Thirty years of the GOP agenda

[Bfgrn]

Of course ist's the tax cuts, and not the over spending, right?
I'm sure if the conservatives have their way, all the 40 hour work week, overtime pay, Occupational Safety and Health laws, Child Labor Laws, and Labor Unions, will be gone. Are you on drugs?
SS, Medicare will not see the sunset. One or two right wing partisan nuts do not make or pass the laws. Obamacare can be changed with serious healthcare reform where the government is part of the solution, and not the entire solution.

PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: 'A government takeover of health care'

"We're going to crush labor as a political entity"
Grover Norquist - Republican economic guru and co-author of the GOP's 'Contract with America'

Love your source, St. Petersberg Times makes the NY Times look conservative. No agenda there, huh?
Obamacare will force out a lot of the health insurers with the mandates it will put on them.

The reason the Pulitzer Prize winning website, which is associated with the St. Petersburg Times, didn't just call it a lie, but the lie of the year is because it IS.

The Affordable Health care Act is NOT a government takeover of health care. Are you waiting for Fox News to tell you that? The 2010 bill is almost a carbon copy of the main Republican proposal in 1993, including the BIG Republican idea...an Individual mandate.

The Democrats' 2010 Health Reform Plan Evokes 1993 Republican Bill

In 1993, at the height of President Bill Clinton's health care reform initiative, Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., along with 19 other Republicans and two Democrats, put forth a bill which was considered the major GOP proposal. One of the co-sponsors was then-Sen. Dave Durenberger, R-Minn. The bill, just like the Democratic version, never passed. But in a sense, it's been revived this year.

In fact, the key provisions in the Chafee bill may seem familiar, as they bear a strong resemblance to those in the current Democratic Senate bill, and now in President Barack Obama's proposal. A mandate that individuals buy insurance, subsidies for the poor to buy insurance and the requirement that insurers offer a standard benefits package and refrain from discriminating based on pre-existing conditions were all in the 1993 GOP bill.

Durenberger says the reason many of these ideas have been shunned by today's Republicans, even called unconstitutional by some, is that political times have changed. “The main thing that’s changed is the definition of a Republican,” he said.

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

More like 80 years of the leftist-progressive agenda, intermixed with a few years here and there of conservatism.

 

[Avatar4321]

[Obamacare will force out a lot of the health insurers with the mandates it will put on them.

Let's hope so.

So you want people unable to provide for their own health care?

 

[Avatar4321]

More like 80 years of the leftist-progressive agenda, intermixed with a few years here and there of conservatism.

Precisely what I was thinking. We haven't seen a fully conservative agenda since the 1920s. Which is a shame considering the economic growth we saw because of it.

 

[Defiant1]

The real question is why big business didn't get on board with a single payer system, it would have unloaded a huge burden from their books and put them on an equal footing with all other industrialized countires.

Speaks to the power of the insurance cartel.

Would we all get a shiny red star with that?

 

[Sallow]

The solutions can be worked out without the big government expansion.

There is no big government expansion in the Affordable Heathcare Act.

The best solution is allow everyone to buy into Medicare, everything is in place, and the administrative costs are around 3%

Absolutely correct.

Obamacare is a Republican kludge..and they didn't even bother to vote for it.

They wanna trash it. Fine.

But that should be what happnes at the end of the day. The solution is not "No solution". No one should have to put up with Jan Brewer's murderous conservative death panels.

Medicare for all.

 

[Sallow]

More like 80 years of the leftist-progressive agenda, intermixed with a few years here and there of conservatism.

Precisely what I was thinking. We haven't seen a fully conservative agenda since the 1920s. Which is a shame considering the economic growth we saw because of it.

What economic growth? America was a backwater headed for a depression. There were very real and bloody fight between managment and labor. There was an obscene concentration of wealth. And Communism was on the rise. Had there been no "New Deal" there would have been some very real social upheaval. That probably would have culminated in some form of authoritarian government (Which conservatives want anyway).

 

[rdean]

The solutions can be worked out without the big government expansion.

Yes solutions could be found. And the easiest would be to move away from health insurance, if it has to be "free market" to be properly free market.

No more employer based health care. If we all picked and chose our health insurance like we do our car insurance or any other kind of insurance then those costs would go way down.

