If the Republicans actually had a platform on healthcare reform, here's my version of what it might look like.
"As Republicans, we ask 'Who says our healthcare system doesn't work?' The CEO of AETNA made $24 million last year.It certainly works for him. Sure there's 47 million Americans who don't have health insurance, but we're more concerned about making sure those CEO's don't get a salary cut.
That's why we hate the idea of a public option. By increasing competition and lowering costs, the CEO of AETNA might have to settle for only $12 million a year. Who can live on that? And if the insurance companies make less money, that means they'll contribute less money to our reelection campaigns. And by the way, although we hate to say anything nice about Democrats, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus feels the same way as we do on this. He should. He's received $3.9 million from those insurance guys.
We hate the idea of a nameless, faceless government bureaucrat coming between you and your doctor. Of course we've never met a nameless, faceless government bureaucrat. They're pretty hard to find, being nameless and faceless and all. But we love the idea of a nameless, faceless insurance company bureaucrat coming between you and your doctor. Because they're just looking out for you. They're not in it for the money.
Those liberals ask why we're the only industrialized nation without national healthcare. And we tell them, because we're better than everyone else! Do you really think we're going to support a government run public option just because a bunch of French people like the idea? We'd rather eat a bucket of Freedom Fries than spend a minute in that left-wing foreign-speaking country.
And so, you might ask, what kind of healthcare reform do we support? Well, to be perfectly honest, we actually agree with about 70% of what's in all of those bills floating around. But we're not interested in seeing any healthcare reform bill passed. Even one we agree with. Why let Obama get all the credit for living up to his campaign promise, when we can defeat healthcare reform, make him look weak, and be sitting pretty in 2010? And with all the money we'll get from the insurance companies, we should win then too.
Just between you and me, we don't know why Obama seems willing to give in on the public option. Whether it's in there or not, we're still not going to vote for the bill. So he might as well fight to keep it in there. But don't tell him we said that.
So what kind of healthcare reform do we Republicans really want? The kind that keeps the Republican party healthy. None."
Ha, I love how the Republicans are having a cow about someone actually writing something true for once on their own news site, lol. Sorry Neocons, but this is the truth, hard and cold and its not funny because its the truth and in this case the truth isn't very funny, is it?
I find it amusing that the VA is used as an example of how the government has "screwed up" healthcare. I recently broke my leg and had to go to the ER. Over the next two weeks I got bills from the ER totalling over $3000. Fortunately I was able to have these bills sent to the VA, and avoid further expenses by getting my follow up care from them, but if I was a regular uninsured person, that kind of expense, plus hundreds or thousands of dollars in follow up care would have completely ruined me financially. Anybody who compares government health care to the DMV is simply uninformed. Yes, there is frequently a wait at the doctor's office, but I do not wait months or even weeks to be seen.
Real Reform would look like this and not cost us much.
1) Some kind of tort reform you should be able to sue if wronged but how about paying attorneys by hours worked rather that by a percentage of the settlement. And setting up some reasonable guide lines as to what you can sue for and what you can recover based on how you were wronged.
2) Break down the state barriers and make a national set of regulations for all insurance companies to let Americans buy insurance from any carrier. (real competition)
3) Make it law that no one can be refused health insurance for pre existing conditions, and you can not be dropped because of expensive claims resulting from a sickness or injury.
4) Give individuals a tax exemption up to a certain amount to pay for their own health plans that would be portable no matter where they worked the same as companies get now(link health insurance to the individual not to their place of work)
5) Have hospitals and doctors standardize their fee's (not dictate those fees let the market set those)so that bigger insurance companies could not rig the system by making special arrangements with health care providers because of the volume of people they cover to pay any less than any one else for services.
6) Encourage doctors to work together to eliminate repetitive MRI's, X ray's and other expensive tests. Quite often when you are sent to another doctor or just want another opinion tests that were just done are done again this would help to...
Loved your piece, Mr. Blakeman.
Skeptic, as a physician, I would like to advice you, please: do NOT use the Department of Motor Vehicles to "address a medical issue." Even if you are among the many, many uninsured, or have been denied coverage for health care despite having dutifully paid your premiums (that's the dastardly rescission, the bane of both patients and us physicians), do NOT go to the DMV. Despite the fact that DMV counter staff deal with hundreds of customers a day, including ungrateful and rude bullies, with considerable grace, they are simply not qualified to address medical issues.
