[paraclete]

You can't guarantee anything, you have an opinion, is all

[tomder55]

It's a fact that the 100% federal match will drop in 3 years to 90% while the states are required to pick up all the administrative costs, as well as its higher share of coverage for citizens who are not now enrolled but who will likely do so. As it is ,most of the enrollees in the exchanges are the ones applying for Medicaid coverage.
Medicaid spending was already increasing before Obamacare .... an increase of 250% since 1990 adjusted for inflation.

While Medicaid spending accounts for
nearly one-quarter of most state budgets, in my home state of Pennsylvania, it is approximately one-third
of the entire state budget.
Should Pennsylvania choose to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act, over 60 percent of
the commonwealth’s budget will go to Medicaid, unfairly crowding out funding for roads, schools, and
public safety.
Medicaid costs to the state are expected to grow by nearly $400 million in the next fiscal year, and these
costs do not include any costs associated with an expansion.
Currently one in six Pennsylvanians receives Medicaid benefits. If the governor chooses to expand
Medicaid in the commonwealth, 1 in 4 Pennsylvanians will be on the Medicaid rolls.
And this is not just a problem for Pennsylvania.
The next ten years of federal Medicaid spending will be twice the amount spent in the last 45 years.
This is completely unsustainable.
Medicaid was designed as a safety net for our nation’s poorest and sickest people. States are already
struggling to serve this core population, and Washington certainly doesn’t have extra money lying around
either. For a system that is already under tremendous strain, how will adding millions of young, ablebodied adults to Medicaid affect our ability to care for our country’s poorest and sickest citizens?

Opening Statement of the Honorable Joe Pitts
Subcommittee on Health
Hearing on “Saving Seniors and Our Most Vulnerable Citizens from an Entitlement
Crisis”
March 18, 2013
http://energycommerce.house.gov/site...3-20130318.pdf

[talaniman]

Raise taxes, close loopholes, and stop sending jobs overseas. Not increasing revenues to offset the devastating effects of the global economic crisis even on a temporary basis is fiscally unsound and doesn't address the leaving millions of potential workers (and their positive economic activity) out of the economy and dependent for great amounts of time unnecessarily.

The longer we perpetuate the sluggish growth and lack of economic expansion, the higher the cost of the safety net. If private money doesn't invest, then they get taxed. Even beyond that government should have the power to expand and get people off the safety net while the job creators figure out how they want to trickle their profits and fortunes down to the rest of the economy.

Lets repeat the positive outcomes of the Clinton example. Where we raised taxes and cut spending, yes military spending too, and balanced the budget. The right wing notion of cutting government and taxes is the revenue problem that has allowed for corporate expansion and cheap labor, to throw the balance way out of whack, and government's ability to serve it's own citizens both on the federal and local levels. I mean didn't we learn from the last shutdown that taking 25 billion out of the American pie ain't the thing to do?

Of course rational people did. Grow the pie, more will eat from it.

[paraclete]

aspirational Tal but in order to grow the pie you need to change your attitude to international trade, making it worthwhile for manufacturing to return. the fact is , you are lieke the rest of us, you got nothing, your companies earn profits from manufacturing offshore and gouging the locals, and those profits don't trickle down to anyone

[talaniman]

I guess some are not helping grow the pie, because the are too intent on hoarding more of it for themselves. That by definition is greed. A very human affliction. They are out of control and actions to protect citizens from such action need to be taken, NOT more enabling. Tax negative behavior, and reward positive.

[cdad]

Who is to determine this "negative behavior" you speak of?

[paraclete]

great question dad, we know it exists because investment isn't happening dispite the flood of money, what is happening is investment is taking place in stocks and speculation, not in new assets. the QE needs to be stopped immediately, it is preventing investment. Why take risks when your capital is growing just by buying stocks. this bubble will burst and it will be worse than the GFC and you can thank the rediculous policies of Benanke

[tomder55]

or the Chinese real estate bubble will burst big time ,and Chinese money will look for a place to invest ,and will find a willing market in the USA .

[paraclete]

No the Chinese have plenty to invest in closer to home and the ability to control where their money goes, Your market offers too much risk. Chinese money has been finding it's way south, where economies are more stable and attitudes more ameniable. you can't have it both ways Tom, you bleated about the chinese holding your bonds and now you expect them to invest there in your crumbling economy

[talaniman]

The American economy is far from crumbling, and the Chinese have and will continue to invest in it, so will the rest of the world (Australia too!).Even if they invest in other countries. Those are facts, no need for rhetoric or speculation, or LOL, wishful thinking.