But the insurance lobby didn't want that. Why were doctors and nurses kicked out of health reforem discussions but big money health insurance stayed? Because then the whole wretched "industry" would have to earn their money. This is truly an instance where capitalism is collapsing on itself.

However, the best solution would sincerely be a single payor or universal system.

The number one cause of bankruptcy is the high cost of "medical bills". The NUMBER ONE CAUSE. Just to be clear.

Insurance companies don't employ doctors, nurses or own hospitals. They are "middle men".

The CEO of Cigna received a paycheck of $120,000,000.00.

How many policies do you have to skim to put together a single paycheck of $120,000,000.00?

Republicans hate Obama. They did nothing on health care under Reagan, under Bush I or under Bush II. That 20 years. Republicans blocked Clinton. They have worked to block Obama.

What is their solution? Screw America? Sure seems that way.

 

[rdean]

More like 80 years of the leftist-progressive agenda, intermixed with a few years here and there of conservatism.

Precisely what I was thinking. We haven't seen a fully conservative agenda since the 1920s. Which is a shame considering the economic growth we saw because of it.

What are you talking about? We saw millions of jobs being created from 2001 to 2008. In China. Thanks GOP. You did it.

Considering what the GOP thinks about science and education, it would fascinating to know what they consider "innovation".

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

One of the biggest reasons American workers are so unattractive to any kind of employer, domestic or foreign, is that they have to pay sky high health insurance for all their employees..

They do? Who said they have to do that?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

There is no big government expansion in the Affordable Heathcare Act.

 

[Meister]

The solutions can be worked out without the big government expansion.

There is no big government expansion in the Affordable Heathcare Act.

The best solution is allow everyone to buy into Medicare, everything is in place, and the administrative costs are around 3%

Who's going to play "Big Brother" and make sure all are carrying healthcare insurance?
Honor system?

 

[Harry Dresden]

[Obamacare will force out a lot of the health insurers with the mandates it will put on them.

Let's hope so.

i dont see why you would be so happy.....do you think things will be different?.....so instead of Kaiser telling you this or that is not covered....you have the Govt telling you....or the agency hired by the Govt....nothing will change except the name of the agency in charge....

 

[Harry Dresden]

Medicare for all.

so Medicare will cover everything?.....no matter what you have?....

 

[Charles_Main]

It's been over thirty years since Reagan ushered in the "Conservative Era" and what does the GOP have to show for themselves?

When Reagan came into office, America was the greatest producer of finished goods in the world. Now we are the greatest importer of finished goods.

In that same time we went from the greatest crediter nation to the greatest debter nation.

In 1980, America had the largest most prosperous and productive middle class in history, since then real wages for the vast majority of Americans have been stagnant and in recent years have actually declined.

Falling wages have led to falling tax revenues, adding that with foolish tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy has left Federal, State and local governments in deep debt.

Now we are told that the only thing we can do is cut all the things that helped create our once prosperous middle class. Yes we are told we must do away with Social Security, Medicare, and of course Obamacare. Once that is done we can get rid of those pesky labor laws. 40 hour work week? Gone, overtime pay? Gone, Occupational Safety and Health laws? Gone, Child Labor Laws? Gone Labor Unions? Well, since they are the reason for the existance of all these things we must cut we might as well criminalize them.

Yes, it's a Capitalists dream, a nation of wage slaves.

30 years lol

 

[Harry Dresden]

That probably would have culminated in some form of authoritarian government (Which conservatives want anyway).

what happened Sallow....Dean finally get to you?......

 

[Harry Dresden]

What are you talking about? We saw millions of jobs being created from 2001 to 2008. In China. Thanks GOP. You did it.

Considering what the GOP thinks about science and education, it would fascinating to know what they consider "innovation".

hey Marc.....i know you are lurking around here.....see how your friend Dean lumps all Republicans and Conservatives together......ask him what the GOP thinks about Education and Science and then ask him if ALL of them think that way,not just the Conservative Christian Far Right....i would be interested to hear what he tells you.....because he tells us they do.....his words.... a Republican is a Republican is a Republican,no difference all the same....Pat Robertson says it they all buy it....you told me to point it out ....im pointing....

 

[Green Hornet]

[Obamacare will force out a lot of the health insurers with the mandates it will put on them.

Let's hope so.

i dont see why you would be so happy.....do you think things will be different?.....so instead of Kaiser telling you this or that is not covered....you have the Govt telling you....or the agency hired by the Govt....nothing will change except the name of the agency in charge....

