beantownbubba wrote:Really? THIS is what you’ve been howling about for the past 7 years? Adopt THIS and Obamacare is suddenly acceptable? The Ryancare proposal just oozes w/ cynicism, hypocrisy and stupidity. Anybody out there still want to claim that the objections to Obamacare were substantive?
Remember a few years ago when “people” were touting Paul Ryan as the next big thing? Well, “people,” and you know who you are, I think it’s about time that you stepped up and admitted that you were simply seduced by a relatively young, relatively pretty face. There may be other explanations for Ryan’s failure as a legislator & leader, but I see 2 main possibilities: He’s either really dumb or he’s really bad at politics. I’m thinking it’s mostly the latter. OTOH, Mitch McConnell is kicking the Democrats’ collective ass all over DC. His fingerprints are on nothing, he’s letting everyone else do the heavy lifting while he manipulate and maneuvers behind the scenes and he’s gonna be there w/ a shit-eating grin when the dust finally settles unless the Democrats somehow manage to get their act together (hahaha). I’m guessing Pence is his boy and he’s gonna ride him over the finish line.
The problem w/ Ryancare isn’t this provision or that provision (or, more accurately, there are plenty of problems w/ plenty of the provisions but ultimately that’s not why it sucks). The problem is that the whole thing is a bastard mutt. It is not guided by economics (the economics of the plan ordain only one result: FAILURE). It is not guided by economic principle like, you know, capitalism or socialism or any other economic ism. It is not informed by any political principle or theory since it bears no relation to any particular view of the appropriate role of the state or the relationship between the individual and the state. It is not guided or motivated by a burning desire to accomplish something worthwhile like, say, universal healthcare. Rather, its lack of intent to do anything in particular is one of its biggest problems.
OTOH, it is clearly politics as usual in that the closest thing it has to a principle is cynicism (a mandate by any other name is still a mandate, even if it’s a hopelessly inefficient one; and pretending that this thing can possibly work takes guts and considerable acting skill) and it contains millions and millions (billions?) of dollars in giveaways to private business and rich people. It is Solomon’s baby shorn of wisdom. It is a true camel (i.e. a horse built by committee). It provides nothing to nobody (except the 1% and big business of course). The very idea that it is being sold as an improvement on Obamacare is flat out nauseating. Trump is of course already pretending he never said anything about covering more people more cheaply w/ better coverage. His promise was obviously absurd on its face but it didn’t even take him 60 days to give it up. That’s got to be some kind of record.
Trump, Ryan, Pence, Chaffetz, Schumer, Pelosi*, the whole lot of them aren’t worth a bucket of spit. McConnell is formidable for all the wrong reasons, but no less of a force to be reckoned with for all that. And Bannon is the real deal. A worthy adversary. Brains, guts, an holistic worldview and a plan. That guy is dangerous and the opposition has no equivalent, which is not a good thing. It turns out that all it takes to destroy a country is one dangerous man w/ a plan, one cunning man w/out principle who knows how to play the long game and a full bucket of spit.
*She did come up w/ that funny line about “Pride & Prejudice” at the Gridiron dinner, though.
Well said btb.
Mostly, the entire argument comes down to the individual mandate - that is where the bulk of the Republican's ire is focused. However, no one wants to be denied for pre-existing conditions. But, if you don't have the mandate, only the sick would need insurance. You can't have it both ways, and no one has delivered an adequate idea to solve this problem in a different way. (Well...except a single-payer system)