Discussion: Obamacare Stabilization Talks Go Awry As GOPers Demand Benefits Rollbacks

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“Negotiations are still moving, but it sounds like Senator Alexander is having a bit of trouble with the extreme wings of his caucus,”

That suggests voting matters. Who knew?

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This oughta be quite the circus.

As if every day since 20 Jan hasn’t been.

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Note to TPM headline writer:
Opening negotiating positions, and subsequent posturing/gambits, ordinarily do not make talks go “awry”, these are in fact an ordinary, not particularly alarming, sometimes salutary feature of the bargaining process.
HTH

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no, just no.

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Ahhh Yes !!! Bi-partisanship and workin’ together … that’s really … really … funny !!! To Republicans that always means Democrats are supposed to do what they want them to !!! Republicans have displayed that attitude for over 40 years and they aren’t gonna change that requirement. Regular folks are soooo screwed unless they accept reality teevee as a substitute for “health care”.

Oh hell let’s forget the disputes and hold a big … er, bigly … rally … yeah that’s the ticket!! Noise makers and party hats for everybody !!

Haaa … Haaa … Haaa

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I get their objection to mental health-after all, what mentally healthy person would vote for these fools? I don’t get their objection to maternity care. Isn’t increasing the birth rate among the native born part of their program? After all, if the native-born stop having babies, the only place to get future workers will be through immigration.

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It’s understandable that Republicans don’t know how health care works, seeing as they themselves benefit from permanent, premium health care welfare.

They talk like it’s a choice each individual consumer makes.

The company health care benefit is strictly take-it-or-leave it. The reality is most people take whatever job is offered them, and cross their fingers that the benefit doesn’t suck. Only in the ivory tower of Congress and/or their many corporate buddies do people think they can refuse a job offer because the company plan doesn’t include their life-long doctor.

I know a person whose company offers Anthem. In the past several weeks, this person has lost two of four doctors. Anthem’s response was to bad mouth the two doctors — realize this is a lower-level sales rep, so the doctors are evidently well known throughout Anthem — saying the two refused to be flexible. Both have provided excellent service to their patients for decades.

“Access to health care” means nothing. Not to patients. Not to doctors.

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Which they now want to limit to 50,000 legal immigrants per year

“Republicans are demanding that some of the ACA’s protections and mandates be waived—and have suggested rolling back the requirement that every insurance plan cover essential health benefits like maternity care and mental health treatment.”

It’s quite remarkable that one of our two major political parties comprises people who are batshit crazy.

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Rethugliklans have serious issues with “native-born babies.”

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How big is the extreme wing of the GOP?
It is time for the moderates, if there are any, to tell the extreme wing to take a flying leap.

Me thinks the GOP only talk about being moderate.

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Single Payer Now: It’s not a Pony if every other developed (and many developing) country in the world has already been doing it for decades…

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But you don’t necessarily get a pony just because the other kids in the neighborhood have ponies. You get a pony if you have votes to pass the bill and override a veto. Are we there yet? I might have missed the news, maybe?

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Senate Democrats say they’re open to some increased “flexibility” but worry that allowing too many regulatory rollbacks will lead to more expensive and worse quality health coverage for millions of people.

So, Senate Dems are resistant to the entire thrust of health care reform. Won't get far with that attitude.
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But Republicans promised us bigger and better than Obamacare…Obamacare had those death squads that would throw sick people out on the streets to die.

Wake up America…the Republicans are THE death squad.

Support and demand Universal single payer under Medicare for all…get the Wall Street Insurance giants and their 30% tax out of the healthcare system. Even stupid Max Baucus from Montana has finally woken up and realizes single payer is the solution!

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Prepare to swallow a giant, grey lump of shitty insurance, America. As long as the goal is insurance, as it is now, and not health care, which isn’t the goal of Congress, you will receive damn near nothing of value to you and your family.

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Whatever happened to the Wellstone-Domenici Act? This was the mental health care portion, it went through before the rest of Obamacare, partly because Domenici guilted wavering votes in his Republican caucus, but now they’re walking right away from it, with the operative term on right. So now they want to gut bipartisan legislation that’s less than a decade ago. Depraved.

But I certainly hope that members of congress retain their full, taxpayer-funded health insurance benefits out of any negotiations.

They sure deserve it.

Republicans really are different from Democrats, on a very basic level. They are congenitally unable to refrain from cruelty.

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