Friday, May 5, 2017

HOUSE REPUBLICAN HEALTHCARE BILL IS A RECIPE FOR DEATH

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     It's likely that many of my readers will be quite angry with me - dare I use the word pissed - at the language I use in this column.  But I don't care.  I would venture to say that some people who I know personally...such as friends...members of my own family...and professionals in the business world...will want to rake me over the coals because of my reaction to the passing of the Republican healthcare bill by the GOP-controlled U.S. House of Representatives.  But I don't care.

     Anybody...yes, I said anybody...who supports the Republican legislation - in the form that it is in right now - is as bad as someone who is an accomplice to a crime.

     When a person commits a murder...and another individual helps that killer to escape...or he or she is involved in any way as an accessory after-the-fact...then the person who pulled the trigger goes to prison...and so does the accomplice.

     I don't believe that the Republican healthcare bill - known as the American Health Care Act - will ever become law...in its current form...because it will be virtually impossible to pass the U.S. Senate.  None of the 48 Democrats will vote for it...and with the Senate needing 60 votes to pass, I would be shocked if the GOP could ever sway 8 Democrats to cross the aisle and join forces with the 52 Republicans. However, that being said...if anything similar to the GOP bill ever did become law... each Member of Congress - from the House and the Senate - who voted...or will vote yea...will be guilty of murder.  Such a law would cause 24-million Americans to lose their health insurance...and tens-of-thousands of those people will die without the care they have received through the Affordable Care Act...commonly known as "Obamacare."

     If you are one who who supports the Republican bill that passed the House on Thursday, May 4th, 2017, then - if it ever becomes law - you can someday consider yourself no better than a serial killer.  You can compare yourself to John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer.  By applauding the GOP House bill - should it become law - you could end up being worse than Charles Manson...because of the deaths that will result from this measure.  And if you praise the Republican health care legislation, you fall in to the category of a terrorist.  Therefore, the Republican House - and the Republican Senate if they were to pass the same bill - would be as deadly as ISIS or al-Qaeda.  Finally...if the Senate were to approve such a measure and Donald Trump signed it in to law...he would be as treacherous as Osama bin Laden.

     In a February 2016 interview with Fox News...then GOP candidate Donald Trump told Sean Hannity..."I'm not gonna have, if I'm President, people dying in the street because they can't afford (a) health plan.  I'm not going to allow people to die on the sidewalks of the streets.  I'm not gonna let it happen."  But now - as he sits behind The Oval Office desk - Trump will let people die in the streets if both chambers of Congress pass the American Health Care Act...and if Trump signs it in to law.

     How dare House Republicans - and how dare any Republican voter - want to jeopardize the health of tens-of-millions of people.  The toxicity of this bill is as bad as if people were forced to live next to a hazardous waste dump...or to drink water that was poisoned by arsenic.

     If the GOP healthcare bill - in its present form - ever replaces the Affordable Care Act...then residents in villages, towns and cities throughout the 50 United States... will see the names of their neighbors in newspaper and Internet obituaries.  

     The House Republican bill shoots bullets through the hearts of millions of Americans.  GOP Congressmen want Americans to believe that individuals with pre-existing conditions will be covered by their new bill.  They have obviously gone to "The Donald Trump School Of Lying" because pre-existing conditions would not be protected.  The Republican legislation would give states a green light to get waivers that would permit insurance companies to drastically raise premiums for people with pre-existing conditions.  In other words...sick people have to pay more for coverage. For instance...insurance for a 40-year old male who is battling cancer would increase by an extra 73-thousand to 143-thousand dollars a year.  That's over and above the regular annual premium amounts.  The bottom line - House Republicans don't give a damn about the people in our country.  According to a CNN/ORC poll in March 2017, 87 percent of Americans - including more than 80 percent in both political parties - support "maintaining the protections offered to people with pre-existing conditions under Obamacare."  And yes - as it is with many of you - this is personal to me.  I'm a two-time cancer survivor with other pre-existing conditions.  