[tomder55]

I assure you it's already happening
Chinese Investment in U.S. Doubles to $14 Billion in 2013 - Businessweek

[paraclete]

yes it is happening here too, which speaks more about the Chinese economy than it does about ours or yours.

[tomder55]

yeah theirs sucks and is going to be a disaster in the near future

[paraclete]

all economies are subject to cyclical boom and bust and particularly where there is expotential growth.

[speechlesstx]

Obama finally got budget conscious, because well, that would require a little of his famous transparency on Obamacare performance and of all things, telling Americans of security breaches that could compromise their existence. I mean hey, why should we know if our identity may have been stolen?


White House stops short of veto threats on House healthcare bills | TheHill

[smoothy]

Barack Obama discovers a leak under his sink, so he calls Joe the Plumber to come and fix it.

Joe drives to Obama's house, which is located in a very nice neighborhood and where it's clear that all the residents make more than $250,000 per year.

Joe arrives and takes his tools into the house. Joe is led to the room that contains the leaky pipe under a sink. Joe assesses the problem and tells Obama, who is standing near the door, that it's an easy repair that will take less than 10 minutes.

Obama asks Joe how much it will cost. Joe immediately says, "$9,500."

"$9,500?" Obama asks, stunned, "But you said it's an easy repair!"

"Yes, but what I do is charge a lot more to my clients who make more than $250,000 per year so I can fix the plumbing of everybody who makes less than that for free," explains Joe. "It's always been my philosophy. As a matter of fact, I lobbied government to pass this philosophy as law, and it did pass earlier this year, so now all plumbers have to do business this way. It's known as 'Joe's Affordable Plumbing Act of 2013.' Surprised you haven't heard of it."

In spite of that, Obama tells Joe there's no way he's paying that much for a small plumbing repair, so Joe leaves. Obama spends the next hour flipping through the phone book looking for another plumber, but he finds that all other plumbing businesses listed have gone out of business. Not wanting to pay Joe's price, Obama does nothing. The leak under Obama's sink goes unrepaired for the next several days.

A week later the leak is so bad that Obama has had to put a bucket under the sink. The bucket fills up quickly and has to be emptied every hour, and there's a risk that the room will flood, so Obama calls Joe and pleads with him to return. Joe goes back to Obama's house, looks at the leaky pipe, and says, "Let's see - this will cost you about $21,000."

"A few days ago you told me it would cost $9,500!" Obama quickly fires back.

Joe explains the reason for the dramatic increase. "Well, because of the 'Joe's Affordable Plumbing Act,' a lot of rich people are learning how to fix their own plumbing, so there are fewer of you paying for all the free plumbing I'm doing for the people who make less than $250,000. As a result, the rate I have to charge my wealthy paying customers rises every day.

"Not only that, but for some reason the demand for plumbing work from the group of people who get it for free has skyrocketed, and there's a long waiting list of those who need repairs. This has put a lot of my fellow plumbers out of business, and they're not being replaced - nobody is going into the plumbing business because they know they won't make any money. I'm hurting now too - all thanks to greedy rich people like you who won't pay their fair share."

Obama tries to straighten out the plumber: "Of course you're hurting, Joe! Don't you get it? If all the rich people learn how to fix their own plumbing and you refuse to charge the poorer people for your services, you'll be broke, and then what will you do?"

Joe immediately replies, "Run for president, apparently."

[talaniman]

Not bad Smoothy, not bad.

[smoothy]

It was the perfect analogy... and pretty darn funny too. Had to share it.

[paraclete]

yes smoothy I think your analogy fits medicine perfectly. while it might be a reflection of the ACA, it is being enacted out in medicine today.

It is of course a twist on the tale of the man who charged $10,000 for a simple repair, $5 for the repair and $9,995 for knowing how to do the job.

[smoothy]

Actually it describes EXACTLY how the ACA is structured to work. To make sure nobody has coverage better than the people on the bottom of society... unless of course one is part of the political ruling elite... who believe themselves too good to settle for what the unwashed masses are being forced to settle on.

Call me a cynic... but anytime one group tries to force something upon me they proclaim a better and for our own good... and then exempt themselves from it at the same time... makes the average thinking person believe an act of forcible sodomy isn't far ahead.

If its so great...Obama....The House, The Senate, the SCOTUS and all their staffs and families as well as all civil servants should be made to have it and only it equally. If its good enough for us...then its good enough for them too.