I recently wrote about how bad earlier proposals were. Today, however, the CBO report detailed just how horrific the recently passed legislation would be.

In short, the new CBO report says that the American Health Care Act (AHCA) would be as effective at delivering affordable healthcare as a toxic mix of heroin, fentanyl, and cyanide coursing through our veins. In other words, to put it mildly, it’s going cause death. If you don’t die, you’ll suffer without access to a doctor.

With 23 million people losing coverage in 2017 and premiums increasing 20% – 800% for the elderly – it’s like an ice cream topped with sprinkles of fine glass, misery, and rat turds. Yet, House Republicans drank champagne and celebrated at the White House with Trump after passing this bill as anyone at a funeral would. Because, well, compassionate conservatism and love.

On the plus side, however, the CBO report estimates that the new bill would decrease the deficit by $119 billion over 10 years. Even better, according to VOX, the AHCA would also cut taxes by $662 billion over the next decade. This is according to a separate analysis also released Wednesday by the Joint Committee on Taxation. This was what this was about all along.

The bill cuts $834 billion in Medicaid spending. But hey, as long as the wealthy get theirs, 14 million fewer people on Medicaid isn’t a big deal. After all, it’s all about helping the wealthy with tax cuts. Why even worry about the elderly or disabled Americans being forced to get jobs.

According to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the changes in the new bill cost about $20,800 per new person covered, per year. By contrast, Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion costs about $6,365 per newly eligible adult. So essentially, while it cuts the deficit, the AHCA will cost the government more than Obamacare. It will because it allows insurance companies to cover fewer services. This doesn’t bode well for Americas. Especially the sick and elderly.

Paul Ryan declared, “This CBO report again confirms that the American Health Care Act achieves our mission: lowering premiums and lowering the deficit.”

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, by contrast, disputed the CBO score. “The CBO was wrong when they analyzed Obamacare’s effect on cost and coverage, and they are wrong again,” said Price. So here’s the question: Who’s telling the truth? The short answer: Neither of them is.

The CBO Report Gives Us the Ability to Act

Republicans are attempting to sell the idea that the ACHA is like Ebola, but good for us. Not even someone stupid enough to vote for Donald Trump is stupid enough to buy that sell. It’s the reason House Republicans were met with furious constituents at town halls in recent weeks. To ensure that this bill doesn’t pass the Senate, I encourage you to call your Senator and voice your displeasure. Most Senate Republicans represent states that largely benefited from Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. They can’t afford to lose Medicaid funds.

That fact makes them vulnerable in the midterm elections. Should they decide to adopt a similar version of the House bill, they’ll be in trouble. It currently looks bad for House Republicans in 2018. Senate Republicans can’t afford to put their political careers on the line. Let’s bombard their offices with phone calls.

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This should be a small victory for anyone with a vested interest in HBCUs.

You know, people like… black people.

But it isn’t.

After all, it’s 2017, and Donald Trump is president. I know, it sounds weird.

Even weirder, a black woman – a scientist – just became Miss USA.

Miss District of Columbia, a physical scientist working at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, took the Miss USA crown to the country’s capital for the second consecutive year.

[…] It was not just her looks that made McCullough stand out from the competition. Out of the 51 contestants, the final five women were asked a series of questions discussing current topics, from the pros and cons of social media to women’s rights. McCullough’s first question concerned health care: Is it a right or a privilege? “I’m definitely going to say it’s a privilege,” Miss District of Columbia said.

McCullough, whose Twitter account follows three members of the Trump family— Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump— added: “As a government employee, I’m granted health care and I see firsthand that for one to have health care, you need to have jobs. We need to continue to cultivate this environment that we’re given the opportunity to have health care as well as jobs to all American citizens worldwide.”

[…] In another question and answer round, McCullough was asked about her opinion on feminism and if she considers herself a feminist. She replied she prefers the term “equalism.”

