Debt Ceiling Deal: The Devil Is In The Details

[dennis4868]

Congress finally has a deal on the table that may pass. The House passed it Monday evening with a vote expected to be held in the Senate mid-day on Tuesday. And that vote is also expected to be successful in passing the debt ceiling deal. So, who won? Who lost? Is it a massive cave by the President and Democrats? Or is there something more to it?

In looking at the deal, folks on the left are acting outraged. Medicare takes some cuts, there’s no revenue component, it looks like the Republicans got everything they wanted. Indeed, Speaker of the House John Boehner says he “got 98 percent of what I wanted”. But did he?

Here’s some of the details that say he might have some ‘splaining to do later:

Revenues
Democrats are upset that the deal does not include increasing revenues. But that’s not accurate. In fact, it virtually guarantees a revenue increase by the end of 2012. And Boehner knows it.

Here’s how it works: Part of the deficit reduction estimates used to sell this deal to the Republicans count on Congressional Budget Office estimates. Those estimates set a baseline. All reductions have to come from that baseline and if any additional spending is to be made, offsetting cuts must also be enacted.

The rest of the article is here...http://www.editedforclarity.com/2011/08/01/debt-ceiling-deal-the-devil-is-in-the-details/

[safeinOhio]

1. Best part

"Republicans find their corporate benefactors are suddenly pitted against each other, and the American people get to see where the loyalties really lie." That along with no cuts to Medicare, except to providers, makes it look like a win for us.


great article, well worth reading.

K&R

[Bluenorthwest]

2. 'Cuts to providers' is a huge open door.

Could do great harm. That harm could be minimized by judicious application of the rules, but it is difficult to imagine government doing an excellent job applying that which they have done such a fucked up job of writing and passing.
Those cuts are cuts. A thing that is not a cut is simply not a cut.

[Sheepshank]

4. the Medical profession are businesses too.

you think the Reps are wanting to hurt doctors, hospitals and insurance companies? Dangerous cuts to providers and all the supporting staff is not part of the RW model.

[flamingdem]

6. Do you think providers will stop taking Medicare clients if payments are reduced? nt

[Jim Lane]

7. Some will, yes.

There are already some health care providers who aren't accepting new Medicare patients because the reimbursement is too low. That number will increase. Medicare recipients will encounter increasing difficulty in finding actual health care (as opposed to mere insurance).

[bhikkhu]

5. My perspective on providers -

knowing many doctors and dentists and so forth in my community: they are good people who have worked hard to get where they are, but the past twenty years has seen them gain absurd amounts of income and wealth, at the expense of the other 99% of us. People with actual money tend to be very strongly attached to it, and very capable of making a huge fuss.

So what we don't hear is that one of the higher steps on the ladder is being asked to give up a bit. I'd rather see the overall waste and fraud in health care addressed, but the inherent costs of absurdly large incomes themselves are a big part of it.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. I agree with you. This is why my post was what it was

If done properly, could be good. If not, could be harmful. I take issue with calling it 'a cut that is not a cut'. Cuts are cuts. If the cuts go to areas of need rather than to areas of abuse or over charging, they could do great harm.
Every medical professional I know including those I see professionally favor a single payer system. They feel well compensated as it is, and would rather have less paperwork, insurance bs, and time to do the work along with a decent salary. Like myself, they have friends and peers in Europe and Canada, and we know how the deals are in our various professions here and around the world.
And dentists have nothing to do with Medicare. They are not Medicare providers, save for in rare surgery related cases. Medicare does not cover dental. So what they do and what they want has nothing to do with this issue at all. It is also best that I not express myself as to what they want and do, as we have dentists here on DU, and I would be very nasty about it. But they should not enter into discussion of Medicare providers any more than pastry chefs or horse doctors.

[grantcart]

10. Its also difficult to see the AMA taking this lying down.

This will create a massive wedge between the doctors and the insurance industry.

[CakeGrrl]

9. It's a Dem win. But since it doesn't happen immediately, right now,

sadly some people are sucking up Boehner's spin that he got "98% of what he wanted".

Time will have to prove the screaming crowd wrong. There's no room for reason right now.

At least the President is done with it and can move forward on the stump for jobs. We can get a new set of complaints on that topic, whee!

[dennis4868]

12. you are right...

no matter what the deal was (even if it included massive tax increases for the wealthy), DUers would be bashing Obama....many here cannot bring themselves to give him any credit for anything...it's like pledging loyalty to Hitler.

[tosh]

3. K&R.

A must-read.

[grantcart]

11. If you factor in the baseline as the starting point in reductions

And the fact that the baseline includes the expiring of the Bush Tax Cuts

Then Bohener has just won one of the greatest Pyhrric victories in US politics.

[Emillereid]

13. I think I agree with Randi Rhodes:

"Debt deal: next to nothing happens til 2013. If there is equal passion for voting in 2012 as there is for whining today, problem solved."


"Hope you're listening today because some seriously good chess has been played. Love the triggers! #debtdeal #stopwhining

[tweeternik]

14. K&R !! n/t

[mikekohr]

15. Huge Kick

Thanks for the post!