was paid for by the employer) I became uninsured. The lowest estimates I could find ranged between $167-$207 a month. I was making 36,000 a year. After taxes I made about $26000 (the government will get their share believe me.) Monthly expenses included student loans ($135), rent ($650), car payment ($165), etc. There was no room in the budget to pay for health insurance. Eventually my employer began to offer it which I gladly took (thank you free market). I work for a small business made up of 6 employees. Point being is that the ACA was built off the backs of the healthy educated youth who made too much to get it for free and to little to afford it so we just took our penalty and chugged right a long. Thank you Trump (who I despise) for removing the penalty. Clearly the elites like Krugman at the NYT have no idea what its like to budget something which is forced on you.
@Chandler Stepp The healthy educated youth of today will be the old, sick with heart disease and strokes of tomorrow. Will they want health care coverage then?
We need universal government health care for all.
7
@Chandler Stepp
What you overlook is that had the penalty not been removed and efforts to expand and improve the ACA deliberately sabotaged by Trumpublicans, costs would have gone down. The can has just been kicked down the road.
9
@Chandler Stepp
Remember, under the "Trump/Republican non-plan", you are ONE chronic/serious illness away from bankruptcy.
5
What it seemingly boils down to is that Republican politicians hate everyday Americans, while the Republican base seems to be suffering from some sort of bizarre Stockholm Syndrome.
Years ago, I used to be able to have policy discussions with my Republican acquaintances. Then, over time, their positions lost their rationale, and simply seemed to be based on being the opposite of what I, a Democrat, thought would be good.
Now that the Republican Party is morphing into some uniquely American version of a Fascist Party, I've lost any sympathy. I live in California where the Republicans have been voted into political irrelevance. We're a model for the whole country.
4
Really, why hate healthcare? Who are these people? I mean no life experience? No family members with life threatening health issues? They are baby boomers that are on Medicare and a Supplement and so have no cares? I mean who in their right fair mind would be against the Affordable Care Act? Who?
2
@Tacomaroma
Wealthy people who do not have to worry about such "trivialities" who because of the next serious illness will not have to worry about ultimately declaring bankruptcy because they couldn't pay their skyrocketing medical bills.
1
@Tacomaroma Anyone who doesn't feel their premiums are "Affordable". 2.9% medicare tax and app 9% of your income for your own medical premiums if you don't have caddy bennies, then add on paying up to 10k per year if you have something like Type 1 diabetes or a genetic cancer. What working person can afford that? You are starving them in order to subsidize nonworkers.
This is another way of old white men maintaining control regardless of the people's will. The demographics are against them and their agenda must be accomplished outside of democratic processes (e.g. gerrymandering, voter ID, election fraud ...etc.).
"Helping people" to GOP leadership equals helping poor people, and poor people tend towards demographics that they have been at war with since our last major civil conflict. They are still mad about that.
2
@gARG
One has to hope Middle America is watching and listening to all of this since as it stands, the largest group affected by the discontinuance of the ACA will be middle aged "white" Americans.
Count me in with the folks saying that politically this makes sense to people who think 1) everything government does is bad and 2) everything Obama did is bad. In other words, supporting the move to eliminate the ACA is trump playing to the worse of his base.
1
You ask why for "this latest Trump move completes his utter betrayal of the people who put him in office"?
Because he cannot resist betraying people who trusted him and singed a contract. His stiffing contractors. His constant lies on TV. His attacks on the Intelligence community. The only way to make sense of this is that Trump is Trump, who is pathologically conditioned to betray people surrounding him when he can. Remember the fable of snake who bites the good Samaritan, that Trump loved quoting in 2016? It's Trump, he cannot help betraying people good to him.
2
Let me explain it for you: at the end of the day, most Republicans are narrow, rigid thinkers who imagine an all-knowing God is up there, watching people's backs. They also imagine that "things happen for a reason" and use this belief to justify their own indifference. The concept that people (e.g., the Government) could ACTUALLY affect lives, save people, make things better, etc. is incomprehensible to their thinking. That's just not the way it is *supposed* to be. Your lot in life is what you are BORN into and due to YOUR CHOICES. They can't align anything different with their worldview. So there response to EVERYTHING is to make things worse for everyone else. Company dumping PFOS into your drinking supply? Not the government's job to fix. Company selling planes that kill people? Industry can regulate themselves. Pregnant? You need to carry that baby to term, but don't expect us to help you pay or care for it. Sick with cancer? Well, it's probably your fault because you did x,y,z and it's between you and the mythical sky fairy if you live. Of course, the MINUTE a disaster strikes THEM, they are all crying for the government. But that's *different*. These are people with literally no understanding that the World CAN be a better place, an fervent desire to strike down anyone who thinks or tries to act otherwise, and a blinding denial of the fact that humans have succeeded in surviving at such levels precisely because of our social cooperation. I think that about covers it.
6
To me it is the USA and everything that self government and cooperating to make sure the most people get the benefits of our society that the republicans hate.
1
What did Mark Twain say? Something like "With practice, one learns to accept adversity. Other people's, that is"
3
@WomanUp
Mark twain also said, "it is much easier to fool those than convince them they have been fooled".
The reason is clear, and was written also in the WSJ.
The wealthy do not like health care Act,since they pay more taxes. The republican party mind only what the wealthy
want, so this why they do not want it.
1
It's because the government is involved. Republicans don't want another successful government program like Medicare and Social Security that has been championed by Democrats.
2
The reason every other developed country has universal healthcare comes down to one fact: the country runs better when people are healthy. It's cheaper in the short and long run. You'd think that would make it an ideal conservative value.
1091
@Richard
Your comment illustrates the selfishness and extreme shortsightedness of those who resist paying taxes that serve to pool funds to achieve things for the common good that can not be achieved without group effort.
26
@Stevenz
You missed the pathological part.
3
@Stevenz, healthcare for all is a conservative value in the true sense of the definition of "conservative".
The GOP is not "conservative". It is reactionary and oligarchic.
51
I think it's the same-old same-old. They want to cut taxes to enrich their donors and have been so successful with the Republican Propaganda Machine (RPM) that many of them think it is invincible and will convince their voters they are better off without health insurance. There seem to be some doubts, though, as evidenced by a rash of no-comments among RICO-publican leaders in Congress after DoJ's position statement that all of the ACA should be invalidated.
2
Yet it's still a puzzle as to why trxmp's people and republican voters in general still think he cares about them when *every* policy not only doesn't benefit them, it hurts them. When will they wake up to the fact that they're being sold down the river? I'm afraid there is no health care that can cure right-wing deception syndrome.
But the problem is deeper than what the good professor says. They don't just hate policies that help the poor, they hate the poor.
2
Paul,
it all boils down to money and control. With employer provided health insurance, the benefits, people need to think twice about changing jobs or press for higher wages, since they may lose their benefits with in some cases catastrophic outcomes . If people have teir own health insurance like ACA they are much more independent in decision making, their bargaining power woud be much greater, and they would not live in fear due to preexisting health issues. Thus the employer provided beneft system keeps people in check, see control, and gives the employer the opprtunity to suppress wages, saving them a lot of money.
5
@os
But don't forget the tax reductions for the rich. That's important too.
Unfortunately Paul’s confusion over Republican motives in opposing health care is misplaced. The GOP members of Congress and Trump himself are not “motivated” by any issue, including health care. Rather, they are obeying instructions from their billionaire backers.
These backers are the folks whose motives need examination. And they have been very explicit about them. Simply put, they wish to dismember government, make it completely ineffective, and ensure by this disfunction the installation of themselves as Oligarchs.
Pretty simple. Stated explicitly over and over again.
5
Krugman falsely states"Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need".
His strongly partisan views have undermined his credibility as an economist and he has morphed into a propagandist.
1
@jck
That might be true, but the empirical evidence supports his position.
7
@jck Have yopu any evidence or reasoning to back up your objection to Dr. Krugman's astute observation?
3
@jck Can anyone explain how Republicans think they might ensure that "poor and working-class Americans get the health care they need."
When you actively, continuously and aggressively work to make sure something doesn't happen, how do you deny not wanting it?
Or do Republicans like the idea of helping the working class, but not enough to actually do it?
As to Krugman's position as a propagandist. Is there any "fact" in the piece with which you can disagree?
1
Maybe one big reason Republicans hate taxes and helping the poor is simple and has been around since day one. They believe doing so takes money from hard working people and gives it to lazy people. Simple as that. I've had friends express that opinion to me, they say things like "Whatever you subsidize you get more of." It used to be called Social Darwinism & my guess is Trump believes in it bigly and those poor fools who vote for him against their best interests play right into it. Perhaps Trump knows that & loves those rallies all the more because the "deepest love" can only come from your victims. Just a thought.
5
@Mr. Jones But Medicaid expansion only affected WORKING people. Those without jobs already qualified for Medicaid before the expansion.
4
@Dr. Planarian - Good point, I'm not looking for consistency, but seriously, the working poor are just poor people with jobs, its not like they have their own brands and have risen to the top to naturally dominate over the great mass of unwashed...you get the idea. If you really feel superior to poor people does the fact they have a subsistence level jab matter? I don't know.
Pathology is right term to use when discussing Republicans, that’s for sure.
The sickness and disease that permeates the GOP is perfectly personified in the appearance and utterances of the pathetic man they chose to represent them.
Personally, most republicans have become like diseased leper’s of another era except that I have no empathy for them.
3
The Republican attitude towards healthcare is simple:
"I got mine, who cares about you?"
7
My guess is that if the ACA had never been called "Obamacare", that they'd have laid off it long ago. See, today's Republicans are all about kicking dead horses: Obama and Obamacare, and Hillary-Lock-Her-Up Clinton. And yes, there's an unhealthy dose of mean-spiritedness in most everything they wish to do.
3
Health care is only one of many things the publicans hate. Add the environment, infrastructure, public education, renewable energy and people in general.
6
The GOP attitude makes a lot of economic sense. If there are fewer poor people the nation's cost to help support 'em will be reduced.
Obviously without the ability to see the doctor more poor people will die. Therefore, as their number shrink the "socialist" cost to the nation will also . . . shrink.
GOP . . . good job ya'all
2
Of course, Republicans hate healthcare unless it's demanding that women undergo needless procedures when exercising their right to control their bodies.
6
As someone who has dealt with a chronic (and expensive) health issue for more than a decade, who has dealt with the vagaries of the insurance system (no! you cannot have that medicine you need - or no! you cannot have that medicine you need until you go off of all medicine for 6 months, even though the medicine you need is cheaper than the medicine you currently use) and has suffered permanent damage as a result...
I have come to believe we need a single payer system. A single payer system can delay and deny my healthcare for much less money. I will sleep more soundly knowing everyone will get some level of care.
The relentless greed and stupidity of the republican party has forced me to assess and defend my values. For that, I am grateful.
3
I've come to the conclusion that the obtuse conservative opposition to any common sense government program really comes one thing alone - the fear that a Black person might benefit from it. Millions of poor whites will lose coverage if the GOP has its way, but to Republicans, Trump and his supporters (even some of whom who will be personally affected), it is all worth it - on the off chance that a Black (or Latino, Muslim) person will be helped by it. Yes, they really hate you that much.
5
@Will
Some Trump supporters are willing to die as long as no brown person is helped.
I don't know. Maybe Trump is simply trying to get even with John McCain for his thumbs down vote
3
I don't buy this explanation from professor Krugman ... it's much simpler ... It's a win-win for trump ... head, blue states win their appeal and Trump will be able to tell his base he did what he could and tail, blue states looses, it goes to supreme court and whatever happens Trump will be able to tell his base ... he did whatever he could, ultimately winning at the supreme court !! ... It's good for trump and hard right GOP reps/senators but really bad for all other GOP reps/senators.
Paul --It's really not that hard; they are sadists, as are their supporters. Look at the evidence. A sadistic mentality explains simply and conclusively their entire agenda. Of course, the nobility is exempt.
2
Two thoughts:
The photo - brilliant. Could be used in an illustrated dictionary next to the word “evil.”
Surely the human ego is part of the equation. How powerful, how god-like, these people must feel - with the capability to cause misery, poverty, and death.
3
So Sarah Palin's death squads have arrived but at the hands of her very own party. Hope those that voted for Spurs and company are happy. You'll be without healthcare now and paying much more for any medical care that you'll need in the future should this go through. The gop sure talks alot but they have had nothing to replace the AHA not a single thing. Karma , that's all I can say and wish for all R's who are backing this. Karma may come sooner than expected.
1
Republican hostility to the idea of working-class and poor Americans getting the health care they need is a product of their racism. Although the majority of people who benefit from health care reform and other government programs are white, a substantial number of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians also benefit. Cold-hearted Republicans just hate it, absolutely hate it, when tax money helps colored people, who otherwise might die early and painful deaths for the unforgiveable sin of failing to be white.
6
Yes Trump wants to take away anything Obama did. But the rest of the GOP has a far more nefarious message. They view that most beneficiaries of Obamacare vote Democratic. So deny them healthcare and maybe they'll be too sick to vote -- or the real motivation -- they'll die sooner and have no chance to vote and with a little luck their children will die young too and never vote. It's really quite simple.
