Recent Headines Declare that PRESIDENT TRUMP has Turned on the FREEDOM CAUCUS – the ONLY Political Faction in Washington, DC who Represents the Hopes, Dreams, Ambitions and Ideals of the Large Majority of American Citizens Who Made Mr. Trump's Electoral Victory Possible.
These are People Who Long for a Return to Liberty and Freedom from Excessive Government Intervention as Outlined and Enshrined in the CONSTITION by our FOUNDING FATHERS.
Has President Trump's Sudden, Apparent ABANDONMENT of His Natural Constituency, and Embrace of the RINO Establishment Changed Your Opinion of Him? If So is There Any Way He Could Hope to REDEEM Himself, or Have We No Alternative but to Shrug in Disgust,
Bow Our Heads and Meekly Accept
"BUSINESS AS USUAL?"
N___O___T___I___C___E___!
BOILERPLATE, SHEER NASTINESS, and MINDLESS, PURELY PARTISAN INVECTIVE
are PROHIBITED and SUBJECT to SUMMARY REJECTION and INSTANT DELETION
________________ N___O___T___I___C___E___! ________________
ReplyDeleteBOILERPLATE, SHEER NASTINESS, and MINDLESS, PURELY PARTISAN INVECTIVE are PROHIBITED and SUBJECT to SUMMARY REJECTION and INSTANT DELETION
GOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT?
ReplyDeleteGOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT?
GOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT?
GOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT? GOT THAT?
G_____O_____T__________T_____H_____A_____T_____?
I must strongly disagree with you on several issues here, my good friend. First, Trump's "natural constituency" is not represented by the Freedom Caucus. He would never have won the Presidency if the voters for the Freedom Caucus members were anywhere near the majority of his voters. On top of that, the Freedom Caucus represents an odd assortment districts, many very low-populated or very white working poor, not many members.
ReplyDeleteThe Freedom Caucus and Liberty Caucus, the Tea Party Caucus, all thrown in together, and you see this overlap of interests and constituencies, but not even counting the overlaps (you can see them on wiki if you have the time, but it's all there) they make up at most 116 seats in the House, and a handful in the Senate. Well less than half the voters he needed just to win the Primaries.
So yes, those voters did vote for him, but 'they're not the only ones.' But more to the point, they tend to represent very narrow interests and constituencies. You can see their districts on the maps. They are an odd assortment, but each very homogeneous either in population or business interests.
Secondly, Trump did not just run on scapegoating illegal labor, fear-mongering with Islam, and shrinking the government to uselessness. He strongly promised to keep Social Security and Medicare, many times, he strongly promised to try to find a realistic way to get everyone good medical care and cheaper, many times, he strongly promised well-managed large-scale infrastructural development, many times, and he just just as big a cheer for that as he did all other rhetoric. If the caucuses are going to stand in his way, his constituency should be perfectly fine with him strong-arming them. He has the Pen, he is the President, he represents FAR more than they do and his hand is on the Table. It's up to them now to show their card, not him.
Finally, Trump's main theme throughout his candidacy was that he was a "Deal Maker," a businessman, and man that can get things negotiated. These caucuses are represented by ideologues who literally run against getting things done, against negotiating, against "deals" of any kind that do not fully make them happy in every way. They are unrealistic, and Trump now coming to grips with his power realizes this. They will not help him do the other things he promised, but rather only the things he promised that he only promised to get their narrow, ideological vote in the Republic Primaries, and those things are the least popular, good (in any moral or ethical sense) and/or realistic of his promises.
Trump is making a smart move here. I suspect some wiser birdies are singing in his ears these days (and I don't mean Washington insiders, but rather people like his daughter). I just wish there would gather some more.
JMJ
Hi, Jersey, glad to see you as feisty and loquacious as ever. ;-) I'll take that as a Good Sign, and hope I'm right.
DeleteNaturally, I don't agree with your analysis, but even though I'm much given to making positive assertions as to what I believe and what I want, I've never claimed to know everything, and it appears my faith in Donald Trump MAY have been either excessive or totally misplaced.
HOWEVER, I am still utterly delighted that Mr.Trump proved to be the instrument that saved us from the godawful fate of being ruled by HILLACUNT the HIDEOUS, who was the worst possible choice we could have made. If Satan, himself had been her only opponent, I would cheerfully have voted for him. ];^}>
My persistent faith in a loving, all-powerful God tells me that ultimately things DO work out for the best, even when they seem to be leading in a wrong direction.
I fervently believe that NOTHING is far better than the WRONG THING, and Paul Ryan's hastily cobbled together bill, which he tried to shove down everyne's throat with an ultimatum whas clearlt the WRONG THING.
I view its defeat as a triumph. The only disturbing thing about the fiasco is the way President Trump has responded to it.
It will be "interesting" to see how it plays itself out.
That "SWAMP" is proving much harder to drain than The Donald thought it would be.
Hi, FT! Actually just had chemo yesterday! LOL! Ya' get used to this stuff after a while! ;) Actually, I'm having some problems, need surgery bad. But it shouldn't be long. You know me. I can take it.
DeleteHillary was doomed. The status quo just isn't going to do it anymore, and the right can't say they aren't a part of it. They've been wielding tremendous power in this country for a long time now. Trump is telling them - you have power, you can govern, you can actually get things done. But the right has so long identified itself as this victimized, put-upon, disenfranchised majority, all they are is against, against, against. They aren't for anything, they aren't doing anything.
That healthcare bill was a farce. 7 years of whining about Obamacare, undermining it, talking it down, lying about it, and in all that time they had not a single better idea to deal with a serious national problem. It makes me think they just aren't a very bright bunch.
Donald Trump, and the American people, want to see an America growing and doing big things again. That is the key to Trump's success. If he must work across the aisle to do it, so be it. He's not going to get anything but bad ideas from the far right.
