Ready for another Big Gulp size cup of Republican voter tears? I wonder how many times the reality stick is going to hit them upside the head before they realize that yeah, we've been right about everything and they really HAVE been played for fools? Boehner: Republicans won't repeal and replace Obamacare Former House Speaker John Boehner predicted on Thursday that a full repeal and replace of Obamacare is “not going to happen.” Boehner, who resigned in 2015 amid unrest among conservatives, said at an Orlando health care conference that the idea that a repeal-and-replace plan would blitz through Congress is just “happy talk.” Instead, he said changes to former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement would likely be relatively modest. “[Congressional Republicans are] going to fix Obamacare – I shouldn’t call it repeal-and-replace, because it’s not going to happen,” he said.
A big Trump fan told me recently that the only reason a Navy SEAL died in the raid in Yemen was because Democrats (unspecified which ones) tipped off Al Qaeda beforehand. In other words, these people will go well out of their way to invent any reason, any excuse, any version of reality they need, to convince themselves that they are never, ever wrong.
When fellow citizens and the media are the enemy, and true enemies are embraced (Russia), taken lightly (China), or summarily destroyed (brown ones and Muslim ones), how can you call it a place of freedom and democracy any longer? I swear I don't even recognize my own country anymore.
So sad yet so true. My husband is in the process of "graduating" from Medical to Medicare. We have been at it since November (seriously, almost daily phone calls) and have just gotten some actual answers. We only have until March 1st. Not only are we dealing with 4 government programs but nobody really knows what is going on. Not to mention all the departments within those programs. No joke, the right hand does not even know what the right hand is doing, let alone the left. It looks like we have it straightened out to the point that if he gets sick or has a medical emergency we are pretty sure he would be covered. BUT IT COULD ALL CHANGE ANY MOMENT AND THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE JUST GETTING THIS FIGURED OUT WILL HAVE A WHOLE NEW SET OF RULES. All that being said so I can add that I hope Boehner is right. Especially since the whole thing, as far as I can tell, is arbitrary. They just want to get rid of all things Obama.
House Republicans unveil bill to repeal Obamacare Here it is, the Republicans in the House released their bill today. The Reuters' report doesn't say much, but I'm sure it will strip many people of their health insurance.
Yep, my blood pressure just shot up. We just got my husband's Medicare straightened out (we think) and it could all go patueeee!!!! Did anyone expect anything different?!!? We cannot keep poor people healthy. "They should have thought of that before becoming peasants!" If this rolls out as planned it could be worse than before the ACA. But hey, we will have more choices and it will be available to everyone. And you will not be forced to buy it if you do not want it. Looks like we have a good chance of going back to our previous plan. That would be the Pray to God We Don't Get Sick Plan. (And that is really tough for a couple of atheists.)
We need to start there all process for every Republican in Congress. Maybe then they'll ge the message.
Yesterday Jason Chaffetz expressed perfectly how conservatives think about poor people, and how naive they actually are to the realities of living day to day in America. Chaffetz said that maybe people will have to skip getting a new iPhone that they love to pay for healthcare. There is so much wrong with that simple statement, but let's highlight a few: 1) In 2017, having a smartphone isn't a luxury, it's rapidly becoming a necessity. It's an indispensable way of functioning in a high-tech, fast-paced economic society like ours. Sure, there are people who don't need one, mainly the elderly and rich people, who are exactly the same kind of people who complain that poor and middle-class Americans are spending money on a cell phone, which they just see as a Facebook/Angry Birds machine. So please spare me the anecdotes about how you or someone you know still has a flip phone or doesn't have a phone at all. Yeah, I know. Telling someone they don't need a phone is like telling someone they don't need a car and just go with a horse and buggy. In theory, it can work; in reality, not so much. In 2007, a smartphone was a luxury, but the world changes and it's changing faster. The same people we decry and tell to "get a job" need a smartphone in order to get and keep that job. My girlfriend is a single mother of three and her daughter was sick on Monday. In the space of a few minutes while dropping her kids off at school, she had to arrange a doctor's appointment, she had to arrange missing work (which her boss yelled at her for), she had to arrange for someone to get her other two kids, and (I know, how dare she) she chose to communicate with me and other family about her worries about her sick kid. And yes, people waste gobs of time on their smartphones. But the 20% of the time they don't, it's a necessity. And god forbid poor and middle-class Americans spend time trying to entertain and distract themselves from the soulless jobs they take to provide for their families with things like games and social media on their phone. 