     The Republican's new bill says states can opt out and, therefore, give insurance companies a thumbs-up to eliminate what are known as Essential Health Benefits. That means everything from prescription drugs to pregnancy and maternity care to emergency services and more would be reduced or even eliminated...and thus not be considered "essential."  And insurance companies would be allowed to impose annual caps and lifetime limits on benefits, which would undoubtedly put millions of Americans in to bankruptcy.

     The Republican measure will also give insurance companies the right to discriminate against the elderly.  Premium costs for senior citizens would be five times higher than younger people would pay for the same exact coverage. Deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums would skyrocket for older Americans.  And people could be thrown in to high-risk pools, which - prior to the Affordable Care Act - were disastrous plans for individuals and families.

     The House Republican legislation is designed to help the wealthy of our nation, but not the middle-class and the poor.  Single Americans who annually earn 200-thousand dollars or more...and couples whose yearly income exceeds one-quarter-of-a-million dollars...would benefit from a 300-billion-dollar tax cut.  Plus the pharmaceutical and insurance companies would receive tax breaks totaling hundreds of billions of dollars too.

     To top it off...nearly 900-billion dollars would be chopped from Medicaid with the new House GOP bill.  Some 70-million Americans depend on Medicaid for survival. However, if almost one-trillion dollars is axed from Medicaid, millions of Americans would no longer receive funding to live.  And the vast majority of Medicaid money goes to aid poor children, low-income elderly and the disabled.  Do we really want to believe that Donald Trump and the House Republicans care about people?  I don't think so.

     Then there are the subsidies...the tax credits that the Affordable Care Act provides for low-income individuals and families.  With the House Republican bill, those subsidies would be radically slashed.

     I've outlined just some of the many reasons why the new House legislation should never become law.  The first GOP measure - which went up in smoke without a vote - had a very low approval rating nationwide and I guarantee there will be less popularity for this new legislation.  Only 17 percent of Americans - according to a March 2017 Quinnipiac University Poll - back a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

     But that didn't make a difference to Donald Trump and his Republican cronies... who were almost giddy with glee as they celebrated in The White House Rose Garden after the House bill passed, 217 to 213.  

     In spite of House Members being joyful by what they think is a victory...Donald Trump has once again proved that he doesn't have the slightest idea what he's saying when he makes his off-the-cuff remarks.  After all...just hours after the House vote...Trump greeted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the USS Intrepid in New York City.  The decommissioned aircraft carrier is docked in the Hudson River and is the centerpiece for the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

     While meeting with the Australian leader, Trump expressed kind words for the healthcare program "Down Under."  He told Turnbull..."You have better healthcare than we do."

     But Australia's Medicare system is a government universal healthcare program that guarantees insurance for everyone.  And the price per citizen is much less money than what we pay in the United States.  Such a healthcare system is what liberal progressive Democrats have wanted all along.  Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted..."Thank you Mr. Trump for admitting that universal health care is the better way to go.  I'll be sure to quote you on the floor of the Senate."  

     Does Donald Trump have any clue what the hell he is doing?  Of course not.  But most of America has known that since the day he announced his candidacy for President.  The House Republican's healthcare measure is like everything else that Trump touches.  It's irrational.  Trump...along with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and other House Republicans...are responsible for a deplorably heinous piece of legislation.  If their bill becomes law...Donald Trump - and certain members of Congress - will eventually be guilty of murder.  And so will any of you who support it.  
     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."


The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Copyright 2017 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net.  All Rights Reserved.

11 comments:

  1. all i do is sit back and laugh at you gary duglin... now your 0 for 2. first trump would never be elected and then just a few weeks ago you cheered about how Osamacare was the law of the land "forever"... remind me to never let you pick lottery numbers ha ha ha