And the swamp? That's going to get a lot worse. The new FCC rules, the blind eye on regulations, some of this other stuff, it's bad. It's going to hurt the country.
JMJ
Jersey's got the right analysis. Trump could have been a centrist Democrat back in the 60's-70's. He is not an ideologue; he is a practical-minded doer.
DeleteUnfortunately, he has no power base. I remember reading how Eisenhower was the last non-partisan president, and how no president could do that today, because in DC, you've got to have a power base to get anything done, even if you're a president.
It appears Schmucky Shoomer and the Demagogic Party has made the calculated decision to oppose President Trump at every turn and rebuff every proffered hand of partnership from him.
They appear to banking on that as a winning strategy in the mid-terms, where the Democrats have no chance of taking back the Senate, but a good shot at taking back the house.
As I read the other day, what kind of people show up to vote in the mid-terms? Angry people.
The Democrats are keeping their violent, hateful constituency in a foaming, bug-eyed, vein-bursting purple rage.
SF,
DeleteHe is not an ideologue; he is a practical-minded doer.
I agree.
Yesterday, during my weekly chat with my friend Warren, I told him, "I'd characterize Trump as a patriotic pragmatist." Warren agreed.
JMJ,
DeleteIs the idea to use chemo to shrink the size of the carcinoma(s) before operating? Pardon me if that's too personal a question.
SF,
DeleteAs I read the other day, what kind of people show up to vote in the mid-terms? Angry people.
Absolutely true for the vast most part!
Oh no, AOW! Its okay. I was stage 4 b-cell lymphoma, but it stayed out of my blood and nervous system (one hell of a lucky constitution!). Just got these many tumors all over my body. The chemo cleared that up great, but this one "main" tumor (was about baseball size when I started treatment, now it's hard to tell, but it's shrunk significantly) still remains. The cancerous lymphocytes seem to be gone now, so I can stop chemo after my next treatment (3 weeks) and then start looking at whether what's left of this "main" tumor is refuse or something else, what it's attached to, etc. They couldn't tell before, what with all the clutter (I describe it as an Amusement Park for Lymphomas). Now we have to see if it's still taking blood, if it's attached to my liver, gall bladder or spleen (it's in between those), and I also have a double inguinal hernia I've been waiting all this time to fix (got my colon stuck 3 times, with three hospitalizations, since last August!), and these will be my six and seventh surgeries down there. Also, I have a 25 year old mesh in there that's moving and tearing me up, and I'm losing blood. Meanwhile, just a few minutes ago, I found out my surgeon, Irish guy, loved him, expert on my sorts of problems, just quit his practice, an "emergency," so now I have to start over with someone else. Then there's the status of my gall bladder. So, I've got a little ways to go.
DeleteBut it looks like I will beat all this. Then it's back out to the wolves with me. I broke my neck (multiple fractured c7 when I was young), which is haunting me like you wouldn't believe, and my right rotator-cuff blew out two years ago (at this point, I long forgot what life without severe pain was like), but I just don't even care about that anymore. No way I could fix it anyway.
Meanwhile, my onc screwed up my chemo, so he's trying to hurry me out the door, so I need a new onc. I have a good guy lined up for that (personal connections). But I deeply worry about the future. I'll be 50 pretty soon. My health now makes me pretty much uncoverable. My wife and I had arranged our lives very mininalistically, and carefully secured what little interests we have, before all this happened, after she almost died and was left disabled from a horrifying heart infection that went full-body about 5-6 years ago now. And we're very very lucky to have a few good friends and family helping us out until I can get back on my feet. I'll be okay. I've been shot, I've died on the table a couple times, I've experienced paralysis (now THAT's scary!), had my left hand rebuilt, my skull sawed, just all sorts of injuries and stuff, battled and finally beat 25 years of drinking, and only take pain meds when I'm in dire straights - very rarely. I can take it. ;)
Never too personal for you, AOW! Hope you and your husband are okay these days!
JMJ
JMJ,
DeleteI need to lie down for a while (face pain because of my recent face plant in the asphalt), but must respond somehow to this comment of yours....
Good Lord! Talk about trials and tribulations!
That bit about your surgeon, obviously someone you like and trust, is a bummer. It's no fun starting over with a new surgeon.
That oncologist's mistake is inexcusable!
I admire your grit, JMJ. It will continue to serve you well.
PS: Mr. AOW and I are doing okay, but not great. Kidney disease is wearing me down, and Mr. AOW is frustrated that he can't do anything to help me. He's nearly bedfast here in the living room: hospital bed with bedside potty chair. He does have his mind and is loquacious -- very important, and those abilities prevent me from being lonely.
Donald Trump has no ideology. He spouted the targeted platitudes to the constituencies he needed to get elected. He also has no idea how DC works beyond the various palms he greased over the years.
ReplyDeleteWhat we are now witnessing is a pod of Repube baboons fighting over a shitpile they just drove the DemonCrap howler monkeys off of.
Our King Kong President is now isolated. The Demoncraps fear the rage-filled fascist mobs they've been egging on will turn on them if they even look kindly Trump's way, and the gang of craven cowards known as the GOP is too stupid to govern.
We must give the devils their due: The dictatorial Democrats know how to rule:
$ They fund street radical brownshirts to scare people
$ They cajole and pacify the softheads with empty promises, empty rhetoric and a few useless taxpayer-funded baubles.
$ They use the power of the state to mercilessly goad and punish their enemies.
The GOP just isn't that crafty or ruthless, so they lose.
I understand your feelings, Mort, but I am not quite THAT cynical –– at least not yet. Here is part of the the analysis I posted a couple of days ago in case you missed it.
DeleteThere IS no GOP –– only a fractious, fractured assemblage of nincompops at war with President Trump and with each other.
