ACA And The Court

So the Supreme Court once again has sided with the administration.  I have mixed feelings because it's setting a precedent with which I'm uncomfortable.

The idea of providing affordable care to the less than affluent is worthy to be sure.  I'm not sure it should have taken a 2000 page bill to accomplish same especially since there are still nuts and bolts clunking around within it.

That said and the fact it is now law is it.  Things should and no doubt will be tweaked over time.  It should not be political but rather what's best for those purchasing their insurance, those providing it and the medical community.

Also, if one state gets government subsidies so should all of them no matter who set up their system.

So what's the problem?  The idea that the way the law was written is now being deferred to intent.  I'd like to think legislators would be more careful of their language in bills of the future but I fear they will not knowing a good lawyer will be able to argue intent over substance.

That would make all legislation tentative until a court rules.  I think it's a dangerous precedent but it's over and done.  It bears watching in the future.

Under a less liberal administration I would like to see legislation that requires laws to be obeyed as written.  Otherwise they will ultimately be useless.  The President has showed us how easy it is to bypass legislation when it has suited his purpose the Supreme Court has given him a pass.  The next step is dictatorship. Caution.  Please.

Obamacare - Dumb And Dumber

Sometimes the irony of this of the administration' s actions really gives me a good laugh.  Most recent is Harry Reid telling the world we're too dumb to know how to use the internet, thus the reason why so few are signing up for Obamacare.

Now I will admit I'm not very tech savvy.  There is more stuff on my computer than I'll ever learn to use.  My "smart" phone is so much smarter than I am I haven't mastered it either.  And probably won't.

So I'm not insulted when someone tells me I'm too dumb to use technology to it's fullest.  But then I'm not signing up for health care either.  Being on medicare, I'm pretty much taken care of.  For now.  Knock wood.

What strikes me as so funny is that the age group who the administration so desperately needs are the most tech savvy generation we've ever had!  Talk about insulting a whole generation!  Of course a lot of the TV ads directed at these young people are equally insulting.

But there's ole dingy Harry telling them they're too dumb. Funny.  They don't seem so dumb to me.  They know enough that they're being played for suckers.  That they're expected to pay for the older and less well all because they're young and healthy!

Yep.  Dumb enough to take a wait and see attitude because the web site is still not finished.  Wait and see because the President keeps changing the requirements.  Wait and see what the Supreme Court is going to do. Wait and see if the law, such as it is, will even survive.

Of course they may well be older and more infirm by then.  They'll still wait and see if those coming behind them will have a wait and see attitude. With a little bit of luck ole Harry will have faded away and the government will be functioning in a meaningful way once again.

We'll just have to wait and see exactly who was really dumb!

Symbolism At Its Worst

What's the point?  I admit I didn't expect Obama to sign up for the ACA and he didn't disappoint me though he'd have you believe otherwise. He did tell us he was going to do so knowing full well he wasn't.  Just what did he sign up for?

He didn't go through the long wait, his staffers did.  And you can be sure none of his sensitive information was shared with the site anyway.  But what did they actually do?  Other than log on to the site?  So why the charade?

He gets his health care through the military as commander in chief.  He will continue to do so.

The gesture was an empty one which has become the norm with this President.  In fact the whole law is an empty gesture at this point since he has changed it so many times.

What's the point of passing legislation, even bad legislation with the support of only one party, if the President can continually change it on a whim without consulting Congress?  When is it no longer the law that was passed therefore null and void? With all the exemptions and delays and tweaks does any one know what exactly it says anymore? I'll bet even the "Secretary" doesn't - if she ever did. The law suits will be coming.  Bet on it.

To me this is about as low as it can go.  This is the President's signature legislation and he won't even be enrolled in it.  Why?  Could he not drop the military coverage for the one of his own creation?  He can do what he wants - he has already shown that so my guess is he could. It's just another obfuscation.

I think it's an unconscionable slap in the face of every American citizen who is being forced to make changes they neither need nor want while he goes blithly on his way untouched by it. 

We Seniors Are ABout To Get Ours!

I really wish Congress had learned from Obamacare that any bill with the Secretary shall in it spells doom.  But they haven't and it scares me.

They are scheduled, today, to vote on the "Doc Fix" which will give the feds, as in HHS, authority to dictate "applicable use criteria" for medical services for seniors.