Yes, they hate healthcare because the pharmaceuticals hold them in thrall.
For me this is an example of corrupt capitalism. People who are republicans will die because of this over the top greed that our politicians worship at.
Trump and the GOP hate Americans and democracy so much that it is clear insanity
It's pride, egotism and racism all rolled into one scary mess. Its pride because according to insane GOP logic people are supposed to stand alone and not accept help and would rather die than know that we each depend upon each other. It's egotism because acknowledging the ideas of others means that somehow your own have less value and makes you less of a person. Crazy? Yes. Its racist because a person of a different skin tone became president and you can never accept that fact. Hatred towards others permeates GOP reactions, and is far deeper than just being just a hater of others.
1
Obamacare is about 10 years old, and the Republicans have been howling like mad dogs ever since. All this time they have not offered a rational alternative.
By all means let’s kill it through the courts, and go back to the dogs breakfast that was health care before Obamacare. I’m sure Trumps supporters won’t notice.
How much more abuse will he heap upon them? The rest of us are just collateral damage.
2
" Whatever the reason, however, the fact is that whatever they may claim, today’s Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need. "
From my stance the reason is clear: The very-rich and their purchased lawmakers don't wanna part ways with their $$$$$.
There are two names associated with The Affordable Care Act that drive Trump nuts, obviously affecting him in a way-to-crazy way, Barack Obama and John McCain. And it appears there's nothing, absolutely not a thing that will allow him to wrap his brain around the notion, 'Don't go there Trumpy Bear until you have a viable replacement for the ACA to put before the American public.'
2
I have the sense that as we plunge into another bitter Democrat vs. Republican rumble on such a stupid question, like the importance of universal healthcare (the answer to which is clearly obvious to every other developed nation), much like global warming, the dangers of ultra-nationalism, gun violence, or even progress toward modern smart infrastructure, we are effectively jumping off the modern world's train to the future. When you act stupidly, squander your advantages and hurt those nearest to you, you quickly lose all respect and your once earned leadership position. While progressive world states move forward, we seem deadlocked toward making needed progress to the future.
1
Actually, I think republicans just hate the poor and don't think they deserve any help. Plus there is also that ideology/concept that assistance of any kind equates to "socialism". A very dirty word in America.
1
For Trump, this is his rage-loaded payback for the Mueller investigation. The man is stark raving mad.
1
They dislike anything that would economically benefit the average person.
They rely on 2 things: any true believers' love of guns and hatred of abortion
1
This STILL comes down to one word: Obama. They want to erase his legacy from history.
Why? Because he's black? Because he's a Democrat? Because he's smarter than all of them put together? Because he's cooler and classier? Because he's NOT a hateful bigot? Because he actually cares about the people of this country?
Who knows. But Mitch McConnell's words were never truer. The GOP is still trying to make Obama a "one term president," even after he served all of his two terms.
Let them try. It's political suicide by a thousand cuts. The GOP as a functional party has already died. Let it rot.
2
West Virginia, the state with the highest percentage of voters choosing Trump (68%):
Unemployment rate Feb 2017: 5.2%
Unemployment rate Feb 2019: 5.2%
Couple this with Krugman's graph and tell me what explains this support in West Virginia.
3
Krugman doesn't understand how simple this all is. Democrats want politicians to give them goodies paid for by someone else, (that's the measure for them if you are a good Democratic politician). Whereas the Republicans want their politicians to allow them to keep their own goodies, not give them goodies paid for by someone else. Krugman appears to think that folks keeping their own goodies is pathological.
28
@No big deal
So, NBD, what would you have us do with those who have no "goodies" to keep? Leave them to the most expensive forms of health care like emergency rooms late in the course of diseases, many of which are transmissible to those holding on to their "goodies"? (Look up XDRTB or deaths from measles for more information).
We all are socialists when we accept roads, fire and police protection, mail delivery, an army and navy, etc. Why not include health care especially if it keeps the "goodie"-challenged healthy enough to work and pay more taxes into the coffers from which we all benefit?
85
@No big deal
Having access to health care is a 'goodie'? What a sad commentary...
216
@No big deal
“Krugman appears to think that folks keeping their own goodies is pathological.” In the instance of health care might not failure to love one’s neighbour be more accurate description than “pathological”?
81
Being an Australian I tried for years to understand why American conservatives disliked health care. I figured it must stem from a visceral hatred of anything that hinted at so-called socialism.
But the irrationality transcends the US. Ever since Medicare was introduced in Australia in the early 1970s, conservative governments have tried to undermine it. They try, even though it’s one of our most successful and popular programs (despite its flaws). They don’t succeed because there’s an uproar whenever there’s a hint of a cut.
The Australian opposition is based in part on a libertarian commitment to small government and the private sector, but so far the desire for re-election has trumped any ideological belief. Get the Republicans scared of an electoral backlash: it won’t change their minds but it might change their behavior, at least for a while.
4
If you think about the Congress’ proclaimed horror about the idea of a single payer system that most industrialized countries already have, it’s because congressional members (Senate and House) would be obliged to participate in the same system that all of us commoners share. It’s for that reason alone that they are trying to destroy the little we have vis a vis Obamacare.
1
The why is actually very simple. A bedrock of current Republicanism is that "government" is evil, and this should be feared and reviled.
This any programs that are government based and actually work fairly well are anathema.
This of course helps explain the responses to the recession, and the lack of any discussion of infrastructure improvements.
5
Prof. Krugman writes: “Whatever the reason, however, the fact is that whatever they may claim, today’s Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need.”
Typical Krugman bunk. Today’s Republicans, just as those of yesterday, last year, and in 2009 hate the idea that the best way to provide the health care poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need is the ACA because the ACA was the wrong solution to the wrong problem. The problem then and now was that health care and health insurance was, and is, too expensive not because of insurance companies or their executives but because we consume too much of too little value, with no idea of the actual costs because providers don’t have to tell us and someone else is paying the bill.
Numerous studies over the past 30 years have consistently shown that more than 30% ($1 trillion) of healthcare spending is useless, wasteful, or harmful. (See Dartmouth Review)
Spare me the cries of “health care is different” or “you can’t make an informed choice when you’re unconscious in the ER”. From an economic point of view, health care isn’t different than any other valuable service. It’s a problem of allocation of scarce resources. While it’s true that you can’t make a decision when unconscious, ER visits are not where most of the money is spent and most ER visits don’t involve lack of consciousness. Most health care spending is for scheduled services and procedures.
2
@Airman If the problem is allocation of resources, than we absolutely should NOT be providing health care to those over 65, who consume the overwhelming majority of health care costs and have the lowest returns (e.g., lowest life expectancy and lowest benefit to society since they don't work and promote the economy). So let's repeal Medicare and put those funds towards everyone under 65. Problem solved.
7
@Michigan Girl
Cancel all health care and all health insurance. Put these misguided funds towards the Sacred Wall. Put these misguided socialistic pansy liberal monies into the bloated military budget where our True Security lies. More missiles. More
bombs. And then, every man for himself when it comes to health care.
Dr. Krugman is it possible that what the Republican Party (and the substantial business opposition) to the ADA and national health care in general is one of control of labor and cost and nothing more?
If employees get their health care through their employers than they are tied by the powerful fear of the loss of health coverage to those employers. I have heard of my 70 years many people say "if it wasn't for the (often meager) heath coverage my employer offers I would leave the job tomorrow! They usually go on to say that their own preexisting conditions and their family responsibilities to provide health care for their families are the considerations that keep them working in expletive and dead end jobs until they are forced to retire.
In my opinion this is not about Trump (he is a convenient if somewhat uncontrollable tool for business interests), this is about the control of workers in this free market capitalist economy.
1
@Richard From Massachusetts Yet most employers don't want to pay for health insurance either and need to do so to attract employees. Health care in the US is a huge tax on employers.
2
@Richard From Massachusetts
One of the pillars of Obamacare is indeed that you can change jobs without losing your healthcare.
Obviously, that's not only good for workers, it's also good for the economy as a whole, as it makes sure that each worker is doing the job that allows him most to develop his own unique set of skills.
But ... it's bad for CEOs and stock holders with a "small" concept of leadership, who believe that the best way to make as much profit as possible is to keep wages low, whereas higher worker mobility empowers workers to negotiate higher wages ...
Imho it's all part of the same "old white male" conception of leadership, as actor Trump perfectly embodied in his "The Apprentice" tv series. The idea is that to have high productivity, you need to put high stress on your workers, and to "discipline" etc.
What those CEOs ignored is what neuroscience has in the meanwhile proven: if, as a leader, you can enhance the internal, positive motivation of a worker to do his utmost best, productivity will be MUCH higher than by trying to increase his fear-driven motivation. And allowing a worker to develop his skills is part of that positive motivation. As is creating real, meaningful bonds among workers, having a clear idea of HOW your product is useful and in some way serves humankind as a whole, etc. And obviously, decent wages are part of this kind of leadership style too.
All things that the previous generations of "leaders" have never learned how to train...
3
Capital vs. Labor, and Labor has been losing since the stock market entered the everyday consciousness. The resulting income inequality and compounding power in the hands of a few is a historic cycle and we are nearing a peak. Who could argue that point?
1
I think the health care system in USA needs to be simplified for 1) everyone to understand it clearly and make decisions without any help from an expert 2) to cut down the administrative and other costs caused by this complicated healthcare system. Yesterday a blog was saying that 1/3 of all healthcare cost are the administrative expenses. It talked about a hospital with 90 beds having 120 invoicing specialist for billing based on the requirements of different healthcare providers.
2
@Yusuf Much of the administrative costs come from the fact that we don't have a single payer. If we had a single payer system, we wouldn't need thousands of workers performing the same role at hundreds of insurance companies and we wouldn't need thousand of billing clerks on the health care side of the equation. Single payer is much more cost effective.
5
It’s not just health care, the GOP seems to hate anything that helps people in need and just general public welfare like clean air, clean water, etc.
18
Universal healthcare provides a benefit even for those healthy people who don't use it. It limits contagion, limits disease progression to more- expensive-to-treat stages, limits people showing up for work sick because they cannot afford a doctor's visit, reduces inappropriate use of expensive Emergency Departments, reduces strain on EMS resources and provides more comprehensive, representative and realistic data bases for policy makers in health care planning, research and prevention planning. It is simply a smart thing to do in many dimensions; and well within the fiscal capacity of this country to do. Yet a "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" mythology persists among many who have benefited by inter-generational transfers of wealth. It is disquieting to see so much mean-spiritedness; especially among a party that lays claim to much religious motivation
15
@Frank. Another benefit of universal healthcare you don't mention is the power to get the cost of healthcare under control by negotiating with healthcare providers and drug companies from a position of strength. In 2017 the average annual cost of healthcare per person was $10,224, compared to $8,009 in Switzerland (next highest) and $4,246 to $5,278 for other European countries. If we negotiate to remove the obscene profit margins of the healthcare and drug industries and remove the insurance companies, we can get the cost of healthcare down in line with the rest of the developed world.
1
Republicans' donors hate health care. Money talks.
7
And it is not just "the poor and working class."
Many jobs in the education world require a college degree, yet do not pay a living wage.
And many young adults, who are still getting their careers off the ground, are at risk.
Cruel, is the word that comes to mind.
6
There are benefits to keeping people insecure and unhealthy. They become more conservative and more likely to vote republican. Most Americans don't know about European and Asian care. And in case they do, republicans are sure to tell them that health care is a trojan horse for socialism.
9
What I don't get is why this essay was at the bottom of the Times opinion column. It's clearly at the heart of American politics, clearly what voters are thinking about, and so why, when Krugman spells it out so clearly, why place it so low?
7
Republicans don’t want the government doing anything to help ordinary people. Period. And, just like Trump, they still have an absolutely mindless hatred of Barack Obama.
14
Trump and McConnell truly don’t care if your children and grandchildren live or die, just so theirs do. If you don’t make $1,000,000 or more per year and don’t donate to their campaigns, you don’t exist and your children do no deserve health care. Your children do not deserve HEALTH. Think about it. Pretty vicious.
11
Polling shows that more Republicans think Democrats are evil and more Democrats think Republicans are evil. It looks like one side is right.
3
In my Red State, a lot of white people still like the Affordable Care Act but hate Obamacare. They want government assistance channeled through the states only as long as the money goes to them. But they would rather risk dying than have a cent of their tax money go to a nonwhite person. Even if they don't work or earn enough money to pay taxes!
12
As I can only "recommend" once, I hereby doubly recommend Phyliss Dalmatian's earlier comment. She nailed it, pure and simple.
1
I think Krugman's label of pathology is entirely accurate. Trump and McConnell remain obsessed with blowing up Obamacare, and in Trump's case, especially, without a soupcon of thought about what could replace it. Trump's idle boast that the GOP would be "the party of health care" and his legacy of promising cheap and "great" health care without any specifics - and any details are beyond his ken - are confounding. The Democrats have a great opportunity to paint themselves as being the bulwark against medical chaos.
6
I think that Lakoff's characterizations of the "strict father" vs "nurturing parent" moralities might make sense for this one. Whether it is the personal view of the Republican politicians or just that of what they perceive as their core constituency (the ones who vote in primaries), this notion of "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps" is fundamental to their motivations.
