Krugman nails it!

[The Derp]

Trapped by their Own Lies:

The thing is, health care isn’t the only issue on which lies are coming back to bite the liars. The same story is playing out on other issues — in fact, on almost every substantive policy issue the U.S. faces.

The next big item on the G.O.P. agenda is taxes. Now, cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthy may be an easier political lift than taking health insurance away from 30 million Americans. But Republicans still have a problem, because they’ve spent years posing as the party of fiscal responsibility, and they have no idea how to cut taxes without blowing up the deficit.

As with health care, the party has masked its lack of good ideas with lies, claiming that it would offset lower tax rates and even reduce the deficit by eliminating unnamed loopholes and slashing unnamed wasteful spending. But as with health care, these lies will be revealed once actual legislation is unveiled. It’s telling that Republicans are already invoking voodoo economics to justify their as-yet-unspecified tax plans, insisting that tax cuts will pay for themselves by leading to higher economic growth.

At this point, however, few people believe them. The Bush tax cuts didn’t create a boom; neither did the Kansas tax-cut “experiment.” Conversely, the U.S. economy did fine after the 2013 Obama tax hike, as has the California economy since Jerry Brown raised state taxes. Party apparatchiks will no doubt engage in an orgy of Reaganolatry, but the broader public probably won’t be moved by (false) claims about the wondrous results of tax cuts 36 years ago.

So tax policy, like health care, will be hobbled by a legacy of lies.
​

Conservatives were unable to repeal Obamacare because on a fundamental level, Conservatives simply don't know what insurance is. So their policy is informed by their ignorance. Same with taxation.

 

[Mac1958]

Neither party has anything to be proud of on the health care issue. Not even close.

 

[The Derp]

Neither party has anything to be proud of on the health care issue. Not even close.

I disagree. Obama reducing the uninsured rate to a record low is something to be proud. Ending pre-existing conditions is also something to be proud. Obama also extended the solvency of the Medicare Trust, and turned Medicare into an outcome-based plan from a plan that didn't do anything to improve outcomes. He also expanded Medicaid which brought health care to tens of millions of people who previously didn't have it. All that are things of which to be proud.

Conservatives have done nothing. All they've done is try to repeal Obamacare for no other reason than because Obama's name is on it. That's why, despite 7 years of constant lies, the GOP has been unable to produce a single, viable replacement plan even though they have a unified government for the first time since 2003.

 

[Mac1958]

Neither party has anything to be proud of on the health care issue. Not even close.

I disagree. Obama reducing the uninsured rate to a record low is something to be proud. Ending pre-existing conditions is also something to be proud. Obama also extended the solvency of the Medicare Trust, and turned Medicare into an outcome-based plan from a plan that didn't do anything to improve outcomes. He also expanded Medicaid which brought health care to tens of millions of people who previously didn't have it. All that are things of which to be proud.

Conservatives have done nothing. All they've done is try to repeal Obamacare for no other reason than because Obama's name is on it. That's why, despite 7 years of constant lies, the GOP has been unable to produce a single, viable replacement plan even though they have a unified government for the first time since 2003.

The ACA is a ridiculous pig of a law, defend it all you want.

The only thing worse has been the GOP's behavior.

Partisan politics. Yuck. It gives us crap like this.
.

 

[DOTR]

Trapped by their Own Lies:

The thing is, health care isn’t the only issue on which lies are coming back to bite the liars. The same story is playing out on other issues — in fact, on almost every substantive policy issue the U.S. faces.

The next big item on the G.O.P. agenda is taxes. Now, cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthy may be an easier political lift than taking health insurance away from 30 million Americans. But Republicans still have a problem, because they’ve spent years posing as the party of fiscal responsibility, and they have no idea how to cut taxes without blowing up the deficit.

As with health care, the party has masked its lack of good ideas with lies, claiming that it would offset lower tax rates and even reduce the deficit by eliminating unnamed loopholes and slashing unnamed wasteful spending. But as with health care, these lies will be revealed once actual legislation is unveiled. It’s telling that Republicans are already invoking voodoo economics to justify their as-yet-unspecified tax plans, insisting that tax cuts will pay for themselves by leading to higher economic growth.

At this point, however, few people believe them. The Bush tax cuts didn’t create a boom; neither did the Kansas tax-cut “experiment.” Conversely, the U.S. economy did fine after the 2013 Obama tax hike, as has the California economy since Jerry Brown raised state taxes. Party apparatchiks will no doubt engage in an orgy of Reaganolatry, but the broader public probably won’t be moved by (false) claims about the wondrous results of tax cuts 36 years ago.

So tax policy, like health care, will be hobbled by a legacy of lies.
​

Conservatives were unable to repeal Obamacare because on a fundamental level, Conservatives simply don't know what insurance is. So their policy is informed by their ignorance. Same with taxation.

