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Comments Posted By KQµårk 死神

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What If? The Affordable Care Act and the Supreme Court

I don’t really know that was the crap the MSM shat in my coffee this morning.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 27, 2012 @ 9:41 pm

Usually when you put a mirror up to an argument and it’s valid in both cases your argument is valid.

Now lets say instead of making you pay a tax if you don’t buy HC insurance the government made it like the interest tax break you get being a home owner. In that case everyone pays higher taxes until they purchase a private commodity, in this case that commodity is a home loan. Then and only then do you get a tax credit.

Well hypothetically they could have passed the ACA with the same logic. Everyone would have to pay a 2% tax but if they bought private HC insurance (or had coverage other ways) they would get a 100% tax credit for that tax increase.

No one for a minute would question the constitutionality of that law, yet the mandate does the exact same thing in a different way.

Of course the Dems could never have passed a tax on everyone in this political climate so they had to do the mandate instead.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 27, 2012 @ 9:39 pm

Cheers Sally great source.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 27, 2012 @ 9:29 pm

My favorite meme is this will look bad for Obama because he’s a constitutional scholar if they find the law unconstitutional. Sure technically it will be unconstitutional because ideological right wing judges say it is but that does not mean another court would have ruled in favor.

I mean we all know the Citizen United ruling was unconstitutional.

I saw someone bring up the point that the SCOTUS of the 20’s would have called SS unconstitutional so it’s all relative to the court you have.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 27, 2012 @ 2:24 pm

The big problem with that CL is the HRP PO would become a huge money pit. For one thing even $400/month is an individual rate and is too high for that huge group of people that would get more generous subsidies in the exchanges so to make it work the government would have to fund the HRP to a much greater extent. So every budget period you have to beg the House for more money whereas the tax subsidies for the exchanges are written into the law. I forget where I saw the study but the whole HRP concept would actually make cost increase faster that no HCR under some models.

The worst part is destroying the mandate destroys the ability of the exchanges to have lower premiums beyond the subsidies because you don’t have an adequately expanded risk pool.

The way Kennedy is attacking the ACA mandate I see it being struck down. To be honest he has not been a true swing vote for quite a while and has sided with the conservatives much more often than not. Right now it looks like Roberts is the only possible swing vote and he’s attacking the mandate as well.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 27, 2012 @ 11:18 am

IDK from what I’ve read today it’s definitely going down 5-4 because conservatives simply cannot put the Constitution before ideology. They have been attacking the mandate as limiting personal freedom sounding just like a teabagger pol. 🙄

Of course these are the same people that want to control woman’s bodies.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 27, 2012 @ 11:00 am

You’re preaching to my choir as well Cher.

Reich is the worst type of pundit in my mind because when he actually held office and he did not do anything to promote the progressive causes he espouses now. I mean where were all the labor protections in the free trade agreements Reich?

Even though I wish the trade agreements had more protections for labor under Obama at least they have some.

Reich is the epitome of what I call a reborn progressive since he did nothing progressive when it mattered but criticizes Dems in office who are responsible for much more progress than he ever realized.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 11:07 pm

I’ve come to the conclusion the GOP hates government so much that they love being terrible at it. Look at the way the GOP is running their clown show of a presidential primary. They can’t count the votes, refuse to count the votes, take away delegates at random, etc. I mean look at how badly Romney is running his own campaign and he’s suppose to be the competent one. Yet we are suppose to believe they can run the country.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 10:43 pm

If it’s struck down this really could be our last shot at Federal level universal healthcare reform.

Of course we have loons like AOLHP Reich implying that if the ACA is struck down then it could be a good thing and Dems can go for for Medicare for all.

What fucking planet do these progressive ideologues live on?

Every iteration of HCR reform has gotten more and more conservative when each Dem attempt fails. This is the kind of ridiculous progressive expectation/disappointment machine that got us the teabaggers in 2010.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 10:32 pm

It’s a truism but the only thing that all Universal Healthcare systems around the world have wholly in common is they are ALL Universal, meaning they have a way to cover or provide healthcare to as many citizens as possible so the costs are spread around as much as possible. This implicitly means every system has a mandate or mechanism to include everyone. Whether they do it through a tax or mandating that people buy private insurance is truly secondary by ever measure. Meanwhile the outcomes and cost of ALL these systems are better and less than ours, respectively.