5
If it hasn't occurred to you yet, Trump is an iconoclast, dismantling the structures of the American Century, our traditional alliances and our economic and military affiliations and our government experts, including the intelligence community. He is a finger in the eye of authority.
And yet, he did pretty well under the America he seems to hate.
His position on health care is not ideological. It's rebelliousness.
1
I am a Republican and I don't hate healthcare. I just happen to agree with Trump that Obamacare is terrible legislation. The country deserves better from Congress.
@Cassander
Could you please describe your program of better legislation?
In specific detail, please.
Thank you.
3
@Cassander Trump is not qualified to comment on the quality of the ACA law. Trump, despite his many promises, has not proposed a replacement for this law and instead has tried at every opportunity to destroy it. Why, other than he can hold a pen, is his opinion in ANY way relevant on health care?
@Cassander
Fine. What don’t you like about the ACA? We haven’t heard anything from the GOP or other Conservatives about what they would do to replace it. Heck, they haven’t even laid out a framework of how they see healthcare and insurance. We have a better working system than we had 10 years ago and I would certainly like to the the GOP plan before I decide to take down the ACA.
I don't think Republicans hate health care. I think they are adverse to demanding other people pay for another's healthcare. I think they believe that you should take care of yourself. It is like demanding that someone else buy you food, clothe you, or pay your mortgage.
On that Utah expansion, ditto Idaho; The malevolent GOP mimes in the statehouse are gas-lighting the ballot initiative to death as we write, but they are rushing through a new measure to make it nearly impossible to get any initiative on the ballot ever again. (They had already made it very hard in '13 after an initiative to increase education funding passed.)
2
I wish someone would do an analysis of who’s losing health insurance by political party.
1
Maybe denying life-saving coverage to millions is actually the Republican's climate change policy.
3
Perhaps I’m missing something. Just like the JCPOA Iran nuclear deal, the Republicans want to give up SOMETHING for absolutely NOTHING. Where is the logic?
1
Tax employer paid health insurance in a non regressive way to pay for the ACA . I believe it is at the top of the list gimmes. If you pay your own health insurance you don't get a 100 per cent reduction so lets be fare about it .
we're devolving into a land of lords and serfs. all to appease a 'd' list reality tv celebrity, one with no polish, no governing experience, no love in his heart, no humor, and 72 years of hatred against all he perceives that have slighted him. the epitome of an irrational person; diametrically the opposite of our former president.
14
Yes , the GOP is horrible and inhumane too be sure, but ObamaCare does need to be replaced with insurance that is affordable to all, not just the rich and the poor. People without healthcare coverage often make choices between seeing a doctor, or taking medication or paying the rent.
Those middle income people with incomes just over the premium and deductible subsidy thresholds often are forced to make a decision between paying their ObamaCare premium or paying their mortgage. So, I fully understand why many middle class Americans hate ObamaCare. And, the despicably so GOP stokes these higher earning but still middle class people for their own benefit instead of fixing healthcare so everyone including the slightly above average middle class family can afford it.
5
@Sparky No, Obamacare does not need to be "replaced with insurance" so that the CEO's of those companies (owned mainly by the wealthy) can earn higher bonuses. The problem you complain of can be easily fixed with higher subsidies or, even better, with a 'public' option. Instead, you play into the GOP's hands by calling for 'replacement.' Stop it!! Fix the ACA, just like Social Security was adjusted over time.
I think Republicans view "health care" in the USA as a cash cow and they surely don't want the Democrats taking that away.
2
I had yet another conversation with a client tonight who discussed his brother’s experience at getting insurance through Obamacare. $1,500 per month premium with one of the usual obscene deductibles - $10,000 or something like that. $28,000 per year for a single person before benefits actually cover costs. Needless to say, he took his chances remained uninsured. My own PCP just told me of a former patient living in Canada who severely injured her knee last month. She needs major repair surgery but was told she’d have to wait four months just for even a consult appointment with an orthopedic surgeon.
These examples are neither insurance or health care. I’m sick of the statistical lies that Krugman and others spout about how many more Americans have ‘insurance’ and how much better it is for Canadians & Brit’s. There is too much evidence proving otherwise.
This Republican is weary of the Krugman-style slander that Republicans, along with being bigoted, xenophobic homophobes, ‘hate’ health care (especially for poor minorities of course). It’s an insulting lie. What we hate is hen-pecking bureaucrats and academics trying to tell Americans how to order and run our lives. FEMA just lost control of the personal records of more than 2 million disaster victims. What a GREAT idea it would be for government to now control all health records too.
The shallowness of critical thinking here is startlingly profound.
3
@Once From Rome I find it ironic that you denigrate the author's shallow critical thought while you cite as examples, two, third hand accounts of how the ACA and Canadian health care do not work. This former republican is weary of the Trump-style "facts"about the ACA. Let's just be honest; the GOP doesn't want to provide subsidized health care to anyone who part of their team.
2
@Once From Rome
Interesting. My experience with Obamacare was different. I am going off my COBRA plan and went to my State’s exchange. The policy I chose was a couple of hundred more a month but has no deductible or copays. I took care of the whole thing in under an hour.
And every time I hear about the “horrors” of the Canadian system it’s always second or third hand. All the Canadians I’ve heard from directly seem to like the system.
2
@Larry Land You are right on Larry.I am a 71 year old Canadian and I am very happy with our system.My wife who was on Dialysis for 6 years and is doing well on her 2nd transplant always says "the people who complain about our system have never been sick".
1
The 'What's the matter with Kansas' phenomenon writ larger all the time. The GOP continues to demonstrate its utter contempt for anything that might benefit middle class citizens (when was the last time a politician used that word?).
They are a sheepish cabal of bought-and-paid-for shills.
2
Republicans act as if they hate Americans. If good healthcare can assist in making us well, or stay healthy, they do not want it for our people. If our social safety net, namely, Social Security, helps with expenses beyond our working years, they do not want us to have it. Not even after we earned it. They do not notice that Trump has not mentioned flooded farmers. They do not like this country of immigrants and insist on making our boundary
a gated community of sorts. I have never seen such a self loathing group. I will say, the picture you choose perfectly displays the poster-boys for this era.
2
@MO Girl
Think about it,
If by making Americans buy insurance from something someone lobbied for, there is more money in their pockets from lobbyists.
Greed is behind this push.
I have never seen so much greed in my life.
I hope folks will remember this in 2020.
1
'f Democrats hadn’t managed to pass the Affordable Care Act, around 20 million fewer Americans would have health insurance than currently do.'
How was this number determined? On April 3, 2018 the NYT reported 'The Trump administration said on Tuesday that 11.8 million people had signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces for 2018 '.
But you cannot assume that everyone that signed up through the ACA would have been otherwise uninsured. (Don't get me wrong, I support the ACA but I want facts to be accurate.) The ACA made it possible for me to retire at 62. I was eligible to buy retiree medical insurance from two previous employers but both plans were prohibitively expensive. Without ACA I would have continued to work and been insured by my employer. (Note, not uninsured.) My husband is now 62. He stopped working at 60 and has insurance via ACA. But, without ACA he would have kept working and been insured by his employer.
What the ACA has done for us is given us options.
@RosanneM Another strong argument for keeping it so why are you complaining about Dr. Krugman's numbers. His numbers, by the way, are as good an estimate as you can get. So be happy with what you have and stop complaining.
1
It has nothing to do with health care. Trump wants to dismantle Obamacare because Obama's inaugural crowds were bigger than Trump's, Obama was invited on all the nighttime talk shows (which Trump claims to hate, but secretly longs to be on) and went to all the big Hollywood award shows, and was feted and admired and loved. Trump is welcomed nowhere, can only go to a few states and is disrespected by many who respected Obama. Trump seethes with jealousy. He longs to be as popular as Obama was, and still is. The only way to get back at Obama is to get rid of everything he ever did as president. To make his presidency disappear. Trump is ruled by revenge. That's his motivation.
10
As a Canadian, and someone who only has known a universal healthcare system, I simply do not understand why this idea is rebuked by so many in the United States. We are a country of one, we are Canadians, rich, poor, middle-class and we collectively believe we all deserve quality healthcare; it is just that simple. This seems to be the critical element missing in the United States, it's the dog-eat-dog, “I've got mine, get your own” mentality that seems to thrive on the right. Unless you are willing to lift up those who are less fortunate and see each other as fellow citizens, then there will always be those left behind because apparently their lives just don't matter. and fall in to Trump's “loser” category.
Trump said he would stand for the “forgotten” men and women in your country, and to show them how much he really cares about them he is trying to kill Obamacare. He is a cruel and heartless man, as is the party he owns.
9
IMO, there are several reasons. GOP leaders believe themselves to be an aristocratic elite and others to be peons whose proper place in life is to serve them, the elite. Aristocrats do not ever want peons to become less subservient. True aristocrats do not permit that, nor do they permit peons to be or feel secure or independent. You set them against each other; you never let them get ahead, you pay them little so that they have to work non stop in order to barely feed themselves (little pay is also very profitable).
And you tax them - you do not tax yourself or fellow aristocrats. Get millions addicted, pay non living wages, take away reasonable and reasonably priced health care, set one group against another, fill the airwaves with lies and claim that it is the others who are disseminating "fake news".
Think "Czar of Russia" and now you understand Trump, et al. And why he likes Putin so much.
1
Talk to Republican conservatives, particularly Trump supporters who are not wealthy. I have, and it is shocking to hear their responses. They do not care for the poor, particularly for those who are minorities. They steadfastly cling to the myth that everyone who doesn't work elects to do so. A relative recently returned from a trip to Florida and complained about a young woman on the street holding a sign asking for handouts, arguing that she should just get a job. I asked her if she knew whether the woman was handicapped, or could read, or could count change, or had a mental illness, or had some other limitation that would make it difficult for her to secure employment she was speechless. But astonishingly, her opinion remained unchanged? The myth, continually propagandized by Republicans, of the welfare mother who keeps having children in order to receive welfare and avoid work lies deep in the minds of many Americans, Americans who simply don't want to give anything they have to the poor. The issue is not anger, or a belief in God's plan, or a belief that the poor will always be with us. It is greed and selfishness, plain and simple.
4
Head spinning -- I remember a NYT article interviewing people in Kentucky dependent on Medicaid for their health coverage, who were railing against...Medicaid, and saying it needed to be repealed.
1
"Whatever the reason, however, the fact is that whatever they may claim, today’s Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need."
Should read, "Whatever the reason, however, the fact is that whatever they may claim, today’s Republicans hate poor and working-class Americans."
The GOP is the party of misanthropy.
4
This may be the only explanation that makes sense, because given that the Democrats gained 40 House seats running on healthcare, this is potentially political suicide.
Why oh why is it that West Virginians don't recognize the damage that Republicans led by Trump are trying to do to them?
I have never seen such hate that the Trump worshiping GOP has for the working class. I pay 300 dollars of my paycheck every two weeks for my health insurance. ACA allowed my kids to stay on my insurance after college so the did not have to worry about medical bills on top of student loans.
This is nothing but Trump flexing his hate after getting " exonerated" by Mueller. He is out to punish his enemies and that includes average Americans who regards as just his low level employees who voted out the Republican majority in the house.
Not that it matters: Trump worships will do anything their god wants including dying because they have no health insurance.
3
The only way to make our Republican Senators and Congressmen care about healthcare is to take away theirs.
5
Maybe Republicans hate the idea of national health because going to REAL not for profit healthcare would kill the goose that laid the golden egg. For-profit healthcare and pharmaceutical companies create billions of dollars which flow back to the Republican Party in the form of campaign donations. It is a self perpetuating cycle. And the model fits because it is huge corporations steam rolling Mom and Pop and Main Street. These for-profit health companies are as bad as payday lenders who legally take advantage of lower and middle income Americans. The model of providing healthcare via corporate employers also keeps employees subservient. People have kept jobs they hated just to retain the healthcare benefit provided. Really messed up. But on the positive side I think the time is on our side. There are a lot of white haired bitter white old men who have prevented socialized medicine from being introduced to this country (exception is the VA). In 10 years time no more Trump, no more McConnell, no more etc. etc. etc. they will all be in their graves and good riddance. Seriously.
In the meantime I’d like to see Canada extend its version of healthcare to anybody south of the border unfortunate enough not to have healthcare. Or perhaps the Cubans could do it for us. Funny that the Republicans are going after Obamacare as unconstitutional. When did Republicans ever care about the Constitution? Mr. Trump’s “Mexican” paid for border wall?
3
@WATSON; Please don't overgeneralize. I am an old white man and I vigorously support Canadian style health insurance (NOT Medicare for all, as Medicare leaves people like me with HUGE co-pays and does not cover dental care); the Green New Deal; gun control, and numerous other progressive policies. I am on your side, and I am not alone.
I would like to see a column that describes the Republican healthcare proposals, if there are any, rather than just a lot of boo hissing at the GOP.
