Re- HCR, Anyone Else Reminded of Something?

[snot]

As I understand, the current Senate bill would force us to pay up to 8% of our incomes to insurance cos. while leaving us on the hook for up to $11,900 a year in out-of-pocket medical expenses, fail to end discrimination for most people based on preexisting conditions until 2014, fail to limit increases in insurance premiums, and allow insurance companies to charge older people 300% more than others. And most of the vaunted additional insureds will be those who need it least – young people likely to generate more profits than costs.

We're being required to pay an awful lot for very little actual benefit to people in need.

It reminds me of when conservatives argued we had to keep funding the Iraq war or we wouldn't be able to afford to bring the troops home safely.

Our troops then were, and the few sick children who might actually be benefitted by this bill are now, being held for ransom by people who can't be trusted to fulfill any promises once we've paid up.

It also looks like another instance of the conservative strategy of causing us to spend way too much on the wrong things and later screaming to high heavens that we've got nothing left to spend on the right things.

[ixion]

1. it reminds me of the so-called "Consumer Protection Act"

that was a give away to credit card companies, and screwed the consumer.

This is the same thing for insurance agencies, times 10.

[upi402]

3. Do you mean the bankruptcy deal that Biden supported?

That was a big give-away to credit card companies. He's from credit card central, Delaware, and voted to let them take our home away from us. But second homes, cabins, vacation homes were safe, as it was limited to your primary residence. And luxury homes and estates were safe, as it was capped at a median priced home.

My party left me, sorry, but I'm still mad as hell.

[ixion]

6. yep... It was officially know as the CPA

and it was a royal screwing, conveniently ahead of the meltdown.

[Larkspur]

2. Ralph Nader was partially right about the Democratic and Republican Parties

The Republican party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street and the New Democrats or Clintonistas represent Wall Street not ordinary Americans. The rest of the Dem Party is progressive but it gets dragged along to support Wall Street bills, like HCR.

[upi402]

4. Nader was 100% right

sadly

[mdmc]

5. 100% right

:shrug:

[Goldstein1984]

A friend of mine once told me. "Nader is a dweeb, but...

Ralph is our dweeb."

I'm tired of doing the lesser-of-two-evils thing, and tired of being told it will be my fault if things get worse.

It's not my job to represent the party, it's the party's job to represent me. I left the party ten years ago and became an Independent because they weren't representing me, but they kept my vote because the alternative was worse. Now I realize that a Democratic Platform that is nothing but Republican Platform Lite just perpetuates the problem. The problem is that both parties buy into the trickle-down bullshit fed them by their corporate masters. Maybe things need to get worse before people realize what is going on.

I'm still trying to figure out what the solution is. But the status quo doesn't work for me anymore.

[gratuitous]

7. I keep thinking about the NAFTA "side agreements"

Unions and environmentalists were told to put their concerns on hold in 1995. It was far more important to get a framework for free trade in place than any of their petty, partisan issues. Besides, the U.S. would work out "side agreements" with our good friends in Canada and Mexico to protect the environment and enforce labor law protections for workers in all three countries.

Since 1995, when was the first, last or anytime in between you heard a peep about environmental protection and labor laws in regard to international trade with Mexico or Canada? I will be ecstatic to be proved wrong, but I have a feeling that Congress, in its drive to Do Something, will sacrifice women's right to control their own health care decisions, open up a "pre-existing" loophole big enough to drive a fleet of ambulances through, and expand the insurance companies' definition of fraud to deny coverage for practically everything unexpected ("What?! You didn't tell us you had an appendix! We're not covering your emergency appendectomy, you liar, because you didn't get prior authorization for emergency surgery before it ruptured!").

[newtothegame]

8. Folks, we're the ones who pushed HC reform forward and wanted to spend the big bucks...

unfortunately we're sitting in this pile of shit now.