It's tied in with reimbursements to doctors which is woefully low to begin with.  The reason why it's so difficult to find a doctor to take a medicare patient.  What has been a short term fix from year to year is now scheduled to become permanent.  Woe is us.  It gives the Secretary the right to make a judgement on things like CT scans and MRIs.  To make matters worse, the doctors went along with this in order to get higher reimbursements and while they have a say in the decisions it's a weak one.  The power is with the Secretary shall.

Now I don't know about any of you, but I do not want Kathleen Sebelius anywhere near my medical care.  She knows nothing about me nor my needs and even if she did she isn't qualified to make any determination about what is or is not appropriate.  That's between my doctors and me.

At the moment this is aimed at radiological services but contains a provision giving the Secretary the authority to expand it to other services.

I'm not saying that Medicare doesn't need reformed.  It certainly does, but I implore the medical and senior citizen community to speak up against giving this power over to the government.  If the Secretary could micromanage effectively I'd not be so worried but it is evident this one cannot manage at all what's more micro manage.  If we've learned anything from Obamacare it should be that government has no place in determining, on their own, what is and what isn't important or appropriate in health care, no matter your age.

Is there such a disconnect that no one notices the language in this bill?  Don't they see the same red flags?  Have they even read the legislation?  Or are they so anxious to get home for the holidays they'll vote for anything just to get out the door.

You know, in a way I hope it slams shut on their foot.  And when they go to the doctor to get it fixed they find that the Secretary has determined they can't get an x-ray, a cast or even a pain pill.

One day those who vote for these ludicrous bills will be forced to abide by them just as we are.  It can't happen too soon. They ought, too, remember they will one day be old and until then their parents already are.  Is this really what they wish on them?

A Shot In The Dark One More Time

I recently changed doctors.  Not because my former one wasn't in my network, but rather because he didn't take any insurance. But he was a good doctor and over the years we came to understand one another and worked together quite well.  Still, there are things I didn't address because of the out of pocket costs.

 On top of what an office visit cost, I still had my Medicare and supplemental premiums to deal with along with the deductibles that of course also out of pocket. It was pricey.  When he decided to convert his practice to a concierge practice, he priced me right out of his business.  Everyone does what needs to be done.

I was lucky.  I found a practice accepting medicare patients.  In fact since that find I've seen more and more advertising just that.  It's a good time to be on medicare.  The doctors are sure of you even if reimbursements are less.  And you're sure of your doctor.  Few drop you once they have you especially if you go on medicare after the fact.

So that brings me to where I am now.  Still with an aching tailbone that is beginning to affect other parts of the ole bod.  Especially the legs.  Not a happy thought.

The phone rang late Wednesday afternoon and it was my new doctor's office nurse.  She said he had been able to review my previous records and has some thoughts about how we can treat my problem and would I like to come in and discuss it.  Would I!  Boy, was I impressed.

Tomorrow bright and early I will make that call.  I didn't do it Wednesday because I was elbow deep in turkey and no where near my calendar though I'd cancel just about anything to see him.

We'll see what happens.  I'll swallow my pride and waddle in with the dregs of Thanksgiving dinner and the myriad of leftovers clinging to my frame. We'll talk.  I'm willing to do just about anything except dope up on narcotics.  We'll see.

But the idea that he called!  He did what he said he'd do when first we met a month or so ago.  And he says he has some ideas.  There's little more for which I can ask - except that those ideas work.

For those who are losing their doctors and their networks, I have the utmost empathy.  I know the gut wrenching feeling when you lose through no fault of your own a doctor you trust.

If they want to save the ACA cut the fluff from the programs that people neither want nor need and reimburse the doctors and hospitals in sufficient amounts to keep them in business and making a living.  Other than that get the heck out of medicine and insurance.  Let the market take care of itself and let the doctors take care of us.

I'm an easy case.  Most of what ails me is due to aging and less than perfect lifestyle choices.  I can complain but I can live with it.  For those with catastrophic illness to have to contend with what I'm going through it's a life changer and not for the better.  Hopefully it won't take some youngster with cancer dying to get their attention. That's a price the government should not be willing to pay.

The "Fix" Is In

Ah, the Sun King has waved his scepter and all is well!  Obamacare lives! Don't believe it.