Seriously, just because today they suddenly responded by pulling a bill out does not change the fact that from the beginning, the GOP has been about making this Obama's Waterloo. I realize that they are in disarray and despair, and that this utterly disgraceful shambles that they have made of the health care bill is the best they could do to try to relive the 1994 "Republican Revolution." But the truth is, that short-lived "Contract on America", which was to be the end of Mr. Clinton, ended up with the rebuff of the GOP in 1996, his re-election, and by the end of his term, the lowest level of unemployment, and of many important health threats (notably, tuberculosis and syphilis) in US history, declines by over 90% of AIDS deaths and HIV mother-to-child transmission, and a situation which Bush made a distant memory: peace and prosperity. Remember that?
Am surprised at the # who depend on fixed noise as their news source. Taking a look at who spews their trash ....orally, hummdipity, wholesauce....tells it all. What they are great at is fearmongering and spewing non-truths, half-truths and outright lies.
Amazing how someone can take Democrat talking points, try to make them funny, and call himself a comedian. How many lies are in here? Almost as many as the President's last town hall (like a surgeon gets $50k to amputate leg).
Republicans have been slow to act on this but today they have introduced HB 3400 as a competing set of ideas but because Dems run the House of Representatives it will never get consideration. Republican amendments intended to make the Dem bill more bipartisan get voted down on a party line vote. If private insurers got the benefits of the "public option" such as writing policies that aren't subject to 50 different state regulators and the ability to simply tax the general public to make their policies more affordable I don't think they would oppose "change". I am so tired of people who are basically ignorant about the difference between health insurance and health care. If it's true that 47 million American Citizens are uninsured, please name just 10% of them. (kidding) The actual number of people who would pay for health insurance if they could get it is only about 8 million (which is probably still too much). To keep it simple for liberals, insurance is a way to voluntarily get together with other people to share the risk of some event where each person pays an amount appropriate for the level of risk they bring to the party. Eliminating the incredible about of state regulation in health insurance (the way it is in life and auto) would...
I guess may last comment was to long. So I will shorten it up. This comedian thinks what taken place is humerous, commenting about salaries etc. The real problem is the general public has been conned by a bunch of life long politicians that have been living off the tax payer all their lives. These people havent had to worry about balancing a paycheck in most cases for up to 40yrs. They think middle class income is $250,000 yearly. They have promised everything to everybody for votes and then when they cant deliver, they blame the other party instead of them selves. We allready have a form of national health care called Medicare, Medicaid, as well as other programs for native americans and veterans looked how they have screwed them up. They cant run cash for clunkers, social security, etc. But they have taken care of their Pensions and Medical Benefits. I noticed he didnt comment about salaries for entertainers such as Athletes, Musicians, News casters, etc. Obama was right, we need a change, its just not the one he thinks we need.
Yeah it is really funny to see how many people think it is okay in the first place to have a terrorist for a president so why wouldn't they support having not only our healthcare but every other one of our freedoms ran by the government? Where are our true"American's"? What has happened to everyone? Give me the day when Republicans and Democrats were still Americans and were who they were because of what they stood for? Now, all of you idiots will fall for anything! We want change, you say? Well, you are going to get it alright...right down into Hell. I have always been proud of my country and still am, but the so called "Americans" of today need to wake up and see that the whole world is laughing at us. They have no more respect for a free land because very soon, we will no longer be free, we will be just like them...communist ran! I am ashamed of what America has become today! Obama just wants to go down in history as making a big change! You have given him his wish! Big change for sure...he is not the Messiah that you had hoped for but he is the beginning of our END! Congratulations America...you got your change! Now our children will never get to know what being a true American really means. They will be living in a communist world! Oh and while you still have this freedom...you better start praying! But maybe you have decided a change is in order and Obama is your god? Pray on...see where that one gets ya! Hell ain't half full yet!
To those of us who are against government run healthcare --- What would happen if all of us changed our W4's and stopped giving the government tax money to waste on this????
The only comment I agreed with is how can Republicans expect anyone to believe that they care about our citizenry when they oppose health care reform and don't offer a viable alternative that addresses all these issues created by those who oppose the current plan. I don't believe that anyone, intentionally, wrote the parts that are touted as being part of the attack on the good people of America.
Also, private fire departments didn't last very long in this country. Only a few oppose having municipal fire departments - mostly those who don't like fire codes. So, it is probably true that the public will want 'health codes' if they are paying for health care just as they want fire codes when they are paying for fire departments. Some search and rescue teams are billing for their services when people ignore warning signs.
Do fire codes lower the cost of construction? On the contrary. Will Health codes lower costs? Probably not.
