The piece begins; A little surprised to find 60min did this piece. Lesley Stahl seemed shocked, which seemed a bit ironic for a cutting edge CBS news journalist, but whatever. The report was pretty well done, but I'd love see the entire interview instead of what the edited version. I suggest you watch the entire video and read the transcript. The stark reality of O'care, both good and bad, is presented, but this exchange near the end of piece was pretty revealing. So, it appears we can add Obama's claim we needed O'care to avert a looming HC crisis can be added to list of "misleading" claims used to push this "orgy of lobbying" and backroom deals. Well done O'care supporters, well done. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-obamacare-doesnt-do-60-minutes/
Orgy of lobbying and backroom deals, sure. But don't forget bribes, lies, and illegal changes to the law by the king and accepted by what passes as the opposition.
No ones forgetting the lies, trust me. Reality is setting in and MANY people aren't just unhappy about the lies, they're unhappy because it's costing them more of their hard earned money and their frustrated because they know O'care is at the root of the problem. Sadly, much of what Brill points out wasn't a secret to the Dem's on Capital hill, Obama, or many who opposed the law, yet it was passed it anyway. That's the sickening, perverted part. Obama, every frikkin Politian in DC who touted the ACA and every big buck group including the AARP who supported it as a fix knew they were lying through their teeth, they had to. And they did it because every one of them came out winners while the tax payers and little guys got stuck with the tab. Nice, hu?
I remember when the left was calling the insurance industry evil. After that they passed a law forcing us to all become their paying customers.
That is exactly right. They even disparaged people who had insurance because it wasn't up some standard the left made up. It was a huge scam from the beginning and the ones who make out like bandits are the very same ones "compassionate liberals" claimed were at the root of the problem! So, we're still hearing from the left about how wonderful O'care is because of enrollment and/or it's helping those who couldn't afford insurance before, but what we're not hearing about are the vastly larger numbers who're being bilked or who really influenced this scam for their own profit like those previously EVIL insurance co's! The ACA is going to crash and burn, it's inevitable. Sadly, the same ones who are paying out their nose to keep it afloat are ones who'll get screwed again when it does. It's the perfect storm and it's totally the fault of the liars and power brokers who pushed this POS down our throats. I hope their all proud.
What the left never tells us and what the right should have been screaming is that every insurance policy in every state had the approval of the insurance commissioners of those states - even the liberal ones. How did NY and CA allow their residents to buy substandard policies all those years?
Let's interrupt this orgy of bile for a brief reality break: National healthcare, even the confused, convoluted, self-defeating pissant version actually passed, was a labor of sisyphus. Both Republican and Democratic Senators and Congressmen are beholden to Big Pharma, Big Medicine, and other powerful lobbying groups. So any proposal had to pacify AT LEAST the insurance industry and several other lobbying powerhouses. On top of this, Obama wanted a bipartisan plan, so he incorporated many of the proposals and ideas from right-wing think tanks, AFTER consulting with Republican Congressional leaders to see what they wanted. The result, as always (and I mean ALWAYS) was the result of taking key Congressional people and bribing, arm-twisting, favor calling, horse-trading and so on to come up with something that doesnlt work, but is politically acceptable. And THEN, after telling Obama what they wanted and getting it, Republicans voted against it unanimously. Somewhat belatedly, they realized that second to getting re-elected, discrediting Obama was top priority. And since people believe congenial lies, they decided that discrediting Obama was far better than the welfare of the citizens they'd been elected to support. Not that it mattered by that point, of course. If there's a choice between providing health care to all Americans and getting re-elected, this is a no-brainer, for Republicans and Democrats alike.
The reality break was in the original post, but thanks for chiming in. 1) we do NOT have national healthcare, we have mandated insurance coverage. 2) see #1 3) see #1
Good point. But since NY & CA are liberal strongholds, the only way they can continue supporting their welfare states is by bilking the rest of us.