I've been wondering for some time if the President is really as dumb as he sometimes appears or if  he thinks we're so dumb we'll buy anything he says. Remember too, he has no authority to any of what he's said he will do but then that's never stopped him before.  Perhaps now is the time to challenge him.

If he really believes what he said in today's remarks he isn't cognisant of the facts. Continuing the plans now being canceled is not as easy as his waving the magic wand.  There are rewrites, filings, insurance commissioners' sign offs not to mention finding the people effected, notifying them and their doctors and hospitals, etc. of yet another change and the process of changing those areas to reverse once again what has already begun. Kathleen Sebelius, having been an insurance commissioner, should have alerted him to the impossibility of doing this, especially in a timely manner.  Remember we're talking about millions of policies.

Some insurance firms have even quite writing health insurance, not wanting to get into the Obamacare mess.  There is no easy fix.

Even if a fix were possible it will take months.  He only extended the timeline for one year.  Then what?  It begins all over again, he did not exempt insurance companies for having to comply nor people from having to be insured.  He has, if a fix is possible, allowed for a huge gap in funding which will mean higher premiums when it does finally kick in.  Those who can't afford ACA policies now, even with subsidies, certainly won't under increased premiums.  Remember too, a lot of those young people his slightly sleazy ads are aimed at will be on their parent's plan until they're 26, leaving another funding gap.  What he has essentially done is collapse his signature legislation by his own hand.

Nope.  Nothing happened today other than more politics in an effort to get the people off his back. When the actual insurance people begin to weigh in the tide will change again considering he has just set them up to take the fall for one more unachievable task.

The fault, however, does not fall on the President alone.  We have 100% of the Democrats who voted in lock step for this monster. I almost feel sorry for the Democratic "strategists" who continue to spout the daily talking points in support of the law.  They look so foolish expounding about something of which they haven't a clue other than what they've been told to say.

 Have you wondered what the qualifications are to be a strategist?  Both sides seem to have so many, mostly women with long blond hair who sit with legs crossed to show to best advantage.  May the better looking side win the day! Pardon my being snarky but its emblematic of the whole process.

Anyway, it's not over by a long shot.  The Republicans cannot just sit back and watch hoping the damage is sufficient to sink the law.  They must present a comprehensive and less costly alternative.  I'll give them a couple of days to get their act together but won't hold my breath.

It's a shame that the little that is good about the law is being obscured by the majority which is bad. If the Republicans come forward with a plan, they should indeed include those parts.  Being smart and
magnanimous would really be something and definitely give them the march on the Democrats!  It would be, however, for the wrong reasons.  They should be doing it for the American people.  Not to win one for themselves.

It's Time To Change The Programming

The evening airwaves between four and, say, eight are filled with redundancy no matter which channel you favor. I've gotten to the point I want to lash out like Jay Carney did not long ago to a CBS reporter.  "I get it, ...!"

If I see one more clip of Obama saying we can keep our health care, period and the talking head proceed to bug a guest  into say the President LIED, I'm going to get violent.  Then the host usually trots out a litany of citizens who have either lost their coverage or have seen their cost skyrocket.  Okay.  I get it!  How many times is that dead horse going to be beaten?

I beg to question, however, why don't they get it?  The disastrous roll out of the health care website is due to a lot of things, none of which have anything to do with the actual content of the bill.  You could say it shows the government should never get involved in anything in which it lacks expertise. Which is just about everything. It's a given but about as possible under this administration as Ted Cruz's attempt to defund the bill.

They're going to meddle because it's the nature of the beast.  Those in high places always think they know more than the rest of us even though most of them are there for no more than having been a loyal supporter of the man who holds the top job.

In truth, the problem with the bill is it's content.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that when unnecessary benefits are added, demanded, the price is going to increase.  It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to know that those increased prices are going to preclude a lot of the very people they need because of that additional cost.  It should be easy to see that by saying only 5% or 15% of the people are being effected is ignoring the number of bodies actually effected which is in the millions.  A percentage is far more palatable and masks the fact real people with real needs make up that percentage. I could break it down even further but for space and time constraints.

Could the pundits help the case?  I think so but they won't because they have no imagination as to how to program plus it's easier to harangue than offer something of substance.