Has any opponent of health care reform read Hans Brinker? That's the way it used to be.
If were going to talk about salaries, lets not forget the obscene salaries of Hollywood and pro sports. Or the Congressional Pensions and Congressional Medical Benefits. We peasants in this country are getting the raw end of the deal on every thing. Obama just saved the pensions for 3 million auto workers he is beefing up gov employement and the gov. unions. This is just not out of the goodness of their hearts, but for future votes. Has any body looked at what it takes to earn a gov. pension and what its based on? And we peasants foot the bill. Everybody gets on the band wagon about raising taxes on the corporations, the rich, etc. forgetting that they control our jobs and the items we purchase where do you think they are getting the money to pay for these great tax punishments the gov. going to put on them. We are allowing both Parties to destroy us for their election or re-election promises and they are trying to make everybody else look like the bad and responsible for our problems. If you want to know who is responsible, look at our Congressional representatives they been running this thing country for the last 40yrs in some form or fashion. They promised everything for everybody and in the end nothing is completed, ( social security, medicare, medicaid, etc. ) And we want to give them more? ( HEALTH CARE ) Count me out!!!!
poignant and true! Thanks for being there and speaking for so many. It's too bad we have to have these word and monetary battles when there are so many that need help.
Thanks for putting a lighter side on something that only disgraces our country.
God... I have to work with these deluded sickos. What's worse is that, politics aside, they are really fundamentally good people. Just brainwashed fools.
Who cares what republicans want?with thier recent track record i have absolutely no interest in what they have to say. If i was pres obama i would kick ruppert murdochs ass back to aussie land for his and fox news anti-american agenda foxnews is a disgrace and a slap in the face to my uncle Arthur Fernandes who won a purple heart and medal of valor in normandy(look it up) fighting people like murdoch and hannity and beck and most americans know the following, the rep. party is the party of the greedy, spoiled, lazy, scared, rich kid who have had everything handed to them and do not appreciate the sacrifices people like my uncle made for there prosperity you anti american jokers at fox make me sick!
Hopefully everyone reading the story and all of the follow-up comments has realized that there is no difference between and the D's and the R's. Both want bigger government and both want to line their pockets with MORE money.
The U.S. Constitution Party is the only one that is going to get us back to the Constitution, putting the power back where it belongs - to the people, and get us out of this mess.
What a dumb ass article. Completely untrue. I am ultra right wing republican, I personally would vote for allowing you to stay on your parents policy as long as you are in school (earning a decent gpa), and definitely drop the pre-existing condition clause. But the author is probably a RINO (rep in name only) and one man's words do not speak for the party. Stats on this issue are all screwed up as well (there are only about 8 million people that actually need health insurance). Here is the bottom line, if we were not a nation of fat asses, and when it comes to money management, dumb asses we wouldn't be having this discussion. You can't afford health insurance because your dumb ass is in a car payment and credit card payment you can't afford, and you have no "extra" cash for lousy health insurance. If you weren't so fat, and not always playing video games you wouldn't need it either.
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Alison
This piece is perfect.. and I am no Republican or conservative...
DarkElfa
Ha, I love how the Republicans are having a cow about someone actually writing something true for once on their own news site, lol. Sorry Neocons, but this is the truth, hard and cold and its not funny because its the truth and in this case the truth isn't very funny, is it?
Terry
I find it amusing that the VA is used as an example of how the government has "screwed up" healthcare. I recently broke my leg and had to go to the ER. Over the next two weeks I got bills from the ER totalling over $3000. Fortunately I was able to have these bills sent to the VA, and avoid further expenses by getting my follow up care from them, but if I was a regular uninsured person, that kind of expense, plus hundreds or thousands of dollars in follow up care would have completely ruined me financially. Anybody who compares government health care to the DMV is simply uninformed. Yes, there is frequently a wait at the doctor's office, but I do not wait months or even weeks to be seen.
bruce
Real Reform would look like this and not cost us much. 1) Some kind of tort reform you should be able to sue if wronged but how about paying attorneys by hours worked rather that by a percentage of the settlement. And setting up some reasonable guide lines as to what you can sue for and what you can recover based on how you were wronged. 2) Break down the state barriers and make a national set of regulations for all insurance companies to let Americans buy insurance from any carrier. (real competition) 3) Make it law that no one can be refused health insurance for pre existing conditions, and you can not be dropped because of expensive claims resulting from a sickness or injury. 4) Give individuals a tax exemption up to a certain amount to pay for their own health plans that would be portable no matter where they worked the same as companies get now(link health insurance to the individual not to their place of work) 5) Have hospitals and doctors standardize their fee's (not dictate those fees let the market set those)so that bigger insurance companies could not rig the system by making special arrangements with health care providers because of the volume of people they cover to pay any less than any one else for services. 6) Encourage doctors to work together to eliminate repetitive MRI's, X ray's and other expensive tests. Quite often when you are sent to another doctor or just want another opinion tests that were just done are done again this would help to...
