Even More Obamacare Follies

Now It Can Be Told: Ezra Klein Admits Public Option was 'Bridge to Single-Payer'

Thursday, Vox's Ezra Klein admitted Democrats saw the public option as a "bridge to single-payer." While this is now common knowledge on the right, it was dismissed and treated as an "illegitimate" argument by everyone from President Obama down before the bill passed.

Back in 2009 when reform was still being debated this admission would have constituted a very significant story. Recall that the President was barnstorming the U.S. presenting his plan as an attempt to foster "choice and competition." He explicitly denied that there was any plan for a government takeover. He called such claims "illegitimate" and said opposition to the public option wasn't "based on any evidence." The President thought it ridiculous that anyone would insinuate the public option was "somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system." Ezra Klein knew the President was being utterly disingenuous and said nothing (more on that in a moment).

But second and more importantly, even if the "weak" public option couldn't give Democrats what they wanted (at least not as quickly) that's no excuse for Klein et al to never mention what Democrats were trying to achieve. The goal was the story. In fact it was the biggest untold story of the year. And yet years later Klein wants to write a "Democrats failed to get bridge to single-payer" story without having ever written a "Democrats seek public option bridge to single-payer" story. That takes some real audacity.

Even after my friend and co-blogger Morgen Richmond found video (see below) of Klein calling the public option a "sneaky strategy" to get to single-payer, Klein continued to deny it was true. Not only deny it, Klein mocked the idea, calling it the "underpants gnomes theory of single-payer." It was through this kind of disregard for the truth that "government takeover" became the Lie of the Year instead of the openly acknowledged fact it is now.

You mean the Democrats, the White House, and the media knew and intended for ACA to be a bridge to single-payer, furiously denied it at the time, and now latter admit to it as the winning strategy to get to where they want to go? Color me shocked.
 
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Now It Can Be Told: Ezra Klein Admits Public Option was 'Bridge to Single-Payer'



You mean the Democrats, the White House, and the media knew and intended for ACA to be a bridge to single-payer, furiously denied it at the time, and now latter admit to it as the winning strategy to get to where they want to go? Color me shocked.

Klein is the worst kind of pundit IMO - he shills relentlessly for his causes but attempts to mask it in "statistics" and "data" which of course he has cherry picked to death.

It's one thing to be an opinion writer. It's another to deny you are an opinion writer (even though you are) and try to bolster your claim by suggesting you are doing deep and objective analysis.
 
The bill is coming due for ObamaCare, and it's a whopper.

According to Medicare's actuaries, U.S. health care spending is about to rocket.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/1286...macare-coming-due.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Enjoy!


When I read the first full sentence -- "ObamaCare continues federal meddling in what was once the finest and most cost-effective health care system on the planet is nothing new" -- I was immediately suspicious of far right loon hackery.


Then I read about how it's all Johnson's fault. Bashing Medicare and Medicaid, entirely. And warning of Soviet-era centralization. And at that point I was pretty sure of right wing loon tripe, masquerading as news.

So then I looked up the author ....

Here's how he penned his own autobiography for the paper:

Professor Peter Morici, of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, is a recognized expert on economic policy and international economics. Prior to joining the university, he served as director of the Office of Economics at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He is the author of 18 books and monographs and has published widely in leading public policy and business journals, including the Harvard Business Review and Foreign Policy. Morici has lectured and offered executive programs at more than 100 institutions, including Columbia University, the Harvard Business School and Oxford University. His views are frequently featured on CNN, CBS, BBC, FOX, ABC, CNBC, NPR, NPB and national broadcast networks around the world.


And then here is the truth .....

Just Google this moron. Holy cow you've gone off the deep end with this nut.
 
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When I read the first full sentence -- "ObamaCare continues federal meddling in what was once the finest and most cost-effective health care system on the planet is nothing new" -- I was immediately suspicious of far right loon hackery.


Then I read about how it's all Johnson's fault. Bashing Medicare and Medicaid, entirely. And warning of Soviet-era centralization. And at that point I was pretty sure of right wing loon tripe, masquerading as news.

So then I looked up the author ....

Here's how he penned his own autobiography for the paper:

Professor Peter Morici, of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, is a recognized expert on economic policy and international economics. Prior to joining the university, he served as director of the Office of Economics at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He is the author of 18 books and monographs and has published widely in leading public policy and business journals, including the Harvard Business Review and Foreign Policy. Morici has lectured and offered executive programs at more than 100 institutions, including Columbia University, the Harvard Business School and Oxford University. His views are frequently featured on CNN, CBS, BBC, FOX, ABC, CNBC, NPR, NPB and national broadcast networks around the world.


And then here is the truth .....

Just Google this moron. Holy cow you've gone off the deep end with this nut.

LG. "You built this" Enjoy! :p
 
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When I read the first full sentence -- "ObamaCare continues federal meddling in what was once the finest and most cost-effective health care system on the planet is nothing new" -- I was immediately suspicious of far right loon hackery.


Then I read about how it's all Johnson's fault. Bashing Medicare and Medicaid, entirely. And warning of Soviet-era centralization. And at that point I was pretty sure of right wing loon tripe, magsquerading as news.

So then I looked up the author ....

Here's how he penned his own autobiography for the paper:

Professor Peter Morici, of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, is a recognized expert on economic policy and international economics. Prior to joining the university, he served as director of the Office of Economics at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He is the author of 18 books and monographs and has published widely in leading public policy and business journals, including the Harvard Business Review and Foreign Policy. Morici has lectured and offered executive programs at more than 100 institutions, including Columbia University, the Harvard Business School and Oxford University. His views are frequently featured on CNN, CBS, BBC, FOX, ABC, CNBC, NPR, NPB and national broadcast networks around the world.