1
I have never received a ACA subsidy. I have never gotten our health insurance from an exchange. I have always gotten my health insurance through my employer. In 2010 the Democrats (alone) passed the ACA. In 2012 we received a diagnosis of Stage 4 Metastatic Breast cancer. My wife has received continuous treatment and thankfully is doing well. Since 2012 I have been continuously employed, by four different companies. Had the Democrats (alone) not passed the ACA with its protections against preexisting conditions and lifetime caps my wife would be dead (or sicker) and we would be bankrupt. So much for the free market. But, hey "gubermint cain't do nuthin'!". It is no longer a policy disagreement in our house. Republicans want to see us sick and poor, Democrats don't. Republicans are monsters.
12
@Paul Dougherty Yes, "Republicans are monsters".
In some perverse way they see health care as a kind of income redistribution to the middle and working classes. Income redistribution to the top 5% only (ie: donors) is OK. It's consistent with the GOP being the most untruthful and mean spirited party ever. What is truly bizarre is the fact that their voters do so at their own detriment accepting GOP/Fox propaganda like lambs.
1
@Realworld Not just mean spirited. They torture and kill.
@Realworld' Because their voters are also sadists. Look at Charlottesville. They'd rather punish themselves than allow "those" people to receive the slightest benefit.
You can have a welfare state, or you can have open borders, but not both. Most of the people who support single payer health care also support the mass immigration of low income immigrants. Pick one or the other.
@Jon W.
Nobody wants "open borders". It's a Trumpian slogan.
1
@Jon W.
Well, since we have neither you shouldn't have a problem.
1
@scott365- Having universal healthcare is not like giving everyone a Ferrari or Maserati. Here is the truth- all human beings have exactly the same basic health care needs. Do you not believe that adequate medical care is a human right? We are not talking about some consumer product that should only be owned by people who can afford it. Let me guess- do you call yourself a Christian? Would Jesus say health care should only be for those who can afford huge monthly premiums? I don't think so. Why do so many Christians believe that??
2
Trump said it himself yesterday: Republicans will be the party of healthcare.
It's always been about attribution for the GOP.
They resented the fact that Democrats were sponsoring this right because they knew it would be popular and couldn't be walked back.
It's unbelievably cynical and Trump supporters, and the spineless GOP legislators who are his enablers, will rally around it in spite of the spectacular hypocrisy therein.
They will allow total disruption in order to take credit.
The ACA would have been far more successful from the outset if the GOP hadn't imprinted it by insisting on protecting Big Pharma and the insurance industry and Democrats trying to accommodate them in order to get their votes.
What happened instead is that the changes were made and no GOP votes were to be had.
I hope Democrats are strong enough to make the changes needed to get the ACA back to its initials pure form.
The public knows very well that they are better off with making the repairs than with collapsing it all and starting over.
From an entrenched Republican point of view, the poor are automatically undeserving -- of healthcare, food stamps, or any other assistance. It is a cynical, merciless, winner-take-all point of view, which is antithetical to the entire history of progress in society.
3
Why do the wealthy choose to oppress the poor? Well, for one thing because they aren’t Christian, as scripture makes very clear that The Christian God is on the side of the poor.
I don’t get it either. I thought it was politics. I thought it was the donor class. Now, I think they just want to oppress the poor because then you have a desperate, needy group available for being used and hurt. I just see viciousness.
4
Actually, I think it's obvious. Trump supporters (and everyone else, of course) are largely useless to the GOP, and Trump specifically, for anything other than their vote. Once they have it and have circumvented all avenues of Democracy to set up their libertarian utopia of the wealthy and their indentured servants--it's too late. The GOP couldn't care less if anyone other than their wealthy peers lives or dies.
1
Here's why Paul: people who do not have access to medical care because they do not have access to health insurance are fearful because they might die. fearful people are much easier to control. authoritarian governments like a fearful population. it's actually a fairly obvious totalitarian strategy. I hope you will write about this soon Mr. Krugman.
1
Republicans have always hated anything that serves the public interest. Their hatred of healthcare is nothing new.
Republicans have resisted and hated Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor laws. They hate poor people and can barely tolerate wage earners.
While Republicans don't believe in evolution (for the purpose of keeping Evangelical Christians inline), they do believe in survival of the fittest and that explains why they would deny healthcare to anyone who doesn't have the independent means to pay for it. In whole.
5
It is possible to control others by either rewarding the behavior you want from others or making conditions so awful for others that free will is no longer possible. Republicans prefer the later and a sickly underclass nurtures obedience. It helps to understand Republican leadership if you view them as feudal warlords.
2
"In 2017, Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare made it clear to everyone that their party didn’t have any better ideas, and never did; everything they proposed would have devastated the lives of millions."
Yes, that's why I'm disgusted with Republican politicians. They're cynical and mean.
3
Republicans obviously don't like statistics.
Other advanced countries who had universal healthcare for ages spend half as much per capita than the US and with much better outcomes to boot, e.g. longevity, less obesity, less abortions, less new born infant death, less mothers dying after childbirth, etc. etc.
The ACA was the first baby step in that direction by giving millions of Americans a safety net they did not have.
McConnell declared on the day of President Obama's inauguration that his only goal was to make him a one-termer.
Now that didn't work as planned.
Now the completely inept, vicious and revenge seeking man in the White House wants to erase everything President Obama has achieved in this 8 years in office, while the cynical Mitch McConnell plays his enabler.
The ACA was a very small baby step in the right direction by giving health insurance to millions more of Americans and could have led to universal healthcare.
Trump falsely thinking that the Mueller probe completely exonerated him form all his misdeeds, is so drunk of power akin to a Banana Republic dictator that he takes a hammer to the Constitution, the rule of law and the nation as whole.
3
Voters in states like WV are betrayed because they have been manipulated for decades to vote against their own interests. Republicans know that and that's why they don't care.
4
I'm a doctor. I'm ALWAYS amazed how America makes this an "us versus" them topic. It's the American people versus capitalism and Washington. Why do healthcare CEOs make 20+ million /year? each (or more even). Why do plaintiff malpractice attorneys take 30% of the settlements? Think about the lobbying efforts of those 2 groups in Washington DC ! All the people pictured in all these articles either have millions already and/or lifetime healthcare benefits paid for by the US people. The government should step in and outlaw private healthcare companies and malpractice industry. Like gun control here, it's never happening.
2
Too bad that Trumps ‘base’ will not read this. They might understand that voting against what they need is not good for them. Not sure if they will figure it out before the next election but they need to try.
Republicans could care less for the people that they need to vote for them. What a classic case of corruption and greed allowed to exist by the poor and needy. When will people wake up to the fact that they are being swindled by the very same people that they elected to represent them in Washington.
So sad. Thankfully the election in 2020 is coming, But please; think about who and what you are voting for before you vote.
"It’s now clear that Republicans just have a deep, unreasoning hatred of the idea that government policy may help some people" who are not wealthy because in the republican way of thinking wealth is the arbiter of rectitude.
Face facts. The poor are a drag on society. This is the same philosophy as Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith and David Ricardo -- only they operated in the 18th and 19th Century. We are now in the 21st Century and the Republicans still hold on to these false premises. But, 63 million people voted for them. So, 63 million people can't be wrong -- can they? The collective wisdom (if you wish to call it that) of 63 million voters agree with the Republican policies. So, kill ACA. Make it go away. Let millions of people suffer. It's OK to suffer. Builds character, or something. Good for the soul, or something. Besides, those who need healthcare partially or fully paid by the government are a drag on society. So kill ACA. Some of the people who didn't vote for Trump and his gang of villains will be hurt -- to be sure. But, right now, the sacrifice paid just feeds my inner sadism toward these 63 million. Methinks I need a pound of flesh.
2
Why? Because they want to keep the people down.
They want an underclass.
Healthy people stick up for their rights and, most threatening to the rich, there’s a good chance they’ll unify.
Now, they’re too busy being ill.
Seriously.
The Republican creed: Government doesn’t work, elect us and we’ll prove it.
You know how miserable it is when you have a cold but you have to go to work anyway or you will be seen as not "all in".
Well, what if it's something more serious? How can you really contribute to the economy when a serious illness saps your strength and drowns you in debt?
Wouldn't we do better if all of us were healthy enough to do our part to contribute to the health of the economy too?
That socialism produces a healthy society that does not spread diseases, does not fail to get jobs, shows up for work healthy, etc.
Witout health care we fall into the category of a disease ridden population that spread disease and mayhem. Who wants to go back to the likes of the days of Victorian England?
1
I was appalled when I read the headlines today. Literally an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. And when I think about fact that a large majority of white evangelicals, my former tribe, continues supports this monstrous evil, I am literally sick to my stomach. This is beyond pathology even: it is rank evil.
I thank God every day that I live in California; it cushions us from some of the worst of this administration. But I fear the country has entered a dark time, and I don't know if we'll be able to find the light of human conscience and empathy again.
1
No the Republicans don't hate healthcare, they hate healthcare and anything that brings the rest of the country to a level playing field.
1
We need to put a cap on healthcare.
Everything from meds, surgeries, etc.
And also pass laws stating you can't go
bankrupt because of medical bills
In some red states, say Arkansas for example, it is republicans operating principle to hate on poor people and the fact that includes people of color is just a bonus for them. Why that is, who knows, but they will continue to double/triple down on beating it into the poor that they aren’t worthy of basic humanity. I truly despair for this country, for the lives of my grandchildren and children, it’s a very sad legacy.
1
Once liberals get it in their mind that some group deserves to pay outrageous premiums for ACA mandated coverage, that group is just so much collateral damage. I have friends who are close to retirement and working as contractors. The premiums for ACA coverage are outrageous. They would normally purchase health insurance that covers their particular circumstances. But Obamacare took care of that.
I've seen this behavior by self-righteous liberals many times over the last 50 year. They seem to take delight in playing havoc with the lives of working class folks.
Public school desegregation, Paul Krugman?
You really don't have to answer that.
1
@Jp
Yup. We ended up joining a Health Share Cooperative called Liberty Health Share. Your contractor friends might want to look into it.
"Maybe it’s a sense that a lot of gratuitous suffering is or should be part of the human condition, or God’s plan, or something."
This is a scary thought. It's something along the lines of Mother Theresa: “There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering,”
I suspect you may be on to something that in their piety Republicans and their leaders think they are gaining from the suffering of others.
1
It all boils down to “we are all individuals and by and large make or break our own lives with little interdependence” (REPUBLICAN) vs. “This is not 1826 and there are multiple interdependencies among us all and health care at some level for everyone is an economic asset to the nation” ( NON REPUBLICAN).
Democrats have been using the courts to stop every Trump policy. Now a court has struct down the ACA. Sow the wind...
The Republicans simply do not want people to have health care. The present system is very expensive and foolish. We await a proposal that we can live with and that will put Americans who didn't inherit a large trust fund can use to get standard health care.
The republicans certainly don't voice any rationale for their opposition or alternatives to the ACA,the Paris Climate Agreement, the Iran Nuclear deal, etc. It's hard not to think that a black man in their white house for eight years is a blemish, the evidence of which must be erased in every instance.
Republicans hate the uninsured snd the middle class for sure. They are the party for the 0.1 percent of the wealthiest
I don't know about the others but Trump's motivation is a simple, pathological hatred of Obama. Don't be surprised if at his next rally when he mentions Obama there is a call to "lock him up".
Republican hubris brings us social Darwinism in it's worst form.
The suffering toll will be "yuge." It really will not even allow room for satire. I sure hope the American people will wake up this time. Just because you hate the "other", is that really enough to devalue your own life so easily?
1
What the Republicans are doing is sad, but the fact that people vote for them is downright depressing.
Why do people vote to take things away from themselves? That is what the working class and poor are doing when they vote Republican.
Why are lawmakers trying to take away healthcare? Easy. MONEY. Money in their pockets, in their executive buddy's pockets. Taxes on the rich are the socialist boogeyman.
Why do voters fall for this? Isn't that the harder question?
In my opinion, it is (at least partially) due to racism and misogyny.
They are all excited about building a wall, but don't have much to say about healthcare, except that they don't like "Obamacare."
I think many rich and poor Republican voters have the same pathology here: low income minorities and unwed mothers don't deserve the same healthcare that they have (leeches). Its all about fear of the other, and preserving privilege.
1
Pauli, as w/most of your unfounded arguements, ie the economy will fail under #45, you are picking a fight aboveboard your pay grade. The GOP has NEVER said they want to take health care away from folks or do away w/protection for pre-existing conditions. They want a bi-partisan solution to a issue that has more than doubled the premiums and deductibles for working folks like myself. I suggest you stick to what you know best, Russian collusion.
It’s not just poor and working class Americans who suffer from lack of a real national healthcare system, it is every one of us. There are international models for how to provide healthcare to a population. Our corrupt government refuses to use our own tax dollars for our benefit because they and the insurance companies are making billions from the current system. The current system is truly an obscenity.
Think of it this way. Republicans hate the concept that taxpayers should pay for anything. It doesn't faze them in the least that the poor, elderly, and disabled should go without because they cannot afford things like healthcare and medicine and food. , This is a party where Betsy Devos wants to cut funding for the Special Olympics and let charity pick up the tab. Ok, Betsy, give us an amount Special Olympics gets now. Then give us a list of your wealthy friends and how much they are willing to donate. And then a list of people who say they will, but the check never arrives....like the entire Trump family. Republicans...no conscience, no empathy, no caring, but plenty of hypocrisy.
