Affordable Health Care Law under review by SCOTUS

[GwynnInTheHall]

I was attempting to illustrate a partisan point. Unlike some on this board (for example, Horns who just labeled him "nasty"), I happen to really like Paul Ryan. He was handed a shit sandwich when he accepted the Speakership. He got handed a double decker shit sandwich when Trump ran. He he got a triple decker with a double load of shit when Trump win. He is now eating the sandwiches and doesn't even have ketchup to smooth out the taste. He didn't want the Speakership, but took for the good of the party. He had a healthcare plan and a party vision that was totally different than the Trumped up versions he's forced to promote now. You don't have to agree with his policitcs, but he's not a nasty guy. And I wouldn't want to be in his shoes for anything right now. He IS NOT the problem.

Now, Truth be told, I don't think Warren is nasty, but I sure don't like her politics. We can agree to disagree on that, I suspect.

I assumed we would and I understand why you phrased it that way.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Now McConnell--HE'S Nasty! :P

[Hornsby]

I was attempting to illustrate a partisan point. Unlike some on this board (for example, Horns who just labeled him "nasty"), I happen to really like Paul Ryan. He was handed a shit sandwich when he accepted the Speakership. He got handed a double decker shit sandwich when Trump ran. He he got a triple decker with a double load of shit when Trump win. He is now eating the sandwiches and doesn't even have ketchup to smooth out the taste. He didn't want the Speakership, but took for the good of the party. He had a healthcare plan and a party vision that was totally different than the Trumped up versions he's forced to promote now. You don't have to agree with his policitcs, but he's not a nasty guy. And I wouldn't want to be in his shoes for anything right now. He IS NOT the problem.

Now, Truth be told, I don't think Warren is nasty, but I sure don't like her politics. We can agree to disagree on that, I suspect.

Which is why I labeled him a 'nasty POLITICIAN", rather than a 'nasty guy". There are politicians of all stripes that I can label as "nasty", since I don't agree with their approach to things. LBJ was both a nasty guy and a nasty politician, but he championed some of the greatest efforts at equality this nation has ever seen. He also a deeply flawed human being that like to bully other and intimidate people into voting his way.

Ryan may indeed be a swell guy, I've met him and came away unimpressed, but your milage may vary. But at any one of those points that you mentioned Bernie, he could have taken a different path, and he chose not to. So the shit sandwiches that he was forced to eat, were, IMO, in large part made in his kitchen.

I would hope that everyone in politics would borrow from the Hippocratic Oath, "First, Do no harm". I know that it's naive, but hell, I've got to cling to something good...

[Bernie Brewer]

Which is why I labeled him a 'nasty POLITICIAN", rather than a 'nasty guy". There are politicians of all stripes that I can label as "nasty", since I don't agree with their approach to things. LBJ was both a nasty guy and a nasty politician, but he championed some of the greatest efforts at equality this nation has ever seen. He also a deeply flawed human being that like to bully other and intimidate people into voting his way.

Ryan may indeed be a swell guy, I've met him and came away unimpressed, but your milage may vary. But at any one of those points that you mentioned Bernie, he could have taken a different path, and he chose not to. So the shit sandwiches that he was forced to eat, were, IMO, in large part made in his kitchen.

I would hope that everyone in politics would borrow from the Hippocratic Oath, "First, Do no harm". I know that it's naive, but hell, I've got to cling to something good...

Hey, I'll admit that I'm a 2x4 kind of guy. Subtlety and nuance are not my things. I don't separate the politician from the person, I guess. Maybe I should. But, I will say that I'm not sure what other choices he could have made or what other paths he could have pursued. If he believes he can have some positive impact and make a difference, then walking away by resignation or by becoming an obstructionist within his own party, serves no one. I don't doubt that that his intentions are good. The complaints about the holes in now DOA AHCA are thing that would have affected his constituents and family members as well. I thought this was part 1 of the fix, but maybe I was wrong. How many policitians really go to DC with the intention of doing harm to their own loved ones? Where is the self service in that. He seems to me to be one of the few even toned plain speaking level heads in DC, a place devoid of plain speaking, even temperamented levelheaded folks.

[Redbirds Fan]

Ryan has more positive qualities than many of his peers, but the ACA seems to be his white whale. He has been intellectually dishonest about it. He claims that the GOP has, for seven years, tried to repeal and replace Obamacare, which is simply not true. All you have to do is look at the five dozen bills put forward by the House to see that the GOP intended to cripple the ACA or repeal it outright. There was never a proposal for a replacement. And Ryan, in his budget proposals, included provisions to repeal the ACA.

The latest developments are demonstrating what a dysfunctional body the House of Representatives has become, especially on the GOP side. With 237 members, they couldn't raise 215 aye votes to do something they have campaigned on since 2010. And why didn't they have a fall-back bill to simply repeal what dozens of House members have called the greatest disaster in American history?

And then there is Devin Nunes, who has become Trump's lapdog. What is that about? Yet another guy with ties to the Russians. He needs to go back to farming, as he has no knack for intelligence work.

[Hornsby]

Hey, I'll admit that I'm a 2x4 kind of guy. Subtlety and nuance are not my things. I don't separate the politician from the person, I guess. Maybe I should. But, I will say that I'm not sure what other choices he could have made or what other paths he could have pursued. If he believes he can have some positive impact and make a difference, then walking away by resignation or by becoming an obstructionist within his own party, serves no one. I don't doubt that that his intentions are good. The complaints about the holes in now DOA AHCA are thing that would have affected his constituents and family members as well. I thought this was part 1 of the fix, but maybe I was wrong. How many policitians really go to DC with the intention of doing harm to their own loved ones? Where is the self service in that. He seems to me to be one of the few even toned plain speaking level heads in DC, a place devoid of plain speaking, even temperamented levelheaded folks.