“So as a woman scientist in the government, I’d like to lately transpose the word feminism to equalism,” McCullough said. “I don’t really want to consider myself—try not to consider myself like this die-hard, you know, like, ‘Oh, I don’t really care about men.’ But one thing I’m gonna say, though, is women, we are just as equal as men when it comes to opportunity in the workplace.”

So you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal, RiPPa? I mean, she isn’t the first black woman to be crowned Miss USA. What’s your problem? Yeah, racism is dead, fool.”

Well, it’s weird enough that there’s a racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic occasional pussy-grabber as our president. Now, there’s a black woman who believes that affordable health care should be a “privilege,” and not a “right,” in America. Oh, and she also thinks that feminism is a bullshit man-hating concept, because, employment opportunities for men and women in America, are equal. Wait, did I mention that the new Miss America is black?

Maybe I’m just trippin’, but with these two things happening in the same year, I feel like I’m trapped in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Hopefully, this isn’t the new normal, folks. I’d hate to think that, even for black folks, reality has been suspended. I mean, there’s no way that we black people are all in that sunken place. Yes, thank Jordan Peele for giving us new ideas.

I Expected More From This Miss USA

This is going to sound sexist (and it actually is) but, I don’t look to anyone running to be Miss USA to have the answers to world problems. However, when you happen to be a scientist – a black scientist – I expect more from you. Wait, did I mention that she’s a black scientist?

That said, I don’t expect to hear Miss America say that job creation is the answer to our healthcare crisis. As is, 95% of the country’s insured have employer-based health insurance. Even so, it’s still a financial hardship for many.

A black scientist should know this.

Similarly, if anybody knows that men and women do not have equal employment opportunities, it would be a black woman. Not just any black woman. In particular, a black woman who knows about the lack of diversity in STEM programs.

Yet, the new Miss USA is being touted as a hero by conservatives.

I suppose this is a good thing.

Why?

If anything, I guess it signals that we are indeed post-racial.

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How Badly Did House Republicans Fail?

I’m talking, you just got paid and your checking account is still overdrawn bad. I’m talking, saying the wrong name during sex bad. I’m talking, you just paid a nice piece of change to get your hair done but the humidity ruined it while you drove home from the beautician bad. I’m talking premature ejaculation bad.

I mean really bad.

Just simply bad as fuck.

It was bad enough that they couldn’t get together in agreement on just how bad they wanted to screw Americans. Which turned out to be a good thing, because, once details got out, the many Americans were not having it.

As proposed initially, the bill would:

• Cause 24 million people to lose coverage
• Increase premiums
• Make life harder for the poor and elderly
• Not cover pre-existing conditions
• Give billions in tax cuts to the wealthy

This didn’t sit well with Americans. Proposing a replacement to Obamacare that would essentially present itself to be an existential threat to the lives of millions didn’t go over well. That said, it only makes sense that the proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA) polled at a 17% approval rating with voters. And why wouldn’t it? Such a proposal only helped to increase the popularity of Obamacare in its current form. Not that Obamacare is perfect and isn’t in need of improvement. However, the Republican health care plan would make the lives of regular folks more difficult, by limiting our access to health care.

Republicans have shown their hand, folks. They’re not interested in improving Obamacare; and, their proposed fix has been rejected. As previously mentioned, Trumpcare has a 17% approval rate among voters That said, them attempting to sabotage the existing law would be political suicide. Anything short of reaching across the aisle to Democrats will be met with rebuke.

The repeal and replace thing is dead

To hear Republicans tell it, Obamacare is exploding bigger than your asshole would after eating five-day-old collard greens with boiled eggs on the side. It’s in a downward spiral, they say. It’s like a mix of heroin and cyanide coursing through our veins.There’s only one problem: It isn’t. Well, not according to the CBO it isn’t. You may have heard of them, no? They’re the nonpartisan folks who took precious time to look at the recent Republican health care bill and determined that it was trash – murderous trash, to be exact.