2) No one "pays" for healthcare in the United States. The notion that cutting out a Snickers bar or a cell phone or your cable bill so you can save up for an emergency $50,000 appendectomy is laughable. One round of chemo would cost a few dozen iPhones. The idea that conservatives are foaming-at-the-mouth mad because someone with food stamps dropped a steak in their basket is the root of our problem. How in the world are these people good at business when they are so penny wise and pound foolish? As a friend of mine said, unless you have employer funded healthcare, you are dead in the water, waiting for the sharks of medical catastrophe to spot you and eat you alive. In this country, 60% of people with serious medical debt *have* health insurance. It's almost as if our capitalist, for-profit health insurance industry doesn't meet the needs of actual people. 3) Jason Chaffetz pays for neither his phone nor his healthcare. And that's the rub: people of privilege standing around lecturing everyone else on how to live their lives. Every one of these clowns was born on third base and they go around slapping each other on the back and telling everyone else how to hit a triple just like they did. The reality the GOP envisions for most Americans bears zero resemblance to how people actually live their lives. They are entitled, insulated, and clueless and it is a dangerous recipe.
But the question is how do we stop it. Seems fairly hopeless since their aren't more then five people with testicles in the entire congress and most of those are women. The electorate, have become the most ignorant and easily lead parts of our society and those that are capable have given up and feel that their vote means nothing. (i.e. look at who won the popular vote.) How do you teach these idiots that one way or the other someone is going to have to pay for the medical care. The hospitals will be the ones which will mean higher and higher cost for medical care. It doesn't just dissolve and disappear. Actually, it will hurt a number of our richest people. The poor can't pay for it, so who's left. There is something in the water in congress leaving everyone with almost no functioning brain cells.
[ The poor can't pay for it, so who's left. There is something in the water in congress leaving everyone with almost no functioning brain cells.[/QUOTE] That would be the middle class. The GOP Congress made sure that in this bill the few taxes that were paid by the wealthiest to help pay for the ACA were rescinded. So they're making out fine, natch. And wait for it – when the middle class has to pay more and get less, and they complain, the Republicans will say "hey that's Obamacare. We should have repealed it all. "And sadly, some people will buy it.
Well said ecdc and goofyer. My husband has worked since his teens. I was a full time Mom and worked part time over the years. We were forced into retirement and Social Security after the company he worked for went under (guess when). Some years we made a rather large income, sometimes we lived paycheck to paycheck. The reason I am saying all this is because we never minded paying our share of taxes when we had a large income. I was happy that some of it was going to help people who were not as fortunate. We were strong proponents of Nationalized Health Care even when we had great coverage through an employer. We have never had cable, got rid of our land line and dial up for WiFi (far from the fastest) that cost the same. Our phones are not smart but slightly more intelligent than a flip phone. And, they are over 3 years old, as is my computer. We have 4 TV's in the house; all analogue. Welcome to the real world folks, including Obama who made a similar comparison years ago. I have such a hard time trying to grasp the greed and selfishness. We paid for MediCal for others for many years. Now that we need it we are looked at like worthless bums who just do not want to work. Not to mention being treated like uneducated morons by doctors. We are able to do fairly well on SS because, rather than try to save large sums of money, we worked to be debt free. And we are. We own our home and cars. We pay off our credit cards every month. Instead of that being an asset; we are often penalized for not drowning in debt. We have discussed divorce as this could be financially beneficial for us; due to the policies of those running on a platform of "family values." I am afraid I am rambling but I hope what I am trying to say is coming through. Many hard working people are now living below the poverty line and need the help we willing gave to others. If we are reduced to basic Medicare (assuming that stays around) it will me no different for us as having nothing. Any major medical problem will wipe us out as thoroughly as if we have no coverage at all. Only the poor hospital and doctors will benefit.
Well, well, well. Boehner was right. The Trumpcare bill was withdrawn because the House Republicans didn't have the votes to pass it.
