Yup. As has been noted: Obamacare vs. Trumpcare. pic.twitter.com/EFwiVi6PKw
— Jerry Saltz (@jerrysaltz) March 7, 2017
The problem for the GOP is that if they pass this bill: 1) A lot of people will be in worse shape 2) They will own all of healthcare
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 7, 2017
Reading through the House GOP bill, it's hard to imagine the coverage loss is any less than 15M versus the ACA.
— Loren Adler (@LorenAdler) March 7, 2017
I think GOP reps would brace for (1) but would not have fully prepared for (2).
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 7, 2017
Therefore, it angers the left AND the right, while depriving millions of insurance. So much effort to accomplish so little (2/2)
— Craig Garthwaite (@C_Garthwaite) March 7, 2017
GOP's health savings accounts won't help much bc 69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts: https://t.co/pXSfXLaAfS
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) March 7, 2017
There's a reason people don't have Home Savings Accounts to pay for house fires…they have insurance. Can't afford it otherwise. @MDaware https://t.co/p5PQXoiiQO
— Benjamin Mazer (@BenMazer) January 24, 2017
New GOP Obamacare repeal bill also cuts taxes on wealthy people's investment income pic.twitter.com/sbv7ahGbU2
— Paul Singer (@singernews) March 7, 2017
Interesting to see the hoops GOP has to jump through to defund Planned Parenthood without directly calling it that in legislation pic.twitter.com/DgEwLUNauY
— Patrick Caldwell (@patcaldwell) March 6, 2017
The state-directed cruelty is in a lot more legalese today.
— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) March 6, 2017
.
On the one hand, these Repubs are terrible excuses for human beings…
Imagine waking up and going to work every day with the hope of kicking people off health care to give more tax cuts to rich people https://t.co/UTH6MJGoKM
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) March 6, 2017
Imagine being a congresscritter who goes to work tomorrow angry that this new bill is far too generous.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) March 7, 2017
Has literally anyone who's not a member of congress been saying they like this bill?
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 7, 2017
On the other, even they aren’t exactly falling over each other to pass Ryan’s wet dream, so far:
White House's first statement on House Obamacare repeal bill isn't exactly a full throated endorsement. Here's @PressSec on the bill: pic.twitter.com/zvCjCG03Fj
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) March 7, 2017
"This is a Republican welfare entitlement." New memo by RSC (boasts 150 House members) attacks the ACA replacement. https://t.co/40JmAkn7aX
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 7, 2017
Not a joke: GOP explanation for how their health care plan will be paid for is literally "we're working on it."https://t.co/Zt060gBykj pic.twitter.com/nOl5SCUZl4
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) March 7, 2017
Senate ACA repeal obstacles among Rs:
* Medicaid: 4 (RobP, CG, SMC, LM)
* tax credits: 3 (Rand, TC, ML)
* P-P'hood: 1 (SC)
Need 6/8 to pass.— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) March 6, 2017
They're going to waste tons of political capital not passing this bill & it's going to be as if two dumpster fires had a baby dumpster fire.
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) March 7, 2017
One can but hope!
fuckwit
I somehow am reminded of the SS privatization debacle that Shrub burned up all his “political capital” on in 2005.
Surprise: people actually depend on these things.
fuckwit
Also the “HAVE YOU READ THE BILL??” bullshit that the Rethugs were howling about when ACA came out.
Has anyone read this bill? Is there even a bill or is there just a press release about a bill? How can anyone read the whole thing and understand it before voting on it on Wednesday?
BlueDWarrior
After listening to the that republican guy on Hayes’ last program (during the B or C block, about 15-20 mins in), it just further confirms that the Republican Party as a whole has turned into an unthinking cult. Where the Great Republican Daddy will take care of everything you want and you don’t have to think about anything ever again. And any attempt by a thoughtful conservative, or a liberal, or anyone, to make them think through what they want is not only met with revulsion, but active attempts to destroy you.
They want to be left to implement their delusions as law, and the rest of us is supposed to quietly accept it or they double down and try and twist reality even harder.
TriassicSands
@fuckwit:
Unlike the PPACA, which was 2000 pages (or something), the GOP bill is written on five Post-Its and 2 of those are devoted to kicking lottery winners off Medicaid.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
15 million people lose insurance.
Hope Susan Sarandon and the Alt-Left are happy
Fair Economist
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: This is unlikely to pass. Everybody is reacting like it like it’s the turd in the punchbowl it is.
OTOH, Susan Sarandon and company are likely to be able to celebrate getting a pipeline carrying fracking products through a Sioux reservation’s water supply. Hoo-ray.
Sab
Obama has tiny man boobs. Trump has ennoruas girl gut.
dollared
@Fair Economist: Yes, I blame Susan Sarandon for everything bad that happens in the United States for the next 50 years. Brilliant.
marcion
Dear God, I have only one request. Please make the GOP fight among themselves like rabid hyenas. If Paul Ryan gets thrown through a figurative window, I’ll donate an extra $50 a month to charity. If it’s a literal window, make that $200. Last offer can also be redeemed for Louie Gohmert, Steve King, or Jason Chaffetz.