The reasons are....Republican contempt for any aspect of "government" that doesn't wear a uniform or MAGA hat, a peculiar hatred for people in need and the realization that their political success depends on maintaining a long list of "enemies" and scapegoats against whom they must always be at war.
A big part of it may have to do with a) the power between labor and capital and b) immigration.
Universal health care increases labor's bargaining power, because it severs the connection between employment and health insurance for many people. Health insurance is the difference between living on the edge of economic catastrophe beyond your control and feeling comfortable that if you have major health issues, you wont' lose everything. So universal health care removes an element of fear that weakens labor.
Second, the U.S. now has a very high level of foreign born residents. Putting aside the people very far on the distribution (Silicon Valley, major scientists) many of them simply have not and will not pay in taxes anywhere close to what it costs *currently* to provide them lifetime net government services. So there is some indignation there and a claim about fairness which could be made.
This tactic is unscrupulously deployed by crooked business people. It is called " bait and switch ". The public should learn the lesson and vote properly in 2020.
2
An analysis that contrasts a binary characterization of a complex whole (red state vs. blue state) with a small number of narrow measures is useless.
I refer to Dr. Krugman's West Virginia which "went overwhelmingly for Trump". In terms of presidential elections, that's a fair way of describing Trump's 68+ of the vote. But remember, that means nearly a third of West Virginians voted for another candidate (a quarter voted for Hillary Clinton).
Then there is a contrast with mining jobs and health care. First, any increase in mining jobs may be seen by some residents as a big deal, given the secular decline. Second, it is quite possible that a majority - perhaps a large majority - of those who stand to lose health care in W.V. did not vote for Trump. One would need to do real analysis to determine that instead of tossing around big aggregates.
1
75% of Americans believe that retaining protections for people with pre-existing conditions is very important. (130 million of us under age 65 have preexisting conditions).
Here is how the Republicans get away with making sure the richest country in the world does not provide decent health insurance for the citizens who most need it.
Trump tweets to his base:
“Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican,”
“Republicans will protect people with pre-existing conditions far better than the Dems!”
He also proclaimed that protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions is “a major part of what I’m all about.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders follows up this two-step Republican dance with:
“Look, the president’s health care plan that he’s laid out covers pre-existing conditions."
It's called lying, and the saddest thing of all is it works extremely well with the Republican Trump base.
I think we really need to ask the GOP's big donors, such as the Koch boys, why they are so against and have spent so much money to make sure the politicians in their employ continue to deny Americans any government supported health care coverage--much less "decent" affordable health care coverage.
9
I think it gets back to the basics of Friedrich Hayek's neoliberalism: the government is always bad, the market is always right, anything that distorts the market is bad. The Hayek neoliberals have always been opposed to public school systems in large part because they are among the biggest examples of government activity in society; the same people must be opposed to the idea of government action in healthcare for the same reasons. Yes, the other factors play a role (including Trump's jealousy/hatred of Obama) but I think this is where it starts for most ideologically-driven Republicans.
4
The rich are not self-insured. They and the businesses they control pay premiums and they pay taxes.
Anyone who seriously believes that raising either taxes or premiums won't find the most intense opposition from them is not watching closely enough. Their concern is only for themselves.
I cannot recall ever hearing about a wealthy family being forced into medical bankruptcy. You?
2
1. It could be an attempt to court those young, healthy, voters who believe they will never get sick or old, and neither will their parents or children. The Republicans promise them they will never have to pay for health care unless they need it, and that sounds like a great deal, especially compared to the Democrats crazy plan to have them help pay for other people’s health care.
2. It could just be wealthy people looking for ways to reclaim more tax money, and the consequences are of no concern to them.
3. It could be Trump pointing out that the Democratic leadership doesn’t believe in socialized medicine, so if that’s what you want, there is no point in voting for them, all they plan to do is tweak Obamacare.
2
It's not the Republicans' knee-jerk "say-no-to-social programs" attitude that I find surprising. It's their choice to be blind about the cost to the taxpayers resulting from leaving millions of people without group health insurance. Republicans have traditionally been the ones who watch the money, but they are not watching it here. Every time someone goes bankrupt because they have the misfortune to need a hospitalization, that person is forced to go on Medicaid, ensuring that the taxpayers pay the full cost of the needed care. With so many people already having group health insurance - either private or public - the critical need is to focus on those who could pay affordable premiums for insurance, but do not belong to "groups" as defined for insurance purposes. Ironically, it was the Republicans who dubbed the Affordable Care Act "Obamacare" and now they want to stamp it out of existence because the president doesn't like the name they gave it. I also think that Democrats who are calling for sweeping changes like "Medicare for All" are making a mistake by not focusing only on those who are without group health insurance. That's something that's do-able and urgent. It is these people who are in imminent danger of being wiped out financially and becoming totally dependent on Medicaid. They are crying "mayday" and no rescue boats are responding.
3
"It’s now clear that Republicans just have a deep, unreasoning hatred of the idea that government policy may help some people get health care."
Correct, but let's be clear: they do NOT have a hatred of the idea that government policy may help SOME people. The sad truth is that they only want the government to help a very specific kind of people: people like them.
They massively increase spending taxpayer money on the military-industrial complex, even though we already have the most powerful - and by far - military in the world.
They adore passing one after the other deficit increasing tax cut for the wealthiest.
They adore using the government's power to make it legal for big corporations (= led by people like them) to increase their personal wealth by destroying America's air, water, climate, and of course also healthcare.
That's not because they have something AGAINST all those things. It's just that in their mind, based on "scarcity" thinking, there will always be haves and have-nots, so they see life as a struggle to try to become and stay among the haves.
And where is that scarcity thinking coming from?
From an anthropology based on certain versions of Christianity, which claim that the "animal" in us (and in nature) is bad and cruel, AND our deepest nature, so real political peace and well-being as a nation is inconceivable, by definition.
Today, ethnologists and neurologists have proven this anthropology wrong. But conservatives don't read science...
14
What neurology has shown, the last two decades, is that there is something called the "compassionate instinct", both in mammals and in human beings.
Certain Christian anthropologies, however, imagine that compassion isn't "natural" at all, and only something that can be cultivated by humans. It is part of the moral, purely spiritual/divine part of human beings, whereas our "carnal" nature constantly tries to make us think and do things that are "animal" and "bad".
One of the bad things that our carnal, animal nature wants us to do is to become "lazy", in this kind of worldview.
How to get rid of that "temptation"? By learning to strongly hate that part of yourself, and tell yourself over and over again that you'll get nothing in this life if you don't force yourself to struggle and suffer (= often their definition of "work"). Then you MAY earn eternal life in paradise, and at least earn some "comfort" in this life already - including healthcare.
And indeed, as Krugman says, giving your wealth to your children is an essential part of that "reward".
Conclusion: it's the fact that so many conservatives today are victims of a scientifically invalid anthropology that made them adopt a mindset where compassion, at a collective and individual level, has entirely disappeared, and man became a "wolf" for man, as Hobbes wrote.
1
Perhaps the correct question to ask is, "Why can't my family have the same health choices and options that members of Congress, their families and staff enjoy?"
If we took away the health care system enjoyed by our elected officials until such time as they give us the same choices, we'd have a new system within a couple of weeks.
21
@Silence Dogood
for sure ! I have been saying this for decades ...
1
I don’t think it makes any difference. Voter are choosing candidates they like.it doesn’t make any difference what they say. Trump supporters are for him. They don’t absorb that he doesn’t believe anything other than being number one. He could switch support,and has,on Obama care, his followers would still support him. It’s conceivable even probable that Trump doesn’t know what he believes. He’s making it up as he goes alone based on flattery coming his way. Those meeting him have instantly picked up on this.
16
Why is healthcare so expensive in the US? One reason is uncontrolled capitalism which states whatever you can get people to pay for any particular thing or service is the right price. But, there may be another motivation, one Dr. Krugman alludes to, a subconscious one: only the elite deserve health care. If you price healthcare out of the reach of the average person, that is right and good. We don't deserve it anyway. What else don't we deserve: according to recent GOP and Trump administration actions and statements: education, a home, food, water, clean air and water, and decent jobs that don't destroy our minds and bodies.
Until we revalue the world, we will continue down the ruinous path to destruction that was begun when elites began using lethal force to impose their value system on the rest of us (so many thousand years ago we can't remember any other kind of arrangement). In that value system, only the elite matter and they deserve the fruits of everyone else's labor. We don't deserve the fruits of our own labor. We don't count.
Of course, this isn't true. It is the labor, smarts, and goodwill of hundreds of millions of people in this country that make our society possible. Isn't it time to value this and vote accordingly?
17
@TDHawkes
Professor Krugman seems to see a pathology.
He is right.
Search in Africa.
Plqce of birth.
1
I don't think it's about hating Obama. Maybe for the voters, sure, but not for the pros in the Senate and House. What they care about is their careers. It's about the big GOP donors. It's what the big donors want. Ahead of 2020 they've already telling McConnell, etc.: if you want hundreds of millions, you do what we tell you, and you get results.
Follow the money!
18
The Republican position is that any government program that people like (Medicare, the ACA) is a threat to the "private enterprise" status quo. And, also, if there is a government program out there (whether people actually like it or not; e.g., the IRS), it must be underfunded and headed by a person opposed to its mission so that people will come to hate it.
They are standing on principle.
The effects are not so important.
Given that this is true, it is a little weird that Donald J. Trump, who wouldn't know a principle if it bit him, is a leader of their effort.
5
The enemy isn't mean-spirited-ness. It is nostalgia. There are really really a great many people out there who, taking a mythologized view of the past, imagining a Norman Rockwell, small-town whitebread and largely Christian America, in which individuals and communities handle all their own affairs, and the big bad Federal Government is nowhere to be seen: in fact, it only even exists to protect us from foreign threats.
They think this vision can be created in 21st century America, that modern urban America can operate like a vast collection of autonomous individuals and villages. And they think that truly is what the Constitution is designed to promote and preserve, and any laws that subvert that vision are by definition, unconstitutional.
The GOP has become the champion of that vision. All the vast panoply of federal power, they pretend, can disappear. "We don't need environment protections, or research, or safety rules, or gun laws, or health insurance! We just need to be good neighbors being neighborly with each other! And a good neighbor is one who doesn't make waves or demands, but quietly goes about his own affairs." And if some of us end up poisoned, or shot, or unjustly discriminated against, well, that's a pity, but they think every "solution" that involves "government" is worse.
We are not the victims of malevolence or greed, we are the victims of fantasy, of people who don't live in the real world.
15
@Bejay
Yes but that's a storyline that's propagated, and serves the big money interest. Those that keep that lie alive are mean-spirited, and greedy.
Sadly, those people probably didn't read their history in high school, that version of America was brutal, (The Gilded age) for the average person,
@Bejay
Funny--the town i live in is just like that. I guess it is still possible to have that fantasy be a reality.
They had 8 years to come up with an alternative, promised it over and over, and when they got the chance, they fumbled the ball. They never intended to have a replacement, they just thought they could trick us into believing that repeal was in our best interest. Cheat us, in other words. Notice now how they are all ramping up the attacks on choice, immigration, and other "culture" dog whistles. This is because they can't win on the pocketbook issues. It's a distraction tactic. Democrats need to get tough and hammer them with this with all we've got.
21
Trump is a master mage. After claiming precisely the opposite of what the Barr memo states, he goes on the attack against his "evil" and "bad" enemies; raises the question of cutting disaster relief funds to Puerto Rico; and razing Obamacare. How else does one get people to stop talking about their dimwitted, potentially treasonous, and most fabulist of US Presidents?
21
They hate anything that doesn’t help make them wealthier
20
Republicans have been resentful about FDRs New Deal forever. They don't want any healthcare or safety social net for people. Why? Because they don't want to pay any taxes. They resent everything about the government except their own positions of power in it. They'd want a tiny gov't, with a few kings, preferably themselves, with a large military that can protect them from us. Bottom line: they're traitors and crooks.
24
Republicans don’t so much hate that poor and working class people have health insurance, they hate that poor and working class black and Hispanic people have health insurance. Far be it that anything go to someone who isn’t white. Republican racism is as strong and as entrenched as ever.
15
I can tell you why, Paul, they want to destroy Obamacare: the Republican Party hates government, and since FDR they have wanted to kill the New Deal. They are a big con job. For years they have sought to scare the American people around religion, sexuality, and guns in order to get elected so that they can destroy the commitment of the government to the middle class. Democrats finally have a chance to campaign on the economy and proclaim that they are the true populists who care about workers and the middle class. I pray the Republicans get hoisted by their own petard!
24
Republicans believe in the mantra of this man...James Buchanan. The Koch brothers love him. Buchanan saw society as a cutthroat realm of makers (entrepreneurs) constantly under siege by takers (everybody else) His own language was often more stark, warning the alleged “prey” of “parasites” and “predators” out to fleece them. People who “failed to foresee and save money for their future needs” ( healthcare included ) are to be treated, as Buchanan put it, “as subordinate members of the species, akin to…animals who are dependent.’”
