Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Politics In General The fallout: Democrats rethinking health care bill

MA, I for the most part consider myself pro business too. Business is where good jobs come from and without thriving business the economy will suffer and people will be unemployed. That's not rocket science. But how far can tax cuts be taken? If tax cuts are always good then why not just eliminate taxes entirely. Then things should be absolutely great no? Have and eat your cake for nothing.

Also, what do you make of employee medical insurance coverage being mandated on businesses? That cost is becoming onerous for businesses (has been for quite some time) and just cannot continue with the current rate of insurance inflation. What to do about that? Just cut the employees coverage loose and let them fend for themselves?

There has to be a better way to handle medical insurance coverage for US citizens. Obama's plan was flawed and had room for much improvement but the Republicans answer of "just say no" is exponentially worse.

Ma, you and I agree on so little, I thought it would be good to point out some important things that we agree on:

I also agreed with something you said earlier... what is wrong with me!?

By the way, what you would see as a solution, I see as the problem, and vice versa. Which, of course, will create a logjam, kinda like what we are going to have for the next 12 months. Scott Brown could be the best thing to happen to the Democratic party, IF they don't plug their heads somewhere and get scared. It isn't the agenda that scares the public, it is not knowing what they want. Low information voters are the problem, and as long as we have them, and we always will, they will gum up informed democracy, and we will have the insanity of Massachusetts - and it is insanity to vote as they have. It's kind of like the two same-sex marriage decisions by the California Supreme Court - they cannot be reconciled with logic.

What we have now, and will have for some time, is people trying to figure out the "meaning" of Massachusetts. It is a fool's errand, because it doesn't mean anything but that voters are idiotic and have no idea what they want. It will be interesting to see what kind of a Senator Scott Brown turns out to be, and which Dem will replace him at the end of his abbreviated term.

I do not have a tried and tested solution to the current situation other than tax cuts. FDR tried spending his way out and only got out from under it because of WWII. I can't think of another way to increase the flow of capital within the economy without introducing a new funding source. The liberals amongst us will argue that the money would be better spent on program X, but program X will cost money to implement and support. That money has to come from somewhere and Congress doesn't like to cut funding of any kind, so taxes are always the preferred funding method. Unemployment is at 10%, so the tax bucket is shrinking and printing more money will not work, it has to have something to back it up and that something is already straining to back up the other money we just printed.

I am not anti REFORM, the the current bill is not REFORM, it is what is being passed along as REFORM (reform for future use). There are many ways to fix the system without devouring it. One of the biggest would be the bility for insurance companies to sell their policies acros state lines, stop with the cookie cutter policies and offer a manageable choice of policies. Another way to force relief, once again more populist than republican, is to apply some guidelines for policy pricing, but to do so malpractice tort reform would have to be coupled with it. Look, my company was around $14B last year. We operate in most states, each state has to have their own plan, their own plan manager, their own policies, their own coverage options, and so on. Cutting those expenses alone would save millions.

BTW - I would be in favor of eliminating taxes all together, but if we did that we would no longer be able to pay our debts and China would forclose.

Priorities in order:
JOBS/ECONOMY
everything else

Thank you, maybe ther is hope for bipartisanship?

I do have to disagree with your assessment of the average voter. It isn't ignorance that is keeping HCR from being passed. The people, regardless of how smart they are or aren't, know what they want. right now they do not want HCR. Scott Brown got elected by promising to vote against it. My only worry is that eventually he will have a bill he CAN vote for and will get kicked out on his ass for voting for it.

In two years he may or may not get reelected. Ted Kennedy killed a girl he was cheating with and held the seat for 40+ years. John Kerry might be one of the worst human beings ever to call Massachusetts home and he still gets elected. It will depend on whether he is still Scott Brown, Republican or if he is Scott Brown the lemming.

It's not that congress dislikes funding cuts, it's just that congress people get elected by bringing home the bacon. That is their sole reason for being elected and they all point with pride to their record of bringing federal dollars to their local constituents. To not do so means not being reelected.

And if that threat somehow fails then they are faced with the arm bending of the lobbyists who will not allow cuts in spending in their districts. This is across the board for Republicans and Democrats. It's just when the "other" congress person points to to "wasteful" spending elsewhere that it is considered inappropriate spending. Funny how that works.

Maybe I am just pessimistic that bipartisanship will be achieved in my lifetime. I believe it is the only correct answer, and I think President Obama believes that too. I think we are both suckers. I wish, and hope, that there were some amongst our elected leaders who could see a way to bipartisanship - or, preferably non-partisanship. I wish we didn't have that "bi" in there, but multi-partisans. But, I digress. There is little hope that the current iteration of the GOP will be willing to approach any legislation without partisanship, and they have engendered such (deserved) mistrust in the Democratic leadership that it will be hard for them to accept anything offered by a Republican as genuine, and not a Trojan horse. Perhaps something offered by, say, the New America Foundation?

But, my preference is still that the GOP fade away, or do itself in through in-house bickering, and something come into existence to replace it. What exists now is not a party, but a cabal, a criminal enterprise, and a cancer on the body politic.

Much smaller and gentler pox on one of them.
Everyone sees it :-)

NWP: That would require statesmanship. Does/can that exist anymore?

I listened to a pollster being interviewed today on the radio by Ed Schultz. He polled people in MA who voted for Obama and for Brown. The majority voted for Brown because they didn't like the health care bill currently in Congress. They wanted Single Payer or public option.

Very revealing, especially since it was the Independents who voted in Obama and also Brown.

Neither party is listening to them so we are doomed to repeat this over and over until someone finally listens and acts. I really don't expect to see it in my lifetime.

So they voted in a Repug to get single payer or public option?
Beyond STUPID.

Not putting it past them, just saying BEYOND STUPID.
But then again this is the nation that elected Bush TWICE, the second time AFTER they realized we had no business in IRAQ.