US Politics Mega-thread - Page 467

On September 24 2013 07:01 xDaunt wrote:

To the contrary, all signs are pointing to Obamacare accelerating the collapse of private healthcare. Cost and savings projections have continuously worsened since Obamacare was passed. Given what we know today about how the program is evolving, I doubt that it would have passed in 2010.

WASHINGTON -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) doesn't back the push by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to vote against bringing up a bill to defund Obamacare, a McConnell aide told The Huffington Post.

"Senator McConnell supports the House Republicans' bill and will not vote to block it, since it defunds Obamacare and funds the government without increasing spending by a penny," McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said.

Until now, McConnell has been largely quiet as Cruz has been ramping up his calls on Senate Republicans to filibuster the funding bill when it comes up for a vote this week. The measure, passed by the House Thursday, would do two things: fund the government past Oct. 1 and defund President Obama's health care law. Since Democrats control the Senate, and since they've already vowed to strip out the Obamacare provision and only hold a clean vote on funding the government, Cruz is urging Republicans to vote against bringing up the bill at all -- and be willing to risk a government shutdown. On top of that, Cruz has argued that anyone who even votes to bring up the bill is, in effect, voting for Obamacare.

Stewart said McConnell is far more interested in voting directly on the bill to defund Obamacare.

On September 24 2013 07:17 xDaunt wrote:
Oh, and back on Cruz for a second. I'm sure that this has been pointed out already in this thread, but it's worth reiterating. Cruz is doing exactly what he promised that he would do: get rid of Obamacare. Imagine that... a politician following through on a promise that he made to his constituents even if it means bucking his [retarded] party and risking a government shutdown (not that I expect the shutdown to happen).

On September 24 2013 08:08 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:


Except he's not doing that, he knows the Bill in it's current form will not pass. If he did think then why is he filibustering it? Because he wants more and more political points to perhaps use in 2016.

Let me repeat: He's filibustering the exact bill he said he wanted.

On September 24 2013 08:10 xDaunt wrote:


Oh please. You're being disingenuous. He's filibustering the bill to stop Reid from being able to change the bill to refund Obamacare and to try to pressure Reid into accepting the bill as is (not that it will work).

On September 24 2013 08:20 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:


What are you talking about voting to defund Obamacare won't actually stop the law, this is what Karl Rove and GOP leaders have been screaming about. It will be funded no matter what Cruz does, this all started when Cruz toured the country and did town halls in late August when he said the Senate should allow a vote to defund Obamacare led by the always opportunistic Eric Cantor.

On September 24 2013 08:20 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:


What are you talking about voting to defund Obamacare won't actually stop the law, this is what Karl Rove and GOP leaders have been screaming about. It will be funded no matter what Cruz does, this all started when Cruz toured the country and did town halls in late August when he said the Senate should allow a vote to defund Obamacare led by the always opportunistic Eric Cantor.

On September 24 2013 12:46 Danglars wrote:
When Republicans stick to their guns and follow the demands of their constituents, it's radical. When Republicans ignore their constituents and just pop up good sound bites near election season to get re-elected, that's deemed acceptable. The logic is flawed. The party will fall apart if nobody on Capitol hill will fight the bill. Nobody will vote them back into office if they aren't down for the struggle. It's about time some of these moderates show their true colors so they can be voted out next time.

Let the slates and thinkprogresses of the world celebrate when the increase in health insurance premiums don't increase by quite as much as they first expected. It's a terrible bill down the line. If anybody is seriously interested in helping make health care more affordable, they'll vote to defund and start work on a helpful bill. This is just pure poison for health insurance and the economy.

On September 24 2013 14:30 Danglars wrote:
Pre-existing conditions jack up rates. You're taking on a high-cost patient and lo-and-behold, it costs more. Subsidizing these rates with healthy people is a complex issue and Obamacare's fix is nowhere close to fixing the problems. It heavily underestimates costs. PCIP is running out of money, its costs have been 2.5 times higher than anticipated.(annual report) If you can't accurately predict the plan's enrollment, or the plan's costs, it casts doubts all over how well your fix is going to work.

I love the throwaway lines about opposition to Obamacare. It's great, it's fixing things left and right, and all the opposition is from dumb voters. My side is smart, your side is dumb. It's the current evolution of "they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." The left is compensating for their shock that not everybody likes their glittery new idea for health care. They'll call their political opponents names until the cows come home. That's the nature of the beast.

On September 24 2013 14:30 Danglars wrote:
Pre-existing conditions jack up rates. You're taking on a high-cost patient and lo-and-behold, it costs more. Subsidizing these rates with healthy people is a complex issue and Obamacare's fix is nowhere close to fixing the problems. It heavily underestimates costs. PCIP is running out of money, its costs have been 2.5 times higher than anticipated.(annual report) If you can't accurately predict the plan's enrollment, or the plan's costs, it casts doubts all over how well your fix is going to work.

I love the throwaway lines about opposition to Obamacare. It's great, it's fixing things left and right, and all the opposition is from dumb voters. My side is smart, your side is dumb. It's the current evolution of "they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." The left is compensating for their shock that not everybody likes their glittery new idea for health care. They'll call their political opponents names until the cows come home. That's the nature of the beast.

On a yearly basis the net cost saving to the government is $191,733 per year (2003 $Can) equating to $3,687 per physician or $63,911 per facilitator, an estimated return on intervention investment and delivery of appropriate preventive care of 40%.