9
@Blue Skies That reminds me of the 19th Century British philosopher Herbert Spencer, who believed that people who didn't do well in the capitalist system (poor people) should die of disease and starvation, and that the human race would be better off for it. I'll bet the Koch Brothers find that guy's teachings to be inspirational, as well.
Republicans want to replace Obamacare with emergency room care and increased mortality.
6
Democrats should table legislation to remove health care from Congress and Senate. It would be interesting to see Republicans squrim.
2
Professor it’s simple. These people consider themselves employers and therefore should control your healthcare.
An employer based system is a form of slavery (who else would continue the tradition but bosses in America).
With Obamacare it was portable and not tied to the Boss where you have to ingratiate and bend the knee to keep the job so your kids won’t die.
Simple, get rid of employer based healthcare. If your employer wants to top it up god. Other than that keep your capitalist hands off my family’s health care.
7
The Republican rottenness never ends. Human evil permeates the Republican Party. The proof. Taking away Healthcare from 30 million people. Good people don't go after people's Healthcare. Bad people enjoy it.
8
Republicans aim to CREATE CHAOS so they can constantly pick society's pockets while bamboozling us with their PROPAGANDA and reality twisting lies.
5
Perhaps it's Darwinian. You know, people without the financial wherewithal to buy health insurance should accept the rlle that God assigned them and should die a Hobbesian death. Life being, after all, poor, mean, miserable, nasty, brutish and short. But really we know that the truth is in the name. Not the ACA (Affordable Care Act, which is the name on the law), but "Obamacare," which, for some, would smell as foul. It is pathological and could be their undoing.
6
The rich believe they are ontologically different from the rest of us - congenitally elevated and superior by God's will. It's the same self deification that allowed male clergy to abuse children with impunity and that has enabled males in general to abuse women. They believe that some people are just better than others and obviously deserve more - of everything.
7
Paul, what about the 33 million people who LOST their healthcare plans when this abomination was forced on us despite the overwhelming majority of voters being against it? You can’t answer that question because you are too far into the single payer plantation.
5
@Mcrognale
I can find no support for your 33 million figure. The highest estimate I found was around 6 million. It’s an important distinction that these people lost their existing (usually cheap and bare-bones) plans because those plans did not meet ACA coverage standards. These people were not being denied coverage. They could purchase a different plan, and many of them did. Whereas if the ACA is repealed, those with preexisting conditions may be unable to purchase any plan that covers their condition. And the poor, those working part time jobs, and the unemployed will be unable to afford anything at all. Unless they qualify for Medicaid,
You are also ignoring the fact that in an employer-based system, people lost their plans all the time even before the ACA. Employers can change their insurers and plans for any reason they choose. Or if you change employers you will likely have to change plans.
@Mcrognale
Where do you see 33M lost their insurance? Here is the graph of uninsured people in the US: the % fell with Obamacare. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_coverage_in_the_United_States#/media/File:U.S._healthcare_coverage_2008-2026.png
Please get your facts right... It is helpful.
1
@Delysia
Sure, we could have 'purchased a different plan'.
The cheapest 'Bronze' available had premiums of over $3000/month for two healthy people in their early 60's. And yes, we lost our 'bare-bones' plan. Which was actual Catastrophic Coverage, and was just right for us (and, incidentally, was how insurance of all kinds is actually supposed to work).
At this point, casting about for explanations is counter-productive and too "Democrat."
We are not in a seminar or a debate club. Like it or not, Dems have been pulled into -- in the words of McConnell -- the political "knife-fight" of the century in the U.S.
The object now is to win it -- to strategize and win convincingly in November 2020.
Here Trump and the Republicans have returned to their seminal losing political issue. Whatever their motives for doing it, a full-on attack must be conducted by Dems against Republicans on this issue. Without scholarly "reflection."
6
SCOTT PELLEY: What’s your plan for Obamacare?
DONALD TRUMP: Obamacare is going to be repealed and replaced. Obamacare’s a disaster. If you look at what’s going on with premiums where they’re up 45, 50, 55 percent….
PELLEY: So how do you fix it?
TRUMP: There’s many different ways by the way. Everybody’s got to be covered. This is an unrepublican thing for me to say because a lot of times they say no, no the lower 25 percent they can’t afford private but…
PELLEY: Universal health care?
TRUMP: I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of, much better than they’re taken care of now.
PELLEY: The uninsured person is going to be taken care of?
TRUMP: They’re going to be taken care of
PELLEY: How?
TRUMP: I would make a deal with existing hospitals to take care of people and you know what this is probably….
PELLEY: Make a deal? Who pays for it?
TRUMP: The government’s going to pay for it but we’re going to save so much money on the other side. But for the most part it’s going to be a private plan and people are going to be able to go out and negotiate great plans with lots of different competition with lots of competitors with great companies and they can have their doctors, they can have their plans, they can have everything.
=========================
15
When I see the photo attached to this column, of McConnell, Trump and Blunt, I see two-legged tumors attacking my body. They have no problem with letting people die just so they can grab the biggest piece of the pie. They are murderers.
20
@walkman-They need to all go to The Hague for crimes against "humanity"!
We are in deep ….
Trump supporters cheering the demise of the ACA are like cows complaining about PETA.
7
Pathology! Oh, yes!
2
I dont think Republicans hate health care. They simply prefer revenge.
2
Krugman misses an important point. In today's America there are a new set of Three R's: Republican Religious and Right.
The Repubs don't oppose wlefare and charity per se; however they want churches and other faith based organizations to disburse it to force the poor into dependency on these organizations. They cannot stand the idea of a secular government fulfilling the biblical mandate to help the poor better than they do it themselves.
FDR's New Deal should have proved that the religious folks are incapable of effectively responding to crises like the Great Depression; but the Right not only ignores this lesson but wants to invalidate all of the New Deal legislation and return America to the bad old days of Robber Baron Capitalism and Paternalistic and Benevolent [sic] Religion.
More and more it looks like the South will win the Civil War after all. And spit in the face of the greatest Republican President of all: Abraham :Lincoln!
7
@Pinchas Liebman
It's a win for the North if they choose to secede.
The supposedly pro-business party is anything but. Removing the significant costs of health care from the equation frees people to innovate by making it less risky to leave a job with healthcare benefits to try to start a business. Some posit that large corporations like the system the way it is with corporate healthcare benefits because leaving healthcare benefits to the large corporations raises the cost of entry for competitors. That is not good for the economy and the citizenry of the United States.
6
@Dave
Except that you're not really 'removing the significant costs of health care from the equation', you're simply shifting who pays via the use of subsidies. What about
those of us who DID start small businesses, worked hard to keep them going, became modestly successful, ended up (barely) over the 'subsidy income cliff'
and have found ourselves completely priced out of
the ACA market ? To the tune of, between premiums and deductibles, over $50,000 per year ? (Which also happens to be well over half our annual income).
Our whole health care system is a crumbling edifice. Why did I have to pay over $1000 for a nurse practitioner to put six simple sutures in a nice clean slice across the ball of my thumb ? (And I waited for Urgent Care to open on a Sunday morning, rather than go to the ER). Why did our daughter's medical education cost upwards of $400,000 ? (Not to mention 15 years of her young adulthood) Where are the affordable 'front line' clinics, staffed by public health nurse, that should be associated with the public school system ?
The wealthy just don't want to pay to help others. That is, they don't want to behave like Christians; Like the compassionate Americans we used to read about in grade school.
The super rich didn't get super rich by caring about things other than themselves.
Not that they earned their fortunes themselves as studies show that 70 percent of the wealth in the hands of the Forbes 400 is the result of "intergenerational financial transfer".
A quote attributable to Jim Hightower says plenty about the myth of being self made in the 21st Century: The super rich were born on third base and think they hit a triple.
Compassion? It has become a sign of weakness.
7
I guess the moral of the story is that West Virginia is full of stunods and Utah less so.
Republicans hate single-payer healthcare; Democrats love insurance company money--a marriage made in heaven--or the deep swamp?
2
"Choke, Go Broke, Croak" has always been the right-wing healthcare alternative.
3
Republicans are not demons.
@Exasperated
No, they aren’t. They just act like it.
@Exasperat
apparently , they just play them on TV
@Exasperated
No, but taking health care away from people is pretty demonic, you have to admit.
The right is trying to tie Obama to everything from the witch hunt to Jussie Smollett. It's the Obama pathology, now and forever.
1
When Republicans kill off the working poor, who will take care of the idle rich?
8
Every Republican I know is greedy, selfish and extremely judgements. They have zero compassion for anyone, sometimes even close family.
Perhaps Republicans pursue nasty policies, because they are nasty people.
10
assuming you meant 'judgmental', this may be the most judgmental worldview I've heard in a while. The voice of the very, very tolerant left, everyone!! @Sterling
Um...Paul...follow the money bro.
1
The GOP/Republican party is a cult. They found their spiritual leader at last in the grifter who occupies the white house.
6
Please stop calling it Obamacare.
2
McConnell shrugged.
4
Republicans don't necessarily hate healthcare per se. They just don't want it to remain the gigantic profit center it now is and IT'S BIG !
@Ralph Spillenger
They don't hate healthcare. They hate to have to budget money for anyone but themselves.
Trump wants money to go to the moon, but not for infrastructure.
1
Mr Krugman
You know it and I know it. American conservatives seek nothing else but a subtle way to cull the masses, the lumpenproletariat scattered across the American heartland and the inner cities.
They espouse a Victorian Smiles' ('Self-Help') philosophy concluding that the masses' particular pathologies (substance abuse, endemic obesity, poor family planning strategies, to name three) are nothing but a reflection of their lack of 'merit' to join the mainstream. Let them perish from their own devices is actually the conservative credo : the fewer there are, the fewer who need to be helped.
5
Good chart.
6
Yes, Republicans really do hate healthcare -- for some they hate it even more than they love their own feet.
2
Pasty creatures, all of them.
Two, still chewing on the canary flank the illiterate hulk who looks forward to crushing anyone who defies him.
Without exaggeration this is the very worst administration our nation has ever suffered. We will recover but this is a close to disaster as we have ever been.
He was elected as were a couple of his predecessors thanks to a stacked deck held together by archaic electoral rules, desperate
wealth and unconscionable court decisions.
In many ways we haven't changed much in our professed mental outlook for decades, but this really isn't the same America in spirit as the one in which I grew up.
Who on the right side of the aisle will stand up, denounce this man and lead the Republican party from the wilderness?
2
It is quite when you see people that are destitute, voting for the politicians that will make their situation worse, like in West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, etc., but happy because at least they are erasing the legacy of a black President. It is ridiculous to see that, at least in our case, our family has a health insurance plan that costs ~$26K per year, and still, for the medicine that I need every day, the copay is $40, when crossing the border to Mexico or Canada, the exact same medicine costs $25, which I am sure already includes some profit for the manufacturer. It is simply insane!
7
The photo of three old white and very privileged men, whom we can safely assume are on Medicare and have preexisting medical conditions, illustrates why they care not a whit about helping others not so fortunate secure access to healthcare insurance.
So be it! Their evil actions are driving the country toward universal healthcare. Oops!
3
Pictures say a thousand words. Look at these three septuagenarian Republican leaders. Privileged and have never had to worry about having health care coverage. So easy to stand behind their donor base, cut taxes and then cut benefits that will literally kill thousands of Americans per year. So easy, to block enactment of gun laws that would prevent the death of thousands of American per year. Do they seem troubled? Not at all. They are happy. Like the kid who has the special toy that his poorer friends can not afford. They draw their happiness from having more than others not from the joy of helping their neighbors. They also all claim to be Christians. Clearly they have never read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps most apt “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy”
6
Conservatives hate other people’s children, 20% of whom live in poverty.
They celebrate meritocracy, but they hate it. That’s why they hate public schools; they threaten to make other people’s children competitive with their own. If public schools were equally good everywhere in the country (as in Finland, Denmark, and Sweden), our nation’s children would start out with a level playing field. In the U.S. parental status, not a child’s hard work or innate talent, is by far the biggest factor determining future success.
With increasing vigor, conservatives are destroying public education with privatization; promoting private, charter, anti-science religious, and for-profit schools and voucher programs, as well as turning a blind eye to countless homeschoolers indoctrinated in fundamentalism (truancy by any other name). They're dumbing down our nation for the sake of political and religious, dogma, votes, and profit.
At bottom, it’s hatred of others' children. It’s an Us and Them mindset, politically, internationally, tribally, and familiarly.
They care more about the unborn than the born. It’s why they hate ACA or any move toward universal coverage. Same for social security, food stamps, etc.
Forever they've railed against the Boomers, the Me Generation, those self-involved 60s slackers. Ironically, it’s conservatives who embody Me-ness in its darkest manifestations. Me, my family, my tribe, my property, mine. My precious.
They've become their own dogmatic shadow.
5
Republicans often seem to say the poor are undeserving. So many Republicans really believe they’ve earned everything they’ve got —their jobs, their homes, their health insurance.
“Want what I’ve got? Do what I did,” they seem to say, never seeing the advantages (privileges) they’ve had, never realizing the barriers others face.
