Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Obamacare Is at a Critical Crossroads

Some things were just never meant to be -- Rome forever resisting the teutonic tribes, Napoleon taking Moscow, Germany winning World War II, Obamacare succeeding. ~~~~~ Today, the US House of Representatives' Republican majority decided to move ahead to a vote on delaying key components of President Barack Obama's signature health care law. The House GOP was encouraged by the administration's concession that requiring companies to provide coverage for their workers next year may be too complicated. Republicans took control of the House in January 2011 in the midst of public anger and skepticism over the law adopted in 2010 by a Congress controlled - both House and Senate - by the Democrats. The House knows that its bill will die in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the administration is emphatic that the President would veto any such bill presented to him. But Obama's abrupt decision earlier this month to delay for one year, until after the 2014 elections, the requirement that businesses with 50 or more employees provide health coverage for their workers or pay a penalty has led Republicans to insist that the President cannot unilaterally decide to enforce only portions of Obamacare. They plan votes on one bill that would essentially codify the administration's plan, as well as a second bill that provides a similar grace period for individual Americans, because the GOP says that if imposing Obamacare is too much for the employer community, basic fairness for American families and individuals means that Obamacare be dayed for them, too, according to remarks made by House Speaker John Boehner at a news conference. Democrats insist it is all political theater and another attempt by the GOP to undermine the law. Joe Crowley, a Democrat House member, said Republicans weren't simply trying to delay the requirements. "It is their intention to destroy the Affordable Care Act ... to do away with it, to annihilate it entirely," Crowley said. In a surprise move earlier this month, the Obama administration announced a one-year delay in the employer mandate, citing a need for more time to implement the requirement effectively. Republicans saw that decision as new evidence that Obamacare is unworkable and should be repealed. The GOP also accused a Democratic President of favoring businesses over average Americans, who will still be required to carry health insurance starting next January 1, or risk fines. The House is considering a set of two bills - one to implement the president's one-year delay in the employer mandate, and another to delay the individual mandate. Commenting on the two House bills, the White House, in a statement vowing a veto, that : "it's time for the Congress to stop fighting old political battles and join the president" in boosting the economy and helping the middle class. National Republican Congressional releases answered the President by calling on Democratic incumbents to vote for a delay in the individual mandate, posing the question "Big business got a break from Obamacare, but what about families?" In other Obamacare-related actions : (1). The Obama administration has eliminated the provision requiring individuals to prove to the IRS that they qualify for assistance in paying for their Obamacare costs. Instead, individuals will simply certify that they qualify for assistance. (2). Labor unions, big financial supporters of President Obama who worked actively to get Congress to pass Obamacare, are beginning to see a difficult road ahead in trying to implement Obamacare's mandated health care provisions. (3). The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the administration's delay of the employer mandate, questioning J. Mark Iwry, a Treasury Department official and top adviser on health policy. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Obamacare was enacted by a Democratic Congress that had insufficient time to read its 2,000 pages. It faced administrative delays because of the impossible task of coordinatibg its complex overall scheme. It has consistently been rejected by half the American public. The GOP House has refused funding for some aspects of its implementation. In the face of all these problems, Obama pushed on instead of seeking compromise. The result is a creeping collapse of Obamacare. It is time to address the real issue - the search for cost-effective health care for uninsured Americans. It is time to let the health care system work for the 80% of Americans who already have health care coverage that they find good and functional. It is time for the President and Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to come to the negotiating table and prove that they care more about health care for Americans who need it than they care about beating Republicans into submission.

7 comments:

  1. This is refereed to as Obama Healthcare Reform. It is simply not "reform". The word lends itself to suggesting alteration, improvement, betterment,reorganization, etc. far, far from what is occurring with Obama Healthcare Reform.

    Obama is simply taking the way America's healthcare was delivered and trowing it out the window. What becomes an active program on Jan. 1, 2014 has NO resemblance to our present system. If you have a month or so with nothing to do down load the 2500 pages and read it. You will not recognize where you fit into the picture.

    Remember then House Leader Nancy Pelosi said "we have to pass the bill so we can see whats in it". So pass it we did and over 55% of the American public wants no part of this failing monstrosity. But then along comes Chief Justice John Roberts and ambushes the entire population with his support of the plan in a round about way.

    President Obama wants this program as the corner stone of a "cradle to grave" Progressive Socialists administration as him at the head of it.

    Maybe we need to look at the lack of coverage that some percentage of the American public is without. But we don't need to throw out the baby with the bath water.

    Say NO to Obama Care to everyone that will listen

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  2. This debacle has to end here and now for the sake of everyone. The people don't want it (except for those who want everything and want to change everything), business doesn't want it, labor Unions are quickly showing a deep crack in their support for it (which is a 180 from where they were in 2010), and I have a feeling that many politicians just wish this would go away and they wouldn't have to defend it.

    Isn't it better for all concerned to scrap this program now before the real damage is done to the health care system.

    No one goes without medical care in the US. A patient cannot be turned down to receive care if they go to the hospital and cannot pay. So let's do any "reforming" the right way, the first time.

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  3. Stand Up And Be CountedJuly 17, 2013 at 6:21 PM

    "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely"

    John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902)

    This would give far to much power to those who do not need it or would almost certainly use the patient information as a spring board to further reduce individual freedoms.

    This Health Care Reform is BAD law.

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  4. I'm opposed to Obamacare but I would simply like to know what it says in those 2000 pages.

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    1. De Oppressor LiberJuly 17, 2013 at 8:12 PM

      That's the exact problem. Who has really read and understand every word?

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  5. Obama's health care plan was written by a committee whose head, John Conyers, says he doesn't understand it. It was passed by Congress that did not read it, signed by a president who smokes, funded by a Treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that's nearly broke. What could possibly go wrong?

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  6. Stand Up And Be CountedJuly 18, 2013 at 5:26 PM

    To negotiate anything requires two sides that have reasonable expectations and the astuteness to understand that to reach a positive conclusion each side has to give in on some demands. Even if some of these lost demands are “give a ways” in the first place … it all comes down to honest debate, truthfulness, and respect for the other side.
    Whereas negotiating with Obama is full of falsehoods and snappish, disparaging innuendos that are broadcast to the media for the sole intention of positioning his (Obama) position with the correct voting group most affected by the overall negotiations. Obama simply does not know how to negotiate… it’s an expertise he does not possess.

    Obama imagines that the House and Senate ought to rubber stamp everything he presents and come to an agreement with him on every issue. There will never be any bi-partisan negotiating with the Obama team. It will always be emergency level deal making or no agreements at all.
    Obama does not GOVEREN he DICTATES. This is the common quality of an ineffective leader.

    The American family cannot afford this drastic alteration in dollar cost or methodology for their presently functioning health care program.

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