The CBO also said that the proposed bill, unlike Obamacare, would add to the deficit. If nothing else, Republicans proposing a bill that blows a hole in the deficit is hypocritical. After all, Republicans accused Obama of runaway spending and used this as an argument to oppose everything. In fact, they held the country hostage and even shut down the government when it came to raising the Debt Ceiling. For the first time in history, America’s credit rating was downgraded, thanks to recalcitrant Republicans.

Trumpcare Must Die Now

Thankfully, Americans are waking up and raising hell in opposition to Trumpcare at Republican town halls across the country. Even so, recently, I somehow entered the twilight zone. For a liberal like myself, it was mind blowing.

Okay, so I was in a conversation with a number of Trump voters who clearly hate Obamacare. Yes, “Obamacare is destroying America and made my wife cheat on me… blah blah blah.” Well, apparently, the Trump supporters in the conversation also hate Trumpcare as proposed by House Republicans. So, get this: They were all in agreement that we need a single-payer healthcare system. Yes, universal healthcare. Yes, that socialist government-run healthcare they all oppose. You know, because, “we have too much government,” and, “the government shouldn’t be involved in our lives… let alone healthcare.” Unbelievable!

I suddenly felt like I was in an alternate universe. This was an argument pushed by Republicans opposed to Obamacare. Yet now that House Republicans have proposed a daily dose of shit sandwiches as health care reform, suddenly, my Republican friends are now all on board with what Bernie Sanders proposed.

The irony of this turnaround is rich. For many Obamacare opponents, getting subsidies to help pay for healthcare feels too much like standing in the cheese line and a measure of irresponsibility. Plainly speaking, in racial terms, it makes them feel less Anglo and more Negro. This new position adopted by some of my Republican friends could bode well for the future of Obamacare. Senate Republicans should tread cautiously so as to not adopt the House Republican version of Trumpcare. If they truly care, they would keep everything we love about Obamacare, and make improvements to the current law.

Say Yes To Obamacare And No To Trumpcare

I have never been to a whore house. So, I’m not sure how it may go if I were ever to try to purchase the services of a woman in one of those places. Even so, I can’t imagine the Madame saying to me, ” I think you might like this girl. Nevermind her having herpes… She’s beautiful!” And upon rejecting that beautifully diseased woman, the Madame brings me another girl and says, “Okay, how about this one? She’s thick like you like them… and even though she’s HIV positive, she’s guaranteed to completely rock your world.”

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LOS ANGELES — Defying dire predictions about health insurance rate shock across the country, California’s Obamacare exchange negotiated a 4 percent average rate increase for the second year in a row. The modest increase for 2016, announced Monday, may be welcome news for many of the 1.3 million Californians who buy individual policies through the state…

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If I still lived in Kentucky, I’m pretty sure I’d be voting for Alison Grimes and not Mitch McConnell.

Yep, as blue as the Kentucky grass I damn sure would.

So let’s take a look at how that evil Kenyan voodoo doctor medicine thing is working out in Kentucky, shall we? You see, Kentucky happens to be one of the poorest states in the country. Having lived there for a number of years after college, I can tell you many stories about the place. Heck, my first-born child and my ex-wife both still live in Kentucky. But from all accounts, although Kentucky overwhelmingly voted against Obama in both general election cycles, his policy is working.

This from TPM:

Obamacare has cut Kentucky’s uninsured population by more than 40 percent, signing up roughly 360,000 residents since enrollment opened up on Oct. 1, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

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On the surface, the question before the High Court is whether or not a company can deny contraception coverage to women based on religious beliefs. In other words, the Green family which owns Hobby Lobby says forcing them to provide health insurance to employees with contraceptive riders goes against their religion and they should not be forced to do it.

Further, the Green family says that since Hobby Lobby is their business, their family religious beliefs should prevail for their corporate entity as well.

In other words, “my company/my house, I can do what I damn well please!”

Maybe.

What you do in your house is usually your business. Private.

Your company however, is a different matter. Or used to be until Citizens United four years ago. Citizens United was a very bad Supreme Court decision that granted corporations personhood rights equal to people, meaning corporations have the same rights as people in the public arena.