The public elected Mr. TRUMP, who is decidedly a maverick, in the hope that his larger-than-life personality and booming show of self-confidence might be able to overcome the VILE status quo.
I for one believe it to be foolish to abandon that hope. The defeat of Paul Ryan's LOUSY bill means we have really dodged a bullet.
Had that stupid, ill-conceived bill gone through, we would have lost ALL HOPE of EVER ridding ourselves of the CURSE of OBAMACARE.
It is PAUL RYAN –– and all he represents –– of whom we need to rid ourselves now.
Paul Ryan is obviously all too eager to play Mark Antony to Donald Trump's Julius Caesar.
Of course, I identify strongly with the Freeom Caucus –– the most Conservative element in the fractured, always fragile GOP coalition of disparate aims and ideologies.
I have to admit Mr. Trump's taking a stand AGAINST the Freedom Caucus yesterday has shaken my faith in him badly. BUT, I've always known Mr. Trump is a PRAGMATIST not and IDEALIST, but I DID believe he MEANT what said during the campaign.
I had hoped that he despised the RINO Establshment as much or more than I do. Now, only God knows what's what. It doesn't look good to me.
It's funny how when parties are in the minority they stand together so strong, but one they have all the power, they fall to pieces. In a way, I think that's how the Founders kind of wanted it. But in another way, it just goes to show how easy it is to break things as opposed to fixing or building them.
DeleteJMJ
I do believe that Donald Trump has appointed too many Washington political lifers to his administration. It's highly likely that there has been a rush to rein in his earlier perception as a "loose cannon" and bring him back onto the reservation.
ReplyDeleteI'd really like him to deal with the backstabbing scum bags like John McCain and Lindsay Graham openly and publicly to expose their true colors especially old Tokyo Rose himself the Canary of the Hanoi Hilton. What a fucking fraud this dirt bag is.
He's got way too much weight in his administration from the likes of Goldstein and Sachs as well as Blankfein and Goldman and Sachs. Doubt there will be much headway made in the realm of exposing the fraud of the Federal Reserve.
Loosing the reins of his daughter on the Washington scene may well be a good thing. She does seem to be genuinely interested in the issue of crimes against children and there is plenty of that in Washington.
Only time will tell.
If Donald Trump doesn't get back on the track of the political ideas that got him elected I believe he's going to become the "Shabbos Goy President". The guy that show up in the office to do the menial work when all the big cheeses are out for the 'holy days|'.
ReplyDelete________________ N___O___T___I___C___E___! ________________
ReplyDeleteBOILERPLATE, SHEER NASTINESS, and MINDLESS, PURELY PARTISAN INVECTIVE are PROHIBITED and SUBJECT to SUMMARY REJECTION and INSTANT DELETION
In the plainest gutter English this means that
SHITHEADS are NOT WELCOME to POST HERE.
Some people have been taking it pretty hard.
ReplyDeleteIf you ask me—it has been said before, and I'll say it again:
America does deserve Donald Trump. When they could have had a Hillary Clinton.
Trump has only the same thing going for him now that he had during the election... he's not Hillary ;)
ReplyDeleteI second that!
DeleteAs they years go by, that and a Supreme Court Justice may be our only consolation.
I've said just that, myself, to Jersey just yesterday –– only in more colorful language. It's the ONE thing I still cling to for consolation.
DeleteThe DemonRats have made a fine art of throwing oceans of cold pee over everything Mr. Trump is trying to do. But the GOP RINOS are far WORSE –– they lap it up with relish and gusto. (;-o
In case you haven't gotten the message yet, I friggin' HATE the RINO ESTABLISHMENT.
Good to see you here, Finntann. You too SilverFiddle, of course.
Yeah, it is good to see Silver and Finn!
DeleteJMJ
What the members of the media WISH were true is often FAR from true.
ReplyDeleteBrother, you SAID it!
DeleteThanks. Now I don't have to.
};^)>
};^P>
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteTOM, your lengthy screed made no attempt to address the TOPIC of THIS post, therefore by our rules your copious remarks had to be deleted.
DeletePlease take note of the following before attempting to comment here again
________________ N___O___T___I___C___E___! ________________
BOILERPLATE, SHEER NASTINESS, and MINDLESS, PURELY PARTISAN INVECTIVE are PROHIBITED and SUBJECT to SUMMARY REJECTION and INSTANT DELETION.
Sorry FT, I didn't think that you'd mind.
ReplyDeleteTOM. I believe your heart is in the right place, but if I don't stick to my guns and enforce the rules I've set down, the blog will turn into just another worthless internet free-for-all –– the moral equivaent of a public toilet.
DeleteNow why not tell us how YOU feel about President Trump's having turned against the Freedom Caucus for its successful resistance to "RyanCare?"
I'd interested in whatever you have to say about that.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAre they marching today? Is this an April Fool's joke? Is it an Arabian calendar thing? Is it still last winter in Arabia? (oh, that's right, it's winter 1,000 years ago...)
DeleteJMJ
With the non-stop Democrap clown car parade and their rage-filled and incoherent foaming at the mouth, every day is April Fools day for the Democrat Socialist Party.
DeleteThere aren't a lot of Schlapps living in real Socialist countries, are there?
DeleteJMJ
Tessitura Squigliana Mackenzie
DeleteSchlapps are much too smart for that.
LOL!
DeleteJMJ
If he has he'll be gone, Jan 22, 2021.
ReplyDeleteIf he goes along with the Freedom Caucus, he won't even make it to then.
DeleteJMJ
Jersey,
DeleteThe FREEDOM CAUCUS –– or the mentality it represents at least ––, is THE primary reason why Mr. Trump WON the election last November.
