It’s too late for most of them to show that they are strong, caring people. They’ve voted too often to line the pockets of the rich at the expense of the rest of us for them to demonstrate their uprightness. But they bill does give them the chance to show that there are some things that not even they can stomach. And I am cautiously optimistic that they will do so.
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Moderates cave? I’m shocked, shocked. Isn’t it what they always do?
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Dubbed the “Polar Payout” or “Klondike Kickback,” the provision would give Alaska hundreds of millions of dollars to help lower insurance premiums.
Great. Just great. This would also be a ‘Glacier Giveaway’, a ‘Permafrost Pacifier’, or you could call it the ‘Murkowski Mollifier’, and ‘Capito Capitulation’, should McConnell win them over, eh Senators? I can’t believe Capito and Murkowski wouldn’t just come right out with their disapproval right away. They still seem to be toying with who goes first to reject this lousy bill.
Notice the ones more willing to come forward, to some degree, and turn this thing down, are all women in the Republican party. Says something, I hope, about their level of compassion, and their ability to approach problems from many different angles at once. Something not always appreciated by folks in the Party of “Hell No We Can’t”. Which only proves, more women in the Senate would help matters appreciably for the better… preferably however, they would be progressive Democrats, so we can have the best of both worlds.
Let me just say that McConnell is hardly the tactician he’s been made out to be. The man is simply a heartless, hard-shelled bastard. (Had to get in my turtle comparison somehow).
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In all seriousness, I’m feeling a need to write an op-ed/essay on budgets as moral documents and the BCRA as a deeply immoral document.
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Next up on their agenda after this debacle…a tax bill tagged deceitfully as “reform”, which will be another attempt to further enrich already wealthy folks (because there’s no moral leadership on the right, insuring rich people give back to the country that made them so rich in the first place). Call this a second bite at that same wormy apple…Gotta have those tax breaks for them at all costs, while making those in need dish out more in taxes to make up the difference. Makes no sense, but that’s what Republicans are all about. That’s what they do. Its who they support most.
Reverse Robin Hood is all these Goopers do in Congress. Been that way almost throughout my lifetime beginning with Raygun.
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I was a college student in California back in the days when Ronnie Raygun was Governor of California. I recall several occasions when we were sitting around in the lounge, BS-ing about politics. It was pretty much a consensus in my crowd that Ronnie was such a bad Governor that things could only improve if he was moved from Sacramento to D.C.
Dear doG in heaven, we were so very wrong. I learned from that John and Paul were wrong when they wrote (in It’s Getting Better) “Can’t get no worse.” It can, baby, it can.
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The fix is in.
This is just another act in Republican Kabuki Theater. McConnell gave his passes to Paul and Collins. The rest will fall in line to kill Obamacare.
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Yep. Its not the ‘marketplace’ they give a shit about. Its Crony Capitalism. Its not even about basic capitalism as an economic foundation, unless it benefits certain individuals over others. The GOP have always gone out of their way to pick winners and losers in the business world from their perch in Congress and in State legislatures around the country. That’s why we’re stuck going backwards in time to their harebrained ideas, forcing the country to support the fossil fuel industry once again, instead of the promising environmental and highly profitable green energy industry. In only a few years, green energy has advanced better outcomes by leaps and bounds, and has become more affordable in such a short time for the average consumer. Republicans don’t care about affordability for the consumer…regarding anything. Republicans care about maximizing profits for patrons and the donor class that contribute to their campaigns, consumer be damned. ‘Trickle down’ from big business interests has always been code, as the average person in this country keeps getting pissed on as a result…while the GOPers laugh all the way to the bank.
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dueling quotes:
TPM:
“The revisions pair more deregulation of the health care marketplace, largely via Sen. Ted Cruz’s controversial amendment, with a rollback of tax breaks for the wealthy and the allocation of more money to stabilize insurance markets and treat opioid addiction.”
Paul Ryan:
House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Thursday that if a new health-care law is enacted that keeps the Obamacare taxes for the wealthy in place, Republicans may use tax legislation to repeal them.
“One of the taxes that affects the tax on capital income is something that is a critical part of tax reform itself,”
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Let’s look at the bright side. If this monstrosity becomes law, there will be fewer trumpettes to vote against themselves.
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Assume that this rev fails.
Then what?
McConnell comes up with a bill that only kicks say ‘only’ 10,000,000 off insuracnce expecting Democrats to jump on it?
Because of the uncertainty, insurance markets collapse and vast areas of the country have no insurance plans available?
And no, regardless of how much sense it makes - pigs will fly before Universal Or Single is a realistic possibility.
I see failure of this bill as one big Mongolian-Cluster-F*ck with no good ending.
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So it comes down to that investment tax being left in the package in order to provide more cover for the “moderates”. Is there ANYBODY out there who will corner any of these “moderates” and ask them about Ryan’s plan?
Carve outs + Repubs: They were against them before they were for them!
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It’s a necessary component of the GOP tax cut, er, tax reform package the donor class was promised.
Also, the House version of the bill would need to be redebated and voted on again. Depending on the outcome of the 2018 midterm elections, that may be a more challenging task than it was this year.
Finally, the WH scandals are a big wild card. If Mueller finds dirt on members of the House and/or Senate leadership…
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Wow…money for the Kodiak Kickback…money for W.VA opioids. $880 BILLION stolen from Medicaid. Screw the rest of the country. Our ‘government’ at work? JHC.
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Read the piece. Failed to spot any moderates.
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How are those dueling or incompatible, as I think you’re suggesting?
The ACA taxes those in higher incomes more to cover those at the bottom of the income scale, and those that are healthy help pay for those that are sick, which is the basis for all insurance. Both House and Senate bills eliminate those provisions. The GOP wants those provisions repealed, thereby crippling the ACA to fund itself. Cruz may want to roll back some of those tax breaks for the rich, but his proposal takes away guaranteed coverage under the ACA to more stingier plans with no one in the higher brackets having to cover the cost for those at the bottom through that progressive tax system.
Both RAyn and Cruz essentially achieve the same end results…gutting provisions that take care of the most needy at the bottom of the income scale. With Cruz, you can buy coverage that basically provides crappy bare-boned plans at a cheap rate, but are not encouraged to get insurance or pay a small fine otherwise. Both RAyn and Cruz get rid of the mandate to purchase insurance, which also brings the entire healthcare industry to its knees, and destroys the industry that has benefited from the ACA in the first place. That’s why insurance companies for the most part, medical associations, and hospitals are against this shit. All those regulations that now make the ACA work would be dismantled, deregulated, creating a cascade that’s been described as the death spiral, not just for the ACA, but for all the healthcare insurance markets as well.
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Moderate Republicans are the most convincing liars in politics. A real conservative wouldn’t have pretended to care about the people who live there.
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Good point; it will be a defining moment. I’d only add, à la old_curmudgeon, that standing up against this bill doesn’t show great strength or care – it demonstrates the most minimal moral stance one would expect of any non-sociopath. That said, they should all show they are non-sociopaths. We’ll keep the applause as mild as possible.
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The term “GOP Moderate” is an oxymoron, sort of like “sanitary landfill.” Landfills aren’t sanitary and if you call yourself a member of the GOP, you are by definition not a moderate.
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