What would I do?  I'd seek out the Republicans who have had good ideas about how to fix the problem sit down for a serious panel discussion all in one place at the same time.  I'd have each lay out their ideas.  I'd not interrupt. I'd not allow them to interrupt each other.

When they were finished I'd ask them why they don't take themselves off the air, sit down together and piece together the best of each idea.  Then they select the most dynamic among them to be the spokesman for the plan and present it to the people in every venue that would have them.  And fight for those who wouldn't.  Just to keep it fair.  If, say, MSNBC said no thanks, let it be known by every means available.

Yep.  That's what I'd do.  It's the Dogwalk solution for Congressional  inertia and media complacency.

Immigration Reform - How Can They Even Think It?

When the President gets into an untenable situation he likes to do an abrupt about face in order to hide the mayhem.  That is exactly what is happening with his sudden refocus on immigration reform.

It is indicative of a floundering administration.  The ACA web site isn't close to being fixed.  In fact the ACA isn't even the bill that was passed and then declared constitutional by the Supreme Court.  I question whether all the turmoil is worth it because I wonder if what passes for that bill is itself constitutional  but then there are all those "the Secretary shall" rights.

You'd think the unintended consequences would be a teaching moment but it apparently hasn't been. Too much power has been given to said Secretary to dictate what she and she alone thinks our insurance coverage should be.  That she was once insurance commissioner of Kansas is distressing but then such commissioners rarely have experience in the field nor know all the ins and outs of the products they are charged with overseeing.

In other words a rank amateur has designed a government program which affects every single one of us and our Congress passed it without even reading it.  Now it's collapsing as well it should.

To divert our attention the President has retreated to another favorite boondoggle.  Comprehensive immigration reform. Don't go there.  Please.  The last thing we need is another government monstrosity that's doomed to fail before it even gets off the ground.

Those who call for incremental steps should listened to. It's much easier to fix a small dust up than one the size of Obamacare.

The Republicans have nearly destroyed their own party by coming to that realization.  The move from defunding Obamacare to delaying it is a huge difference and they're still not there.  By their own hand I might add.  Had they asked for delay first, forgotten about the shutdown and defunding they still might not be there but it's looking more and more like it will get there in spite of all that has come before.  With some some critical thinking and leadership all the damage could have been avoided.

Now on to immigration.  Leave it alone until this mess is cleaned up or we'll be going through the same agonies again.  Then take it piece by piece.  Those here illegally rate no special consideration unless it's to actually enforce the laws already on the books and treat them for what they are.  Illegal. Congress can only hold so many hearings.  Consider the IRS mess and Benghazi among others have yet to be resolved. The government has trouble functioning in the best of times, it doesn't function at all with an overload it now bears.

Then get smart.  Democrats - get rid of Reid and Pelosi as your leadership in favor of those who would work for the country.  Republicans - find a voice.  You all do a lot of talking but apparently at, not to, each other, and not at all to us.

And to the voters.  Forget about the cults of personality.  We've been there and done that too often and it hasn't worked out too well.  It's time to get back to basics - if we even remember what they are. Please tell me it's not a generational phenomenon.

A Few Thoughts On The Stalemate

Obamacare.  How many people realize the bill being fought over is not the one passed by the Democratic House and Senate?  This is thanks to Presidential meddling where he took it upon himself to grant waivers without Congressional approval.

This smacks of dictatorship and in my opinion should negate the law.  It isn't how we make nor amend them.  I don't buy that executive privilege gives that right.

That being said and since no one else is saying it I'll move on.  The Tea Party Republicans, as any sane person will agree, had no chance of winning the defunding issue nor should it.  One doesn't defund to fix.  You either repeal or repair.  The issue shouldn't be tied to the CR but then we shouldn't be having CR's in the first place.

Though too late at this point because of ego and pride on both sides, this might have been a reasonable fix for the mess that didn't have to be.  The President could quit giving speeches and actually sit down with the Republicans.  Let's say Boehner for the sake of discussion.  "I will admit over reach in giving the waivers to Congressional members and staff. I will rescind all waivers I have given in return for the CR." Boehner accepts and promises to get it past his obstructionists by showing some leadership himself. Obama tells Harry Reid to get it done.

For now even forget the tax on medical devices.  That can be done in Congress in time. So can everything else that needs fixed and a lot does.