The man who said "part of what ails the world economy right now is that governments aren’t deep enough in debt."
Opinion | Debt Is Good

And this absolutely brilliant bit of prognostication by Paul Krugman (Krugman...Krugman..what kind of name is that?)...
Opinion | Why Hillary Wins

Does he enjoy rereading his nonsense as much as I do? I doubt it. "Why Hillary wins" lol

 

[The Derp]

The ACA is a ridiculous pig of a law, defend it all you want. .

Why do you say that? How so? You don't think reducing the uninsured rates to record lows while extending Medicare's solvency are good things?

The only thing worse has been the GOP's behavior..

The GOP has been like this for 37 years. Their behavior is nothing new. The foundation of their beliefs are built on lies and now they're finding that ground was pretty soft. Are we really that surprised a bunch of know-nothings can't govern? Really?

Partisan politics. Yuck. It gives us crap like this..

Well, I think lobbying and corporate money has more to do with this than anything else. It is the corporate interests that had to have this plan run through them in order for them not to tank it by pouring campaign money into the opponents. I believe that if we remove money from politics, like they do in every other western democracy, most of our problems (including partisanship) will disappear because then it becomes an election on the merits of ideas rather than an election on who can raise the most money from rich people and corporations.

 

[Mac1958]

The ACA is a ridiculous pig of a law, defend it all you want. .

Why do you say that? How so? You don't think reducing the uninsured rates to record lows while extending Medicare's solvency are good things?

The only thing worse has been the GOP's behavior..

The GOP has been like this for 37 years. Their behavior is nothing new. The foundation of their beliefs are built on lies and now they're finding that ground was pretty soft. Are we really that surprised a bunch of know-nothings can't govern? Really?

Partisan politics. Yuck. It gives us crap like this..

Well, I think lobbying and corporate money has more to do with this than anything else. It is the corporate interests that had to have this plan run through them in order for them not to tank it by pouring campaign money into the opponents. I believe that if we remove money from politics, like they do in every other western democracy, most of our problems (including partisanship) will disappear because then it becomes an election on the merits of ideas rather than an election on who can raise the most money from rich people and corporations.

The ACA maintains our bizarre, absolutely stupid, incredibly inefficient, 7-headed hydra of a health care delivery/payment system:

1. ACA
2. Group
3. Medicare
4. Medcaid
5. VA
6. Worker's Comp
7. Indigent

The Dems crammed through this stupid pig of a law, and just as easily could have simply expanded our already-functioning, popular, public/private Medicare/Medicare Advantage/Medicare Supplement system to all. They CHOSE to do that.

I know you're ideologically obligated to defend it, fine. I function under no such obligations in either direction.
.

 

[The Derp]

The man who said "part of what ails the world economy right now is that governments aren’t deep enough in debt. Opinion | Debt Is Good

And you have yet to provide a counter argument as to why he's not correct. In your mind, all debt = bad. But that's not the case. Most all countries operate in debt, because taxes aren't collected all at the same time. From where do you get this idea that government debt = personal debt = bad? Who taught you that? Please don't say you came to that conclusion on your own, because we know you didn't.

Someone told you that government debt is bad...so who told you that? The same people who told you the wealthy would trickle down, so deficit-financed tax cuts are OK. Why do you believe them?

And this absolutely brilliant bit of prognostication by Paul Krugman (Krugman...Krugman..what kind of name is that?)...
Opinion | Why Hillary Wins

Look, most people were wrong about how the election would play out...and there's still lingering doubt over Trump's win given Russia's involvement on his behalf. But setting that all aside, here we are, 8 months into the Trump Presidency and a unified GOP Congress and what major pieces of legislation have they passed? None. Because they don't know how to govern, because they have no ideas.

So you attack Krugman's credibility and on a personal level, yet you don't address what it is he's talking about; namely the hollow GOP/Conservative agenda built on delusion, deception, and false promises.

 

[The Derp]

The ACA maintains our bizarre, absolutely stupid, incredibly inefficient, 7-headed hydra of a health care delivery/payment system:
1. ACA
2. Group
3. Medicare
4. Medcaid
5. VA
6. Worker's Comp
7. Indigent
The Dems crammed through this stupid pig of a law, and just as easily could have simply expanded our already-functioning, popular, public/private Medicare/Medicare Advantage/Medicare Supplement system to all. They CHOSE to do that.
I know you're ideologically obligated to defend it, fine. I function under no such obligations in either direction.
.

We wanted single payer, but Conservatives all screeched like howler monkeys against it, predicting an end to freedom. Now, Bernie and several Democrats have introduced single payer while the GOP won't even bring their own bill to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

And by the way, Medicare's CMS administration was only privatized recently, in 2003, as part of the Medicare Part-D expansion Bush and the Conservatives all supported.

To this day, not one single person has been able to make the case that a private administrator of reimbursements to providers is better, more efficient, and less costly than cutting those middle men out, taking CMS away from private insurers, and having Medicare be entirely government-run and operated. The minute you involve for-profit entities is the minute costs start skyrocketing to account for profit margins. Insurance companies are chiefly concerned with their profit margins. Your health is secondary.