To kick sand in the face of your best fruends and most ardent supporters could NEVER be a good idea. I'm surprised –– and very disappointed –– in this latest move on President Trump's part.
I think it's very likely he is getting BAD advice from those he thought he could trust.
FT,
DeleteTrump appears to trust Priebus. Priebus and Paul Ryan are best buddies.
Like many in the business world, Trump trusts his appointees and delegates authority.
His scolding of the Freedom Caucus will come back to bite him in the a$$ and may give the Dems more seats in both the House and the Senate via the 2018 midterm elections.
The above said, this morning I read that Trump just had some kind of meeting with Rand Paul. See THIS.
Also see After golf with Trump, Paul says 'very optimistic' about ObamaCare repeal.
DeleteFT, you could say the same thing about moderates. The Freedom Caucus is small. They helped him, but as a block of the electorate representation, they're tiny, and it's not like they were going to vote for ANY Democrat. When you corner yourself like that, politically, or in any endeavor in life, you lose flexibility. Trump can't "work with" someone who will ONLY do what they want anyway.
DeleteJMJ
The Freedom Caucus REPRESENTS what-used-to-be-called The Silient Majority, Jersey.
DeleteLeftists tend be raucous and obstreperous, so they may give the IMPRESSION of being a much larger force than they really are.
More conservative types live more quietly, mind their own business, tend not to be particularly demonstrative, BUT when they get riled up, the country KNOWS it.
The roughly twenty-five-to thirty-million people who listen to Rush Limbaugh and his satellites each day have been ignored, dismissed, lampooned and openy derided by the Left which is mainly concentrated in the urban, coastal northeast, the urban west coast, Chicago, northern Illinois, Detroit, and the north central states which would be more accurately known as The Land of the Blockheads. ;-)
The vast vast VAST majority of our occupied land mass is populated with CONSERVATIVES. You never hear about them, because the ENEMEDIA acts as though either they don't EXIST, or DO NOT MATTER.
FT,
ReplyDeleteI'm concerned that Trump has so strongly criticized the Freedom Caucus.
HERE is the actual Tweet that he posted on March 30:
The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!
In my view, however, the AHCA (RyanCare) was a disaster of a so-called healthcare program.
Well, I think Trump is taking some cover here at the Freedom Caucus' expense. No one wanted to pass that bill. Not even Ryan. He put it out because he had to. It was pure political stage. It was never meant to pass. It wasn't even a serious bill, what with six pages devoted to what to do about lottery winners. I mean, c'mon! Really???
DeleteThese bastards are going to undermine and destroy Obamacare, do nothing to help, let millions go without preventative healthcare and insurance, and then try to blame it on the Democrats. Irony of ironies, they forget how forgetful the American public is. They won't be blaming Obama four years from now when the GOP accomplished nothing and the country is in the s#itcan.
JMJ
JMJ,
Deletesix pages devoted to what to do about lottery winners
Huh? Are you kidding me?
I agree with you that the AHCA was pure political stage.
As for ObamaCare, if Anthem Blue Cross (or whatever it's called) withdraws fromthe health insurance market, ObamaCare is kaput. Excerpt:
Anthem Inc. is likely to pull back from Obamacare’s individual insurance markets in a big way for next year, according to a report from analysts who said they met with the company, a move that could limit coverage options for consumers at a politically crucial time for the law.
Anthem “is leaning toward exiting a high percentage of the 144 rating regions in which it currently participates,” Jefferies analysts David Windley and David Styblo said Thursday in a research note.
An exit by Anthem might be devastating to insurance markets created by the Affordable Care Act, which is often called Obamacare. The company, which sells coverage under the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand in 14 states, is one of the few big insurers that has stuck with the ACA. UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Aetna Inc. have already exited most states, and Humana Inc. is planning to stop offering individual ACA plans entirely for 2018.
If Anthem quits, consumers in parts of Colorado, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio would be at risk of having no Obamacare insurers for next year, according to an analysis from Axios, a news website. Humana’s exit, similarly, will leave parts of Tennessee with no ACA insurance options, though state officials have said they’re working to attract other insurers....
More at the above link.
JMJ,
DeleteIt seems to me that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to force any individual to purchase any product offered by a for-profit company.
Do you disagree?
JMJ,
DeleteI think Trump is taking some cover here at the Freedom Caucus' expense.
I agree.
What Trump should have done is repudiate RyanCare as "too damaging to the folks." The surreal premiums for the 55-64 age group alone should have been a halt-this declaration.
JMJ,
DeleteYou might be interested in reading this analysis:
Obamacare Regulations Drove Up Premium Costs by Up to 68%.
One paragraph toward the end: Overall, accounting for gender, age, and the relative proportions of all those groups, Americans are paying 44.5 to 68 percent more in premiums owing just to Title I regulations. That number is even higher when factoring all the other adverse effects of Obamacare.
The article appears to have the data to substantiate the above assertion.
AOW, you have a few different things going here...
DeleteFirst, the behavior and the market shares of the insurance companies here is nothing new, and only go to prove that a real private market for realistic and affordable health insurance that everyone could buy simply doesn't exist.
On the tax. Roberts was the key vote on that. I have always been against the "mandate" re: tax. We are taxing people for not purchasing a private market product. It's an odd "transaction" to tax. But the Constitution is not clear on just what congress can tax, and why, and what they can use it for. It does not say that taxes can only be on transactions, for instance, and so therefore it may be inferred that it does not say that taxes can not be levied on non-transactions. I do not like it. But unfortunately, we do have a very old constitution.
That last thing is silly. Once again, you're just taking various numbers you like and throwing them around to try to make Obamacare the villain in all this. I don't know why you love private insurance companies, why you think they're a good idea, what market you believe is somehow out there for people who are older or have preexisting conditions, how the hell in today's economy you would expect people to afford it, or why we're do damned weird and special that we can't do what every other civilized nation on the planet does, but I'll leave all that to you. I don't put ideology above my humanity and rational thought.