It's not that the harm is intentional, unintentional harm is still harm. Too many politicians are beholden to their doners and simply don't look at all the possible ramifications. And that goes for politicians from all sides, not just the GOP. I doubt that Trumpcare/Ryancare would have affected his family personally, but you're right in that it would have a great impact on his constituents. I think that sometimes being an obstructions is the right way to go...that's what the freedom caucus did to devastating effect on the health bill. Sometimes you need to be the squeaky wheel.

I've met enough politicians in my lifetime to believe that there's really very little public service anymore...maybe I'm too jaded. But I've seen pols to go DC with little to their names, and come home a decade later as millionaires...so frankly, I just don't trust any of them. I look at their legislation they back and see if, IMO, it helps or hurts the people and the country, not if it makes the wealthy wealthier. I saw this morning that Carl Icahn is in line for a post in the Trump administration...one of his goals is to change an EPA regulation that would save him 200 million a year. Now, does he really need that? And why would Trump and company go along with it?

[dslaw]

Saw Cotton on Face The Nation yesterday and he said this:

"Well, I think the president is simply stating a fact, that Obamacare continues to get worse. Premiums continue to go up every year when you get to new open enrollment system. Many counties across the country have only one insurer, which means an insurance has a monopoly over your care. Now, what can happen in the short term, while the Congress is continuing to deliberate about health care, is what was being called phase two. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price can undertake regulations designed to lift some of the worst harms of Obamacare and try to give some people relief. Later this year, we have must-pass health care legislation that is coming up, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It is very important to a lot of Democrats. By that point, I hope that we can reach some kind of consensus where we can try to do away with the worst problems of Obamacare that can only be addressed by legislation." http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the...-schiff-gowdy/

I totally agree with him that Obamacare isn't perfect and needs some changes but he kept talking about changing it by legislation and regulations. I kind of hope he means having serious discussions about fixing the problems and making Obamacare better but I am worried he means using every possible means by regulation to defund and kill Obamacare and/or hold CHIP over the Democrats head as a bargaining tool to reverse parts of Obamacare.

[Redbirds Fan]

One of the things which was argued during the recent legislative battle was that Obamacare had caused health insurance to skyrocket. I just researched the history of health insurance premiums since 1999, and I found that premiums have risen steadily and evenly since that time. There has been no difference in the rate of increase under Obamacare than before Obamacare, at least during the Bush administration.

I also found that, as a percentage of median family income, the increase has remained fairly constant as well, with the largest rate of increase occurring between 1999 and 2005.

Certain premiums have gone up, as insurers must now cover pre-existing conditions and cannot discriminate on the basis of sex and other inappropriate criteria. And there is anecdotal evidence of individuals who have seen large increases. But is there evidence that industry-wide premium increases are linked to Obamacare? Anyone have anything on this?

I hear also that Obamacare is bad because carriers should be able to sell across state lines. Obamacare doesn't prevent this. States regulate this, and do this to prevent what they see is a 'race to the bottom'. Georgia experimented with removing restrictions, but no new carriers came in. It is really expensive to come into a state and set up your networks, deal with doctors and hospitals, etc. Anyway, they could repeal Obamacare this afternoon, and that wouldn't mean carriers could sell in any state they wanted to.

[cardboardbox]

is Ryan a nasty politician in your mind the same way Chuck Shumer, Elizabeth Warren, and Nancy Pelosi are nasty politicians in my mind?

nah, he's one of the good guys but he seriously should have thought about this bill more. Not his best moment.

[Redbirds Fan]

“People can go to the state that they want to live in,” Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) told reporters Tuesday morning when asked if people with pre-existing conditions could be charged much more under the American Health Care Act.

“States have all kinds of different policies and there are disparities among states for many things: driving restrictions, alcohol, whatever,” he continued. “We’re putting choices back in the hands of the states. That’s what Jeffersonian democracy provides for.”

I never knew health care could be so simple.

[Moonlight J]

“People can go to the state that they want to live in,” Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) told reporters Tuesday morning when asked if people with pre-existing conditions could be charged much more under the American Health Care Act.

“States have all kinds of different policies and there are disparities among states for many things: driving restrictions, alcohol, whatever,” he continued. “We’re putting choices back in the hands of the states. That’s what Jeffersonian democracy provides for.”

I never knew health care could be so simple.

Yea, this asshole is my representative

[dslaw]

I never knew health care could be so simple.

Maybe this dude needs to talk to Trump. Prez thinks this health care stuff is complicated.

[Hornsby]

Tomorrow, the House will vote on a bill that they haven't read, and will likely kill many of their constituents, if passed. But we can look on the bright side, the richest people in America will get yet another tax break!

[Hodor]

Tomorrow, the House will vote on a bill that they haven't read, and will likely kill many of their constituents, if passed. But we can look on the bright side, the richest people in America will get yet another tax break!

But looking on the bright side....... Never mind, I don't want to be banned.

[cardboardbox]

I havent seen a political party this determined to destroy itself since 2010.

[Moonlight J]

He looks so happy for a guy about to strip away coverage from 25 million people in a bill without the ink being dry or a CBO score to be seen. Good thing that foot won't be a pre-existing condition for him since and his staff are exempt from that part of the new law if it makes it through the Senate.