Obamacare: what a tangled web we weave
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Congress finally passed a bipartisan bill about Obamacare and Obama himself vetoed it?
If you don’t believe that about the veto—after all, Obama himself said the cancelled plans should be reinstated, and that’s what both the Upton and Landrieu bills do—well, Obama announced that he would veto the Upton bill because it didn’t just limit the cancelled policies to those who already had owned them, but allowed others to purchase them, too.
Then again, we all know that Obama doesn’t keep his word. So it’s hard to say what he would really do if faced with bipartisan passage of the Upton bill.
However, Landrieu has offered him a way out, because her bill doesn’t allow for new purchasers of the older plans. Here are the main differences between the two bills:
Upton provides only for a year-long ability to buy your old policy. Landrieu’s bill says the policy must be offered until there are no longer any subscribers to the policy…
Landrieu’s bill applies only to people who actually had the policy before October 1st. Upton is much more expansive: Upton says that if the policy is being offered to anyone, then new customers may buy into that policy as well. Landrieu thus seeks to limit the pool of people who can self-exempt from Obamacare, whereas Upton seeks to expand it…
Upton’s bill says that insurance companies may offer the old plans. Landrieu says they must.
Now that that the majority of the American people no longer trust Obama, and now that even many in the loyal MSM—who stuck with Obama through all his previous lies, errors, and usurpations of power—have turned on him (if only temporarily), Democratic members of Congress in districts and states that make them vulnerable in the next election are scurrying to outdo themselves in their opposition to at least this one element of Obamacare.
Of course, there are many other objectionable parts that simply haven’t gone into play yet. For example, not having read the Upton and Landrieu bills in their entirety, I wonder if they only refer to the individual market. What happens when the employer-based insurance market gets around to dealing with the same problem? And of course there are plenty of other potential pitfalls.
It’s either a bug or a feature, depending on your attitude towards Obamacare, that both the Upton and Landrieu bills (and, for that matter, Obama’s own proposal yesterday) have two big and obvious problems. The first is that insurance companies may not be able to comply, because in accordance with Obamacare’s rules they have restructured their products and they can’t just whip around and reverse themselves. The second is that if they do comply, Obamacare itself could be at risk.
[NOTE: The title of this post, of course, is from the famous little ditty, which (as I just learned this minute) is from a lengthy poem by Sir Walter Scott entitled “Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field”:
Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive!]
I dropped in at HuffPo to see what they had to say on the subject and found that the most prominent Obamacare article on the page was:
‘House GOP Pushes Forward With Bill To Undermine Obamacare”
The timetable of Obummercare shows consciousness of guilt.
To date, only the individual market changes have caused loss of insurance. The much bigger problem of the employer purchased insurance is not even here and will drwarf the present controversy.
The thing to take away is that Obummercare was never, primarily, about health care, but about “transforming” America. We have been transformed, sadly. We no longer by our foreign policy create the basic world structure.
Now we battle the domestic policy and even if we win there is a possiblity that cold naked force will be used to complete the transformation.
Do all you can. Stand up in a theatre and shout Obama is a liar. I’m going to “Gravity” to do just that. How about wearing a t-shirt in a mall that says, “Obama lied, grandma died.”
Another objectionable part of ObummerCare that simply hasn’t gone into play yet is the loss of the family doctor. That’s going to move people out of their comfort zone, big time.
There’s some excellent analysis by Thomas Lifson;
Obama’s fallen and he can’t get up
“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.” Barack Obama, 2009
Obama lied and people died
What a sad commentary on literacy today that you assume that most readers would not recognize the famous couplet that gives name to your piece. At one time, it was a familiar to most people as a sort of folk wisdom.
Of course, you were right to do so.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/u-patient-stuck-gurney-6-days-surgery-033514898.html
^^^ For Mitsu and John Dunne… It’s a classic.
Other nations spend less on health care because — budget wise — they don’t care.
Funds are simply not advanced. To bring their system up to US standards would require big bucks.
Brings up the whole question of gov’t run industry and business: worker’s comp, retirement, medicaid, education. Do people know that if they get injured on the job they cannot bring a lawsuit in regular court for negligence or other tort? Oh, but the employer, the employer can be sued in state court for an allegation of failure to pay premiums. And held liable for 10 times the amount of unpaid premiums. 10 times.
Upton bill would be vetoed, except that Reid will never let it get to a vote.
Probably Landrieu also, but even if passed her bill is unconstitutional: you can tax people all you want, but you still can’t make the insurance companies offer a product.
In the end, neither would work anyway since it’s too late.
On the bright side, Obama is wasting precious time. He has to think of a plausible fix or excuse and this isn’t it.
Matt_SE…
It’s his metaphorical Barbarossa…
It looked so good in the beginning, the desire had been there for years on end, then…
After the plunge, there’s no backing out. Plan B is ‘the bunker.’
And, when the full history is written, we’ll find out that he’s on the bong every single night. This tick is why he pulls himself back from light-night pow-wows. He needs his private time.
Most Democrats, especially the Hollywood aristocracy, are on a lot more hard drugs than what Blert mentioned. This isn’t Obama alone. This is just the Left doing what the Left does.
Then there are the Medicare Advantage plans that are no longer offered because of the money withdrawn from Medicare Advantage and put into pay the Obamacare subsidies. Maybe they should be forced to re-offer them too.
Destroying Medicare Advantage is a stake in the heart of the Old Guard Democrats.
Seniors are absolutely furious about it.
Many are LIV… and stupefied when the letter comes in the mail.
I was given this poem after I lost my job. It totally rebuilt my spirit and got me back on track.
It’s called a magic poem because of the way the words affect people, I just think it’s Super Inspiring.
http://www.bubblews.com/news/1662106-i-am-mrg-poem