[SpecialOlympian]

I like how sexual assault is now a pre-existing condition.

Insurance companies: thoroughly redpilled. They will only insure true maiden virgins deserving of their healthcare.

[Zagadka]

The funny/sad part is that they managed the trifecta; patients, doctors, AND insurance companies are not happy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/heal ... cisms.html

[Drlee]

What is interesting to me as a republican is the fact that the party has thrown its lot in entirely with seriously uninformed, unintelligent and/or malicious people. They know of their base that these are people who simply do not understand and hold their (fake) conservative association to be more important than their care for their children and parents.

The declining middle class is about to take such a royal screwing that it will likely never recover. Millions will lose their health care. Many more will be bankrupted by medical bills. And it is not hyperbole to say that perhaps hundreds of thousands will die because of the health care bill. The party has figured out that as long as it can control the big lie it can remain in power.

There is absolutely no place in the republican party for thoughtful intellectuals. They have been banished. The party does not even wink at the truth any longer. There was not a single really smart person in the entire slate of republican candidates in the last election. Not one.

Imagine a political party claiming that one of its most important goals is to further arm an already heavily armed public? Can you imagine the conservative party proposing tax cuts that will drive the country so far in debt that it will likely never see solvency again?

No. I am afraid that conservatism, as I knew it, is dead. People today are simply not educated enough to handle it.

[Beren]

You should move to England perhaps @Drlee, conservatism is thriving there!

[jimjam]

What is interesting to me as a republican is the fact that the party has thrown its lot in entirely with seriously uninformed, unintelligent and/or malicious people

There is absolutely no place in the republican party for thoughtful intellectuals

Get with the program Drlee. We no longer have to even think. Our Glorious Leader will take care of us:

“Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it…. I am your voice.”

A vote for trump “make possible every dream you’ve ever dreamed.”

"I will give you everything. I will give you what you’ve been looking for for 50 years. I’m the only one.”

Seriously, it is not conceivable to me to believe any of this really dumb shit. Obviously many in America do. I would say America is in serious trouble.

[MistyTiger]

It is astounding how gullible Americans have become. Somebody screwed up their heads big time. Groupthink is thriving these days and that is not a good thing.

It pisses me off how US Politics has become the right or wrong side. No one wants to compromise. Senators and House reps are always at each other's throats. It is so hard for bills to pass in either Congressional house, especially the ones that might benefit the US.

[Drlee]

You should move to England perhaps @Drlee, conservatism is thriving there!

Indeed it is. But you have some notion that a nation of people ought to take care of one another when someone is ill. What a ridiculous concept. I mean really. Asking rich people to care about he plebes.

What I wish we could borrow is her dear old majesty for a couple of days. We need some firin' done.

[Beren]

Indeed it is. But you have some notion that a nation of people ought to take care of one another when someone is ill. What a ridiculous concept. I mean really. Asking rich people to care about he plebes.

Theresa May's Britain really looks like a good old conservative place with good healthcare, it resembles a retirement home indeed. It's amazing how much the elderly seem to dominate public life in that society.

[Stormsmith]

Indeed. I read Prince Phillip's hanging up his spurs this autumn, suggesting 95 is the new 65. The Queen Mum died a couple of months shy of her 102 birthday, and died as she lived: with moxy. Think what Britain will look like in 10 to 15 with aging boomers everywhere.

[jimjam]

Welcome to the Republican Quagmire.

Here are the representatives of the wealthy applauding Trumpcare, a moral disaster, snatching health care from tens of millions mainly to give the very wealthy a near-trillion-dollar tax cut.

Trumpcare was thrown together so fast it’s hard to believe any significant number of those voting for it even had time to read it (200 pages). And it was, of course, pushed through the House without giving the Congressional Budget Office a chance to estimate its costs, its effects on coverage, or anything else.
Deductibles will rise, not fall, as insurers are set free to offer lower-quality coverage. Premiums may fall for a handful of young, healthy, affluent people, but will rise and in many cases soar for those who are older (because age spreads will rise), sicker (because protection against discrimination based on medical history will be taken away), and poorer (because subsidies will go down). Many people with pre-existing conditions will find insurance either completely unavailable or totally out of their financial reach.
And Medicaid will be cut back, with the damage worsening over time.

