Republicans in Congress Deserve a Nod of Respect

[longfisher]

I'm surprised to see what appears to be so much hand-wringing and defeatism among Republicans after they "lost" the fight against health reform. Perhaps they didn't achieve their ultimate goal of killing the bill. But from what I can see they had an enormous impact of limiting the tilt towards socialism that was part of the original panoply of ideas from progressives.

Do you remember single payor?

That's where the insurance companies could not longer be middle men in the delivery of health care. The government would do that job. The insurance companies would simply go away. Pure socialism. And, it didn't happen due to staunch Republican resistance.

Do you remember Medicare for All?

This is an idea closely aligned with single payor but with everyone forced to use the Medicare model which is probably inappropriate for the general population. The Republican's staunch resistance also killed that idea, again, nearly pure socialism.

Do you remember Medicare opt-in?

This is essentially Medicare for not All. It would have applied only to those 50+ and up to 65. By the way, in my experience as a health insurance agent these folks are the most vulnerable to colossal financial losses due to health reasons. This idea might have rescued millions from these problems. But the Republican's successfully killed it by their staunch opposition to this socialism-lite.

Do you remember the public option?

This is where the government would erect a health insurance program run by the government which would compete directly with the health insurance companies in the delivery of health care. An individual or group health insurance purchaser could merely compare coverage and prices and choose which one would be in their benefit.

Of course, with the government's incredible buying power and regulatory power the deck would have been stacked decidedly in the favor of the government. As a consequence the insurance companies would have been squeezed to the point of becoming unprofitable or, at least, become much less profitable than they are today.

This would have been creeping socialism of health care because over time the insurance industry just wouldn't be sufficiently profitable to survive and the government program would be the only option, or more precisely, over time single payor would have become reality.

This didn't happen due to staunch resistance from Republicans.

So, my belief is that the Republicans, who most generally favor free-enterprise over government run program (socialistic program) succeeded wildly in protecting private enterprise and the free market. All the Democrats got was insurance reform, just regulation. Government regulation is merited when private enterprise gets so out of hand that they induce societal ills (think big banks with bailouts or chemical plants that produce toxicants that kill and maim citizens). But the Democrats did not even come close to attaining all that the most far left of their party, what are called progressives, wanted...socialism.

Good job Republicans. Stop feeling defeated. If you'll recognize and publicize your great success in this messy saga perhaps you'll have a more acceptable platform on which to run in 2010 that just repeal, which is never going to happen.

More importantly, you'll force the general population to recognize your positive contribution to governance in an era dominated by Democrats.

Well done. You stayed true to your ideaologies and prevailed. You did not fail. Indeed, you played an essential role in our democracy, that of the loyal opposition.

Longfisher

[Reel Fanatic]

Longfisher-

The Democrats aren't done yet. Single payer is still on the drawing board as stated by Barney Frank and Obama himself. This is just the start. My understanding of one of the most negative provisions in this bill is that it now requires health insurers to pay out 85% of premiums collected in the form of policy holder benefits. I don't know of any company that can operate on a 15% margin and stay solvent for long. When you couple this with the "No excluding pre-existing conditions" provisions, this is going to drive up premiums drastically just so the insurers can cover this new ratio. Verizon, Caterpillar, and Medtronic have already announced that they will not be able to continue providing benefits at the same cost due to this change. I would imagine many other companies will make similar announcements within the coming weeks. As this begins to make it's way onto the front pages, they (and their respective insurers) will be demonized by the left as evidence they didn't go far enough in reforming healthcare. Then this monster will be back on the forefront with all the gimmegrants and lazy asses with their hands held out clamoring for more crumbs from the government.

Yes the Republicans stayed true, but if Obama, Peloser, and Reid are able to ram amnesty and cap and tax down our throats this summer, God help all of us. Furthermore, we can't take our eyes off the intended 10 year closure of coastal and inland waters to recreational and commercial fishing. Obama has already stated that he has "heard enough commentary from the American people" on this issue. He and his posse of tree huggers will make their decision later this spring or early summer. I guess he plans on signing an executive order to put thousands of hard working Americans out of work under the guise of saving the depleted pinfish population.