Thanks Big Man,
marcion
amk
@marcion: I will double it if the window is higher than three floors.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dollared: Why limit it to 50? The damage may last much longer.
amk
This fat pos passes judgment on women’s appearances?
amk
@dollared: Hope you are as rich as her. Then you can defend her for next 50 years to your heart’s content. #loonyleft
zach
HSAs in the states are just a scam to subsidize wasteful medical spending. I’m sure they exist, but I don’t know anyone who’s used one for a medical emergency… but I know lots of folks who’ve used HSAs to pay for unnecessary (but nice-to-have) surgeries (e.g. laser eye surgery), gym memberships, and medical devices. These people already have health insurance, are already wealthy, and use HSAs to use tax-free income to buy stuff they would’ve bought anyway.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Some years ago, there was an editorial cartoon with Palin as Madame Defarge and Gingrich on the cart wailing “But we started this revolution!” I have been unable to find it again. Sound familiar to anyone?
raven
@zach: That’s silly. I use mine to pay my deductibles.
raven
@raven: Maybe I have an FSA.
Villago Delenda Est
@BlueDWarrior: Which is why the GOP needs to be destroyed. Utterly.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@dollared: you need to clean your glasses. Fair Economist blamed “Sarandon and company” and I blamed “Sarandon and the Alt-Left”. The indictment is broad based, and not limited to a single airhead, elitist, has-been, rich, buffoonish, corporate cosmetics spokeswoman.
You know, if your buddy Fidel was here, he’d line entire Alt-Left up against the wall – “FUEGO!”
gene108
@zach:
Some people do put money away for elective procedures, but I and other folks use it to pay for expenses subject to a high deductible.
Not everything is a pure scam.
TriassicSands
Look at those two presidents.
Obama definitely needs to start working out. He’s lookin’ mighty flabby.
Trump, on the other hand, what can I say? The word that comes to mind is svelte. He needs to play golf in tank tops and shorts — show off some of that awesome musculature (including those washboard abs) to his adoring followers.
Note: just trying out a totally delusional state, since it seems like Trump’s is going to shape much of our world for the foreseeable future.
gene108
How many times should I call my Republican Representative to encourage him to vote against this bill?
I know calling first thing in the morning is on the agenda, but would multiple calls be productive?
TriassicSands
@gene108:
The problem with HSAs is they don’t help the people who need help the most and need the most help. Of course, those are the people the Republicans don’t care about at all — low-income Americans.
Let’s see, low-income people should be putting away money for health care expenses, which may or may not arise, college for the kids, and, of course, retirement and old age. Hey, $5 a month really adds up (if you live to be 1,000 or so).
Waldo
We’re all Kansans now.
opiejeanne
@zach: We had one for a few years and never used it because we already had very good coverage with Kaiser Permanente. When my husband retired that money covered most of our payments to Kaiser until he hit 65 and Medicare kicked in, because he took retirement a little early and we needed to bridge the gap in income until then. I think that was about 2 years.
When his unit set up this fund and insisted he participate I was pretty annoyed because it ate most of a raise he got that year.
I’m against them in general because the way they are being proposed* because they’re worthless unless you’re very well-to-do.
*Coverage for the deductible in a high deductible policy. Doesn’t work well for the lower income folks.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@TriassicSands: you sure are a funny fellow.
when that photo came out, women went nuts:
Followed up with this (mag cover)
TriassicSands
@gene108:
Probably not if you identify yourself honestly. Also, depending on how busy the phones are you might prevent other people from getting through. I’m pretty sure that one call from six different people would be better than six calls from one person.
On the other hand, if you disguise your voice and offer a half a dozen different identities so that it looks like you’re really six or seven people, then it might make a difference. (Not recommended)
I think the best thing you could do is make one phone call offering a clear, concise message that leaves no doubt about how you feel (though name-calling and vulgarity would be a bad idea). You might emphasize that you vote and you work hard to influence other voters. Generally, it’s less effective to read from a script prepared by an organization. Take only as much time as is required to get your message across. The people you talk to are answering phones all day.
NobodySpecial
Oh, look, people fighting the last war. How about some diversity in arguments and you guys start arguing about Kennedy and Carter?
Edit – Look at the fucking title of the thread, f’Chrissakes.
JGabriel
@dollared:
I blame Ayn Rand for everything bad that happened in the last 50 years, and I’m certain I’ll continue to blame her for the next 50.
TriassicSands
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
David, I just looked back at the photo of Trump and it made me think about his height and weight and the fudging that went on during the campaign.
Trump’s height has been listed at 6’2″ for years. Looking at photos of Trump together with Obama during the inauguration, I thought it looked like Trump is probably no taller than Barack, who is listed as 6’1″.
