Well, folks, the Senate health plan is out. It's 2,074 pages long, and is even more crapulent than the House plan, from what I can tell.
Some of the awesome features:
1) Taxing more expensive plans that employers provide. The meme is that these are "Cadillac" plans, as if the people who are covered by these plans have any say WHATSOEVER in how much the programs cost.
2) Cutting even more from Medicare.
3) Offering an "opt-out" option for the states.
4) Forcing people to buy insurance, then penalizing them if they don't do so.
That's it!
Oh, wait. You wanted to know about that whole abortion thingy? Don't worry. The Senate has you covered!
Mr. Reid’s bill would not go as far as the House-passed bill in limiting insurance coverage for abortions. Democratic senators said that the bill seeks to extend current law by barring the use of federal money for abortions (emphasis mine). But it would also require that at least one insurance plan that covers abortion and one that does not cover abortion be offered in every state.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?! This is the best our Congresscritters can come up with?!
Ridiculous! Beneath contempt. They're all beneath f*cking contempt.
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Rahm calls it "impressive"
That's all I need to know!
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
I especially like the extra cruelty
of penalizing people whose insurance plans are ALREADY expensive, pretending the "consumers" chose those plans instead of their employers, and making them pay extra taxes on top of it.
No wonder Rahmbo loves it. It's Legislation for Sociopaths 101.
Never vote for people who hate you.
ERA Now!
The Widdershins
Especially if it's a union "Cadillac"
Think of it as a government clawback of a union negotiating gain.
Also, I tinkered with your headline to make it a bit more vivid. You can always change it back...
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
"Rollicking, unpredictable"
This is my favorite part:
Sure, "rollicking." I can see that. But "unpredictable"? Hardly.
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Well, it doesn't matter if anything is accomplished.
I mean clearly, as our Preznit of hope and change said, we want to make sure that the status quo does not change.
The important thing is that the ignorant masses are entertained by a "rollicking" debate.
Never vote for people who hate you.
ERA Now!
The Widdershins
2014 is the new 2013
we get to wait yet another year for the public option [not that i care].
so says dday, at least. i haven't checked on that.
So bad that not only does Obama not want to run on it in 2012...
... they don't want it to affect the midterms in 2014! That must be the "impressive" part.
NOTE Somebody with a working OL account might consider a QH on this...
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. -- Mahatma Gandhi
I think I have one of those
plans that are considered "Cadillac," Blue Cross BS, via employer (yes, I know I'm lucky, compared to many others).
In October 2007, premiums went up, but co pay stayed at $10, deductible at $250.
In October 2008, premiums went up, co pay up to $20, deductible up to $500.
October 2009, premiums went way up, co pay up to $30, deductible up to $1000.
Of course, October 2009 just happened to be when I started to need to USE this Cadillac plan. Cadillacs are pretty much gas guzzlers, aren't they?
So, now, they want to impose an additional tax on employees and the employers who provide pretty good coverage, probably resulting in the employers choosing to provide some cheaper, tax-resistant coverage. (And it would be logical in these hard times for the employer to make that choice, considering the 2% pay cut our employees got a year ago, so fewer people would be laid off.)
And cutting Medicare, which I was looking forward to being eligible for in 7 years.
PLUS, why is this bill Reducing the federal deficit? I thought the requirement (not applied to defense dept spending, of course) was only that it be deficit neutral?
It Mucks About With Medicare
The Senate wants to degrade Medicare so all of the people who become eligible will be paying higher premiums for their Medi-Gap insurance, and more people will die quicker in nursing homes as the managements cut staff.
The reductions will also make it easier for the Big Hospital Corps to pick up even more hospitals cheap.
It's very logical when you know who the Senators are really working for.
All this from the Obama lead Dems!!! I would be shocked,
except that I predicted that Obama was hell bent on destroying the Democratic brand as we knew it. Going after Medicare has been a Repub iconic goal for decades. Now, Obama succeeds. Just in time to turn millions of Baby Boomers away from the Democratic Party. Gee, think it's a plan or something?
A stealth candidate funded by the corporations in order to ensure continued Corporatist
power and wealth.
Wow.
Naomi Klein said that in making Obama a Super Brand, Obama made a huge mistake. When there is a large gap between the ideas promised, or at least suggested by the Super Brand, and those ideas or promises do not come about, then the public feels doubly cheated.
Can anyone post one of those Ally Bank ads (no time to check if there are any on YouTube) where the little kids are promised something or conned in some way by a kinda smarmy adult male? Those should be the templates for ads against the Dems and Obama....
This health care thing just may destroy the Democratic Party and then this nation.
Yes, I am not optimistic about anything this administration puts its hands to.
And what alternatives do we have?
(Seems PC prices are coming down now--perhaps post Windows 7 launch effect? Anyway, hope to find a decent affordable one soon. Gotta run--time limited use in Library Land, but bless that these PCs with internet access are here for us.)
Political lexicon
"Cadillac" = a tacky luxury that the poor use to ape their betters, as in Reagan's welfare queen riding to pick up her welfare check in her Cadillac. The minute you hear a politician apply the word "Cadillac" to a program, you know that a law punishing the beneficiaries is in the offing.
This is in contrast to
"World class" = a high-status luxury provided by politicians to the wealthy with a fee structure that keeps out the taxpayers who foot the bill, as in the publicly-funded sports arenas with skyboxes. The minute you hear a politician apply the words "world class" to a program, you know a gift of public assets to cronies is in the offing.
What's With The Cadillacs
For those who don't know - if you are blocked from buying a house because banks won't give you a mortgage, and even if you had the cash, no one who had land would sell to you, you look for some other way of showing you were successful in your community.
The automobile is the second largest purchase people normally make, and people who are prevented from buying a house, spend a lot of money on cars.
I grew up in the South. I know how the system works.
So the term "Cadillac plan"
IS racist as well as classist?
It sure seems that way to me.
Never vote for people who hate you.
ERA Now!
The Widdershins
They won't get over this idea
that people should have to pay a bigger part of the bill so they'll think twice about going to the doctor or having tests, hence the tax on the "Cadillac" plans.
This is not anything we hear from the people in other countries who have better systems than we do. They say when they're sick they JUST GO TO THE DOCTOR and never have to worry about a big bill. Why can't we just have what everyone else does?
in civilized countries,
Socialism is not a dirty word, and the insurance companies don't own the Congress. Sigh.
Never vote for people who hate you.
ERA Now!
The Widdershins
Bcz Obama is leading Dems to open class warfare? Corporations
are winning, and the winning part of the corporations are the upper management. Not the workers. Not really the shareholders. The managers. Certainly not the customers.
And now we have a Dem prez who is openly Corporatist
and leading the charge.
Now,my question is, does he realize what he's doing, or is he just driven to please the powerful in any way possible?
Open Left
mutiny in the comments