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    1. You can sit back and laugh all day long, but I'll be the one laughing in the end. Sure, Donald Trump won the electoral vote, but I'm in good company with nearly 66-million other Americans who voted Hillary Clinton to be the winner of the popular vote. As for Obamacare being the law of the land, I stick by that. OBAMACARE IS THE LAW OF THE LAND and it will be "FOREVER." As I wrote in the above column, the U.S. Senate will never pass the bill that the House of Representatives passed. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) needs to be improved...or - if you prefer - repaired - but it will never be repealed and replaced in the way that Republicans had thought. As I noted above, 87 percent...EIGHTY-SEVEN PERCENT - of Americans do NOT want the Affordable Care Act repealed. And that was before the Republicans in the House came up with the disgraceful legislation this week. That number is sure to increase when all is said and done. So you can say "ha ha ha" all day long, but there will be no repeal. And when the Democrats take control of the Senate and probably the House too after the November 2018 mid-term elections, you'll be crying, not laughing. Wait also for more to come on Russia when General Flynn spills the beans on Trump. Can you say...IMPEACHMENT? Can you say...CONVICTION? Can you say...REMOVAL FROM OFFICE? Donald Trump will not last four years in The White House. And I've been saying that since November 9th, 2016 - the day after the 2016 election. GBD

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  2. 87% ha ha ha... sounds like you've been listening to your fake news polls again just like the ones that you were so in love with that said Killary would win. now you predicting three more things that won't happen. trump will be there until 1/20/25. maybe by then you'll learn to respect our president a little more.

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    1. You and your right-wing fringe are clueless. No fake news...all truth. That 87 percent figure is accurate. As for Hillary Clinton, if it weren't for FBI Director James Comey and the Russians with Wikileaks, Secretary Clinton would be President of the United States today. Trust me. Donald Trump will not last four years in The White House. He deserves no respect because he doesn't give any to the majority of Americans. Obviously you believe in the House Republican healthcare bill. Whoever you are, you fit the category that I described in my column above. As I wrote, I don't believe the Senate will ever pass a repeal bill in its present form, but if their legislation is anything similar to the House measure and the House then agrees with it and passes it, and then Trump signs it in to law, then you and all who support it - including Trump and the Congress - can all feel sorry by the millions of deaths it will eventually cause. But you sound like you're someone who has no soul, so maybe you don't have a conscience, and I guess you won't care that all those people will die as a result of such a healthcare law. But if you do, then you can live with the fact knowing that you would be one of those people responsible for so many deaths. GBD

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  3. First let me say, I am for the total and complete repeal of Obama Care, all its rules, regulations and taxes, complete repeal as if it never happened. They should give a two year wind down if needed but by May 2019 it’s gone. Sooner if a replacement bill is passed. That’s what should have been done. Yes, the replacement should cover pre-existing conditions and children staying on a parent’s plan for some period of time, it should allow people to buy over state lines and pick their coverage and much more. My hope is that once this 1st part is passed with any changes made in the Senate, by the time all three phases are complete we will have a better plan for all Americans. Just too correct you stage one which this is doesn’t require 60 votes in the Senate it is being done under budget reconciliation. Fifty votes plus the VP and it passes. I wish the left would tone down the lies; 8 years ago before Obama Care were there millions of people dying in the streets? NO, so why would it happen now. Obama Care is a failure, in many states people have only one choice and in some over the next year there will be no insurance company offered in there state pools. We need a healthcare system that works for all, not just the rich and the poor, it shouldn’t cost working people over a thousand a month and still have $5000 deductibles and co-pays of $75 for every doctors visit $100 or more for a specialist and even more with tests. I wish the left would get involved and help, America needs to get it right this time, and they sure as hell didn’t with Obama Care. I know many on the left want a socialist health care like Canada has, look hard into it before you make that choice, two year wait for hernia operations, illegal to go to a private doctor for covered care. Canada has the lowest MRI scanning machines per capita in the developed world, with six MRI scanners per million people, America has 26.6 per million, the city of Pittsburgh has more than all of Canada. Depending on the illness or the need, the wait list for an MRI in Canada can be as long as 12 months in a government covered facility. Is that what you want for America, I want better than that. Push for the left to work with the right and those in the center and do what is right and fair for all Americans. The left should stop playing politics and hoping the new plan if it passes, fails so they can blame the GOP for a bad plan, it is time for the Democrats to stop putting party before country and stop being the party of NO.