In the four years of its existence, the Citizens United creation has become a 21^st century Frankenstein monster of SUPCO making.

If successful, the Hobby Lobby lawsuit will give that Frankenstein monster the right to exercise religious beliefs against anyone or anything that dares to darken their corporate door.

Think Arizona Law HB1062 vetoed by the governor a few weeks ago on steroids, and in force nationwide.

It is not just about birth control. This lawsuit is about the right to impose personally held beliefs onto people within the public arena. On any given day, you could walk into an ice cream store and be denied service because the guy behind the counter doesn’t like your haircut/hair color/shoes/ skin color…

Whatever, doesn’t matter, their personally held belief about you prevails, legally.

People who don’t like Black people, or women, or lesbians, or Muslims or Jews wouldn’t have to serve or wait on them or even allow them inside their establishments simply because they can.

This is what the Hobby Lobby lawsuit is all about.

The right for bigots to legally discriminate and get away with it.

There is no way to know how the High Court will handle this lawsuit. They upheld Obamacare which seemingly created the situation, elevating women to equality in healthcare with men, while at the same time, giving us the very opposite leaning Citizens United by a narrow 5-4 decision.

Extended oral arguments will be heard today with a decision expected just prior to the June recess.

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What is concerning is how Democrats around the country, except for those in staunch Progressive areas, are absolute sans balls when it comes to backing up their President and the greatest improvement to the health care system in the history of our nation. Republicans like David Jolly have no problem with running ads saying that they will “repeal every word of Obamacare immediately!” (I’m still waiting for Jolly to follow through on that idiotic statement) but Democrats like Alex Sink run ads saying they will “Keep the good parts of the law and get rid of the bad parts.” This implies that there are big problems with Obamacare and gives the other side an opening. As we have seen the Republicans can’t find real people with legit issues, they can only trump up phony complaints and march ignorant people in front of their cameras.

Why do we not see Democrats calling them out for their deceitful ways? Why do we not see Democrats running ads showing REAL people telling their stories about how the ACA has saved their lives? Why do we not see Democrats championing Obamacare the way Republicans denounce it? Why??

The only possible answer is that as usual Democrats are weak. They look at poll numbers and quiver. Even if they truly believe there are some things in the ACA that need to be changed they need to keep that to themselves, get behind the current law, win Congress back and THEN make the positive changes they want. But by making ads that are wishy washy in regards to the ACA, and hedging their bets, they are allowing the Republicans to dictate and shape the argument to their own benefit. You don’t see Republicans running ads saying that they just want to repeal a few things about the ACA, no they go all out balls to the wall against it.

I’m tired of these weak spineless Democrats. Combined with the lying, disgusting Republicans we have a government that is total horseshit. I’m over it. Democrats also need to explain to the people why NO Republican in the House or the Senate has ANY chance of repealing the ACA, it’s impossible because the President, if it got that far, would just veto it. It’s a totally moot point in the upcoming election and any Republican telling their constituents that they can repeal Obamacare is LYING!

Democrats need to wake up and defend the President the same way the Republicans usually do when one of theirs is in office. They need to go on tv and show why the ACA is vital to the well being of millions of Americans. They need to show those people telling their REAL stories from the heart.

Stop being afraid and fight and win! The weakness makes me sick.

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It might even be a situation where a mom or dad has to work in order for the family to get coverage. Now they might decide to stay at home, and spend more time with the kids (family values!) because the ACA has them covered. I’ve seen weather reports that are more complicated than what the CBO put out so the question is why did the MSM perpetuate the lie that jobs would be lost?

Well let’s take a look at what the motives could be..

I guess you could say that technically jobs will be lost at first. But of course it’s not because Obamacare is bad for jobs, in fact it’s proven that it will CREATE jobs and the CBO detailed how jobs would be created, and wages increased. As I described, a child could understand that people might WILLINGLY give up these jobs OR cut to part time because they are now living in a slightly more civilized society and don’t need the slave labor to afford healthcare. These job openings will then be filled by others who might need them.