Life is so simple when you’re on top. You go to church, you give thanks for all your blessings, you hear about the golden rule, and you try to find a way to get a camel through the eye of a needle
1
No, Paul, we hate Socialism and unnecessary government intrusion on freedom.
So, you’d rather see people suffer?
2
@EWG
So when are you going to dismantle the auto insurance industry? We shouldn't be forced to purchase auto insurance either, right?
@3EWG. It's not socialism, or owned by the government, if the people vote for it through their elected representatives. Check out the terms you bandy about before you use them. And please give your Medicare and Social Security payments back to the government .
I’ve lived life long enough to know, a man reaps what a man sows. If Republicans, or even Democrats for that matter, think they will let one go without healthcare, I’m pretty sure there are enough good people left in this world to make their life very very miserable. It’s kinda like, “Go ahead, make my day!”
1
It's sadism, Mr. Krugman.
Gussied up as religion or sound monetary policy or respect for the free market. But neither Christianity, Judaism or any other great world religion say you should hurt the weak; the actual American system is the most inefficeint in the developed world; and the rest of the free market world manages to provide universal health care.
So call it what it is -- SADISM, and be done with it. The GOP leadership has been in a very ugly place for some time now, and Mitch McConnell is the principal artificer.
3
Time to start making phone calls again.
Psychologically the Trumpian pathology is centered on pernicious narcissism with striking insatiable needs for adulation, praise; hurt inflicting sadism [psychological]; paranoia with retaliatory and counter retaliatory reflexes [attack first and keep up the attack as long as you think there is a threat].
The Trump personality pathology is founded on extreme self-centeredness,a gross lack of empathy, lack of altruism, social and executive deficits, reading disability with impulsive decision making.
Trump is a dangerous man with an out of control need to manipulate, extract, and exploit others for purpose of self aggrandizement and control and wealth building.
He will run rampant over democracy and the rule of law.
We cannot underestimate the damage he will wreak on our country's laws and establishments.
Pessimistic, yes I am. Trump is laying waste to our government with little political challenge from either party.
1
George Orwell:
"The purpose of power is power, the aim of torture is torture".....etc. Somehow it must make them feel good. Perhaps that's why you "don't fully get it"
4
Marybeth of MA,
It is not the rich who are suffering under Obamacare. They can afford the best care under the sun. It is middle class folks who are bearing the brunt of Obamacare. They are finding their costs higher while the poor on Medicaid are getting it for free. Is this fair. Why not give the middle class free health care too. Why not give free health care to everyone. Isn't this what the leftists want? Socialism. This is what this is pure and simple. It works until it doesn't work anymore. Look at Cuba and Venezuela to see how it worked for them. The people are starving and leaving the countries whenever they are given the chance.
2
Again the progressives misjudge Trump. just wait, he will come up with a plan that works. The MSM has never written honestly about the failure of Obamacare - sure, you can get insurance but try to find a doctor or care. And how many people lost their insurance and doctors.
I think it is pretty clear. The Bible says that the poor will always be with us. Therefore, since there will always be poor people, it doesn't matter if they sicken and die because they can and will be replaced by another poor person. The only non-renewable resource are the rich people who A.) hire the poor people to do the low-skilled, low-paying, no-benefit, no-power jobs, and B.) must have access to the best medical care that money can buy.
Republicans hate anything and everything that would benefit the majority of the American people, including democracy itself.
4
Paul,
What Republicans really hate are healthcare fiascos. Take ACA for example. Please!
The Obama-Pelosi Dems destroyed the political process and now stand in wonder when the Republicans stand ready to give them something to hate.
What goes around goes around again.
1
@Lake Woebegoner
No, Gingrich destroyed the political process. Obama did what he had to to do to accomplish anything good vs evil obstructionist republicans.
Republicans use the phrase 'Christian nation' a lot, as well as 'our Christian traditions and values'. That is to say, only when discussing Muslims. When it's time to care for the poor among us, suddenly those Christian values and pretty phrases turn into hatred for Jesus' socialism.
Just admit it: You folks really do stick to your guns and your religion, as opposed to mercy and care for the vulnerable. It's easy to hate, and it's hard to think, but as Americans, we have civic duties that....oh, never mind. Drinking Russian vodka as celebration? You will reap what you sow, but unfortunately, those of us who are not enthralled by trump will reap it too.
3
I think it is mostly about ideology. Republican leaders really believe that the welfare state is destroying the moral fiber of the society, economy and government. They view it as an existential threat to their imaginary pre-New Deal nation where hard work was rewarded and the deserving rich would occasionally help the deserving poor. Mitt Romney expressed it well with his 47% image, although he is not the most extreme advocate for this view. The Republicans want to privatize government, and while this would make the richer richer, that is not really the main purpose. They want the world the way they think it should be, and if we have a better idea we had better fight for it.
6
@sd Their misdirection about the "welfare state"... we pay for Social Security, Medicare, and our private insurance. None of it is free for anyone whatsoever. This needs to be brought to light, especially in Red States.
@sd you are totally right!!!
Krugman misses an important point. In today's America there are a new set of Three R's: Republican Religious and Right.
The Republicans don't oppose welfare and charity per se; however they want churches and other faith based organizations to disburse it to force the poor into dependency on these organizations. They cannot stand the idea of a secular government fulfilling the biblical mandate to help the poor better than they do it themselves.
FDR's New Deal should have proved that the religious folks are incapable of effectively responding to crises like the Great Depression; but the Right not only ignores this lesson but wants to invalidate all of the New Deal legislation and return America to the bad old days of Robber Baron Capitalism and Paternalistic and Benevolent [sic] Religion.
More and more it looks like the South will win the Civil War after all. And spit in the face of the greatest Republican President of all: Abraham Lincoln!
And what republicans call moral fiber is nothing more than sheer greed and cruelty.
The insurance companies that support the Republican Party hate to have to cover pre-existing conditions, they love health care they just don’t want to cover anything. They would love to go back to the days of selling people scam insurance that pretends to have great coverage and benefits and be able to weasel out of paying claims through the pre-existing conditions loophole. What could be better than collecting premiums for policies that appear fantastic yet eventually cover nothing? Money for nothing, the Trump business model.
7
For Trump it is not that complicated: 1) Full throated hatred of Obama and 2) Belief that he can convince his marks (I mean voters) of anything.
One can understand why he'd believe the latter. He proved it in 2016.
As for Republicans, they just abhor any social programs until two months before election day.
19
It seems to me that the broad cut-off puts certain things, the military especially, as the unquestioned social responsibility of everyone and the pet tool of every demagogue. Still, I think we can all agree (with the exception of Trump and the GOP) that we need some sort of effective national and internationally cooperative means of self defense.
Beyond this cut-off is a huge landscape defined by the idea that the well being of others is essential to your well being. The Republican party and Trump have assaulted this value on every front, education, health care, infrastructure, housing, environment, good governance, social equality and tolerance. The airheads without power who cheer them on are easily duped into believing that they are part of a huge cooperative movement with pals at the top driving the ship, your ship. A "community" defined by who you exclude is a gang not a way of life.
11
Paul: Read Calvin’s beliefs again. His ideas, as you know, are the pillars of Republican ideology and of capitalism. God has predetermined who will prosper and who will not. Since He has already made these decisions those on top feel no responsibility or guilt for those in need.
12
@Zeke
This is a typical misunderstanding of John Calvin. Try reading "The Constructive Revolutionary: John Calvin and His Socio-Economic Impact," by W. Fred Graham. You'll find that Calvin had a well developed theology of social justice; much like the Hebrew Bible, in fact, from which Calvin quoted copiously. By the way, Republicans misunderstand the Bible in much the same way.
1
Which explains Trump's lack of a conscience to a T.
As Paul Krugman suggests, the behavior and policy initiatives of the Trump White House are incomprehensible when viewed through the lenses of reason or broad national interest. The political debacle the Mueller Report devolved to become provides the political cover for an increasingly aggressive implementation of Vladimir Putin's agenda. Clearly, Putin's strategic objective is to cause the collapse of the United States to match the political and economic destruction suffered by Russia and the Soviet Empire in the 1990's. Trump's presidency and its incredible step-by-step facilitation of that agenda appears increasingly likely to succeed. Trump's bold-faced attacks on American democracy, the customs and institutions that have maintained it for the last 243 years, are best understood by recognizing his role in Putin's plans for western democracy. As incredible and inflammatory as that may seem, there is no better explanation for weakening the rule of law, destroying American alliances, undermining domestic political cooperation and broadly misallocating American resources that characterize Trump's behavior since at least 2015. And more likely dating back to the progressive abandonment of American strategic interests by Republican congressional leadership starting in the mid-1990's. Fanning the embers of internal discord in hopes of igniting broad political violence seems the ultimate objective.
5
Paul Krugman, you think too hard...people operate out greed, self interest, or brainwashed to do otherwise. The GOP simply work on behalf the of the donor class, the 1%. Which will have the best healthcare, pharmaceuticals and specialists no matter what happens to the rest of us. The 1% want a government that only works on their behalf i.e generous tax cuts...period. Even if that means gutting, slashing, and cutting away any federal program[Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security] that benefits the other 98-99% of America. To the uber rich the rest of America are viewed a plebes, serfs, and loyal subjects to be raped and pillaged at will of their federal entitlements. The GOP deludes, blinds, and inoculate their base with guns, bibles, and endless culture wars to keep them distracted from the fact they are getting fleeced in broad daylight. Trump just waves a red MAGA hat in one hand while pickpocketing his base of the social services they need to survive in poor Red States. That my friends is the power of blind unadulterated hate that leaves you foaming like a mad dog at the mouth. It can blind you to the truth, reason, and credible information. By the time they wake up to the fact they got played. They will be left naked, hungry, and sick in the street while scratching their heads asking what the hell happened.
19
I don't like the ACA because the USA stinks at socialism. We have too much hatred of the rich to care about doing group projects efficiently. In this regard Mr. Krugman is actually dangerous because he feeds this hatred.
What other reason is there for socializing health care levels at such an astronomical cost (~18% of GDP)? If we were to socialize the right to have a car would it make sense give everyone a Ferrari or a Hyundai? You give everyone the Ferrari if you want to "stick it" to the people who are really paying. The goal is to eventually get your way by impoverishing the rest of the gov't, the productive, and the wealthy while building an entitlement mentality to slowly turn the screws.
@scott365
"What other reason is there for socializing health care levels at such an astronomical cost (~18% of GDP)? "
Health care is not 18% of GDP because of the ACA (which is a public/private mixed system and is not by any definition "socialized medicine") Health care was a huge and growing component of the GPA for years prior to the Obama presidency.
And what, pray tell, is wrong with that? Health care employs millions of Americans with well-paying jobs. It is a well of innovation. And it is extremely difficult to off-shore.
3
@scott365
Hate the rich?? We worship the rich in this country. No one is looked up to unless they are also rich.
2
@Jasr
"Health care is not 18% of GDP because of the ACA"
Yes, and Ferrari's don't cost more than Hyundai's because of socialism either, but that's entirely beside the point.
And what's the problem with giving people Ferraris? Think of the job creation! This is another sign we don't understand how to do group projects efficiently. It's not about "creating jobs". Creating jobs is what people care about when they decidedly don't care about whose money is getting spent.
Eugenics. It's really that simple. Republicans hate everyone who isn't in the plutocracy, and maybe they should just all die. Except fetuses, of course.
13
@Ellen Tabor
if that's he case who's going to take care of their children? Do their cooking and cleaning? Tend to their lawns? They are a horrible group of people, how anyone in their right mind can be a registered R is beyond me. Despicable people.
3
Isn't this but a matter of priorities ? Most people seem to believe that our health is at or very near the top of our list, but Republican dogma dictates that Capitalism is supreme; anything that has the slightest hint of an odor of Soc***ism is not allowed to be mentioned in polite company.
3
The Republicans in Congress award themselve taxpayer financed health care and the Democrats have not noted it. Veterans have a major British style health care system and the anti-socialist Republicans have not noted it. The military has a completely socialist health care system and no one notes it. Conservative Republicans are much more committed to socialized medicine for themselves than Krugman notes.
16
Just think of the very ill man from a non-Expansion State neighboring KY who could not afford the medication to keep him alive, but who solemnly declared in a loud voice "I'd rather die than go on Obamacare!"
That is who the R's can count on to their last, dying breath.
16
As in everything else they do, the reason behind it is to prevent immigrants and the poor--especially blacks and Hispanics--from rising in American society.
If you restrict their access to food, decent places to live, an education, and health care, you handicap their chances.
God forbid they would let them rise on their own merits, what used to be known as "the American dream," because, before you know it, some of them would be taking jobs away from "us," aka rich, white people.
11
The Republican propaganda tv network FOX news will convince poor ignorant white voters to literally give up their health care. Why do they need health care when they have hatred and bigotry?
9
Paul you are over thinking this by a wide margin. President Barack Obama has brown skin and normal to bigger than average hands. That's it. For these pitiful, sick and jealous GOPers that is more than enough.
10
@Mark Schlemmer and large hands means a large :organ". Republicans are jealous.
