10 thoughts on “They Got Nothin’

  1. What the Republicans forget is that one of the key target audiences already has experience with the healthcare insurance industry. From what I have heard, even with the glitches, the Federal website is light years ahead of the industry standard for application for inurance.

    But, of course, industry always does it better than government…

  2. When “free markets” and “privatization” eventually break something, which they usually do, the cure is increasing doses of socialism.

    Ask a normal country.
    And by that, I mean one which understands that we’re all in this together, and not lone wolves in our packs, preying on weaker animals.
    Oh, and one that understands medicine, and dosages, and science – and not one which “believes” in praying to Jesus, and good old “American Exceptionalism.”

    Now, if there were only cures for “TEH STOOOOOOPID!”, and “TEH STOOOOOPID AND EVIL!!!”

  3. “(CNN) — For all the difficulties of the Affordable Care Act’s rollout, Americans are more patient than you might think: A new poll shows a majority expressing optimism that the problems are going to be ironed out.”

    Imbedded in this statement is a key point that progressives and conservatives ignore. I had to search for this, but it’s a cardinal point, perfectly expressed, which defines a principle of democracy that too few have confidence in.

    “I have so much confidence in the good sense of man, and his qualifications for self-government, that I am never afraid of the issue where reason is left free to exert her force.”

    –Thomas Jefferson to Comte Diodati, 1789.

    Mahablog is where I most frequently attend to find the force of reason.

  4. where reason is left free

    Yeah, but is reason left free? When you’re bombarded with distortion, lies ,misinformation and all the other contraptions of religious and political enslavement then reason is only truly free in a theoretical sense. Even Jesus enslaves reason when he sets the captive free.

  5. I’m encouraged to see that article on CNN. Good article in the LA Times, As Obamacare website relaunches, there’s reason to hope.

    The healthcare enrollment website is poised for a relaunch. But Democrats and the healthcare industry haven’t been vocal in defending the Affordable Care Act amid a GOP onslaught.

    The opportunity to be reborn is a rare gift indeed, granted to few beyond the mythical phoenix and some adherents of the Baptist faith. Them — and the Affordable Care Act, which this week will undergo what its supporters hope will be a second launch much different from its first…

    Some good rebuttals against GOP talking points:

    ..The House Republicans who have voted dozens of times to repeal the Affordable Care Act don’t go even as far as Roy. They don’t have any counter-proposals at all, other than nostrums from a threadbare GOP grab bag.

    One is “tort reform.” This is conservative shorthand for closing the courthouse door to malpractice lawsuits. As we’ve repeatedly pointed out, malpractice litigation and its consequences in “defensive medicine” account for 2% to 3% of all U.S. healthcare spending; “frivolous” lawsuits by any reasonable definition constitute a minuscule fraction of that. Shutting the courthouse door only imposes a burden on people who have been genuinely injured.

    Allowing insurers to sell policies across state lines? That would guarantee a race to the bottom, as insurers hustle to locate in the states allowing the junkiest health plans — just as allowing credit card companies to charge customers the rate in the firms’ home state produced a boon for tolerant places like South Dakota.

    California’s ceiling on credit card interest: 10%. Rate on your credit card: 20% or more.

    If the problems with the website really are largely fixed, most of these other complaints will fade away. In many respects, the Affordable Care Act already is becoming integrated into the American way of healthcare.

    It’s unimaginable that Americans really wish to return to a pre-Obamacare world. That’s a world where exclusions from coverage for those with medical conditions were common, even for minor ailments; where lifetime benefit limits meant a cutoff in coverage for people with chronic or serious disease while they were still young; where arguing with your insurer over a rejected claim was a daily reality for millions.

    So, yes, the rollout has been rough. But it’s a mistake to think of a website as the be-all and end-all of the Affordable Care Act. Healthcare reform has come to stay.

  6. Swami – With the right-wing nuts throwing EVERYTHING against AHC with a faulty rollout, they still can’t get a majority of Americans to oppose the law, and nothing even approaching a majority supporting repeal. Yes, the coverage by the media has been abysmal and my paranoid nature says large sums of money passed under the table at the highest levels in major media. Nothing else explains the bias against AHC. And STILL – the public has adopted a policy of letting the law prove itself or fail a fair test if it’s really incapable of meeting the objectives.

    This is actually a powerful affirmation of the ‘good sense’ of the majority.

  7. The Anti-Pope dies:

    Paul Crouch, the founder of Trinity Broadcasting Network and an architect of global prosperity gospel televangelism, died yesterday at the age of 79.

    Crouch built the network from one station in the 1970s to a global empire featuring a 24-hour menu of health and wealth gospel, preying on the gullible to turn their money over to televangelists to receive God’s blessing….

    …Best known for his controversially extravagant spending, with his wife and business partner Jan, Paul Crouch survived many a media exposé. He and his wife built their network, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, using tax-exempt donor funds, frequently, former insiders have charged, for their own enrichment….

  8. Doug… I agree that Obamacare will prevail.. because it’s an idea whose time has come. I can’t explain the bias toward Obamacare either, except my suspicions lead me to think that it all has to do with who ultimately ends up with financial accountability.

    The questions I ask myself is why do 26 states refuse to set up healthcare exchanges or why does Governor Scott refuse to expand medicaid when the Federal government is willing to fully fund the expansion 100% for the first two or three years and fund it at 75% there after. I don’t have to know the exact answer to those questions to know that the state’s accountability to its citizens and future financial costs related to the States responsibility under Obamacare are the two primary factors for trying to sandbag Obamacare.
    I think it’s all about the money.. and the claim of defending our liberty and protecting our economy from the ravishes of socialism is just pure bullshit intended to confuse the rubes.

  9. Moonbat,
    One time, about 30 years ago, my father and I were flipping through stations on cable, and came across this Jesus-grifter, his grossly obese wife, and anther Jesus-grifter, and they were all talking about “the best ways to reach the Lord.”

    They mentioned tithing first, of course, then prayer, and listed some other things, and then his wife, an Orca with silver hair and a diamond ring on every finger, chimes in with, “And let’s not forget the BEST way to reach the Lord – FASTING!!!”

    My mother came down the stairs to see what the hell had happened. We were both rolling on the floor, screaming and crying from laughter!
    “Fasting.”
    The sheer, blatant, naked hypocrisy of a 300+ pound woman talking about fasting. Her idea of fasting must have been no chips or Twinkies while reciting “The Lord’s Prayer.”

    I guess his “moran” suckers will have to find another Jesus-grifter to send their money to.
    I could use a job like that.
    But even an old Agnostic like me feels like he has something akin to a soul.

  10. an Orca with silver hair and a diamond ring on every finger 🙂

    Not to mention she looked like she got hit in the face with a paint bucket. Her eye make-up looked like it was applied by an undertaker.

    I was surprised to hear that Paul Crouch was a butt pirate. But I guess with a wife like his, butt piracy with his chauffer added a little necessary excitement to his sex life.

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