That, and raising the debt ceiling when this turns into a deficit debacle.

 

[Londoner]

Carter asked the country to build a moonshot around lowering oil consumption -- which would make us less dependent on terrorists, and less exposed to the $200 barrel. Even if we just decreased our oil consumption by 10% (over 30 years, as Carter asked) we would be able to save our economy from the new world of oil scarcity and oil shocks. Reagan saw it differently.

Reagan framed Carter as a crazy Lefty, saying there was no need to worry about the middle east. (The Reagan ascendancy was funded primarily by big oil, which captured Washington and destroyed energy competition, including the first major electric car movement.) Reagan greatly increased our military investment in middle eastern oil, and he hid Pentagon costs off-budget in emergency spending measures. -a trick perfected by Bush 43 to hide the costs of Iraq. By framing Carter's energy worries as crazy, Reagan's message to Detroit was clear: build big gas guzzlers because oil will never become a problem. Message to builders: build bigger more remote suburbs because oil will never become a problem. (Welcome to the greatest misallocation of resources in American history. America doubled down on a scarce resource that would never be able to keep up with growing demand in China and India) "Don't worry about oil or the middle east" Reagan said. "No need for alternative energy or conservation. No need to create less petrol-intensive transportation and production infrastructures. Carter is crazy".

(all the while hiding the Pentagon costs of military oil extraction)

Reagan, with his destruction of the Sherman Act and his war against anti-trust legislation, ushered in an era of mega-mergers a.k.a too big to fail monopolies in banking and insurance, which lead to the 2008 meltdown where a handful of financial giants were, by virtue of their size, playing with the house's money. And let's not forget about another Reagan gem, the consolidation of media into less than 10 mega-corps, leading to a world where voters are kept in hermetically sealed bubble of wedge issues, anti-government populism, and overblown terror plots, as a handful of corporations loot the country and consolidate their power over the political process.

Finally, Reagan convinced the country that it did not need to invest in, or protect the solvency of the middle class. He undermined Labor, wages, and benefits to improve the bottom line of transnational corporations. He promised that this would result in more jobs, but right after he said it, all the jobs began leaving the country. The result was a steady decline in the economic viability of a whole class of Americans. When the money failed to trickle down and the jobs trickled overseas, the Reagan Revolution created the credit industrial complex -- the wealthy would now loan (loan at a high rate) the middle class the money they used to make in wages and benefits. Consequently, the US spent 30 years fueling consumption with Master Cards (i.e., debt rather than actual money). After the election of Reagan, almost every human with a postal address received 3 credit card offers a week. Welcome to the brilliance of Reaganomics. Give all the money to the wealthy, and keep the middle class alive with debt (first with Visas, than with their houses). Eventually this kind of structural flaw destroys the economy.

Reagan, by waging war on the expensive, entitlement-fed middle class, created a 3rd world distribution structure in America, i.e., a place with staggering pockets of wealth surrounded by cheap labor and exploding poverty. What did you think would would happen when government cut all of its programs and protections for the middle class in order to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires?

You might be wondering what happened to the excess capital on top? Did it get invested it in the real economy? Nope, capital, when facing insolvent consumers, has no incentive to create jobs (see zero demand). Meaning: in a post easy-credit universe, the working class, lacking sufficient wages and affordable health care, can't afford to consume. Which is why the Bush tax cuts never trickled down; rather, they flooded Wall Street looking for a higher return. The problem: the ratio of capital to sound investment opportunities was skewed because there was no demand to capture; therefore, Wall Street had to create a massive ponzi scheme to invent solid returns whole cloth. They needed more and more mortgages to securitize because that was the only faucet left with any money. And we all know how that ended.

So we had the worst of both worlds: too much capital on top chasing limited investment opportunities (thus resulting in an orgy of speculation and phantom wealth creation), and no money on the bottom for consumption in the real economy, thus requiring an over-reliance on credit. Reaganomics was not only an economic disaster; it was, ironically, a social disaster for families (forcing woman into the workplace so that children would be raised by MTV and video games) -- it literally ended the great American chapter in history. It transferred generations of wealth into a narrow group of interests who now own government and media. Talk about the centralization of power. Silly Rabbit. Financial Power is Political Power, and Reagan allowed for the concentration of financial power unlike any president in history.