Obamacare v. Ryancare: And, in this corner, the winner is....

Americans? Democrats? Republicans? Obama? Trump? The Koch brothers?

When Democrats were trying to sell a health insurance bailout attempt Obamacare in 2009, they held town halls. Citizens attending asked for more than Obamacare was slated to provide. Democrats told the ingrates their valued constituents just to accept what the White House, big medical providers, Big PHRMA and health insurers had already decided what was best to enrich themselves for the nation.

Yes, dears, the big decisions were made by those incubi and succubi dedicated professionals before Senator Max Baucus, insurance industry advocate, Ms. Elizabeth Fowler and designated Republican mole, Senator Susan Collins, ever got their claws hands on the ACA. Meanwhile, Obama would not even meet with doctors and nurses who advocated for Medicare for All or with the House Progressive Caucus until after the ACA was all but cast in stone.

During the 2008 primary and election seasons, President Obama had told us emphatically (and correctly) that a strong public option was the only way to control health insurance costs. However, during the 2009 town hall season, President Obama and his White House informed us impatiently that a strong public option was only a "sliver." At his Obamacare town hall in Newton, Massachusetts, a city where seldom is heard a Republican word, Barney Frank told a rightist woman that he had no more interest in talking with her than he had in conversing with a table. (Candidly, I would have had no interest in talking to her, either, but I would never have been that brutal to a constituent during a town hall.)

When Republicans were trying to sell Ryancare, they, too, held town halls. Many attendees told their Republican "representative" that they or their loved ones would die if Obamacare were taken away entirely or replaced with lesser coverage. Many Republican politicians promised to protect their constituents and their loved ones. And those Republican politicians did stand against Ryancare. Seriously, when is the last time you remember something like that happening with either of our two largest, privileged, entitled political parties? Imagine what we can do if the Medicare for All if we join forces with the Republican rank and file on this issue? Well, maybe.

Speaking of privileged and entitled, we now come to, yep, you guessed it, the Koch brothers. A while back, the Koch brothers offered millions of dollars to help re-elect Republicans who vote to repeal Obamacare. (http://www.newsweek.com/who-wants-rid-obamacare-541678 ) Notice, I did not use the term that is spoken these days almost as though it were a singly polysyllabic word, "repeal and replace Obamacare." More recently, the Koch brothers offered millions of dollars to help re-elect Republicans who voted against Ryancare. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/22/politics/kochs-reserve-fund-health-care/

The Koch brothers' offer as to Ryancare did not become news you could google until March 23, but who knows if calls or visits were made quietly to Republican House members before the Ryancare town halls? (BTW, aren't the Koch brothers offering a quid pro quo?) Though some of what passes for moderate Republicans today did oppose Ryancare, too, the bloc that led the stand against Ryancare was the Freedom Caucus, comprised of Tea Partiers, the Koch brothers having conceived and astroturfed the Tea Party. So, what did we witness last week? Did the constituents at the Republican town halls win, for once or was it, as usual, billionaires who won?

I do not expect those Republicans who stood firmly against Ryancare to tell us why they did so. Why would they? Heads, they pleased the Koch brothers and "earned" financial help with re-election in 2018. Tails, they pleased their constituents and earned their votes for re-election in 2018. For them, it's win win. Well, maybe not entirely a win win: the Trump White House is making a "rhymes with hit" list of the names of those who blocked Ryancare. (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/24/bannon-tells-trump-keep...)

What will all the above mean for us? ¿Quién sabe, mi amigas y amigos? Please don't ask me what will happen next, either. Trying to figure out for certain what happened last week has already made my eyelashes hurt; and neither Obamacare nor Ryancare covers that.

The guy who recorded Witch Doctor with the Chipmunks was the cousin of Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning author William Saroyan? For some reason, that's making me laugh.

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Lookout's picture

the workings of the oligarchs. It is almost as if they (the oligarchs) are the gods on Olympus whose pretty fights impact all the lowly mortals (who exist in blissful ignorance).

I must admit I found it curious how the Koch's bombed the chance to kill Obummercare...evidently Ryancare wasn't draconian enough.

Stay healthy and well my friends!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout

I often think I was probably happier when my head was buried in the sand.

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Big Al's picture

bad after all for the corporations and the wealthy. All they could do is come up with some tweaks which didn't satisfy their most rabid members and pissed off the serfs, more of whom are onto this stupid game and want single payer. So they had to drop it, cut their losses. Since the push for single payer seems to be getting stronger, the leadership of both parties may try to negotiate something to keep that down. Or they may just drop it all together and move on to some other boondoggle. I don't see the issue dropping for long though because Obamacare is a travesty and it's going to continue to get worse.

