And now for a intelligent point from the other side of the aisle.
David Frum makes some very good points about the health care reform bill and how Republicans dealt with it - badly.
Look, the HCR bill is not perfect. Frankly, I like a great number of things in the bill, but I'm still pissed as hell that there's no single-payer or public option. Exactly how long is it going to take us to catch up with the rest of the civilized world, honestly?
That said, as someone pointed out on ONTD_P, "I love how this country can remain intact through a Civil War, two World Wars, slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam era, the Cold War, and 9/11, but the moment the House passes a health care bill by a narrow margin, the Republic falls apart and we're all doomed." The Republican response was ridiculous, and a year or so down the line when America isn't a smoking crater infested with ravenous zombie nurses, what then?
David Frum throws out from very good points, from the fact that you can't really negotiate with someone you've made out to be Brown Hitler The Grandmother-Smothering Anti-Christ, to this particular gem that I keep dwelling on:
Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?
It's sarcasm, of course -- no sane person would actually go before their constituents and argue for these -- but still.
As I may have already mentioned, the place I work is a call center for Medicare Part D plans. The plan I occasionally answer the phones for when it gets busy - I work in another section that deals mostly with returned mail - means talking to seniors on the phone about their drug plans. These are people who get incredibly upset at having to pay their deductible -- you can only imagine how worried they get about their slim finances once they hit the donut hole. And this is the Republicans' base. They can certainly try to take back the HCR bill, but it's things like closing the donut hole (and the fact that the Republicans used so much terrifying hyperbole America just has to make it another six months without being infested by the ravenous zombie nurses or the shiny new pillow-carrying Smother Squads before the Republican voters catch on) that are going to make repealing a large part of the HCR bill an unpopular move.
That's what gets me about the response to the bill. There are things genuinely wrong with the fucker, not even that it's not even a tenth as socialist as the Republicans claim or socialist enough for me. It's not right enough for them, and I get that. But there was a way to go about fighting its contents that didn't involve accusing Obama of planning to grow questionable facial hair, set puppies on fire and lob their burning carcasses at your great-aunt.
And at this point, even if the health care reform bill fails on a lot of things, it can't possibly fail to the point Republican leaders and media pundits claimed unless it spontaneously generates Captain Trips. Which may just come back and bite them in the ass come election time.
EDIT: Also, copied from the Crooks and Liars site and boosted from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
deirdre_c ...
Ten benefits which come online within six months of the President's signature on the health care bill:
1. Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents’ policy until their 27th birthday
2. Children under age 19 may not be excluded for pre-existing conditions
3. No more lifetime or annual caps on coverage
4. Free preventative care for all
5. Adults with pre-existing conditions may buy into a national high-risk pool until the exchanges come online. While these will not be cheap, they’re still better than total exclusion and get some benefit from a wider pool of insureds.
6. Small businesses will be entitled to a tax credit for 2009 and 2010, which could be as much as 50% of what they pay for employees’ health insurance.
7. The “donut hole” closes for Medicare patients, making prescription medications more affordable for seniors.
8. Requirement that all insurers must post their balance sheets on the Internet and fully disclose administrative costs, executive compensation packages, and benefit payments.
9. Authorizes early funding of community health centers in all 50 states (Bernie Sanders’ amendment). Community health centers provide primary, dental and vision services to people in the community, based on a sliding scale for payment according to ability to pay.
10. AND no more rescissions. Effective immediately, you can't lose your insurance because you get sick.
I want to rub myself shamelessly against that entire list. :D
Look, the HCR bill is not perfect. Frankly, I like a great number of things in the bill, but I'm still pissed as hell that there's no single-payer or public option. Exactly how long is it going to take us to catch up with the rest of the civilized world, honestly?
That said, as someone pointed out on ONTD_P, "I love how this country can remain intact through a Civil War, two World Wars, slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam era, the Cold War, and 9/11, but the moment the House passes a health care bill by a narrow margin, the Republic falls apart and we're all doomed." The Republican response was ridiculous, and a year or so down the line when America isn't a smoking crater infested with ravenous zombie nurses, what then?
David Frum throws out from very good points, from the fact that you can't really negotiate with someone you've made out to be Brown Hitler The Grandmother-Smothering Anti-Christ, to this particular gem that I keep dwelling on:
Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?
It's sarcasm, of course -- no sane person would actually go before their constituents and argue for these -- but still.
As I may have already mentioned, the place I work is a call center for Medicare Part D plans. The plan I occasionally answer the phones for when it gets busy - I work in another section that deals mostly with returned mail - means talking to seniors on the phone about their drug plans. These are people who get incredibly upset at having to pay their deductible -- you can only imagine how worried they get about their slim finances once they hit the donut hole. And this is the Republicans' base. They can certainly try to take back the HCR bill, but it's things like closing the donut hole (and the fact that the Republicans used so much terrifying hyperbole America just has to make it another six months without being infested by the ravenous zombie nurses or the shiny new pillow-carrying Smother Squads before the Republican voters catch on) that are going to make repealing a large part of the HCR bill an unpopular move.
That's what gets me about the response to the bill. There are things genuinely wrong with the fucker, not even that it's not even a tenth as socialist as the Republicans claim or socialist enough for me. It's not right enough for them, and I get that. But there was a way to go about fighting its contents that didn't involve accusing Obama of planning to grow questionable facial hair, set puppies on fire and lob their burning carcasses at your great-aunt.
And at this point, even if the health care reform bill fails on a lot of things, it can't possibly fail to the point Republican leaders and media pundits claimed unless it spontaneously generates Captain Trips. Which may just come back and bite them in the ass come election time.
EDIT: Also, copied from the Crooks and Liars site and boosted from
deirdre_c ...Ten benefits which come online within six months of the President's signature on the health care bill:
1. Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents’ policy until their 27th birthday
2. Children under age 19 may not be excluded for pre-existing conditions
3. No more lifetime or annual caps on coverage
4. Free preventative care for all
5. Adults with pre-existing conditions may buy into a national high-risk pool until the exchanges come online. While these will not be cheap, they’re still better than total exclusion and get some benefit from a wider pool of insureds.
6. Small businesses will be entitled to a tax credit for 2009 and 2010, which could be as much as 50% of what they pay for employees’ health insurance.
7. The “donut hole” closes for Medicare patients, making prescription medications more affordable for seniors.
8. Requirement that all insurers must post their balance sheets on the Internet and fully disclose administrative costs, executive compensation packages, and benefit payments.
9. Authorizes early funding of community health centers in all 50 states (Bernie Sanders’ amendment). Community health centers provide primary, dental and vision services to people in the community, based on a sliding scale for payment according to ability to pay.
10. AND no more rescissions. Effective immediately, you can't lose your insurance because you get sick.
I want to rub myself shamelessly against that entire list. :D
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}