I learned most of what I know about healthcare around the world from this writer on Denialism blog. He’s a Medical and Psychiatric doctor and did fabulous summaries on healthcare systems around the world in countries like Canada, The Netherlands, France, Germany, The UK, Australia, Switzerland etc. And surprise surprise only the UK and Canada have true single payer systems. All the other countries have hybrid systems like ours and The Netherlands and Switzerland have systems very much like the ACA where people are mandated to buy private insurance. After the fact that a universal healthcare system needs to be as comprehensive as possible his biggest finding was that a healthcare system has to fit the culture of the country to be successful. Well we don’t have a single culture so one of the beauties of the ACA is it gives states major flexibility to set up their systems. Not only will all states have non-profit options, they can set up things like a public option or even single payer. But like you said if they strike down the mandate we have to start from ground zero and the future only gets dimmer.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 10:22 pm

Exactly Bito. I just came past an article that said the mandate would only affect 2% of the population. That was my point when the so-called PO died. It too only affected a very small percent of the population in it’s last iteration. The real PO died six months before when they said it would not be available for people who had insurance, so it really was never an option for the vast majority of the population. People don’t have the intellectual curiosity or to be fair the time to study these issues.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 10:07 pm

Great point I forgot to point that out. Even calling it a 70 page bill is another Romney lie.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 10:02 pm

Absolutely think of the personhood bills the GOP tried to pass on ballots. Not only was the whole concept stupid but they basically could have been used to put people in jail for using contraception because they were so vague.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 10:01 pm

Not picking on anyone but one pet peeve is when people talk about the size of the legislation in terms of documentation. Well duh the ACA covers covers 1/7 of the entire economy including changes in Medicare and Medicaid. I understand people just don’t like things they don’t understand, that’s human nature but really. The fact that people actually applauded Cain for saying he would limit all bills to three pages showed this mentality to the extreme.

I guess because I come from the high tech field I understand that you just can’t dumb down complex matters but so much. For example you can’t put how to build an aircraft carrier or paper mill (my expertise) on three pages. I know there is allot of legalese in the ACA but the majority of the language was necessary.

Romney talks about how his MA law was only 70 pages well that was one state. Multiply it by 50 and you get 3500 pages. I know it’s not a linear multiplier but just trying to make a point.

Sorry for the rant.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 9:01 pm

Funk the law does that already. There are provisions to raise $1 trillion in the law half with taxes and half with Medicare inefficiencies. Those taxes will go directly to tax credits to buy insurance for millions of families.

I do agree you can skin the mandate cat other ways and still get the same results but a tax credit alone won’t do it. Otherwise people will only buy insurance when they need it like Murph said.

I view it this way you have a horizontal tube and if you don’t close both ends all the good stuff inside the tube spills out. That’s exactly why you have to make as many people as possible pay into the system with personal and employee mandates. Otherwise you can’t effectively cover people with preexisting conditions or offset people who game the system and still expect ER treatment when they know they are not going to pay their doctor bills.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 8:42 pm

Excellent Summary Murph.

Getting everyone into the pool sharing the costs of the entire system is seen as the only way to keep costs down and maintain the insurance system.

Spreading the risk pool as much as possible is the ONLY way to start lowering healthcare costs and cover people with preexisting conditions. If there is not universal coverage even in a patchwork fashion there simply is no healthcare system at all.

Why is the Mandate essential? First, if we don’t require everyone to buy insurance, then insurance will be disproportionately purchased by those who need it, the likely sick, making it more expensive/unaffordable. This would lead many to discontinue coverage in a continuous cycle that drives the price higher and higher until no one but the very rich can afford insurance any more and the system collapses.
Second, if a person is not covered by health insurance then any bills he/she accrues must be paid by the individual. If he/she cannot pay the bills, then civil suits are one remedy. If there are insufficient assets for a suit to be successful, then the cost is either covered by the care giver (as a loss) or by the government (in direct aid to care givers).

Brilliant summary I wish Dems would explain this to the American public better. But then again it can’t be put in a bumper sticker.

The first reason you gave is why a high risk pool insurance is not a long term option either. It will soon become a money pit that will make Medicare look like chicken feed.