I'm sure. The last time she had to worry about her insurance premiums or paying for HC is a distant memory for that clueless elitist.
As you can see, your post failed to interrupt the circle jerk. I read a review of Brill's book the other day, and I'm planning on reading it. It will be a facsinating study on how major legislation gets enacted in the age of dysfunction, spin, in This Town. As for all the indignation....well, they'd have to be either naieve enough to think this isn't how things are done, or dumb enough not to see how silly they look when they pretend they didn't know.
We agree. Obama wanted national health care, Republicans wanted something different. So Obama incorporated as many Republican recommendations as possible. At the time, he didn't realize that Republicans would vote against anything he proposed regardless. What's frustrating is that perhaps we COULD have had national health care if Republicans had been honest.
What's more frustrating is watching conservatives acting outraged over the orgy of influence peddling and lobbying that went into this bill, and then turn right around and strongly support laws and practices that seek to turn even the most routine government business into an orgy of lobbying and influence peddling.
Still this talking point eh? Obama could have rammed single payer down our throats just like he ended up doing with Obamacare however he didnt have the votes in his own damn party for single payer. You have been Grubered.
What I'm not hearing in any of the noise about the ACA is what would constitute an acceptable alternative? Shall we simply kill the ACA and return to those thrilling days of yesteryear with insurance companies holding the whip hand? All that seemed to do was to create a large class of bankrupts, one that was growing larger every day. It wasn't good for them and sure not good for the country.
I've Googled and goggled until my eyeballs were about to fall out. I have seen no Republican alternative that would be better, tho every one I've spent some time on is far worse than the ACA, but I'm very well aware of where we were before the ACA and have no interest in returning there. One piece of advice I got very early in my working career (and never forgot) was when my supervisor was out and I told his boss I had a problem and needed help. His short answer which sent me running for cover was something like, "I got more problems than I can handle; I don't need any more, so if you want my help, bring me solutions." I'm still waiting for the Republican solution that will solve, not create, problems, real or perceived.
WOW...so despite the outright lies Dem's, including Obama, articulated you're arguing "if Rep's had been honest"? Now that's ripe. Look, we have the ACA. It's awful law. The reason we have it rests clearly on the shoulders of Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the rest of the Democrat's who clearly cowered to special interests and knowingly screwed the vast majority of American's. Now, you can wrap yourself around the "but they did it because of the Rep's" meme if it makes you feel better, but it's pointless. If Obama wanted national healthcare then he should have articulated it and been man enough to allow an honest debate, but he didn't, and we have what he openly lied about & what he signed into law. So now what?
No, no, what's frustrating is hearing liberal ACA supporters make lame accusations aimed at conservatives knowing full well it was Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the rest of liberal's in Congress who lied through their teeth to pass the ACA. Guess you're proud to stand with such honest, upstanding folks, right?
Wow, an actual valid point. Yes, I think you are right, the vested interests whose toes would have been stepped on by a single payer system have hold of both Democrats and Republicans by the short hairs. I don't know how much head counting went into various proposals, but I think if every member of Congress voted his self interest, more Democrats would have abandoned ship because they need the support of the insurance industry, than Republicans would have joined. As it was, I read that up to a certain point in the process, there was in fact some horse trading going on, where Republicans demanded certain concessions in exchange for their support. Democrats did as well, of course. The bill, as happens so often, became one of those "a little something for everyone" incoherent masses of confusion, inconsistency, and unwieldy clunkiness. And then, the Republicans got together, devised the strategy of voting unanimously against everything Obama proposed whether they wanted it or not, so all that dickering to please everyone was a waste of time, and produced a truly awful major national policy.
No, I can't. This is a composite impression I have collected from multiple newspaper accounts, editorials, comments about the legislative history from congressfolk as reported here and there. Whether or not this impression is somewhat accurate, I don't think the Democrats could have produced a majority in favor of a single payer system, because the number and power of vested interests who would have been cut out of the loop was impossible to overcome.