JMJ
JMJ,
DeleteOnce again, you're just taking various numbers you like and throwing them around to try to make Obamacare the villain in all this.
I didn't invent the numbers mentioned, but rather merely cited what the article said.
I don't particularly love private insurance companies. But I remain unconvinced that a government bureaucracy can do any better.
As for people who are older or have preexisting conditions and have their rates jacked up to the moon, I know only too well about that -- especially the latter. In 2010 or 2011, my husband's premium was nearly $900/month, with a $2500 deductible followed by a maximum out of pocket of $5000 -- never mind that he had carried a health insurance plan for some 30 years.
Mr. AOW has the trifecta: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
I believe that people who have carried health insurance for 10 years should not be rated for pre-existing conditions; they have paid their dues.
I admit that I resent people who gamed the system. My cousin never got health insurance -- until the day that she found a lump in her breast. Then she bought a health insurance plan for cheap because there was no pre-existing condition in her medical record. $600,000 in benefits paid out, and she died anyway. Sad. But my point is that people often gamed the system in that fashion: they waited until they knew they would be needing medical treatment before ever obtaining insurance coverage.
JMJ,
DeleteYou know what? Until quite recently, I don't recall there being so much concern about our health insurance system and the cost of premiums.
It wasn't always this damned expensive to get a policy. Why now? Because those with government jobs have their employers (the government -- state, local, or federal) paying the lion's share of premiums while those working for private companies or themselves have the same premiums but have to pay those premiums by themselves?
I know that unions have something to do with this. My father never paid more than $2/month for health insurance. Union benefits for the transit agency.
JMJ,
DeleteI haven't analyzed all of the following link, but I'm leaving the link for you to peruse (I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to check my face after my recent face plant in the street, followed by a veterinarian appointment to make "the decision" about one of our cats, and may be late getting back to the blogs for a while):
The Bill To Fix Health Care – Permanently.
Some of it is crazy, IMO. But some of it may be what it is needed. There are some embedded links which offer good information.
AOW, you must not be paying attention. The health sector is a fifth of the economy now. It's ridiculous. We spend up to twice, and on average up to 50% more than other nations, for mediocre outcomes. It is not the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US. We've been trying to fix it for well over one hundred years.
DeleteYou think "government bureaucracy" can do it better, but the FACT is that Medicare does it better than ANY private health insurance company, at as low as a tenth the overhead.
Again, I see no rational argument against universal healthcare, even if it does quite heavily involve the private sector, as they do in much of the world. This strikes me as the prime example of just blindly following ideology and partisanship and not seeing things for how they are. At some point, you have to see the rational points: we all need healthcare, the most efficient possible pool would be everyone, there is no need for private insurance companies beyond contracting them to prevent fraud. That's how every other civilized country sees this. Get with the times.
JMJ
JMJ,
DeleteIt is not the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US.
Don't you mean that medical bankruptcy is the number one cause of bankruptcy in the US?
I assure you that I have been paying attention. I find it a bit insulting that you state that I have not been alert to this issue.
Anyway...
I started paying attention since 1992, when a dear friend's husband was diagnosed with glioblastoma. He was between jobs, have foregone COBRA coverage, and was diagnosed two weeks shy of employer coverage by his his new employer. He underwent a $100,000 surgery, which resulted in medical bankruptcy for the entire surviving family. My friend lost her husband and her home, and the children never got their planned college education.
At that point, I began sounding alarm bells in my circles. I stated, "It's time to end employer-based health insurance and put everyone out there on the market. Employer-based health insurance is driving up premiums."
In October 1993, my husband lost his job. Acoustic neuroma invasion of his brain stem was the cause of the problems he'd been having at work -- although we didn't know about the acoustic neuroma until a few weeks later. The moment Mr. AOW lost his job, we nabbed COBRA coverage, in part because of what happened to my husband's friend and that family. That COBRA coverage cost us a fortune, but also prevent medical bankruptcy: the $100,000 brain surgery which my husband underwent cost us $29,000 (mostly in premiums, but some in copays because the plan was an HMO). Of course, once the COBRA expired, my husband officially had a pre-existing condition -- never mind that acoutic neuroma never recurs after the kind of surgery my husband underwent. But the surgery did leave him with high blood pressure and diabetes, both the result of 8 hours of surgical prowling around in the brain stem.
I managed to obtain health insurance through my employer and stuck with that miserable job until my husband could, once again, obtain group coverage through a new employer. Group coverage meant the my husband's pre-existing conditions no longer applied. This new job was a miserable and low-paying job, but he stuck with it until the January 2008 lay offs.
JMJ,
Deletewe all need healthcare, the most efficient possible pool would be everyone, there is no need for private insurance companies beyond contracting them to prevent fraud
IMO, a definite yes to the first part, and a perhaps yes to the second part.
But I remain concerned that these steps will not necessarily reduce premiums. The aging, ailing Boomers and the ailing 55-64 age group are a tsunami, and will inevitably run up sizeable medical bills.
JMJ,
DeleteWe spend up to twice, and on average up to 50% more than other nations, for mediocre outcomes.
Please explain what you mean by mediocre outcomes? Do you mean prognoses? Something else?
AOW, God love the Boomers, but they are not going to live forever.
DeleteAs for outcomes, I'm astonished this is news to you!
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective
http://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0011_health-outcomes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/06/16/u-s-healthcare-ranked-dead-last-compared-to-10-other-countries/#604e8019576f
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/u-s-health-care-system-ranks-as-one-of-the-least-efficient
I mean, I could literally put up hundreds of these! It's across the board. Pick a metric, any metric, and take a look!