Let's hope the immortal words of W.C.Fields "never give a sucker an even break, or smarten up a chump." do not ring true and that the suckers who voted for trump do, in fact, smarten up and dump a few dozen Republican representatives of the rich out of the House.

[Stormsmith]

What is to me, thoroughly infuriating about this is the idea that insurers should get away with gouging the 50 to 64 years olds, because they are older and sicker.

These people have been paying taxes their whole adult lives to support hospitals etc. The insurers have profited. And individually, i'd like to see a little evidence to support this claim. I, and most people I know in this age range are pretty healthy. Those with issues were people in accidents, for which they may not have been at fault. In fact, the more I think about it, the people I know who have cost the system the most are couples with kids.

Hurrrrruuuumph.

[Drlee]

This bill is monument to the complete disregard of Americans by Republicans in favor of corporations. These congress people should look over their shoulder. They are finished.

I know that I am going to work very very hard to elect someone to replace my congress woman.

It really does not matter what is in the bill. It doesn't even matter which side of this issue you come down on. The fact is that everyone who voted for this bill exercised very poor judgment by voting for a monumental change to their constituents' lives without even knowing what those changes actually are and what the bill costs. This is a disgrace to the conservative movement. The TEA party showed its true colors by selling out. Sadly very few of them are really smart enough to understand what they have done.

[jimjam]

here is some interesting math that cuts thru the hot air and "talk (ie. propaganda) show" noise surrounding the House Obamacare replacement bill.

It will grant a tax reduction of 800 billion plus to folks making $200,000 @year or more over a 10 year period while, at the same time, remove medical coverage that has been provided to 11,000,000 folks. The savings to the government over 10 years would be in the $800 billion range. It's almost tit for tat. Poor folks get their medical care degraded so rich folks get more money.

As H.L.Menken succinctly pointed out: "When somebody says it is not about the money, it is about the money."

[Stormsmith]

The Koch bothers, the Walmartian's and their very rich ilk haven't said a word about this. Not one has said, "No. Don't cut health care."

We are off to the polls this afternoon. Watch us re-elect the same tossers that got us into this mess :knife:

[jimjam]

I recently spent 2 days in a hospital. The pre insurance statement arrived today: $36,875.57. I must say the food was decent. Something is wrong here and it has nothing to do with the usual liberal/conservative nonsense.

Thank goodness for the Democrats, LBJ and medicare. If I were 64 years old and at the mercy of the Republicans I would be fucked so that folks making $200,000 @ year and up could buy a new Mercedes every year instead of every other year.

[Beren]

I know that I am going to work very very hard to elect someone to replace my congress woman.

What will you do?

[jimjam]

There's no evidence Republicans are more than mediocre people who climbed the political ladder because it was their best chance at big money running errands for people with bigger money. They weren't chosen by local party bosses because of their potential as great public servants; they were picked because they're shallow and will do anything, say anything, be anything to belong to the DC chapter of the Mar-a-lago make-a-deal club.

[stephen50right]

The illustration of a political party quagmire is when your leading presidential candidate for 2020 is Elizabeth Warren.

[Drlee]

The illustration of a political party quagmire is when your leading presidential candidate for 2020 is Elizabeth Warren.

I can see why you think this is funny. The democrats are choosing someone who is smart, experienced, honest and tough. You know. Unlike a single one of the republican primary candidates in '16.

[stephen50right]

I can see why you think this is funny. The democrats are choosing someone who is smart, experienced, honest and tough. You know. Unlike a single one of the republican primary candidates in '16.

Well then you go ahead and petition to be her campaign manager. Then if she got the Democratic Party nomination, she would lose over 45 states instead of just losing over 40 states.