rocknrollmd
Loved your piece, Mr. Blakeman. Skeptic, as a physician, I would like to advice you, please: do NOT use the Department of Motor Vehicles to "address a medical issue." Even if you are among the many, many uninsured, or have been denied coverage for health care despite having dutifully paid your premiums (that's the dastardly rescission, the bane of both patients and us physicians), do NOT go to the DMV. Despite the fact that DMV counter staff deal with hundreds of customers a day, including ungrateful and rude bullies, with considerable grace, they are simply not qualified to address medical issues. Seriously, just because today they suddenly responded by pulling a bill out does not change the fact that from the beginning, the GOP has been about making this Obama's Waterloo. I realize that they are in disarray and despair, and that this utterly disgraceful shambles that they have made of the health care bill is the best they could do to try to relive the 1994 "Republican Revolution." But the truth is, that short-lived "Contract on America", which was to be the end of Mr. Clinton, ended up with the rebuff of the GOP in 1996, his re-election, and by the end of his term, the lowest level of unemployment, and of many important health threats (notably, tuberculosis and syphilis) in US history, declines by over 90% of AIDS deaths and HIV mother-to-child transmission, and a situation which Bush made a distant memory: peace and prosperity. Remember that?
Notta Repuke
Am surprised at the # who depend on fixed noise as their news source. Taking a look at who spews their trash ....orally, hummdipity, wholesauce....tells it all. What they are great at is fearmongering and spewing non-truths, half-truths and outright lies.
MikeeK
Amazing how someone can take Democrat talking points, try to make them funny, and call himself a comedian. How many lies are in here? Almost as many as the President's last town hall (like a surgeon gets $50k to amputate leg). Republicans have been slow to act on this but today they have introduced HB 3400 as a competing set of ideas but because Dems run the House of Representatives it will never get consideration. Republican amendments intended to make the Dem bill more bipartisan get voted down on a party line vote. If private insurers got the benefits of the "public option" such as writing policies that aren't subject to 50 different state regulators and the ability to simply tax the general public to make their policies more affordable I don't think they would oppose "change". I am so tired of people who are basically ignorant about the difference between health insurance and health care. If it's true that 47 million American Citizens are uninsured, please name just 10% of them. (kidding) The actual number of people who would pay for health insurance if they could get it is only about 8 million (which is probably still too much). To keep it simple for liberals, insurance is a way to voluntarily get together with other people to share the risk of some event where each person pays an amount appropriate for the level of risk they bring to the party. Eliminating the incredible about of state regulation in health insurance (the way it is in life and auto) would...
D L Shutts
I guess may last comment was to long. So I will shorten it up. This comedian thinks what taken place is humerous, commenting about salaries etc. The real problem is the general public has been conned by a bunch of life long politicians that have been living off the tax payer all their lives. These people havent had to worry about balancing a paycheck in most cases for up to 40yrs. They think middle class income is $250,000 yearly. They have promised everything to everybody for votes and then when they cant deliver, they blame the other party instead of them selves. We allready have a form of national health care called Medicare, Medicaid, as well as other programs for native americans and veterans looked how they have screwed them up. They cant run cash for clunkers, social security, etc. But they have taken care of their Pensions and Medical Benefits. I noticed he didnt comment about salaries for entertainers such as Athletes, Musicians, News casters, etc. Obama was right, we need a change, its just not the one he thinks we need.
True American
Yeah it is really funny to see how many people think it is okay in the first place to have a terrorist for a president so why wouldn't they support having not only our healthcare but every other one of our freedoms ran by the government? Where are our true"American's"? What has happened to everyone? Give me the day when Republicans and Democrats were still Americans and were who they were because of what they stood for? Now, all of you idiots will fall for anything! We want change, you say? Well, you are going to get it alright...right down into Hell. I have always been proud of my country and still am, but the so called "Americans" of today need to wake up and see that the whole world is laughing at us. They have no more respect for a free land because very soon, we will no longer be free, we will be just like them...communist ran! I am ashamed of what America has become today! Obama just wants to go down in history as making a big change! You have given him his wish! Big change for sure...he is not the Messiah that you had hoped for but he is the beginning of our END! Congratulations America...you got your change! Now our children will never get to know what being a true American really means. They will be living in a communist world! Oh and while you still have this freedom...you better start praying! But maybe you have decided a change is in order and Obama is your god? Pray on...see where that one gets ya! Hell ain't half full yet!
