Ramming ACA down our throats

[Jimmy Higgins]

The ACA bill was introduced in September 2009. Voted on by the House in October 2009, passed via a little trickery in the Senate in December 2009, and then finally reapproved via the House in March 2010.

For those doing the math, there were:

• 13 months between inauguration and signing of the bill.
• More than 6 months between introduction and signing of the bill.
• 3 months between the House and Senate vote.
• 3+ months between the House reapproving the vote.

One other note, the Senate bill, 60 votes approving!

The AHCA was introduced in late March 2017 and finally approved after a few failures to call a vote in early May 2017. It is currently June 2017, and there is are a couple deadlines of interest. The 2018 budget is due in September 2017. Which means this bill must be passed first if they want to make with "Budget Reconciliation" and remove the possibility of a filibuster (the Democrats needed 60 votes!). But August is a recess for Congress! Which means that the end of July is a potential deadline. It is currently the middle of June and approaching near the end. The Republican Senators (well a few of them) are negotiating a AHCA bill which is very much a carbon copy of the ACA with a little more smoothing. So the Republicans in the Senate don't have time to put together a decent bill, so they are going with the "It isn't perfect, but it is what we have" attack line in an attempt to get this thing passed by the end of July. For those playing at home, that is about 6 months since Trump took office. It would be less time that between the House's first and final votes!

And the Republicans will do this with Mike Pence passing a tiebreaking vote!

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[untermensche]

The silver lining of these despotic Republicans ramming their secret plans down our throats is they may screw up the insurance system so bad enough people will become energized to bring about national health insurance.

Joining the civilized world.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

View attachment 11514

20/80 = 25% That's republican efficiency! [/snark]

 

[Kharakov]

Aren't protons and electrons primarily responsible for our health problems? Shouldn't they foot the bill?

We need an electromagnetic tax.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The Republicans will stand in front of the nation and say, with a straight face, 'this bill isn't perfect, but it will help more Americans access health care' while doing the exact opposite. And when it doesn't do that (if they can pass it, they have zero votes to lose in the House), they'll blame the Democrats. And that'll work too, because the American people are easily lied to. The right-wingers love it when the AM Radio personalities jerk them off with sand paper while the moderates are distracted by shiny things and hollow platitudes.

The silver lining of these despotic Republicans ramming their secret plans down our throats is they may screw up the insurance system so bad enough people will become energized to bring about national health insurance.

Joining the civilized world.

I'm sorry, but what about the US voting public decisions in the last 20 years makes you think they have a clue? The Republicans are sabotaging ACA and then blaming the failures on the ACA itself! And they keep getting reelected!

- - - Updated - - -

View attachment 11514

20/80 = 25% That's republican efficiency! [/snark]

Dude, you work with the Europeans space agency? Check your units! Regardless, the snark is still accurate.

 

[Deepak]

Dude, you work with the Europeans space agency? Check your units! Regardless, the snark is still accurate.

It was a double snark - the product of a DeVos education...

 

[braces_for_impact]

The Republicans do not view health care as a right but a privilege one may or may not be able to afford. Sometimes they even bring themselves to admit as much. But, the people have an entitlement now, and as they argued before, once people have an entitlement it's extremely hard to remove it. They want to chuck the whole thing into the trash bin, but they can't because of how deeply unpopular that idea is, and what it would do to the health care industry. So, they're really just trying to dismantle it over a long period of time and somehow hope no one notices, since their tax cuts and other zombie ideas will have kicked in by then bringing in unparalleled wealth and prosperity, you know, just like it did in Kansas.

 

[Opoponax]

If this passes and becomes law, I sure as hell hope the Democrats learn something from this. That lesson should be that you can't win a game against an opponent that doesn't play by the rules.

It's like playing Monopoly against a bully kid (my older brother) who insists on rolling the dice 5 times in a row while you still try to play by taking your one turn. Of course you're going to lose badly every fucking time.

The Dems represent the majority of the people in the U.S. yet they continually get their asses beat by these goddamned thugs (yes, I said "thugs") who have fortified themselves with 1) a massive army of The Stupid who seem to thrive on getting fucked sans lube again and again and again, and 2) super wealthy donors.

Don't want Obama to appoint a Supreme Court Justice? Fine, just don't hold hearings.

Can't win more than 48% of the vote in Wisconsin? No worries, just gerrymander the fuck out of the state so that you can get a super majority in the state house.

Want your guy appointed to X? Use the nuclear option.

Don't want to take responsibility when it all goes sideways? No problem, blame the Democrats and accuse them of exactly what you did.

And this whole pathetic goddamn thing about not winning elections, "but getting close" means fuck-all. Of course, gerrymandering haunts those outcomes. But again, the Republicans take advantage of the fact that the Supreme Court generally won't touch those unless racial discrimination or ethnicity can be proven.

That conservatives fucking hate the Constitution and the American form of government is apparent.

Fuck it all.