1
Well the Bible says you only have to VISIT the sick, so I guess we're all off the hook for providing any actual CARE for them, right? /sarcasm
7
The only way to achieve universal coverage without massive new taxes and/or very high premiums and/or very bad plans is to wring some of the revenues out of a multi-trillion dollar industry. If healthcare can no longer command 15% of GDP, then someone will need to lose their shirt. I never hear anyone propose that prices and wages across the sector will need to be set at lower levels by a governing authority that can make that happen. I have trouble imagining doctors, nurses, med schools, hospitals, pharma companies, etc., acceding to anything less than they seem to believe they're entitled to today. Until then, you're just "bending the cost curve" here and there, as the ACA has done. That's fine, but don't fool yourselves. Healthcare will still be an obscenely huge industry geared for profit and licking its chops as boomers head into retirement demanding and getting every imaginable bit of care available to humankind and more. It's all just noise until someone has the guts to say that for people to win in a healthcare reform process, some pieces of the industry will have to lose.
1
@MW the taxes required to provide healthcare are more than offset by the elimination of premiums and other healthcare costs paid by the individual or the corporation on behalf of the individual. Taxes aren't bad if they go for something useful. Unfortunately, the GOP has made a lot of hay over the simplistic idea that all taxes are bad and in the process have made taxation regressive by shifting the burden down the economic scale where they turn into fees and increased local taxes.
The republicans are hate the poor masses of the nation, step on their heads and grind them down, make them into little dollar signs and give them as fodder to the richer classes. They are the bane of the nation as a group.
That is why sooner or later they will fall by the way side or the nation will be at the end of Empire and they will fall into a 3rd world dictatorship kind of wasteland.
VOTE them out of office.
Be the change for the better that you know your country can be. Power to the little guy.
8
Napoleon said, "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich".
If the religious can face having been fooled, there could be an awakening.
After all, religion teaches that you'll be happy and fulfilled when you're dead, ("heaven").
That's how the con works.
9
The sick, deranged Republican "lawmakers", feasting at the government trough, and having their healthcare taken care of by the federal government, hate healthcare for every one else in the middle and working class. The core belief of the Republican party is greed and get your own by any means necessary. So of course they serve their rich masters in the top 1%, every one else can go get sick and die. But these corrupt lawmakers aren't in their positions through magic, they've conned their supporters into believing that as long as the other (especially people of color) don't have a decent life, it's all worth it. It's a circle of hate.
4
You’ve lost all credibility given your abetting of the false Trump - Russia collusion narrative. In particular, I refer to Sean Davis’s piece in today’s WSJ (A Catastrophic Media Failure) which cites you and is required reading for any open-minded person. Have you no shame sir?
1
@Kevin
The op-ed piece is about Republicans and their obsessive, pathological hatred of the Affordable Care Act and the people it benefits. What are you talking about? If you can't address the topic of the op-ed, don't post.
1
Republicans Really Hate
Everything.
Driven by greed and fear
Unable to connect
Soulless and dishonest
They are lost.
6
Unreasoning hatred indeed from Mr. Krugman.
Gosh! I hope that millions of people who will lose healthcare live in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And of course, Mississippi, Alabama , Georgia.......
5
@Subject to change Most of the people who lose health care in those states will be Democrat voters, so that sounds good to me.
Keep tsk-tsking those mean old Republicans Dr Krugman while you consistently use your privileged and influential perch to kneecap the MedicareForAll movement .
It’s amazing how aggressively and shamelessly the GOP pursues their agenda and all we get from most liberal pundits is pearl clutching followed by pouring cold water on Progressive measures to counter conservative depravity .
Nothing will change . We’ll keep losing to these heartless , clueless nihilists because we don’t have the courage and conviction to advocate for and pursue our priorities and vision as the righting radicals have pursuing theirs .
4
"An inheritance from daddy" OR mommy, Mr. K! An oversight, I'm sure, and to be sure it's not as common.
@Thomas Zaslavsky Pretty sure this is a reference specifically to Trump's financial start in life, which did come from daddy.
1
@Kimberly
Good thought.
America is all about for-profit healthcare, as profits matter more than the good health of the Republicans' fellow tax paying citizens. It's a huge scam, and they know it, want to grow and perpetuate it. Money, money, money is all that matters to them and their cronies.
7
Great question, why does the Christian Party, aka Republicans, hate helping anyone, even children. Maybe they like their tax breaks more then helping their neighbor. As a Catholic I often wonder what Gospel people like Lauren Ingraham hear when the go to Church.
6
Although I don't discount sheer delight in physical sadism (okay, "gratuitous suffering is God’s plan," whatever), but mainly it's because they don't know how to feel good about themselves unless others are worse off.
3
Trump and the Republicans (hate to even capitalize their name) might as well have said we're going to put a certain amount of US citizens and taxpayers in jail or shoot them every day. This is stupid, careless, uncaring and grossly negligent thinking. What is wrong with them????
Let's take away Trump's health care, same for his children and every Republican in Congress and see how they would manage. A lot probably well as they have money, good salaries. But money runs out and being seriously ill, or having cancer is a good step toward insolvency. We as citizens MUST HAVE AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE. I had non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2016, now in remission but underwent 5 or 6 rounds of chemotherapy and 5 weeks of radiation treatments. Also had tests which had co-insurance payments which were $250 each time; procedures like putting a chemo port in my chest and them removing several months later. Another cost. I had insurance but I would not be writing this today, in good health if I didn't.
Is THE WALL more important than our health, our children's health?
4
"Republicans Really Hate Americans" would be a more apt headline. Dr. Krugman is right about the pathology aspect.
5
Lemmings .... some of us have managed to evolve a bit. The MAGA crew and their political lackey hitmen assume a morally and intellectually frozen in time posture. Their rubric is one of trying to rebuild a glorious heritage ... that never, ever existed. Where is there room for debate?
2
A daughter: 3 days in the hospital for a broken clavicle generated a bill for $50K. She did not have insurance. Now she does because of the ACA. Without the ACA she could not afford insurance of any kind. Millions face bankruptcy due to the GOP.
The GOP is absolutely corrupt, amoral and ruthless. Their firm stances on health care, the climate, SS, Medicare, Medicaid, and voting rights is, and should be, a form of self immolation. We have Fox News, and now CNN, as our MSM helping Trump and the GOP to distract us with "Hey, look over there" nonsense.
7
You know what? Trump's voters will still vote for him in November, 2020.
3
I wonder if Trump's base will ever realize that he is a fraud. He used them to
get elected and now he wants to abolish Obamacare! He is a reality show
guy. The only reality he cares about is his.
5
In my most cynical moments I think we are moving ever closer to an autocratic slave state, where the ordinary people are there to serve the needs of the oligarchs, who could really care less if we die in the streets. They'll just replace us with the next wage slave...
3
today’s Republicans hate the idea of poor and working-class Americans getting the health care they need
Fixed it for you.
3
@Rugosa No, we don't. We just don't want to be forced to pay for it. Your health care is not our responsibility. And given your penchant for importing millions of low income immigrants who will need even further health care subsidies, you clearly think the whole world's health care is our responsibility.
@Jon W.
Since you know that poor and most middle class workers can’t afford medical care on their own, by ironclad logic we have to assume that you intend and approve that result. That intention is essentially indistinguishable from hate.
@JMcF Not my problem. These people should have thought about it before having kids they can't afford or spending their insurance money on iphones and designer clothes.
You've got this all wrong. It is all about him .. personally .. the "only one".
He will let the Republican Party froth at the mouth. He will let the Democrats place big bets on healthcare. Then he will tweet how he will not allow this to happen and he has directed Congress to create a better plan in the next 100 days .. and he will sign it into law.
Because it will further the myth that 'he alone can fix it'. And it will help him in 2020.
2
It's obvious!
The Three Horseman of the Apocalypse
Allows Trump to abolish ACA and then blame the Democrats for doing it . Rest is Fake news even the deaths and costs.And keeps Trump in the news
2
A phrase comes to mind---drunk with power. Perhaps the GOP hopes to take health insurance away from 20 million Americans to prove that they can.
Republicans must know their stance regarding health care is a political loser from an electoral standpoint. But while I agree that they have an almost pathological hatred of the "good" this is about power, not anger.
They are signalling a willingness to invalidate the electoral and legislative process, to leave us with the forms of a constitutional democracy without its substance. This is a revolution of sorts and harbinger of what's to come; they're testing the limits of government via a biased judiciary on whose outcomes they can depend.
They're saying elections don't matter when they disagree with the consequences, and very bluntly.
1
Paul, ask the Koch brothers. They set the agenda. They and other donors pay to keep McConnell and friends in power. They want to save money. They continue to disdain government interventions. Maybe they'll invite to their summit at which the agenda for 2020 is set. Better wear a disguise.
3
Trump never cared about health care to begin with. When his dad died and made him executor of the will, he promptly denied any financial assistance to his special needs nephew. No way was that person getting any money Trump can get his hands on. Same thing here. No way are millions of Americans getting their grubby hands on something so basic to good life; he needs that money for his debts, wall, and lifestyle that he needs Americans to support. Those golf games he swore he would never play? Now costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars. But he doesn't care. He lied about everything and continues to lie about everything. Interesting, Baron is probably special needs - he seems to be autistic or rumour has it he is - does daddy put any funds towards his education and medical treatments?
2
OMG what a bunch of malarkey. When Trump haters paint every Republican as a white 1%er, that is a bigoted view and it creates a toxic atmosphere. It also is not reality. There were not enough 1%ers to get Trump elected and all those big company donations gilded the election coffers of Democrats and Republicans alike.
For those that can truly not help themselves, most Americans, including the vast majority of the Republicans, are sympathetic and want to help. Yes, it is true. Full stop.
By the way, I am a Republican and I support stronger gun control laws, I believe that abortion should be legal but used as a last resort based on an individuals’ decision, I do not have a trust fund, and I worked hard for every penny I scrimped and saved. And yes I took out college loans and paid back every cent on time. I am also wary of government inefficiencies and the potential expansion of its role in everyday life.
IMHO, Obamacare was a bandaid on a much bigger problem with our healthcare system. We need malpractice claim reform, get rid of tiered pricing for medical services that depends on the type of insurance a person has, and further regulation on the pricing power of the big pharma companies.
We need to work together as Americans to find a solution to this problem. It is time to ignore the venom being spit out by both sides and get to work....together. Only constructive ideas should be voiced. If you have nothing constructive to say, please step back from the keyboard.
1
@Exasperated Please name one single constructive idea regarding health care Mitch McConnell or trump has put forth in the last ten years. Nice that you want to work together as Americans, but you belong to a party whose leaders, on the record, refused to work in anyway with Obama from day one. The fact is, ACA was based on Republican ideas. It was proposed by a Democrat so Republicans opposed it. Now that they want to destroy it, rip the "band aid" off with nothing to replace it. Oppose and destroy is the ongoing theme.
The Green New Deal is full of ideas yet all your party can muster is a cynical mock vote and a bunch of childish graphics to the great problem of our time. If it's constructive ideas you want you are in the wrong party. You sound like a decent, intelligent person, we'll be happy to have you.
May I suggest contacting people who don’t vote and ask: Why not?
2
Validated by his total exoneration, the president is now free to exercise his real political will: revenge. Now, in one swoop, he can avenge himself against President Obama and Senator McCain. The effect on the party or the 2020 election? Irrelevant
4
Oh Dear, this is all so painful. Yet it is part of the human condition to be selfish. Frightening. I agree with your contributors, get out there and vote for the Dems, for goodness sake, don't let the bad guys win.
Republicans, astonished by Trump's political success, regard him as some sort of talisman and a magician who has fathomed the depths of the American psyche and found the formula for Republicans to be Republicans without paying a heavy price at the polls. So, cutting health care is just a part of the agenda of the revitalized Republican party. Beware if you are not a rich white man. Republicans are out to put you in your place.
am I bad to wish trump succeed to get rid of the ACA, if it ends up punish his MAGA supporters?
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The truth is Republicans despise the poor and middle class. It’s not just health care.
At their core, they believe in the survival of the fittest. If you are poor, it is your own fault. Work harder and don't ask for help. If you are sickly or weak, that's the luck of the draw. Don't ask or expect others to save you.
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The YMCA is a nice touch, Dr. Krugman.
Democrats should make some serious hay on the health care issue, but there are potential pitfalls. For example, I think there are more than a few voters with genuine misgivings about 'Medicare For All', who nevertheless would be comfortable with 'Medicare As An Option For All'. Messaging matters.
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Their donors are putting pressure on them to get this done, plain and simple.
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It is certain that the moneyed special interests and Putin are pulling Trump's strings----- maybe during all his "executive time."
Trump is not smart enough, or strategic enough to take down the U.S. all by himself----- he has big money and McConnell setting the course. I have no doubt that that is precisely whats happening.
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It seems apparent to me after reading Professor MacLean's history of the founding and evolution of the ruling philosophy of the modern GOP (_Democracy in Chains:.....) that the Republicans are set on creating a two tiered polity consisting of 'riders and the ridden'. They are not opposed to medical care, they are opposed to medical care provided by the state. Their ultimate goal is to make our survival dependent on subordination and allegiance to a corporation. It is really that simple.
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