One of the long time corner stones of the Republican Party has been trying to rid ourselves of any government regulation. They believe that people and business should be able to regulate themselves. Here’s an example of what that system produces: The market concentration for health insurance is so monopolized in some areas that insurance […]
In a vote of 406-19 the House passed a bill today that will allow health insurance companies to actually compete across state lines. That is something a lot of people have been pushing for for years, including Republicans. As matter of fact it has been a key of the Republicans “health care plan”, so it […]
The healthcare Gestapo is up to their old tricks: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today will release a new report showing more dramatic health insurance premium increases are proposed in Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. Keying off the Obama administration’s recent probe into a planned 39 percent rate hike from […]
We face big and difficult challenges. And what the American people hope – what they deserve – is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences; to overcome the numbing weight of our politics. For while the people who sent us here have different backgrounds and different stories and different beliefs, […]
I want to take a post Marcy Wheeler did yesterday and change it to reflect my revised FPL I did in the previous post. 301% of Poverty Level: $66,370 Federal Taxes (estimate from this page, includes FICA): $8,628 (13% of income) State Taxes (using MI rates on $30,000 of income): $1,305 (2% of income) Food […]
Right along party lines as expected, with Jim Bunning not voting. What’s interesting is that since the GOP started praying for Democratic members of the Senate to not show up, a Republican has missed every vote. Irony or sweet revenge? This ends the 2009 legislative year and now we are on to reconciliation to fix […]
Something I have been saying all along was just repeated on Countdown by former health insurance executive Wendell Potter – there is nothing to stop insurance companies from raising rates. The bill backers have been touting out charts and tables derived from the CBO report to highlight savings with the new reform. One thing they […]
That’s what he told the Washington Post. Obama said the public option “has become a source of ideological contention between the left and right.” But, he added, “I didn’t campaign on the public option.” Now I have to swallow some pride and quote Rep. Joe Wilson – ‘YOU LIE’ Does President Obama really expect to […]
Quinnipiac has released a new poll with a lot of focus on health care. As to be expected, the public still isn’t that thrilled with the reform: 21. From what you’ve heard or read, do you mostly approve or mostly disapprove of the proposed changes to the health care system under consideration in Congress? […]
Greg Sargant points out that in a new CNN poll there is a 6 point uptick in support for the Senate bill. There are some other numbers in that poll that are very interesting: Thinking about the health care and health insurance that is available to most Americans, do you think the proposals in the […]