Sadly MSNBC’s Chuck Todd was unclear about what the CBO meant. Is he stupid? I mean I hope not because I know plenty of people including myself who could do his job better than him. So let’s say for sanity sake that Todd isn’t stupid. That would the mean that he is either lying because he wants to energize the right or cause needless drama OR and I think this might be it..he thinks that telling the truth is…wait for it…wait for it…PARTISAN!!!!!!

Yes the old CNN logic and now the logic of some on MSNBC and many other networks. That telling the truth, providing the facts, is being one sided. You have to see everything BOTH WAYS in order to be fair. Let’s try and carry out this logic in other, even more obvious areas. OK, so the sky isn’t blue…it’s umm..I dunno…silverish yellow? Reddish purple? The earth isn’t round..it’s let’s see..roundish? Flat with flair? Two plus two isn’t four…no..it’s…22? I mean it could be seen as 22 right? To be fair I mean.

You see how stupid this is? How fucking insanely dumb? Some things are just right or wrong, facts or lies. It doesn’t make you partisan or biased when you state these facts it just makes you RIGHT! And when you don’t it makes you look dumb and foolish and it gives the lies credibility.

We just saw a debate about evolution vs. creationism in the year 2014 here in the United States. Just that we have a debate like that shows how royally fucked we are here. Some things are facts and science and real and true. Some things are fantasy, conjecture, false, and harmful. Period.

The ACA is really about people like me. People who had NO health care just 40 days ago and now have low premiums, little or no deductibles and co-pays. My new coverage like most of the three million plus new members, is top notch with good doctors and a healthy choice of providers. This is fact.

What we saw on many “news” stations after the CBO was released is fiction. Credit must be given to Carol Costello of CNN. She stood out among her colleagues in the MSM when she told the truth about the report.

You see Chuck Todd, and others like you…Costello isn’t biased. She is a good journalist who believes in reporting the facts.

She knows right from wrong. You don’t.

The post More Media Lies About the ACA (Affordable Care Act) appeared first on Madness & Reality.

Yes, it’s time to discuss yet another erroneous right-wing talking point.

Yesterday on Twitter a few of my conservative friends couldn’t wait to log on and bum rush me with the latest Republican talking point. As usual, like flies to shit, right-wingers ran to a report from the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) about Obamacare and it’s long-term effect on the workforce. But as conservative media and the lack of reading skills by the average blowhard, idiots on the right ran with the talking point that the Affordable Care Act would have a negative impact on jobs. If you listened to them, to let them tell it, Obamacare would cost the economy 2.5 million jobs. Yesterday, it was like right-wingers all finally found evidence to back up their foolish claim that Obamacare is a job killer.

It’s a talking-point that has been around for a while, and has long since been debunked. But you know how it is, folks. In the echo chamber of stupid, if you repeat a lie enough it takes on a life of its own. I mean, who needs facts when you’ve been indoctrinated by the likes of conservative media, right? Today, however, it’s time to put the bullshit lie to bed. Yes, the CBO released a report this week that addresses a potential shrinking of the workforce based on the behavior of workers between 2017 and 2024. But here’s the problem, folks: the Affordable care Act will not kill 2.5 million jobs.

Contrary to what some would have us believe, the CBO report never said, implied, or insinuate that Obamacare would kill 2.5 million jobs. What it did say, however, is that it’s possible that work hours my be reduced by workers making the decision to work less. Why? The short answer: To be able to keep government subsidies which will offset the cost of healthcare policies.

According to the CBO, the loss of hours would be the equivalent of 2.5 million workers leaving the workforce. Mind you, the CBO never said that emplyers would be slashing 2.5 million jobs because of Obamacare. In fact, the opposite is what we can expect. If anything, Obamacare will add jobs, because of the long-term deficit reduction effect. Yes, dumbasses, Obamacare will have a stimulative effect. Don’t tell anyone, but even Rep. Paul Ryan acknowledged that the CBO report didn’t say that Obamacare would kill 2 million jobs at a House Budget Committee meeting today.

