As I have said many times before, I am no expert when it comes to financial and economic matters. But now that the budget impasse is over-for three months- I thought I would write down my thoughts now that I can come home from the hospital and order a beer once again (a joke).
Of course, the Republicans have lost again. Since they only have the House of Representatives, it was predictable. Obama and Harry Reid knew they were in a position of strength and simply refused to budge. The House sent over 4 or 5 proposals which Reid stuffed in the waste basket. Obama met with Boehner et al in the White House and told them he would not negotiate. In the end, the only concession the Republicans got was more verification of income eligibility for those receiving Obamacare subsidies (like Congress and their staffs?) Of course, if Obamacare was such a good thing, Congress could have decided it was just as good for them as the rest of the folks. The Republicans didn't even get the tax on medical devices lifted.
As noted, the deal is kicking the can down the road until January-February when the Republicans will have to cave in once more. Raise the debt ceiling? Of course, so the government can keep spending more money instead of cutting spending like you or I would do. What is this the 6th time in 5 years of Obama that we have raised the debt ceiling? How much you want to bet we'll be doing it again in another year's time? After all, we have to pay our bills so we (the richest country in the world) can keep borrowing more money.
As usual, the Democrats were united and unmoving while the Republicans were fractured.Those that stood on their principles, like Ted Cruz, were excoriated-not just by the Democrats and their allies in the media, but by Republicans like John McCain, Bob Corker, Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell. If the Republican and conservative voters of Arizona, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky respectively can do anything positive, it is to turn those senators out of office in the primaries next time they face re-election.
At this point, it seems to me that the only thing that can unravel Obamacare, which is possibly the most ill-conceived piece of legislation in our history, is to let it become implemented and crash under the weight of its own mess. Alas, it still took the Soviet Union 70 years to collapse under the weight of its own built-in mess.
Wait until the sticker shock kicks in. We already see insurance rates going up, companies laying off workers or switching to part-time employees. The much-awaited computer sign-on program is a mess and people cannot even sign on if they want to. If they couldn't get that right with three years to prepare, do you think they will get Obamacare right?
But in the end, one thing will be clear; The Democrats own this. The only ones who opposed it were Republicans-albeit in their own incompetent manner betrayed from within by their own politicians who cared more about their own position and power than the good of the country.
And lest we forget our own share of the blame. As bad as our government is-on both sides of the aisle, it is we who have put them there. Senators or members of Congress don't have to be intelligent, educated, qualified, honest, or anything else. They just have to be elected.
That's where we come in.
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2 comments:
"The House sent over 4 or 5 proposals which Reid stuffed in the waste basket."
Actually the number was about a dozen continuing resolutions to fix this or that problem with the shutdown impasse.... Reid refused to bring them to the Senate floor for vote because the Democrats wanted to maximize the pain (to a ridiculous extent) to show how mean the Republicans were.
I have a problem with the "let Obamacare fall of its own weight" theory. Nobody has articulated a way this could come about. People will be upset with it but others will will be getting free medical care... maybe their votes will offset. Once someone goes on the dole or a place at the trough, it is very hard to get them off it.
The only solution would be to vote out everyone who voted for Obamacare and get people elected who will overturn it.
All the difficulties with Obamacare in the interim will be covered over or not reported in the main stream press. Low information voters will not know that millions of others in the same situation share their frustration and upset because it is not helpful for the Democrats and the main stream media to report it.
This truly is a transformational change in the relationship between the people and the government. We are teaching and raising children to rely on the government for things people used to do own their own. Now the "anointed ones" will decide what is best for us and the notion of a "free" people will be gone.
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Now that the Republicans are through throwing a temper tantrum, playing a game of chicken with the United States of America, perhaps some of the wiser heads among them (if any are left) will get down to the business of proposing real improvements in the Affordable Care Act, ones that will expand choice, impose prudence, and be shaped so that the senate majority (or some senate majority, maybe splitting both party caucuses to do so) would seriously consider.
Remember, the GOP didn't begin this brouhaha by saying if we're going to raise the debt ceiling, we need to have a serious talk about bringing down the deficit and starting to pay down the debt.
They started by saying "If you want to fund the ordinary operations of government, you'll have to repeal legislation passed by both houses of congress and signed into law by the president that millions of Americans are counting on."
Then they got around later to muttering something about fiscal prudence, but then, they ARE the party that ran up huge deficits whenever they had control of the budget, doubling the debt during prosperous times, and had the gall to announced "Reagan proved deficits don't matter." So they're a little late getting all concerned about it.
What they didn't want people paying attention to is that the deficit is falling faster than at anytime since World War II ended. Also, they don't want anyone to remember that we were starting to pay the debt down until Georgie Porgie said "Don't pay down the debt, give the surplus back to the people and borrow more money from the National Bank of China if we need to spend anything."
What they also don't want to face up to is that if the Bush tax cuts were repealed, we could start paying down the debt again, as we were doing. It takes money to pay down debt. That doesn't grow on trees.
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