Along the lines of what you said in the second part of your explanation some kind of universal mandate is not severable for practical reasons. The big problem we have right now is we have a big part of the system mandated (even though it’s far from optimal), hospitals are mandated to provide healthcare regardless of insurance or ability to pay. This obviously is what led to our system being the most expensive system in the western world and the system with the poorest access.

If the law is struck down honestly the what ifs make my head ache. I think the implications would mean that we fall quicker to becoming a confederation of states instead of a union of states. Republicans have already proven they can stifle progress when they have some power. Now this means the GOP can stifle progress that has already been made by a Dem congress. Seriously especially if the GOP ever gets a 6-3 SCOTUS, SS and Medicare are next on their agenda to take down. Of course the biggest irony is the GOP’s medicare plan is to give coupons to seniors to buy private insurance. So for all practical purposes since EVERY senior needs medical coverage it’s a de facto mandate to buy private insurance stronger than the mandate in the ACA.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 26, 2012 @ 6:26 pm

Weekend Music Thread – True Blues

Great addition. All rock, especially Southern rock is born in the blues tradition.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 25, 2012 @ 9:31 am

If GOP Candidates Were Toys

Now if they were a sex toy they would all be the same for obvious reasons. From the movie ‘Top Secret’.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmb1ropUsj1qj2hv9o1_500.jpg

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 24, 2012 @ 10:23 pm

The Etch-a-Sketch metaphor to describe Romney is not going to end until after the election. I think it just nails Romney for what he truly is. Along with being the Monopoly man it describes the whole reason Romney should not be president.

I think finding games to describe the other candidates is much more difficult and you did a great job for what you had to work with.

KT the 3 dimensional chess board to describe Obama on the other hand was pure genius.

Probably the best way to describe Gingrich is with a demented Chucky doll like I think KT posted too.

Santorum is tough because there are not many Christianist games but Dante’s Inferno a video game describes his exploits well.

Paul is just such a nut so I think the old game a barrel full of monkeys describes him and his followers.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 24, 2012 @ 8:38 am

GOP Politics – Winning at Any Cost

he he The dog story has legs through the whole campaign. There is just no excuse for what Romney did, especially among dog lovers. Plus it’s so fun to use it as a metaphor about what Romney really thinks of voters.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 17, 2012 @ 7:41 am

Sullivan had a little blurb about who Romney is the ‘Seinfeld’ candidate because his campaign is about nothing. He properly points out that even Romney’s economic ‘plan’ is about nothing. The ‘plan’ cannot even be scored yet Romney asks for huge tax cuts for the rich and is pushing a huge defense buildup. I’ve said all along I’ve never seen a campaign with less vision than Romney’s. Yet Romney is suppose to be the responsible businessman. Romney simply cannot make the affirmative case of what he is for because it all goes back to the fact that his campaign is for NOTHING but maintaining the plutocracy. We all know Wall Street wants one more chance to game the system for good and Romney’s whole presidency might as well moved to the caverns of Wall Street since that’s all a Romney presidency would accomplish,

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 16, 2012 @ 2:37 pm

Brilliant brief on the subject AdLib.

No candidate exemplifies this destructive winning at any cost mentality than Rmoney. He’s the epitome of the Wall Street winner that means everyone else in society loses. Romney was in a win win situation his whole life. Bain Capital always got paid if jobs where created or destroyed because the only real job of Bain Capital was to concentrate wealth for Romney and a relatively few cronies.

He’s also a walking metaphor for American Exceptionalism. Because his family has a pedigree and are religious as a candidate he does not have to expose honorable values since he’s entitled to be exceptional just for who he is, not by his actions. This is why he can lie or flip flop so easily and without justifying his actions because all he has to do is look the part.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 16, 2012 @ 8:13 am

The End of Right Wing Talk Radio???

Don’t get me wrong this is one of those cases I hope I’m wrong and Limbaugh’s show will not survive on the air. The positive take from all this is we definitely see Limbaugh’s influence be diminished greatly no matter what happens now. Worse the GOP politicians will be on the wrong side of history again for not being courageous and calling out Limbaugh when they had the chance to rise above their talking points.

It seems like it’s up to 141 companies that have dropped Limbaugh and some other right wing talk show hosts.

http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/03/12/442673/141-companies-advertisng-rush-limbaugh/

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 12, 2012 @ 11:14 am

AdLib that is certainly the dynamic going on now. But I never underestimate the short attention span of the American people including these advertisers.

