Do they turn into horses?
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we use the same 15 trillion we are all paying already in premiums because they then go away.
we simply pay taxes to have a more efficient system (like Medicare) and take out the profit motive and denied coverageâŚ
the math actually isnât that hard when considering honest facts as opposed to media narrative, from a Media with a vested interest in a mud fight between Clinton/Trump or Clinton/BushâŚ
their horse race profit generator must be fedâŚ
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I think weâre waiting for an Obama like, charismatic figure to get behind because when we had one it was something close to thrilling. Heâll never come this way again, and no one after him will be able to offer the hope and the prospect of change he did.
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I agree Hillary is still the odds-on favorite to win the nomination. I think she may well win Iowa, and I wouldnât count her out in New Hampshire yet either. But at the same time Bernie now seems to have a very real chance of winning in Iowa (it looks like itâs pretty much a tie there at the moment), he has a great chance of winning in New Hampshire and now the two most recent national polls have the race down to single digits nationally. (Maybe both of those polls are outliers, but if not, thatâs a huge development, and one that could not happen without Bernie beginning to seriously erode Hillaryâs democraphic âfirewalls.â)
If Bernie does sweep Iowa and New Hampshire, and at the same time is closing the gap nationally, we could have a real contest on our hands.
Still, at this point I wouldnât bet any money on Bernie that I couldnât afford to lose. Hillary will probably be the nominee, and at that point she will need to unite the party behind her, including as many Bernie supporters as possible. Bernie has promised to support her if she win the nomination, but having Hillary attacking single payer as burden on taxpayers, claiming Bernie is going to âstrip millions and millions of people of their health insurance,â etc., only makes that task much harder.
Surely she and her people know that, and for them to take this risk anyway suggests they are getting pretty nervous about the primary. But I think their choice of target â single payer health care, and Bernieâs reputation as a champion of universal health care â is quite likely to backfire anyway. Single payer is an idea that is extremely popular among Democrats, and Bernieâs credentials as a champion of universal health care are basically unassailable. So it is very much a âRovianâ attack not just because itâs blatantly dishonest (though it certainly qualifies on that count) but also because itâs an attack on an opponentâs strength, much like the way they attacked Kerry on his war record. But as most of us will recall, while Rovian attacks have been effective in many cases, in plenty of other cases theyâve fallen flat, or even backfired. I think this looks like one of those.
So I think itâs a disgraceful attack, but as I wrote in another comment, I donât think itâs going to hurt Bernie, and may actually help him. Not only do I think itâs more likely than not that this particular gambit will backfire on Hillary and could well gain Bernie more votes than it loses him in this primary fight, it also helps prepare him for the kind of disingenuous attacks that he would face from Republicans if he beat all the odds and won the nomination. And I think the same is true of many of Bernieâs criticisms of Hillary. In both cases, it will help toughen them up for what is to come.
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Take what Karen Finney says with a grain of salt. Sheâs been a Clinton adviser for years and Chelsea is The Daugher. Thereâs nothing else she could say. HRC will not be talking about scrapping ACA when sheâs a nominee because her advisers consist of those people from winning Clinton and Obama campaigns. If sheâs smart, and she is, sheâs listening to them
Thatâs because he has always supported and proposed single payer as a state by state program âwith federal guidelines.â Heâs being hypocritical hereâand the over the top assertion that the Clintonâs truthfulness about his health care proposals aâcalling her Karl Rove!âshows he does have a guilty conscience on this. He is not a true socialistâor if so, only in small statesâwhere of course his single payer failed miserably (not a big enough pool of insured to sustain it.)
He has NEVER once voted for the several Democratic bills for federal single payerâheâs cast his vote against it every time.
What he is is a small minded, small government type, not too far from old fashioned conservatives âŚ
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How else would we get to single payer?? Besides Bernie does NOT support federal single payer, a la Medicare. He wants it to go state by state, more like Medicaid. Heâs a phony.
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We assume that the rest of the citizenry is as interested in presidential campaigns as we are, and I donât believe they are. Iâve heard people say âOh, is Clinton running?â in response to the HRC button I sometimes wear on my coat. However, Iâm more than happy to be among people who are permanently interested in political campaigns because it means we give a shite.
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But why hasnât he released it? Because the trick is that he isnât actually FOR single payer at the federal level.
