Prickly City by Scott Stantis for March 12, 2020

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    SpiritInterface  over 4 years ago

    Obamacare did more to kill competition and give people fewer choices than anything else in history. Under Obamacare the number of healthcare provider dropped to almost nothing and all the smaller heath insurance companies disappeared.

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    jmworacle  over 4 years ago

    She has a point…..

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    Brian G Premium Member over 4 years ago

    Insurance is socialism for profit.

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    kilioopu  over 4 years ago

    Um. I’m definitely not saying our health care system is good, but remember Martin Shkreli and Daraprim? Have you been tracking the cost of insulin?

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    Brain Pudding  over 4 years ago

    Correct Mr. Stantis. Federal law bans people from buying lower cost insurance from another state. Why? Allowing i terstae purchase would weaken insurance cartels and create price competition and promote deregulation to further lower costs.

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    Silly Season   over 4 years ago

    Once again….

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    “Obamacare” was first a Heritage Foundation idea, piloted by Mitt Romney.

    Of course, it then went to the “sausage-maker” that is Congress, so there was no way it could make it through unscathed…

    Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) wanted attention and threatened to filibuster the health care bill if it included a public option…

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/10/why-lieberman-hates-the-public-option/347740/

    But it is a market centered approach to healthcare (without a public option).

    ~

    Which of course, leads to the 100% GOP controlled federal government of 2016-2018, where they tried nothing and were all out of ideas…

    During which, the GOP kept taking it to court, and finally found an “activist judge” (U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor) to declare it unconstitutional…

    Since then, the GOP has asked for the final ruling to be delayed until after the next election (Gee, I wonder why?)

    ~

    So please RW’ers, continue to whine about how terrible Obamacare’s market centered approach to healthcare is.

    And make actual socialistic “Medicare for all” inevitable.

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    Ignatz Premium Member over 4 years ago

    I call it “corporatism.” And the health insurance field isn’t the only one, just the most egregious. Our current economic is to to create fewer and fewer companies that are larger and larger.

    Competition is what makes capitalism work. But the capitalist’s goal is to ELIMINATE competition. And if left unregulated, that’s what happens. And then you don’t have capitalism anymore.

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    William Robbins Premium Member over 4 years ago

    Actual capitalism is cruel but Darwinian. Tempered capitalism works really well. Ours isn’t capitalism at all any more. It’s starting to feel like one of those cities in the sky scifi plots with utopia for the rich, dystopia for the rest.Next up, Doofus declares a state of emergency and calls off the election.

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    Cheapskate0  over 4 years ago

    @William Robbins: Anyone remember Metropolis?

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    Cheapskate0  over 4 years ago

    And now for something completely different:

    Last night, Stephen Colbert announced that starting Monday, the Late Show will no longer have an audience – for the foreseeable future.

    Of course, his show was taped before the NBA called off the rest of the season – during the Nuggets game – and – it was announced that March Madness would be played without spectators. (As in, for all I know, LSSC will be without an audience tonight – not Monday, as announced)

    Stephen’s joke:

    I don’t know how “it” did it, but 2020 has made me nostalgic for 2019 – and it’s only March!

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    Cheapskate0  over 4 years ago

    And yeah, that is a piggy-back on the comment from the other day (God bless him) – that all of this privatized medical system of ours, resulting in the highest cost of health care in the world, with hundreds of thousands not able to afford health insurance – that all of these people who cannot afford health care will end up being the ones spreading diseases like this to the rest of us.

    But then, just like third world countries, I suppose the rich will retreat within those lovely gated communities.

    Like I saw in the Philippines. Gated communities. Got to protect them rich folks from the rest of us.

    I never thought I’d live to see the day that the United States reminded me of third world countries.

    Like it does today.

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    streetbeater  over 4 years ago

    You wanna see some price competition? Pass Medicare for All and watch all those fatcat health insurance CEOS with their 8 figure incomes go nuts trying to compete with an at cost provider.

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    Silly Season   over 4 years ago

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has introduced a legislative package to respond to the spread of the coronavirus, with measures including free testing, paid emergency sick leave, and increasing funds for food security programs and Medicaid.

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    McConnell ally says Senate won’t take up House coronavirus bill until after recess. (March 23) “The Senate will act when we come back and we have a clearer idea of what extra steps we need to take,” Sen. Lamar Alexander told reporters.

    ~

    When time is of the essence, the GOP can be counted on to…

    …leave town on a break…..

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    PaulKmecak  over 4 years ago

    Actually, Carmen, that IS Capitalism. Maximize income, minimize expenses. Totally amoral. Remember the exploding Ford Pinto? As Killioopu mentioned above, Martin Shkreli? GM demanding to be put back on the old water system in Flint MI, because the water from the new system was corroding engine parts? Boeing’s 787 Max?How many Business majors could show me a highlighted textbook for their Ethics classes?

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    braindead Premium Member over 4 years ago

    “We have a very heavily tested, if an American’s coming back, or anybody is coming back, we’re testing, we have a tremendous testing set up where people coming have to be tested and if they are positive and if they are able to get through, because if they’re, frankly, if they’re not, we’re not putting them on planes, if they’re, if it shows positive, but if they are, if they do come here they have to, we’re quarantine, it’s going to be a pretty strong enforcement of quarantine, look, the key is you have to have separation…”

    ===

    Trump Disciples actually believe when He says stuff like this.

    As you can tell from the comments above.

    .

    Trump Disciple analysis skills.

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