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@Big Al

told me about the Koch brothers' involvement, I was elated that the people in the town halls the Republicans had held had gotten their way.

I often wonder if I may have become too cynical. I guess not.

No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up.

Lily Tomlin

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@Big Al This poll is hardly scientific but Mike Cernovich, an outspoken Trump supporter, recently polled his Twitter followers about single payer. The results are interesting.

https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/845689208844922881

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@BoberFett

Bah, Canadian healthcare has been starved toward privatization ever since NAFTA because of NAFTA. None of these 'trade bills' really are, except insofar as that they trade citizen rights and survival ability for corporate/billionaire/traitorous politicians who have no right to do any such thing.

Equally sad is the fact that the remaining shreds of Medicare in most Canadian provinces are still better and far more cost-effective than what the American people get...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

joe shikspack's picture

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@joe shikspack

either. Neither will the people who believe that Obamacare is the only reason they or their loved ones are alive. We'll see who blinks first, I guess.

As for fear, I can 't tell if I am fearless or I am afraid all the time because I never notice any difference in my fear level.

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CS in AZ's picture

@joe shikspack

I've watched this clip six times, and I still can't believe he said it - loud and proud. One day they will succeed in destroying the healthcare system for the American people! Does he even hear himself? I guess kudos to Ryan for his honesty at least. Jeeze.

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earthling1's picture

is the strikingly similar Romneycare plan there in Massachusetts.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Lily O Lady's picture

@earthling1

Heritage Foundation.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

@earthling1

https://caucus99percent.com/content/why-america-got-obamacare-not-nixoncare

Teddy Roosevelt was the first to say something about a national plan, but, AFAIK, he never did anything about it beyond making a remark. So, people who say that the US has been trying for a plan since TR may be overly dramatic.

IIRC, the first health insurers were tax exempt not for profits, but don't quote me on that without checking. It's been a few years since I researched the subject.

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Alligator Ed's picture

of the present healthcare / politics-in-general debate. Abused and so often mis-used, it could make you blind.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqFUmo8VVg0]

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@Alligator Ed
Thanks!

As a doctor, you may be interested, if you haven't already seen it:
https://caucus99percent.com/content/why-america-got-obamacare-not-nixoncare

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Alligator Ed's picture

@HenryAWallace but is truly a fine example of researching and relaying this healthcare information. As you put in the article quite correctly, we can blame part of our current day mess on Kennedy placing self above country.

That however has been the modus operandi of both Klintons, Bushies, and of course Obama.

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@Alligator Ed

In fairness, I never would have known about him and Nixon if he had not volunteered that info. And he did get a boatload of health care legislation passed.

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lotlizard's picture

after the Ryancare failure, in the minds of those opposed to Trump he has now suddenly been promoted from the rank of Hitler to the higher rank of merely an incompetent bumbler.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/158812654486/trump-and-healthcare

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@lotlizard

I almost never listen to or read Republican sources but I have one--only one--Republican relative who does. We seldom talk politics. When we do, it's because I start it. When Obamacare was enacted, I remarked that I was furious because costs would not be controlled and it would fail. He replied about speculation that it was designed to fail.

If I am recalling correctly, what he said back then, the Republican spin in 2009-10: Democrats didn't think could pass Medicare for All from the off. So, they passed something designed to fail on the theory that, once people got something, they would not give it up. Rather, when Obamacare failed, people would insist on a bigger, better government program.

I didn't buy it then. If that was the plan from the off, it sure was a very risky one. It could just as easily have led politicians to say, see, we tried, but, obviously, government can't do this. Then, they'd try a Wall Street based plan, similar to the one Bush the Lesser tried to pitch us for retirement, instead of Social Security.

What I think happened in 2009: Rahm was mindful that the insurance industry supposedly killed Bill Clinton's crappy plan. The truth was that even Democrats would not consider it because he had put Hillary in charge, in an attempt to start building her Presidential cred. And she did what does best, namely put everyone off However, Rahm bought the excuse. Then he did what he was famous for doing--going to the relevant corporations and asking them what they could live with. Yadda, yadda, Obamacare.

Either way, the big questions are:

Will the plutocrats wait until it fails entirely, even if lives and homes are being lost--which I believe they will be.

And, of course, with what will they replace it?

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k9disc's picture

was a complete framing catastrophe.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

@k9disc

I posted on a board "Obamacare" was considered disrespectful, probably because posters there had long been referring to "Romneycare" contemptuously. Then, Obama said he liked "Obamacare." From then on, it was rare to see posters there using any other term for the ACA.

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