tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post7852145976141588685..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: A Good Measure of Where We Are? Judd Gregg's "To-Be-Sure"Jonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-5083287823593256362013-09-23T21:53:44.835-05:002013-09-23T21:53:44.835-05:00When Paul Krugman, the Patron Saint of the Virtue ...When Paul Krugman, the Patron Saint of the Virtue of Stimulus in a High Debt Environment, notes that the US will very soon have to come to terms with its broken income statement, in particular the cost of health care, indeed elderly health care, <i>it must be so</i>. We've all been around the block a few times; we know how this is going to go down: no one's gonna deny Grandma her meds, instead provider reimbursements will be continuously squeezed, causing more of them to exit and surely forcing Grandma to see some stranger willing to take the govt's low-ball reimbursements.<br /><br />Which, interestingly, is exactly the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/health/lower-health-insurance-premiums-to-come-at-cost-of-fewer-choices.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow">conclusion</a> reached by the Grey Liberal Lady wrt low premia in the Obamacare exchanges. The larger point here is that there are inevitable, unpleasant changes to the US health care system soon to arise due to long-term structural budget unsustainability. Neither party wants to get anywhere near owning those unpleasantries. In their Obamacare pride, it appears that liberals may have signed up for ownership of some of them without realizing it.<br /><br />Jonathan, you have suggested several times that the seamlessness of the Obamacare transition will cause the legislation, as a cultural phenomenon, to disappear in relatively short order. Hm. I'd take that bet!<br />CSHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-732770064486245722013-09-23T16:27:23.603-05:002013-09-23T16:27:23.603-05:00Yo, faith-based thinking here... if you really bel...Yo, faith-based thinking here... if you really believe, then it doesn't matter how many facts the other side has.<br /><br />In evangelical Christianity, they believe that this is how their spiritual leaders faced the lions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-66286580368326318222013-09-23T15:38:23.446-05:002013-09-23T15:38:23.446-05:00(whoops, I meant to have my post be in reply to Ka...(whoops, I meant to have my post be in reply to Kal)SNFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-2459587647779445372013-09-23T15:37:40.001-05:002013-09-23T15:37:40.001-05:00The reason for that is that I think there are two ...The reason for that is that I think there are two different groups among Republicans and Republican-aligned groups.<br /><br />When Obamacare was first being proposed, several groups said that it would destroy civilization as we know it (etc etc), but they didn't mean it. It was all hyperbole. They wanted to prevent it from getting passed, and after that they wanted to use sensible channels for repeal (eg. a possible Romney presidency), but that didn't work.<br /><br />The problem is that the conservative base never got the memo that it was all hyperbole. They actually think this is the end of America. That's why they're so extreme.<br /><br />And that's why no argument can persuade the Tea Party Republicans. If you argue that it's bad politically, they'll disagree because letting the apocalypse happen just so you can be popular would be shameful. If you tell them that shutting down the government is bad for the economy, or that defaulting on our debt could cause the entire world economy to collapse, they'll say that Obamacare is ALREADY going to cause civilization to collapse.SNFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-83847626868996650662013-09-23T13:57:33.274-05:002013-09-23T13:57:33.274-05:00What we need is a third paragraph, that, unlike th...What we need is a third paragraph, that, unlike the hidebound Democratic Paragraph that mindlessly wants to keep the government open and the crazy Republican Paragraph that mindlessly wants to shut it down, provides a place where reasonable people of good will can come together in a healthy spirit of comity and bonhomie and reach the commonsense compromises the American people are clamoring for. Geoff Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17117921607237662932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-64722872795447724972013-09-23T13:54:00.926-05:002013-09-23T13:54:00.926-05:00There's something a bit off about Republicans ...There's something a bit off about Republicans saying both "Obamacare will turn the United States into a hellish socialist nightmare where liberals feast on your children's entrails" and "Ted Cruz is barking up the wrong tree to get Obamacare defunded. We can't do anything until January 2017!"<br /><br />If Obamacare really means the end of life as we know it, then there is no response that is too extreme. Kalhttps://twitter.com/kalbelgarionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-56768031457353224222013-09-23T13:03:38.925-05:002013-09-23T13:03:38.925-05:00I think the Republicans are even further away from...I think the Republicans are even further away from being a healthy paragraph than they are from being a healthy party!Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-54832036933818001812013-09-23T12:24:46.896-05:002013-09-23T12:24:46.896-05:00I'm not sure how much breathing room they'...I'm not sure how much breathing room they're going to get by tying the showdown to the debt ceiling.Scott Monjenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-34410056095508934202013-09-23T12:16:51.944-05:002013-09-23T12:16:51.944-05:00"Neither he nor his party colleagues are abou..."Neither he nor his party colleagues are about to repeal the signature effort of his presidency."<br /><br />... until next year!<br /><br />I'd tie Gregg's tactics here to those of Boehner, not wanting to play a game they cannot win. The difference is that while Boehner was trying to get Republicans to bypass the CR for the debt ceiling, Gregg is trying to get Republicans to bypass the debt ceiling for next year's budget.<br /><br />Neither one is trying to push Tea Partiers back on the path to healthy governing; they're just trying to grab breathing room until Nov 2014.Aaron Morrownoreply@blogger.com