The Country They Love

Ten years ago today, we repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Today our military is stronger and our country is safer because patriotic Americans no longer have to live a lie in order to defend the country they love. pic.twitter.com/uXKSnsflMk

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 20, 2021

The repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ allowed these two Marines to be true to themselves while serving in our military. Listen to their story: https://t.co/A7jxXTG1G1

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 20, 2021

the party of no alternative

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff, react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as the House passes the health care reform bill, March 21, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Jonathan Cohn (Senior Editor of The New Republic): Conservatives and Republicans had a lot to say about the budget President Barack Obama released on Monday. None of it was good. The budget doesn’t do enough to stabilize federal finances, they said. And it doesn’t do enough to slow rising health care costs.

…But for all of those critics out there, furious that Obama hasn’t proposed a more fiscally responsible budget, I have a question: Do you have an alternative? More specifically, do you have an alternative that would both slow federal health care spending and be politically viable? The answer, I think, is no.

…The health law does more than simply create or expand government programs. It cuts wasteful spending, such as subsidies to private insurance companies. It also raises some taxes. Put it all together and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the program actually generates more money than it would spend. Repeal it and the government’s bottom line actually gets a little worse.

….Remember, the government’s health care costs were out of control before the health reform debate even began. That’s why the overhaul starts up so many initiatives that attempt to improve the efficiency of medical care, making it possible to reduce costs without reducing care. Some will work, some won’t. But the only way to find out is to try them. If lawmakers repeal the measure, those experiments will stop – and we’ll be right back where we started.

Of course, conservatives and Republicans sometimes vow to repeal “and replace” the health law … it generally means enacting a hodge-podge of familiar conservative initiatives… no serious economist believes these steps will, by themselves, substantially slow down health care spending either for the government or for society as a whole…..

….the conservative alternatives don’t offer better guarantees. In fact, the promises they make are far more illusory.

Full article here

;-)

WSJ: The Senate on Wednesday voted 51-47 against repealing the health-care overhaul but approved a measure eliminating a tax requirement that had irked small businesses.

All of the chamber’s Democrats who were present and one independent who caucuses with them voted against it, and every Republican voted for it…

Wednesday’s voting produced a small change to the health law, though. The Senate voted 81-17 to remove a piece of the law that calls for businesses to file a 1099 tax form when they pay a vendor more than $600 in a year.

President Barack Obama has indicated he would sign the tax-change measure, and the House already approved a similar bill. The change will be the most significant so far to the law, designed to expand insurance to 32 million Americans.

….Wednesday’s vote against repeal means that a Republican repeal bill, which passed the House last month, is now effectively dead in Congress.

Two senators, Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, missed the day’s votes.

***

Meanwhile Ronald Reagan’s former Solicitor General, Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried, and New York University law professor Rick Hills (a “registered Republican and outspoken conservative”), believe the health care mandate is constitutional – which is bad news for Tea Party Judge Roger Vinson in Florida.

the costs of repealing health reform

Las Vegas Sun: Voting on Nonsense – House Republicans are expected to approve the inanely titled “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” It is a futile and foolish act because it will be defeated by Senate Democrats who have the common sense to realize that this country had a broken health care insurance system that was badly in need of reform.

The bill’s title not only confirms the immaturity of the new Republican majority but it is also a flat-out lie not supported by any facts.

It is simply the latest in a long line of scare tactics, topped by the spurious claim the law would create “death panels,” that have been employed by Republicans who apparently want to make it as difficult as possible for tens of millions of Americans to access medical care.

…There’s no evidence that the health care law will “kill” jobs. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat, correctly points out that an increasing number of small businesses are taking advantage of tax credits in the law to offset the cost of providing health benefits to workers. Reid was also on the mark when he said that repeal of the law would take away free preventive care for seniors and would bring back the Medicare donut hole that would force elderly recipients to pay more for prescription drugs.

Let’s not forget the conclusion from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which reported last month that the law will reduce the federal budget deficit by $143 billion by 2019. It is difficult to make sense of Tea Party adherents who would vote to repeal this law when they also claim to be in favor of reducing the nation’s deficit…..

Republicans are demonstrating that they couldn’t care less whether consumers are denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions or don’t have freedom and control over their health care. The House majority is also setting out to prove that they would rather waste time on empty legislation than confront the real issues facing this nation.

Full article here

MSNBC: With House Republicans today set to vote on — and pass — their legislation to repeal President Obama’s signature health-care law, a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that the American public is divided on the law and the repeal effort.

Thirty-nine percent believe the health plan that Obama signed into law last year is a good idea, versus another 39 percent who think it’s a bad idea.

But those saying it’s a good idea is at its highest level since September 2009, and those saying it’s a bad idea is at its lowest level since June 2009.

The poll also finds that 46 percent of respondents are opposed to repeal (with 34 percent strongly opposed), while 45 percent support the repeal effort (with 35 percent strongly in favor).

behind the scenes: signing the repeal of dadt