At the very meeting, present and giving testimony to support what everyone but conservatives believe was CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf. If you watch the following video, you’ll hear him emphatically reiterate this fact in an exchange with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), at the same meeting

Watch the video below:

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Yesterday on January 1st, 2014, America’s mot-so-new-anymore health care law had an opportunity to walk down the red carpet much like A-List celebrities do at those swanky Hollywood premieres. Which is a good thing for many reasons not limited to talk about website glitches and a disastrous rollout. Instead, maybe black folks at least will have an opportunity to fight “the sugah” which happens to be the gateway to so many illnesses and diseases that disproportionately affect us people of color, because of affordable access to care.

On of January 1st, 2014 a little over 6 million people were covered under the nation’s health care law. But to let the naysayers tell it, this disaster of policy will create a near apocalyptic crisis which will result in longer hospital wait times, and a shortage of doctors. Today, with it being the second day of 2014, I have yet to see any news reports to substantiate those claims. What, is it that everyone is still hung over from those New Years Eve parties? Or, could it be that what was predicted by some, amounts to none other than your typical right-wing bullshit fearmongering that hardly represents am ounce of truth? According to a recent article in the Washington Post by Sarah Kliff, the later seems to hold true. But hey, don’t tell that to the folks hell-bent on not allowing the allotted three years for the Affordable care Act to be fully implemented.

Wednesday is a big day for Obamacare. Because it’s the day that at least 6 millionAmericans gain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

 

Except, health policy experts don’t expect it to feel like a big day, at least not for the country’s millions of health-care providers. They don’t expect huddled masses showing up at their local emergency department when the clock strikes midnight and their insurance coverage kicks in. Nor do they think most Americans will find their doctors suddenly unavailable, swamped with new patients they need to see — not on New Year’s Day, and maybe not ever.

 

“People are going to be surprised by how little happens,” says Ashish Jha, a Harvard professor who has studied Massachusetts’s insurance expansion. “We’re all thinking there will be this new flood of people. And there will be some people with pent up demand, but I think there’s a lot more slack in the system than we give it credit for.”

 

Researchers know that people do tend to use more health care when they have insurance. That point, proved most famously in the RAND Health Insurance Experiment of the 1970s, is pretty much undisputed.

 

At the same time, many doubt that these patients, who account for less than 2 percent of the population, will cause sudden capacity issues. For the 6 million people gaining insurance coverage Wednesday, their new plan is certainly a big deal. At the same time, for a health system that sees hundreds of millions of patients already, this increase could amount to a drop in the bucket. (And, one caveat: Some of those 6 million people already have insurance right now, and are renewing their policies under Obamacare, so we’re not necessarily taking about 6 million newly-insured Americans.)

 

Even before the Affordable Care Act kicked in, some patients had difficulty finding a doctor who would accept their coverage. This is especially true with Medicaid, where 30 percent of doctors are not currently accepting new patients. The problem is particularly acute in states that pay Medicaid doctors much lower rates than the Medicare program.

To be fair, as Kliff goes on to point out, there may be some confusion at first; and yes, there may be an issue with the availability of doctors to new patients. However, as also pointed out in her piece, these are traditional changes to be expected with any change in health care policy. In other words, we have seen this before and it is nothing new. Most certainly, what many may face is not as a result of the new law.

It’s just like I explained to one of my dear right-wing leaning friends yesterday: In my 43-year experience on this earth, hospital wait times have always been extremely long. So, while we may have a shortage of doctors in America, instead of egregiously using the Affordable Care Act as the scapegoat to further malign president Obama. Wouldn’t it make more sense to force Congress to pass immigration reform legislation which includes an increase of H1-B Visas to be extended to high-skilled foreign workers. You know, like foreign-born doctors to whom many of us now entrust our lives? You know, doctors like my brother who is working on becoming a neurologist; who, like me, was not born in this country but is now an American citizen? Yep, see how I killed two birds with one stone just now? Here’s to hoping we the people can get Congress to act this year.

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