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    1. It's a terrible shame that you believe as you do. It shows that you don't care about 24-million Americans who will lose their health insurance. You also don't care about millions more whose insurance rates will skyrocket. And you don't have a conscience that millions of people will die because they won't be able to afford health insurance. Therefore, I stand by my column. As for you wanting to "just correct" me about the 60 votes needed in the Senate, you are wrong. I'm going to put the following in quotes, but I'm not going to tell you who said it because all you will do is call it "fake news" or you will criticize the person who said it even though what is said is fact. "One of the biggest challenges the House bill faces is that in order for it to be eligible for simple majority vote - instead of a 60-vote threshold usually required for major bills - it must meet special requirements under budget reconciliation rules. One of the key demands is that it lower the deficit. It is not known if the latest iteration of the House bill will do that, especially after money was added to it to resolve differences between the hard right House Freedom Caucus and the moderate Tuesday Group." In other words, the bill will need 60 votes not 51. As I wrote in my column, the Affordable Care Act needs to be improved, but not repealed. The House bill is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. If Republicans had gone along with what President Obama and the Democrats wanted, we would have universal healthcare, which is apparently what Donald Trump likes since he told the Australian Prime Minister that his country has "better healthcare" than we do in the United States. You sound like someone who really is clueless on health insurance. Australia's healthcare system is a Medicare system and it would be perfect in America. As for Canada, you paint a picture that is untrue, according to most healthcare experts and economists. I wish I knew who you were, but you hide behind the "anonymous" banner. As noted earlier, I don't believe the Affordable Care Act "Obamacare" will ever be repealed. But if it is, then the Senate will merely copy practically everything and then tack their name to it. It will then have to go back to the House for them to agree, which they probably won't, which means the bill will fail unless they can agree on a compromise, which they won't do either. But if Senate Republicans do pass a bill similar to the House, and if Trump signs it in to law, as I wrote in my commentary, they will all be guilty of murder when thousands and then millions of people die without insurance. In any event, Republicans in the House are screwed for 2018. Wait and see. Congress will be controlled by the Democrats. I'm done with you, so go away. I have nothing more to say to you. GBD

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  4. GBD, I don’t believe that 24 million people will lose the health insurance, left wing lies. We have only seen part 1 of a 3 part plan. As for your comments about budget reconciliation, the Byrd Rule has six requirements and the Leadership believes it meets these rules. Any senator may raise a procedural objection to a provision believed to be extraneous, which will then be ruled on by the Presiding Officer, customarily on the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian. A vote of 60 senators is required to overturn the ruling. The Presiding Officer need not necessarily follow the advice of the Parliamentarian, and the Parliamentarian can be replaced by the Senate Majority Leader. The Vice President as President of the Senate can overrule the parliamentarian. So the one making the decision on if it meets the Byrd Rule is either the President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or the President of the Senate, Vice President Pence. If it doesn’t meet the rule, with 51 votes rules can be changed. What I said about the Canadian health care plan is 100% fact, under their plan people live with treatable pain with help and people do die from their limited coverage. Those are FACTS! I am not the person who wrote you earlier, so why you got so hostile and nasty with me I don’t know, I was only trying to have a meaningful debate on an issue you wrote about. Apparently you are incapable of have such a debate and the best you can do is be rude, nasty and name call. Maybe you should rename this blog to the Democrat Talking Points Blog and we hate anyone who disagrees.

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    1. You can believe what you want, but those of us who are "left wing" - as you insist on calling us - do NOT lie. That number comes from the Office of Management and Budget. And the current head of the OMB is Mick Mulvaney, who is a Republican and who was nominated by Donald Trump and confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. So don't tell me that Democrats, liberals and progressives lie. The 24-million number was stated by Mick Mulvaney...not by Democrats.

      I know all about the Byrd Rule, but even Senator Mitch McConnell has stated that the Senate will need 60 votes to pass a healthcare bill, that the Senate will not meet the requirements under budget reconciliation.