Now, looking at the golfing photo, I’d bet anything that the man in that picture, if he is 6’1″ or 6’2″ weighs significantly more than the 236 pounds that Trump claims. Anyway, during the campaign, when they published Trump’s weight as 236 lbs. his height suddenly jumped up to 6’3″, which keeps his BMI just under the “obese” limit. I don’t know when the golfing photo was taken, but that man is definitely obese. Further, if he’s really 6’3″, which I’m virtually certain he is not, then with that shape, I’d guess he is significantly heavier than the claimed 236 lbs. Kevin Drum, over at Mother Jones, says he’s 6’2″ and about 236 lbs. and he says he looks like he weighs less than Trump.
My guess would be that Trump is 6’2″ and something over 250 lbs.
And he’s definitely obese. Maybe Melania has a thing for man-boobs.
SFAW
@TriassicSands:
Which would put him at a BMI of 32 — Obese. I think your “250” is low, by the way, but not an expert. But I’m guessing his BMI is over 35.
Interestingly, his idiotic “doctor” — the one who said he was in the best condition of any President EVAH EVAH EVAH — pegged his BMI at 29. Which raises the question: was his “doctor” always a liar, and thus Shitgibbon gravitated to him? Or did he slide into obviously lying about things via osmosis, due to being around Shitgibbon for years?
ETA: And I think Shitgibbon’s quasi-official campaign lit listed him as 6-4 or 6-5. I swear, if I ever catch that anti-American fuck intentionally telling the truth about something, I’ll stroke out.
Jack the Second
Fundamentally, an investment transfers money from the unlucky to the lucky (or if you prefer, the losers to the winners), and an insurance program transfers money from the lucky to the unlucky — or from the winners to the losers.
As such, if you preach the prosperity gospel, insurance programs are morally wrong, like taxes. You are taking money from the god-appointed winners who have been blessed with wealth and health, and giving it to the goddamned losers.
SFAW
@Jack the Second:
Of course, there’s no temporal component to that, which makes it “fundamentally flawed” “reasoning.”
randy khan
@zach:
An HSA is just a health care tax shelter. I have one and we use it to cover deductibles, vision, and our long term care policy. Like all tax shelters, though, it’s more useful to people who are at higher tax rates. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s much more a benefit for rich people than poor people. So of course Republicans love them.
randy khan
@gene108:
Call, email, post on the Rep’s Facebook page, direct message in Twitter, repeat probably once every day or two.
Snarki, child of Loki
The REAL screaming will start when people realize that RyanCare will cause employers to shut down their healthcare group coverage, pushing damn-near everyone into the ‘individual market’.
I, for one, look forward to the real, true GOP healthcare plan:
(a) don’t get sick (Yay!)
(b) if you do get sick, recover quickly (Yay!)
(c) if you get that bad diagnosis:
(c1) buy lots of insanely powerful firearms and tons of ammo
(c2) go looking for GOPers to ‘personally thank’.
liberal
@dollared: Much better to blame a moron like Sarandon than someone who appointed Comey to lead the FBI or oversaw the decline of the Democratic Party while leading it.
liberal
@JGabriel: I think Uncle Miltie had a lot more to do with it than Ayn Rand, for better or worse.
liberal
@amk: Are you as rich as the guy who appointed Comey to head the FBI and oversaw the decline of the Democratic Party while heading it?
PST
On the fun topic of Benedict Donald’s hight and weight, if he was historically 6’2″ then at his age he’s less than that now. We shrink. Practically all of us. It doesn’t require osteoporosis or anything like that. We just do.
chopper
@SFAW:
to be fair, if he ever stopped fucking slouching, he might gain an inch or so.
Jinchi
@gene108: If you’re going to make multiple calls, then call your Rep, and call both Senators.
Then call your Governor and your State Representatives. If they object that they have nothing to do with Obamacare, you can answer that they do now.
cat
@zach: Hi! Meet your first person whose used HSA for ‘real’ medical expenses. Cancer treatment is expensive!
amk
@liberal: You mean the one who got elected twice and did mostly what the loony left like you wanted and yet the loony left bitched & ditched against a rich pos who brought you twitler? Moron.
Debbie1
@TriassicSands: Are you by chance suggesting that TR*mp would exagerate or LIE about his height and weight, like an insecure person? It is to laugh.
Debbie1
@liberal: Is that you, Mitt? Still bitter, buddy?
Westyny
@marcion: I read that as “racist hyenas.” Also works . . .
Suzan
@BlueDWarrior: That was the point at which I turned off the TV. The only thing that guy is interested in is money, mainly the stock market. It’s up and Trump is going to cut my taxes so he’s a great guy.
And the bit about Obama increased poverty? The poverty rate in the US when W took office was 11.7 (or 11.3 sources vary), it was 14.3%in 2009, in 2015 it was 13.5%. Ya see, if you take the last 10 years (which is what that nut said) the poverty rate has gone up (it was about 12% in 2006) but it was ALL under Bush’s watch.