 

[Ford]

The Republicans do not view health care as a right but a privilege one may or may not be able to afford.

Or to take it a step further, they see it as a luxury good.

Sure, you can get a vaccination for your kid or a prescription for antibiotics if you get an infection, but a kidney transplant?

Sorry, but that's like having your clutch swapped out on your Maserati. I mean, if you can't afford to have a kidney transplant, then you shouldn't have bought a kidney in the first place!

A hundred thousand dollars for a round of chemo? That's something that should be reserved for people who have a hundred grand laying around just in case. Expensive medical treatments are things that should be kept beyond the reach of the poor folks...like a Rolex or a set of professional kitchen appliances. Republicans think that expensive health care procedures are like anything else expensive...you have to earn the money first, then when you can afford the thing you deserve to have it.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The Republicans do not view health care as a right but a privilege one may or may not be able to afford.

Or to take it a step further, they see it as a luxury good.

Sure, you can get a vaccination for your kid or a prescription for antibiotics if you get an infection, but a kidney transplant?

Sorry, but that's like having your clutch swapped out on your Maserati. I mean, if you can't afford to have a kidney transplant, then you shouldn't have bought a kidney in the first place!

A hundred thousand dollars for a round of chemo? That's something that should be reserved for people who have a hundred grand laying around just in case. Expensive medical treatments are things that should be kept beyond the reach of the poor folks...like a Rolex or a set of professional kitchen appliances. Republicans think that expensive health care procedures are like anything else expensive...you have to earn the money first, then when you can afford the thing you deserve to have it.

You nailed it.

 

[starwater]

Or to take it a step further, they see it as a luxury good.

Sure, you can get a vaccination for your kid or a prescription for antibiotics if you get an infection, but a kidney transplant?

Sorry, but that's like having your clutch swapped out on your Maserati. I mean, if you can't afford to have a kidney transplant, then you shouldn't have bought a kidney in the first place!

A hundred thousand dollars for a round of chemo? That's something that should be reserved for people who have a hundred grand laying around just in case. Expensive medical treatments are things that should be kept beyond the reach of the poor folks...like a Rolex or a set of professional kitchen appliances. Republicans think that expensive health care procedures are like anything else expensive...you have to earn the money first, then when you can afford the thing you deserve to have it.

You nailed it.

And if you get hooked on opioids because of an accident on the job that caused pain, well too bad, no rehab treatment for you because you lost your job and your healthcare. You shouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place.

 

[ideologyhunter]

The ACA is the perfect Christian approach to health care. Just have faith in this bill, whatever the fuck is in it. For faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. Let's vote.

 

[Treedbear]

... Expensive medical treatments are things that should be kept beyond the reach of the poor folks...like a Rolex or a set of professional kitchen appliances. ..

Tell the government to keep its hands off my KitchenAid!

 

[Shadowy Man]

And this whole pathetic goddamn thing about not winning elections, "but getting close" means fuck-all. Of course, gerrymandering haunts those outcomes. But again, the Republicans take advantage of the fact that the Supreme Court generally won't touch those unless racial discrimination or ethnicity can be proven.

Didn't the Supreme Court just rule on some Gerrymandering cases?

 

[Deepak]

And this whole pathetic goddamn thing about not winning elections, "but getting close" means fuck-all. Of course, gerrymandering haunts those outcomes. But again, the Republicans take advantage of the fact that the Supreme Court generally won't touch those unless racial discrimination or ethnicity can be proven.

Didn't the Supreme Court just rule on some Gerrymandering cases?

No - they'll be hearing it this fall

 

[Shadowy Man]

Didn't the Supreme Court just rule on some Gerrymandering cases?

No - they'll be hearing it this fall

I was thinking of this: http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/north-carolina-gerrymander/index.html

The Supreme Court struck down two congressional district maps in North Carolina Monday, holding that the state had engaged in an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

 

[braces_for_impact]

If the Washington Post is right, this is about the same shit show we had in the House.

 

[Deepak]

No - they'll be hearing it this fall

I was thinking of this: http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/north-carolina-gerrymander/index.html

The Supreme Court struck down two congressional district maps in North Carolina Monday, holding that the state had engaged in an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

Ah, sorry I thought you meant the WI case - I didn't realize they had ruled on this one.

If the Washington Post is right, this is about the same shit show we had in the House.

...and eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Who could have guessed they'd use this to fight their culture war instead of actually dealing with the problem at hand? The gambit being if the Dems vote mostly, or unanimously, against it they can then claim they tried their best and continue kicking the can.

 

[Ford]

If the Washington Post is right, this is about the same shit show we had in the House.

The interesting thing is that - if the leaks are true - neither the House nor the Senate bills are a "repeal" of Obamacare. They water down parts of it, and gut (but not completely eliminate) others, but they don't wholesale repeal the ACA as promised, nor do they replace it either.

The real "secret" of this legislation is that it does neither of the things that the GOP has pledged to do for the last 8 years..."repeal and replace."