      You can argue all day long about Canada's healthcare, but Canadians will disagree and so will numerous American healthcare experts and economists. So stop making up your stories. They are NOT FACTS.

      Since I have no clue who anybody is when you Republicans respond, I merely respond to the previous writer. Since my name and photo are published here, it would be nice if Republicans - like my Democratic readers who respond - would publish your names too.

      I am not hostile. I respond to a previous writer and I don't know which one was you or not. I am certainly capable of a "meaningful debate." I don't believe I am being "rude" and "nasty." It seems obvious that the Republicans of today are not even willing to compromise with Democrats. If you are a regular reader of The Controversy then you know that I am an ultra-liberal progressive Democrat. So obviously I am in agreement with Democratic Talking Points. I disagree with anything that is conservative. That's what a liberal is, so I would think you would understand that. GBD

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    2. Correction: It's the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, not the Office of Management and Budget. My mistake. I mis-spoke. But my comment still remains as it has nothing to do with Democrats, so therefore, no "left wing" lies. GBD

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  5. Once again left wing lies, it was the CBO not Mulvaney, here is the transcript from Mick Mulvaney’s interview with John Dickerson on Face The Nation, denying the 24 million number “JOHN DICKERSON: But of course people hear about the Congressional Budget Office assessment of this House bill and when you say, "It will be there for them," they think, "But wait a minute. The C.B.O. said, '24 million people will lose coverage.'" So it won't be there for those 24. MICK MULVANEY: Yeah, I saw the C.B.O. score. And when you get down into the details on it, one of the things you see is that the C.B.O. assumes that once the mandate is gone, people will voluntarily drop off of expanded Medicaid. Think about that for a second. The C.B.O. is assuming in getting to that 24 million people that you get Medicaid for free but once the mandate that you take it is gone you'll voluntarily give up that free benefit. It's just absurd. We've talked it I think when that first analysis came out. The C.B.O., we thought, really missed the mark. They missed the mark a couple years ago on how many people would sign up. And we think they've missed the mark again on how many people will lose coverage.” As for my comments about Canada they are the facts and were confirmed by the CMA Canadian Medical Association, once again you are wrong. Republican cannot use their names because of retribution from the left, we would have people picket your home, bully our kids and burn things on our front lawns. It is the left that refuses to compromise as they did for 8 years. You are truly a hater, our founding fathers would turn over in their graves to see what you claim is the way America should be. You are a hater of what has makes America Great and will again!

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    1. Obviously, you don't read my responses. I corrected myself on Monday afternoon. My words are above from May 8th where I noted that I mis-spoke and corrected my error. So your accusations of lying are appalling. The fact of the matter is - as I noted above - the CBO is non-partisan, so there are no "left wing lies" but facts. And the fact of the matter is that the Senate will not be passing a healthcare bill similar to the House. And when the Senate passes its bill - if it does - then it has to go back to the House to be passed or not. As I've said all along - "Obamacare" is the law of the land...and it will be forever. That doesn't mean that it will not be improved upon, but there will not be the repeal and replacement that Donald Trump and the Republicans had insisted would happen.

      As for Canada, there will always be people and organizations that dislike something that others like. Polls have shown that Canadians overall love their healthcare system and doctors, economists and healthcare experts have stated that Canada's healthcare system is excellent. So I am not "wrong" - as you seem to always want to tell me.

      I have no clue what you mean when you say, "Republicans cannot use their names because of retribution from the left, we would have people picket your home, bully our kids and burn things on our front lawns." What the hell are you talking about?

      Democrats are always willing to compromise. It's Republicans that would not for 6 years while the GOP controlled Congress under President Obama.

      I truly wish you would stop reading The Controversy. I don't know who you are, but I know your style of writing, so in the future, unless you publish your name, I will refuse to publish your comments. I am NOT a hater in any way, shape, matter or form. But you surely do sound like it.

      Our founding fathers would be proud of the way I and other liberal progressive Democrats want the United States of America to be. Please go away and never darken my column again. You're not worth my time as your thoughts are hateful and disgraceful.

      GBD

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