And then here is the truth .....

Just Google this moron. Holy cow you've gone off the deep end with this nut.

Tough talk from someone who linked a Mother Jones article.
 
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Hey, at least I admit my shortcomings. This guy hides behind some labels and pretends to be an academic, when in actuality he is as much a politician as any elected official, maybe more so.
With that description it sounds like he would get your vote (twice).

He's simply saying what most others have been yet Obamacare supporters can't understand it
 
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With that description it sounds like he would get your vote (twice).

He's simply saying what most others have been yet Obamacare supporters can't understand it


Oh come on. His gripe is not with Obamacare, in particular. His complaint is with any sort of group process for paying for health care. Notwithstanding the sheer Don Quixote concept of trying to get rid of Medicare (or even at this point Medicaid), he's basically just bitcning to anyone who will listen because the system is the system. He's one of these everybody for himself types when it comes to health care, which is just laughably ignorant, not to mention immoral by any but the most selfish of standards.

And to boot, the theory of his criticism is not that the government payor programs are inherently a problem. Its that the costs of care are rising faster than we can keep pace. I agree with him there. His solution? Dismantle Medicare and Medicaid. Lol, wut?

My solution is to come to grips with the reality that private payors breeds inefficiency, fraud, and profit in continuing to build more of a system that is warped at its inception. Dump private insurance, make health care a universal benefit. Take what was paid in for insurance and convert it to tax revenue.

Watch costs come down, efficiency improve, and health care advances target prevention and wellness, instead of maximizing costs in the last 60 days of life.
 
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Oh come on. His gripe is not with Obamacare, in particular. His complaint is with any sort of group process for paying for health care. Notwithstanding the sheer Don Quixote concept of trying to get rid of Medicare (or even at this point Medicaid), he's basically just bitcning to anyone who will listen because the system is the system. He's one of these everybody for himself types when it comes to health care, which is just laughably ignorant, not to mention immoral by any but the most selfish of standards.
So now it's a moral argument? Where's the morality in taking money from producers and handing it over to those who don't? Stealing isn't immoral?
And to boot, the theory of his criticism is not that the government payor programs are inherently a problem. Its that the costs of care are rising faster than we can keep pace. I agree with him there. His solution? Dismantle Medicare and Medicaid. Lol, wut?
Something will give eventually. Make the hard choices now or they will be made for us in the future. Keep your head in the sand of you wish but nothing the govt is currently doing is sustainable

My solution is to come to grips with the reality that private payors breeds inefficiency, fraud, and profit in continuing to build more of a system that is warped at its inception. Dump private insurance, make health care a universal benefit. Take what was paid in for insurance and convert it to tax revenue.

Watch costs come down, efficiency improve, and health care advances target prevention and wellness, instead of maximizing costs in the last 60 days of life.

Your solution is still idiotic because it ignores what got us to that point - govt intervention and over regulation. Your solution is to add even more in hopes it will magically doc it. Seriously?

You're also blasting the insurance companies while ignoring the hand they had in the latest regulations. It was essentially written by them
 
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Oh come on. His gripe is not with Obamacare, in particular. His complaint is with any sort of group process for paying for health care. Notwithstanding the sheer Don Quixote concept of trying to get rid of Medicare (or even at this point Medicaid), he's basically just bitcning to anyone who will listen because the system is the system. He's one of these everybody for himself types when it comes to health care, which is just laughably ignorant, not to mention immoral by any but the most selfish of standards.

And to boot, the theory of his criticism is not that the government payor programs are inherently a problem. Its that the costs of care are rising faster than we can keep pace. I agree with him there. His solution? Dismantle Medicare and Medicaid. Lol, wut?

My solution is to come to grips with the reality that private payors breeds inefficiency, fraud, and profit in continuing to build more of a system that is warped at its inception. Dump private insurance, make health care a universal benefit. Take what was paid in for insurance and convert it to tax revenue.

Watch costs come down, efficiency improve, and health care advances target prevention and wellness, instead of maximizing costs in the last 60 days of life.

You have the nerve to post this after the VA debacle?
 
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Don't blame them.

We're doing our renewal now, one of my salesmen is 51 his wife is 50 and son is 20. His (we pay) premium went from $374 per month to $539. His family coverage (he pays) went from $840 per month to $1200. 2015 renewals are going to shed some serious light on this boondoggle.
 
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I read an article a few days ago that stated that there are doctors in TN that take ACA plan a and c, will not accept plan b, yet the hospital they are associated with accepts plan b and will not accept a or c.

That is beyond ridiculous. One can go to a primary care doctor, become sick, the doctor can admit to hospital yet the hospital will not accept coverage, therfore said person is in hospital uninsured.

I have been in favor of and am still in favor of healthcare reform. The more that is released about the ACA, the bigger disaster it becomes. I have been saying it needs to be fixed. I am now in agreement with most on the board. This thing is not fixable.
 
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I read an article a few days ago that stated that there are doctors in TN that take ACA plan a and c, will not accept plan b, yet the hospital they are associated with accepts plan b and will not accept a or c.

That is beyond ridiculous. One can go to a primary care doctor, become sick, the doctor can admit to hospital yet the hospital will not accept coverage, therfore said person is in hospital uninsured.

I have been in favor of and am still in favor of healthcare reform. The more that is released about the ACA, the bigger disaster it becomes. I have been saying it needs to be fixed. I am now in agreement with most on the board. This thing is not fixable.

The other huge LIE is that the young will be subsidizing the old through higher premiums. People are in for a shocker!
 
Our Benefits Director is coming into town the middle of November to discuss coverage options. I'm doubting she has any great news.
 

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