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âYeah, thatâs the ticket!â
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MyMy, you have the Hillary Hysteria going on already?
This is basic shit. When instituting say single payer, you donât scrap existing HC first. You incorporate one into the other. And he does indeed support a federal single payer HC program. No one in their right mind would leave it up to the states! And no, thereâs nothing phony about the guy. In fact itâs one of his best attributes. You need a time out and stop worrying. Your choice is still most likely to win.
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Actually he does want it to be handled by the states. I do like Bernie and he is the real deal, but if he expected the Clinton organization to play fair, heâs a bit naive. It was the Clintons who brought up the issue of Obama not being born here, the Reverend Wright issue and his being a muslim. They are vicious players.
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Baloney. Bernie has been quite clear that he supports universal single payer health care for all Americans.
But I agree he needs to lay out the details. Previously he said he would before the Iowa Caucuses. I read yesterday that some campaign spokesperson was saying maybe not. I think that would be a mistake.
I had always thought (assumed) that when Sanders talked about single payer, he essentially meant a simple statutory expansion of Medicare-- Medicare for All. So, I was pretty much stunned today to find out that that is not what he means, at all. So, with the arguments flying through the air I decided to actually read his old legislation. And I was stunned for the second time in one day. Sanders not only wants to repeal the ACA, which has been unbelievably successful in its first couple years, here is what his plan would do, based on its own language. First, it would set up a rationing of health insurance benefits by setting up a Presidentâs council that would set a budget for health care /health insurance coverage spending each year. This would turn the ACA on its head; while ACA guarantees that every personâs premium subsidy is secure, based on their income and that every legitimate medical bill is paid, Sanders would eliminate that guarantee. And just think how a Republican President might establish the national budget. They would squeeze it, putting an intolerable burden on policyholders and beneficiaries, and forcing them to buy supplemental insurance on the open market. Second, the Sanders bill would basically âblock grantâ the âbudgetâ and let each state decide how to divide up its slice. Can you imagine how a Republican president would decide how much each state would get? It also takes no imagination to figure out what will happen in Republican states. Think of this for starters-- no family planning coverage, let alone abortions. Think of this, too-- the allocation of monies to their higher income constituents, not the poor or working class. Third, there would be no uniformity across the nation, letting the already worst states screw over their neediest citizens. Fourth, it would impose a new tax, and establish yet another program where people in the Blue states would wind up subsidizing the Republicans in the Red states. Bernie is complaining about Hillaryâs criticisms. Me Thinks he is crying like a stuck pig. Hillaryâs mistake was not going after Sanders on this a long time ago. Just think-- Bernie Sanders, the Democratic candidate who wants to help the Republicans trash Obamacare. Youâre no mensch, Bernie Sanders.
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No, he doesnât. Read his bill!!!
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âActually he does want it to be handled by the states.â As of Monday:
In a statement on Monday, Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs hit back: âSecretary Clinton is inaccurate in suggesting that Republican governors would be able to circumvent the law and deny implementation in their states.â Referring to a single-payer proposal he put forth in 2013, Briggs added: âThe bill Sen. Sanders introduced was very clear. It is national legislation for all states.â
National Nurses United added its voice to those defending Sandersâ proposal, accusing Clinton of deliberately distorting the facts.
âSurely Hillary Clinton knows that Medicare and Medicaid are national programs, and that they would be funded as national programs,â said NNU co-president Jean Ross. âTo claim that expanding Medicare to all would hand it over to state governors is a crude, inflammatory distortion, and shows an indifference to all those people who continue to be harmed by a broken system.â
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Very true. I think most people who will actually end up voting at least know by now that Hillary is running and that Trump is running, and many could probably name a couple of the other candidates, but even most of those who do know who some of the candidates are, arenât paying much attention yet (and some never will). Iowa and New Hampshire are the same familiar carnival shows off in the distance, occasionally a gaffe or put-down will be spicy enough to catch some general interest, but for most people their own primaries are still months away.
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Wrong. And BTW:
Where is Clintonâs plan to give everyone healthcare? Not just slight cost savings
And 23% of Americans still lack coverage. Whereâs her plan for that?
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If he truly just wanted to expand Medicare, all he would have to do is remove the age limits for eligibility. Full stop. So, I would suggest that these groups actually read his bill. It is not Medicare for all, it is rip off of the Canadian system.
Is that supposed to be a bad thing?
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