What they seem to forget is at the moment they don't have the votes and unless they win in 2014 they won't. Obamacare is the law.  If it's as bad as we're to believe it will collapse from within.  If it can be fixed, give fixing it in incrementals a chance.

We're stuck with the bunch we have now but we won't be forever.  The lesson we should take from this is to make our voices heard more quickly when something displeases us.  Waiting until Washington  takes the rumblings and makes them it's own defeats all of us.

There's Something Fundamentally Wrong

The Greatest Obstructionist

There is something fundamentally wrong when Congress can approve legislation without first having read it.

There is something fundamentally wrong when it passes that legislation with the support of only one party and one house.

There is something fundamentally wrong when the minority of a party totally disregards the opinions of the majority and holds them hostage to a singular way of thinking.

There is something fundamentally wrong with leadership who cannot or will not lead.  If it costs a career in politics so be it.  There are others. Do it for the country who elected them and in which they too live.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a government that exempts itself from the laws forced upon its people.

There is something fundamentally wrong when neither party is willing to negotiate in good faith.

There is something fundamentally wrong when the Senate majority leader single handedly can prevent legislation from going to the floor for debate.  It's not his government; it's ours.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a President who will negotiate with know terrorist states for dubious ends yet will not negotiate with the opposition party. He is a mere mortal, not God nor King.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a President is so enamoured by his own ego and self-righteous sense that rather than lead a debate opts to do nothing.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a people who allow themselves to be run roughshod over because they are too apathetic to become informed.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a people who elect the people who do this to them what's more allow them to remain in office.

I am so thoroughly disgusted with government as a whole I put a Dogwalk pox on it's entirety.

Ted Cruz, You're Bleeding The Republicans Dry!

Scratch the surface and all politicians are the same.  Take Ted Cruz for example.  He's just like Obama in many ways.  It's his way or the highway and no one will suffer more than the American people and his party.  For what?  His opinion. His opinion that is so superior to all others.

Defund Obamacare or shut down the government.  You know, that's not a fair trade.  Just like so many of Obama's dictates.  But lets look at it.  In truth, not as many are against Obamacare as a whole as Cruz and his ilk would have us believe.  What most object too is that it's being shoved down their throats even though there is much that needs to be reconfigured and the blatant miscalculations that were represented as truths.

Politicians seem predisposed to making a big splash to fix what's wrong rather than taking baby steps.  It is the law of the land.  And yes, Obama has tweaked it under dubious legality.  But why not amend it.  Amend it so there are no carve outs for anyone.  Not the unions, not the largest of corporations and especially not the Congress and their staffs.

Why not amend it so the work week goes back to being 40 hours instead of 30 which is putting so many into financial straits.  Why not amend it to delay the individual mandates along with the corporate ones that Obama has already delayed. You get the idea.

This would make the Republicans look like the paragon of reason, a willingness to compromise and heroes to those who will be most affected.

Why must these politicians tilt at windmills?  Ego.  Ambition.  Both, when misguided lead to oblivion.  Mr. Cruz fancies himself President one day.  He's a rock star in Iowa at the moment.  How many of those Iowa rock stars went on to become President?  Palin?  Bachmann?  Santorum? Caine? Perry? Who?

If he had a Republican Senate behind him and the numbers to over ride a veto I could understand his fervor, but he doesn't.  The Senate will take out the defunding and send the bill back to the House.  Will they put it back in and return it to the Senate in another game of chicken?  Time will tell, but I wish Speaker Boehner would get tough with the Tea Party types who are holding the Republicans, the House and the Country hostage. Deprive them of committee chiarmanships or whatever House discipline measures are available.  Party politics is a team sport and the quarterback calls the plays.  That would be Boehner.  Your not a team player then the prize passes don't come your way.

We all know that if the roles were reversed the Republicans would be screaming bloody murder. This isn't the way government is supposed to work.  In fact it doesn't work this way.

Shutting down the government is Republican suicide.  Those who can't understand this should not be re-elected.  We complain about other countries who have petty dictators as heads of state.  We're not so very different except we have a lot of them.  Each and every member of the governing bodies who refuses to listen and negotiate is just that.  A petty dictator.  That includes the President.

No wonder the rest of the world finds us laughable. We don't even know how to make it work!