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Edited on Wed Dec-16-09 08:46 PM by louis c
I love the President. My union office has two pictures of the President and an election poster. I'm proud I supported him and I'm ecstatic that he has won. I will continue to support him for re-election and I always answer "strongly support" to any poll.
I also understand the art of negotiating. It is difficult, especially when your opposition is trying to defeat you rather than find a compromise.
Having said all of that, it's time to give up the attempt to have health care reform for the time being. I agree with Howard Dean, this bill is awful. We can not afford to be taxed on our health care premiums. It will discourage employer participation. "The Cadillac plans" are far from that. They are expensive because of the high risk, low participation pools. I know, I'm in one. $24,000 a year for a half-assed family plan with high deductibles and moderate co-pays, and we're lucky to be in one. A 50%-50% split between employee and employer. Thats about $240 a week on a $600 a week employee with the employer kicking in another $240 a week. And you want to tax them and the employer?
We need a single payer plan or at least a public option. We need to get into a pool of 44 million people, not 44 older and sicker individuals. we need some subsidies and the employer needs tax breaks to help carry the load. We need to remove the anti-trust exemption on insurance and pharmaceutical companies, not under wright them. We need to cap their profits and regulate then like a utility.
If we can't do most of that, then just strip them of their ant-trust exemption and call it a day. If you add some regulation and cap their profits, all the better.
The Insurance companies are not the solution, they're the problem.
I love you Barack, but it's time to pull the plug. You have compromised to the point that the bill is now worse than the status quo.
Retreat and punish, that's my suggestion.
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