JMJ
You're husband's story is too common. I can relate. I hope he's feeling comfortable these days. Not to be light about this, but today? Could you imagine if the same thing had happened to you guys, only today. If you are lucky enough to live in a state that actually cares a little about the its citizens and doesn't just pander to their lesser angels, you might be better off. If not, you'd probably be much worse off.
DeleteThe bankruptcy rate, for instance, most of those people do have insurance. It's still not enough! The uninsured tend to have much less to lose, remember. You have to have something to lose it. The system we have now is robbing Peter (your life's savings, home, retirement, your kids inheritances, businesses, etc) to pay Paul (a healthcare "system" with no discernible system to it whatsoever).
But it's worse than just insurance! We can't graduate doctors! It's too friggin' expensive! The average college grad now owes almost 40k right out the gate. I can't imagine what Doctorates cost these days! We're importing our doctors from India! Malpractice is a huge problem, with little to no controls, whereby your life is reduced to status of lawsuit check, and physicians have to pump out a fortune, while bad actors just continue on their merry way making mistakes or worse.
This whole "system" is a joke and I'm ashamed of of my country for allowing this.
JMJ
JMJ,
DeleteI think of outcomes as the results of treatments and surgeries. I will check hose links to see if those metrics are addressed. I know that America falls short with regard to other metrics.
The metrics really aren't the thing, though. We are a HUGE country. So, it is hard to compare. The reason I bring up the metrics is just to compare costs with outcomes. You would think, if the free market in health insurance "worked," we'd be paying less, or at least have superior outcomes. Neither is the case.
DeleteThe point is that the whole "system" is broken. We're literally the only developed country left on the planet that doesn't have some kind of identifiable national system for everyone to work with, or even understand. We're importing doctors and nurses, malpractice and health insurance rates are insane, every state has it's own "system" and many of those are heavily rigged by insurance and pharma interests, and it just goes on and on.
I'm lucky. I've been through a lot, but have always managed to make it through. But I have wonderful friends and family, and was smart and educated enough to structure my life in such a way so that I can "live poor" when I have to. Millions of people are not so lucky. I worry about them.
JMJ
My Goodness! Don't you think it's time you two went and got a room somewhere?
Delete§;^D=
FT,
DeleteLOL!
Nothing like mutual medical woes to get people talking to each other!
Oh, and AOW, before, I meant paying attention to the "issue" of the uninsured and high costs and other problems related to healthcare. It seemed to me by 1992, it was already a huge issue, as deindustrialization and the demise of the labor movement ended good full coverage for most regular workers, (and pensions, and all that).
DeleteJMJ
LOL! My wife lets me blog, FT! Don't give her any excuses! LOL!
DeleteJMJ
JMJ,
DeleteI assure you that I do pay attention to the issues you mentioned in your comment @ 3:16 PM. I haven't blogged a great deal about those matters -- except when my husband was in the nursing home and the nursing home attempted, in effect, to hold him hostage to make him a permanent resident to the tune of $16,000/month. There's major scamming by these nursing homes, in large part because of the nursing home lobby.
Most of my clients have gold-plated employer-based insurance. I've never had policies like theirs. Never! Most of my clients have government jobs of some sort. As a result, they didn't have a clue about what I meant when I spoke of my annual deductible of $2500. Until my husband got Medicare, he, too, had that same deductible. I'm on Medicare now, too, as of February 1. I freely admit that when I fell last Thursday, I was grateful to have, for the first time in a helluva long time, no deductible. I'm sure that I ran up quite a bill in the ER.
I do agree with you that our health insurance system is broken. It was broken before ObamaCare, too, as far as my own experience tells me. ObamaCare didn't hurt me personally. In fact, I benefited from it in certain ways: prescription coverage, electronic medical record, coordination of benefits, complicated case manager, etc. But ObamaCare hasn't fixed our broken system and has placed a terrible burden on many medical providers.
I always had fantastic health plans, until the move down here to Florida, and more specifically, the recession. It's a shame. I must have paid for a lot of people's healthcare over my years, but I didn't need that much. I had injuries and surgeries, but not long-term, expensive problems, and most when I was young and covered by my folks, who also had the very best plans.
DeleteI didn't even take medicine for pain (but I drank a bit). Once, when I didn't have insurance, I had a surgeon and therapist take care of a pretty serious surgery on my hand pro bono! They just felt bad for me and wanted to help! That was right in the middle of that whole Hillary-care thing. I remember talking about it at the time with the therapist (who I saw like 200 times that year). She was a pretty with-it Columbia grad, but she was convinced the HMO's were the answer and all would be well. She didn't understand what I already did by then, that employer-based coverage of any kind was at the heart of the problem. It makes no sense. It grew out of happenstance into this "system" we have today, we are the ONLY people who do it, it hinders our exports, it adds a fortune to our business overhead, it's... just... I don't know. I don't understand how ANYONE can look at it and think to themselves, "Gee, that's just swell!" (Not that you are, of course!)
I always worked for foreign companies when I was young. Mexicans, Germans, and many years with the Chinese. They always provided the best benefits, full, good coverage, and lots of time off. They just didn't pay as much. But the benefits always struck me as worth the bargain.
Down here, I finally ended up working for Americans, and it's been nothing short of the most disappointing, confusing experience of my life. And this is the first time I've dealt with a serious health problem while not having good coverage, or a good job, or now even a job at all. And it is terrifying.
Now, like I said, my wife and I, after her terrible health scare, arranged our lives carefully so that we can live very, very minimally (we're easy to please anyway, we just read and do hobbies and care for animals).
Florida, not taking the medicaid expansion, for instance, means I can't get coverage if I get disability income! So, I can't have an income! It would be eaten entirely by the coverage, and still wouldn't nearly be enough! If my wife and I hadn't structured things just right, we'd have lost our home, everything.
