Many liberals are touting the report from the CBO claiming that Obamacare reduces the deficit. Most of these liberals are not that dumb, but they think you are. Just for a minute let’s assume the analysis of the CBO is 100% accurate , the Medicare cuts happen , the taxes are collected as planned, and the number of people losing employer coverage is only 4 million people as the CBO projects. Even if all this is true Obamacare would still the biggest threat to solving our fiscal problems.
The reason for this is obvious. The massive increase in the numbers of people dependent on the government would greatly lower support for responsible spending reforms. Currently we can see from the polls Obama has at least 47% support for his clear plan to stick his head in the sand and pretend we do not have a problem. Obamacare would push support for waiting for a fiscal disaster, rather than deal with our issues over the 50% mark. This might be great for the Democratic Party as they could be openly socialist and abandoned attempts to pretend they care about anyone who pays income taxes and has health insurance. Democrats would be ensured to be in power to manage the fiscal crash. Nice if all you care about is the Democratic party, but not so nice if you care about this nation.
However if you believe the answer from CBO represents reality you probably still believe in the tooth fairy. The first issue is that $500 Billion comes from cuts to Medicare. We can’t even agree to keep past cuts in Medicare which we avoid by passing the “Doc Fix” legislation. The main plan is to have a board of 15 people determine what services seniors will be denied. The main plan is to have a board of 15 people determine what services seniors will be denied. Will that really happen as planned? Obama is hiding his elimination of Medicare advantage by using demonstration program money. He does not want seniors to see that when they enroll this fall. If we really had acceptable plans to cut the money from Medicare we would need that money to fund Medicare. Stealing from a program that is going bankrupt is a trick to avoid dealing with the cost of the program. The main plan is to have a board of 15 people determine what services seniors will be denied.
A second issue is that the CBO does static analysis, so they assume the tax increase have no negative effect on the economy so tax increase always collect less than estimated in the long run. Also some of the taxes are counted for more years than the benefits, which further hides the cost of the program. This is a trick used by Bush that Democrats rightly complained about. But the most unpredictable factor is how many people will lose their employer coverage in next 10 years and when that will occur.
The 4 million people losing insurance represents less than 5%. Surveys show 30% of employers plan to drop coverage in first 5 years. That number jumps to 50% among employers who are very familiar with the law. This makes it clear that the real cost will skyrocket from current estimates.
CBO is forced to do its analysis the way they do, so I do not blame them. As they say garbage going in, results in garbage going out. No reasonable person should believe those claims to be accurate. The truth is without repeal we are doomed to follow the path of Europe to a debt crisis and that Obamacare must be repealed as part of any plan for fiscal responsibility.
Turns out Bryant we have the Massachusetts experience, and very few businesses dropped their health insurance coverage, largely because many of them cared about their employees and also recognizd that it would be difficult to keep the good ones who would go to competitors who kept their plans. And if anyone did get dropped, there is the exchanges to tie them over until they found that other jobs. You see you all spout on in your childish way about freedom, but where is the freedom if you have a good idea for a business and you have to stick it out in your company because you have health insurance and can't afford to do without it?
******************* Wait a minute. Wouldn't some of these businesses be the same ones you condemn as being vulture capitalists who jump through hoops to ship jobs overseas at the drop of a hat if it'll save them a couple of bucks per hour? Now, all of a sudden, they "cared about their employees"? Nonsense. And nonsense. It's one thing to implement a plan like this in a single state in an area of the country where people can easily commute to another job where no such program exists if they so choose. It's another when the entire nation falls under the plan. You can't make an assumption regarding what companies are going to do once they're no longer faced with competition for employees operating under another system. Once again, your lack of understanding of how markets work is your Achille's heel. Stick to the snarky one liners and stay in your comfort zone.
So, contrary to what you have said (until you unwittingly made my point), Obamacare does take away my freedom. It does so in a most extreme and absurd way, by requiring me to go to a doctor to get what the law allows me to get without a doctor's permission. DUH!
His point about Massachusetts being so different than the rest of the country is ludicruous, particularly that they can easily commute to another job. Has anyone tried to drive around Boston and its many suburbs during rush hour? The main road across Mass. (I-90) is all tollway. Western Mass. is rural like much of Wisconsin, and there are truly geographically isolated areas, like Cap Cod, and big islands like Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. There is not that much nearby to commute to from Mass. to another state. Has McBride ever been there, or even closely looked at a map? And the people there are not so different from Wisconsin, they even elect Republicans, albeit briefly. McBride's views of the rest to the U.S., always seem so provincial and untraveled, yet he writes these boorish and awkward comments for a wider audience than his narrow experiences can possibly justify.