Cheryl Bent
To those of us who are against government run healthcare --- What would happen if all of us changed our W4's and stopped giving the government tax money to waste on this????
MB
The only comment I agreed with is how can Republicans expect anyone to believe that they care about our citizenry when they oppose health care reform and don't offer a viable alternative that addresses all these issues created by those who oppose the current plan. I don't believe that anyone, intentionally, wrote the parts that are touted as being part of the attack on the good people of America. Also, private fire departments didn't last very long in this country. Only a few oppose having municipal fire departments - mostly those who don't like fire codes. So, it is probably true that the public will want 'health codes' if they are paying for health care just as they want fire codes when they are paying for fire departments. Some search and rescue teams are billing for their services when people ignore warning signs. Do fire codes lower the cost of construction? On the contrary. Will Health codes lower costs? Probably not. Has any opponent of health care reform read Hans Brinker? That's the way it used to be.
michael b
all fox does is lie
DL Shutts
If were going to talk about salaries, lets not forget the obscene salaries of Hollywood and pro sports. Or the Congressional Pensions and Congressional Medical Benefits. We peasants in this country are getting the raw end of the deal on every thing. Obama just saved the pensions for 3 million auto workers he is beefing up gov employement and the gov. unions. This is just not out of the goodness of their hearts, but for future votes. Has any body looked at what it takes to earn a gov. pension and what its based on? And we peasants foot the bill. Everybody gets on the band wagon about raising taxes on the corporations, the rich, etc. forgetting that they control our jobs and the items we purchase where do you think they are getting the money to pay for these great tax punishments the gov. going to put on them. We are allowing both Parties to destroy us for their election or re-election promises and they are trying to make everybody else look like the bad and responsible for our problems. If you want to know who is responsible, look at our Congressional representatives they been running this thing country for the last 40yrs in some form or fashion. They promised everything for everybody and in the end nothing is completed, ( social security, medicare, medicaid, etc. ) And we want to give them more? ( HEALTH CARE ) Count me out!!!!
sandy Hansen
poignant and true! Thanks for being there and speaking for so many. It's too bad we have to have these word and monetary battles when there are so many that need help. Thanks for putting a lighter side on something that only disgraces our country.
tim
God... I have to work with these deluded sickos. What's worse is that, politics aside, they are really fundamentally good people. Just brainwashed fools.
james diaz
Who cares what republicans want?with thier recent track record i have absolutely no interest in what they have to say. If i was pres obama i would kick ruppert murdochs ass back to aussie land for his and fox news anti-american agenda foxnews is a disgrace and a slap in the face to my uncle Arthur Fernandes who won a purple heart and medal of valor in normandy(look it up) fighting people like murdoch and hannity and beck and most americans know the following, the rep. party is the party of the greedy, spoiled, lazy, scared, rich kid who have had everything handed to them and do not appreciate the sacrifices people like my uncle made for there prosperity you anti american jokers at fox make me sick!
Paul Eggers
Hopefully everyone reading the story and all of the follow-up comments has realized that there is no difference between and the D's and the R's. Both want bigger government and both want to line their pockets with MORE money. The U.S. Constitution Party is the only one that is going to get us back to the Constitution, putting the power back where it belongs - to the people, and get us out of this mess.
Jerry Morgan
come on. Health care takes up almost 15% of our total budget. if it takes up 45% then the whole economy goes down. figure it out people.
Ruth Marquez
Loved this! Thank you for exposing the Republican Party for who they really are in a light hearted way. Keep up the good work.
lee
What a dumb ass article. Completely untrue. I am ultra right wing republican, I personally would vote for allowing you to stay on your parents policy as long as you are in school (earning a decent gpa), and definitely drop the pre-existing condition clause. But the author is probably a RINO (rep in name only) and one man's words do not speak for the party. Stats on this issue are all screwed up as well (there are only about 8 million people that actually need health insurance). Here is the bottom line, if we were not a nation of fat asses, and when it comes to money management, dumb asses we wouldn't be having this discussion. You can't afford health insurance because your dumb ass is in a car payment and credit card payment you can't afford, and you have no "extra" cash for lousy health insurance. If you weren't so fat, and not always playing video games you wouldn't need it either.