Medical providers, especially hospitals, have lots to love about Obamacare, but there are problems, of course. But when you look at Obamacare's problems - the private exchanges, the 30 hour rule, the mandates - ALL of those problems have one in thing in common - private employer provided insurance! At what point do we realize that is the problem?
JMJ
JMJ,
DeleteFlorida, not taking the medicaid expansion, for instance, means I can't get coverage if I get disability income! So, I can't have an income!
I think that's wrong. I understand some of the logic behind the idea, but I've always felt that one has to be a pauper to qualify for Medicaid. We ran into that issue with my mother-in-law (Alzheimer's). But she also had a veteran's widow pension from her husband, who flew bombing missions in WW2. And, most importantly, she had a significant other for years after her husband died. The SO picked up the bills for her so that she didn't have to live as a pauper.
I've long decried employer provided insurance -- because I've had the experience of dealing with clients who have forever had that kind of coverage and zero understanding about those of us who don't. They somehow thought that my premiums were the same as their portion of their employer-subsidized health insurance.
I lucked out. My private policy was grandfathered (By a mere 2 weeks!), so I never used the ObamaCare exchanges. The highest monthly premium I ever paid was about $300/month, with a $2500 deductible. And I had an incredible range of providers. The comparable ObamaCare plan with that same premiums had a $6500 deductible.
JMJ,
DeleteI understand what you mean by it is terrifying.
Your situation is terrible.
But at least you're getting the medical treatment you need. I hope that it works out for you!
Erratum: I was paying about $400 a month, age 64.
DeleteActually, Medicaid covers all sorts of stuff, like nursing homes, hospitalizations, etc. It's not just for paupers. Medicare recipients use it all the time. I think they're the biggest bloc of it.
DeleteBut I was looking at well over $700 a month for coverage last year which I would have lost, anyway, and would have lost everything else in the process. You get unemployment if you get laid off, you get comp if you get hurt at work, you get a long wait and a big headache to have any income when you get sick and don't have really good insurance (which doesn't even exist in Florida).
And I don't have many choices, and I have been mishandled, misdiagnosed, delayed, and have suffered from other's mistakes. I'm lucky to have made a few connections via my wife and a close friend of ours who we took care of for many years when he was sick (He died last year. We still have his sweet little dog!), so I have a couple more choices than I would otherwise, but again, just lucky.
The costs of this, all told, could be up around 200K-250K. There's no way for most Americans to handle that without being reduced to poverty. We have to get the costs under control - medicine, medical education, malpractice insurance, pharmaceuticals, these ridiculous patents (like FJ always mentions)... this entire "system" is just a cash cow for the investment class.
I've been told by several doctors that this should have been discovered MUCH earlier, as in years. Yet I had coverage the prior year, and I had a regular GP doctor who I saw regularly, even when I wasn't covered (I paid cash). But she was terrible. Didn't do anything when my blood pressure just kept going up and up and up. Just gave me more BP pills. Did nothing about pain and discomfort issues that were concerning me. "You're fine." "It's stress." That's what we're getting these days. The Dr's who take only the emp-provided plans, they don't even want you to go for care! You just pay them to get your prescriptions and off you go.
I never even heard of most of these problems up North. The South is a shithole.
JMJ
JMJ,
DeleteI never even heard of most of these problems up North.
I can assure you that these problems also occur here in Northern Virginia. I'd provide you some details, but don't have time. Off to work I must go! Never mind that my face still looks hideous because of my recent face plant. :^(
;) I'm talking just a little further up North...
DeleteFor instance, in NJ one time, at a job, when I was young, I was on a loading dock, doing something dangerous (I was instructed to do it, and I was a foolhardy kid anyway...) so of course, I hurt myself (it was kinda funny actually, but it was a 7" tear in my abdomen!) and had to have a surgery. So, I was supposed to get comp for two or three months until I was healed. So, the first day comes along when I'm supposed to get my comp check, and it's not there. So, I call the NJ state's advocate office for workman's comp. This guy gets on the phone with me, I tell him the story, and he literally is yelling, in typical NJ fashion, "WHO THE _____ IS YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY??? YOU GIVE ME THEIR _______ NUMBER!!! WHO'S YOUR _______________ REP???" He was po'd! Anyway, the next day, the insurance calls me. "Oh, sir! We're sooooo sorry! It was just a mistake! We will overnight your check immediately!" And that was that. Down here? There wouldn't even be a number to call, and if there was, you wouldn't get any help.
And please be careful! Falls are a killer as we get older! My wife loves this stone floor of ours, but my God is scares that hell out of me that she might fall on it. The second I get back on my feet, it's cushioned, non-slip, faux-wood tile for the whole house!
JMJ
JMJ,
DeleteMy mother-in-law was in California. Strict rules there for Cali-aid (or whatever it's called).
Workers comp here in Virginia is great. My husband had two of those types of claims, and everything was worked out just fine.
Now, about fall hazards....
The non-slip faux-wood tile is great stuff.
Our home has some fall risks, but not many. I made a lot of changes after Mr. AOW had his stroke in 2009.
My fall didn't happen here at home. I have doubts that the owner even has homeowners insurance. Medicare takes care of my fall-related bills -- unless dental work is needed. I hope that my teeth quit aching. Takes a while for teeth to calm down.
There are a lot of people on the left, especially Progressives who would prefer to see the nation completely collapse than see a president of an opposition party succeed.
ReplyDeleteThat's just silly. "Especially" my @$$.
DeleteJMJ
Not silly at all, Jersey. It sounds like a clear statement of absolute fact from the bilious, choleric, splenetic carnival of sheer spite and ungovernable infantile rage the DemonRats have been putting on ever since Mr. Trump won the election.
DeleteThis is not the kind of behavior one should expect from mature, rational adults.