Let's always encourage more frank comments from the Tea Party core supporters like this.
"Republicans, we work hard so you don't have to"
"Republicans, we work hard so you don't have to"
While we're on the topic of critiquing other posters, I've noticed a distinct trend on your part not to read most things completely, not to comprehend what little you read and to be overwhelmed and/or mystified by anything that's occurred anywhere past your front porch since about the dawn of this century. And I always take that into account when you offer up one of your own.
I just cannot get any sense out of your attempts to spout the Tea party line. You should just copy the party line you apparently receive from HQ each day into your comments so as to avoid confusion on your part and others that try to endure your strained and laborious attempts to justify weak and even fallacious points.
Did I say it was different from the rest of the country? No. Is it different from some areas of the country in terms of business and population density? Yes. As a result, are there aspects of the area that might make it easier for someone who is considered a valuable asset to a particular company to find another company not out of reasonable commuting distance for whom to work than there are in other areas? Yes. In fact, if you want to draw a comparison right near home here, there are people who choose to live in Wisconsin and who chose to work in Illinois. Do they live Steven's Point? Most likely not. Is the situation the same in, say, South Dakota or North Dakota? No, it's not. Your dated observation on telecommuting, aside. As for the usual tired Tea Party references, duly noted. Go run through the sprinkler. You're overheating.
Not sure what insurance company would write out a custom health insurance policy, underwrite it, and guarantee it ironclad, with severe penalties if THEY back out. That seems like a big effort and risk to go through for one measly health policy, and any agent or insurance company I know would not bother or even be set up to do so. These days, one is lucky to get a standard policy and keep it.
Have you ever attempted what Hoffa is suggesting or do you just wave the flag claiming the rich are preventing you from flexing any testicular fortitude? Hoffa has rejected the notion that our society is based on privilege that only favors the rich and instead is grabbing the system by the short hairs and making it work for himself. In other words he is attempting to be successful. Everyone born in this country has that same opportunity. It is on the individual to take advantage of it. It is not up to the government to provide it. As for, "one is lucky to get a standard policy and keep it" (sniff, sniff, wipe a tear), please don't bring your Pity Dirk Party to patch. It makes you look weak.
Are you calling Hoffa a liar just because he's smarter than you and is able to make the system work for him as opposed to vice versa? Hoffa is a legend is his own right - if you only knew! It required A LOT of leg work on Hoffa's behalf, but it was well worth it. You're probably one of those people who actually believe that the increase in those going on SSI disability recently are actually, honestly, and truly disabled - what a a crock of you know what!
Give Wisconsin and the other states Romneycare, if not the ACA!
Dirk, I'm all about helping and I've really tried with you, but, aside from appearing hopeless, you're a bit of a prickly old fart. So I'm not inclined to waste anymore time on you. However, if you find this issue of confusion creeping into other areas of your life, I'd suggest you call your local senior outreach center to see if they can arrange to have someone swing by and check up on you periodically. Back to the topic itself, trying to draw any parallels between a one-state program and what might occur with whatever you want to call it...Rombamacare, maybe (and doesn't it just gripe you libs that you have to acknowledge that Feckless Leader glommed most of it from a guy you hate with a passion?)...on a nationwide basis is bad brainwork, particularly when you don't provide any links supporting the supposition and tell people to "google it" when they suggest you do (no, that wasn't for you, Dirk) Nobody really knows what's going to happen. All we know is that those on the left view this as a stepping stone to NHC and don't really care if, in fact, millions of people are actually paying more for their health care or, how that effects the overall economy - even though much wailing a gnashing of teeth went on in that regard when the state employees were made to contribute to their health insurance. The ends justify the means. Obama made his deal with the Devil - and it's the same one you guys blame for our problems in the first place.
I apologize for calling you McGuire, had just finished reading a column by Ashley McGuire, and it was a laugh riot. Ashley has done fellowships with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. Somehow, in my aged feebleness, I connected her views with you.
Seriously, I've wasted enough time with you. You either can't read or can't comprehend what you read and you insist on telling people what they mean when they comment here and you're always wrong in that regard. Go back to your board games. You don't shine here.
Are your addicted to always trying to get the last word?
All you've proven with this comment is that you really know how to misjudge people and can name call as well as those who regularly post on the Daily Kos. Hoffa feels sorry for you.
I am a self-made man, successful, and a liberal. Never had to go out and dig up an independent healthcare policy, private employers were glad to make a very good one available for myself and my family. But I can see how difficult your situation must be as an independent business owner, out there fighting and searching to avoid financial distress due to medical costs.