-
It's that time of year again - our ISP is asking for money. If you have some spare change, please click the Donate link... Thanks!
- About Us
- Search
- Need Help?
- Donate
- Login/Register
Latest Entries
Actions Menu
Blog Roll
- 4F Facebook Page
- Turn Up The Night with Kenny Pick
- Stephanie Miller Show
- The Tim Corrimal Show
- The Rachel Maddow Show
- Angry Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
- Thom Hartmann Program
- Turnips! Fans of Turn Up the Night Facebook Page
- Snopes.com
- Factcheck.org
- Official White House Page, if you must.
- The Brad Blog / Green News Report
- The Poorly Written Political Blog (Joe Santorsa)
Health Care Hijinks
Author: BobR
Date: 01/19/2011 11:43:54
Now that Congress has recovered from the Tucson shootings, it's back to business as usual. That means moving forward on their largely symbolic "Repealing the Job Folding, Spindling and Mutilating Health Care Law" act, or whatever it is they're calling it today. Speaker Boehner (R-OH) has said that the people of the country have spoken (re: the election results), and they want the law repealed.
Sadly, the people DID speak during the last election, and what they were saying is "we want jobs". It was Boehner (and the rest) that meshed that together in their imaginations their own corporate desires to revoke the health care law. Repealing the law (were it even possible) would also have a negative effect on the budget deficit, something else that voters were concerned with.
The Jobs issue is one that has had voters concerned since 2008, when the Bush-era policies of bad accounting and a laissez-faire attitude toward government regulation resulted in an economic collapse and catastrophic jobs loss. Even though job growth has been improving since then, it has not been fast enough. Recently, though, big companies are reopening shuttered plants and rehiring laid-off workers. Maybe the Republicans are only looking at small business?... well - jobs grew there too. Sure the growth is slow, but it's not negative, which is what would happen if the "Obamacare" act was murdering jobs in cold blood.
But - if you don't believe my stats (or consider them anecdotal), what about a reputable news agency like the AP? According to them, the GOP's job-killing rhetoric is just that: bunk:
So what the bill actually does, is kill the NEED to have a job in order to get health insurance. Considering that half of the people in the US have what would be considered a "pre-existing condition", you'd think they'd WANT the health care bill in place. After all - that's one of those nasty insurance company get-out-of-jail-free cards that they implemented for themselves (and which the new law does away with). In this case, you'd be right:
(bold-face mine...)
That 18 percent likely consists of Tea Partiers, uber-libertarians, and health insurance company CEOs. The sad part of it is how many people "think" things that are factually wrong. Either the bill does or doesn't decrease the deficit - this is not a matter of opinion. The non-partisan CBO has declared it decreases the deficit, so it appears that 62 percent of those polled have been told a lie and believe it. Thanks FOX News - better take that "News" part out of your name if you can't get the facts correct.
So in essence, the Republicans are spending time (and tax payer dollars) trying to pass a bill in the House that they know will fail in the Senate and/or be vetoed by President Obama, in an effort to please 18% of the electorate. Is this what America voted for?
Sadly, the people DID speak during the last election, and what they were saying is "we want jobs". It was Boehner (and the rest) that meshed that together in their imaginations their own corporate desires to revoke the health care law. Repealing the law (were it even possible) would also have a negative effect on the budget deficit, something else that voters were concerned with.
The Jobs issue is one that has had voters concerned since 2008, when the Bush-era policies of bad accounting and a laissez-faire attitude toward government regulation resulted in an economic collapse and catastrophic jobs loss. Even though job growth has been improving since then, it has not been fast enough. Recently, though, big companies are reopening shuttered plants and rehiring laid-off workers. Maybe the Republicans are only looking at small business?... well - jobs grew there too. Sure the growth is slow, but it's not negative, which is what would happen if the "Obamacare" act was murdering jobs in cold blood.
But - if you don't believe my stats (or consider them anecdotal), what about a reputable news agency like the AP? According to them, the GOP's job-killing rhetoric is just that: bunk:
"What CBO actually said is that the impact of the health care law on supply and demand for labor would be small," Alonso-Zaldivar wrote. "Most of it would come from people who no longer have to work, or can downshift to less demanding employment, because insurance will be available outside the job."
In other words, the CBO said the impact of the reforms would have a "small" impact on the labor force by diminishing the amount of work people have to do in order to obtain health care. Republican leaders instead appropriated those figures to claim the impending loss of 650,000 jobs.
Two economists at nonpartisan research institutions corroborated AP's critique: Paul Van de Water at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Paul Fronstin at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
So what the bill actually does, is kill the NEED to have a job in order to get health insurance. Considering that half of the people in the US have what would be considered a "pre-existing condition", you'd think they'd WANT the health care bill in place. After all - that's one of those nasty insurance company get-out-of-jail-free cards that they implemented for themselves (and which the new law does away with). In this case, you'd be right:
On the eve of a repeal vote in the House, more Americans continue to oppose than support the health care reform law, with broad suspicions it'll hurt the economy, boost the deficit and -- by a narrower margin -- cut jobs. But repealing it is another matter.
Forty-six percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll think the law is likely to cut jobs, 8 points more than think it'll create them. More, 54 percent think it's more apt to hurt than help the economy. And 62 percent see it as increasing rather than decreasing the federal deficit.
For all that, fewer than four in 10 -- 37 percent -- favor repealing all or parts of the law; the rest either support it, or want to wait and see. And just 18 percent favor repealing it entirely...
(bold-face mine...)
That 18 percent likely consists of Tea Partiers, uber-libertarians, and health insurance company CEOs. The sad part of it is how many people "think" things that are factually wrong. Either the bill does or doesn't decrease the deficit - this is not a matter of opinion. The non-partisan CBO has declared it decreases the deficit, so it appears that 62 percent of those polled have been told a lie and believe it. Thanks FOX News - better take that "News" part out of your name if you can't get the facts correct.
So in essence, the Republicans are spending time (and tax payer dollars) trying to pass a bill in the House that they know will fail in the Senate and/or be vetoed by President Obama, in an effort to please 18% of the electorate. Is this what America voted for?