I mean if Limbaugh loses 80% of his advertisers he only makes over $10 million a year instead of over $50 mil. The horror. If his ratings go down that will have a lasting effect because that’s the only way right wing Clear Channel will ever consider dropping him.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 11, 2012 @ 5:38 pm

It’s great some of the big advertisers are leaving radio but I don’t think it will be the end of right wing talk as long as the hateful audience is still listening.

I actually agree with Tweety on this one when he says the Limbaugh types have the ultimate shtick because they make middle aged white guys feel like they are the victims in society.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 11, 2012 @ 12:51 pm

Promises Kept by President Obama

That’s the rub with Romney isn’t it. He’s most electable because at one time he held all the positions a centrist Dem would.

I’m just amazed how the GOP is throwing out the whole character issue this time with Romney. Remember Repubs were suppose to like strong leaders who had principles over just about any other value like intelligence and management skills, ala Bush.

In many ways Romney is the antithesis of Obama. Romney will radically changes his positions on several key issues like birth control, abortion, stimulus spending, healthcare mandates, etc… sometimes on an hourly basis. He is totally afraid to face anyone who will not be a yes man to his whims. To rewrite history Romney even edits out the bad parts of editorials even when a publication endorses him. I think that comes from his ‘boss’ background because in modern business all CEOs are surrounded by are yes people. Could you imagine Romney doing an interview with Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, Al Sharpton or even Chris Matthews? While Obama has done two interviews with O’Reilly and other people at Faux News.

I’m not saying Obama does not evolve on issues he does through time. Actually Sullivan explained the difference between an Obama evolution and Romney flip flop pretty well today.

Changing doesn’t necessarily mean you have some secret radical agenda you’ve been hiding all your life that is not apparent in any of the decisions he has made as president.

It can mean two things: you’re infinitely flexible like Romney, or you have a political disposition and an open mind. I’ve never doubted Obama was a liberal. But he has evolved into a much more interesting blend in his subsequent years. I regard that as a plus not a minus.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/03/breitbarts-bombshell-is-a-dud-ctd.html

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 9, 2012 @ 1:25 pm

I say if the mandate is struck down fine. Then government should strike down the ER room mandate as well. So if you don’t have insurance and go to the ER you have to pay your bill right away or be put in healthcare debt prison.

Of course I am joking but that’s the problem we have in this country when ER’s have a mandate to treat you and we don’t have universal insurance coverage. So for all the people that can’t afford the outrageous ER bills, everyone else’s insurance pays for them. That’s exactly what happened when these people filing the lawsuit went bankrupt. The individual mandate is just taking personal responsibility to it’s ultimate conclusion but with all the subsidies most families would end up paying much less than in the old system.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 9, 2012 @ 1:03 pm

As you pointed out no government money was needed for this buyout obviously. This is sort of what I call the guilt by association media we have today. Once you have any part of a bailout you the lame MSM associates you with the bailout forever. Even when that so called bailout makes money for taxpayers like the GM bailout will many times over and in many ways starting with the taxes GM and it’s employees pay. Think about the hole in the deficit letting GM fail would have created in the national coffers for years to come.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 9, 2012 @ 12:56 pm

Great list AdLib a sure fire keeper.

The amazing part to me about Obama is how consistent he is with not only his positions but his personality. He has to be the most comfortable man I’ve ever seen in his own skin. Nothing rattles him and considering the hate spewed at him every day from the right wing that’s beyond incredible. Issues are important to me but I think Obama brought back true character to the Democratic Party. I’ve noticed he’s being a great example for Dems and I’m so happy that there is no BS Dems feel the need defend if you know what I mean.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 8, 2012 @ 8:26 pm

LIVE BLOG – Super Tuesday 2012

Yup Exactly! I think the other thing Axelrod had rolling around in his head was that Obama got more than Romney and Santorum got combined in 2008 when it was a contested primary. He got over a million votes back then even though he lost to Hillary.

The point was enthusiasm for Obama and the president is much higher than that for the GOP candidates. Believe me if a Repug made that statement poltifact would call it half true. Worse they would never correct the error like Axelrod did.

» Posted By KQµårk 死神 On March 7, 2012 @ 11:36 pm