They're frightened, FT! But still, one-way partisan ad homs will always silly as long as there is such a thing as a "party."
DeleteDid you ever think Donald Trump would be President of the United States until this last election exploded upon us? You couldn't have been a fan. I mean, I'd be surprised. I wouldn't think that sort of reality TV stuff would be anywhere near your thing. And his persona as we'd recall it from his millionaire playboy days, his poor tastes, tabloid exploits, and sort of silly attitudes, his dependence on shifty lawyers and accountants to do all his real "business," none of this seems the least Presidential to me. He seems smitten with comparisons of himself to Andrew Jackson, but would you or I or anyone with a reasonably good education really make such a comparison? It's silly. Mature, rational adults should be terribly frightened to see this sort of situation in our Republic.
JMJ
If Trump is a moron then he's much less of a moron than Hillary
ReplyDeleteOh, and Thanks Crazy Bernie Sanders , for being a filthy hypocrite, selling out and making a fool out of all your supporters!
ReplyDeleteOuch! What's got under your craw wit the Bernie Man?
DeleteJMJ
BS switched sides and supported HRC after she and her henchpeople in the DNC engineered BS's defeat through chicanery.
DeleteThat provied BS to be a PHONY. I
would never have voted for BS, because he's a Marxist, and I believe Marxism to be abhorrent, but I liked what-appeared-to-be-his forthrightness and sincerity.
upportng the abominable HRC, who is the ANTITHESIS of Sincerity and Forthrightness, made BS seem DISGUSTING to those of us who admire people who stick to their PRINCIPLES.
I don't know why this pretend story keeps floating around out there. Bernie lost the Democratic primaries by a large margin. No undermining accounts for his loss. If the Dems had open primaries everywhere, then maybe he'd have won. But this myth that the Dems somehow stole it from him, which is born of the myth that all Dem voters are all just so "liberal" and "left" and "socialistic" is completely belied by the facts. I love Bernie. Registered as a Dem for the first time in my life just so I could vote for him in a closed primary. But the FACT remains - he lost the popular vote in the primaries by like several million votes. No amount of chicanery can account for that. He's still not even a Dem! And of course he would support Hillary and the Dems over the GOP and Trump? I mean, what are you saying? Should he have become a Trump supporter the day he lost the primary? I don't understand your points here!
DeleteJMJ
Yeah, Lester (RN) is a waste of time, as well as a waste of human flesh... but he does illustrate how the brain dead left wing trolls operate . His obsessive commenting also has the advantage of driving up his ranking with that Ding Bat Shaw, who he tries so hard to impress. . Lyin' Loser Lester and his Progressive ilk never gets tired of the thrill being insulted. Or trying to impress his Puppet Master Shaw at how much he can spread his lies and insults at PRESIDENT TRUMP. Oh how it must be killing the two of them having to live under Mr. Trump's Presidency!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE IT!
WOW, what. an Outrage, President Trump hit the golf course for the third weekend in a row.
ReplyDeleteTrump played "a couple of holes" on Saturday and Sunday while staying at his own resort Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida!
Did you Liberal Crybabies expect him to work 24 / 7 ? Is that what your Messiah Barrack did while the First Lady was gallivanting all over the world with her Hollywood friends on the Taxpayers dime did?
Lolly Poppe said
DeleteYes, it's awful, and do you know I heard on good authority that Donald Trump actually had a BM right in the White House. Can you imagine?
SCANDAOUS, I call it.
Alley Janeen
ReplyDeleteI think the "Democratic Party" is hurting themselves. With Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and Chuck Schumer, they are killing themselves. Wait until the Democrats find out they want Sharia law. See how many people flee the Democratic Party.
I forgot to say that was written by Alley Janeen.
DeleteAlopecia McDermott Valdez said
DeleteWHO in God's name is Alley Janeen?
Philip Janeen's Sister
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't tell ME a thing. Please be more explicit.
DeleteWhy should the name JANEEN mean anythung to us?
Yeah! Who the hell is this Janeen???
DeleteJMJ
God knows, and who cares?
ReplyDeleteFT, This is all just Art of teh Deal stuff. Things will turn out great. Especially if that crazy fat kid in N Korea kidnaps john mccain and keeps him.
ReplyDeleteKid,
DeleteI, too, have been wondering if the strategy is along the lines of the art of the deal. I really need to read that book.
McPain has been our TRUE Manchurian Candidate no diubt, Kid.
DeleteWell whata ya know! The Libs were right all along. Obsma does trust and think of Women more than Donald Trump does!
ReplyDeleteAfter all look at the record!
Obama called Susan Rice his "right hand woman." And gives her such important jobs to perform. She was certainly a key player in some of the dirty business going on in the Obama Administration. Her main claim to infamy came when she went on all five Sunday news shows to claim that the attack in Benghazi Libya which killed four Americans including our Ambassador Chris Stevens was a protest over an Internet video. One of the great lies of the Obama Administration.
And how about the fact that another Great Woman was given the important job of passing along to stolen questions of the debate during the primaries.
And how about Valarie Jarrett, who is so trusted that she is even moving in with the Former Liar- in-Chief in his new home in Washington to make sure he can whip up enough dirt on Mr Trump to distort and dest his administration.
And while we are on the subj of "Honestly and Honorable Women, let's not forget the First Place Winner of the Decade, Hillary Clinton the Women who ran for the Presidency while she was being Investigated by the FBI along with every other law enforcement agency in the country!
Yes, I would say that Barrack Obsma really does have lots of love ❤️ for Women
TOM, you really need to open and establush your own blog. I promise I will visit, and contribute regularly On Topic, if you do.
DeleteSo would I Tom,you are always Right On!
DeleteNo BOD, he's too often completely OFF ––– topic that is, and so by the way are you.
Delete