Guest Post by Scott Adams
Senator McCain cast the deciding vote to kill the “skinny” version of a proposed health care bill. Notice how he explains it as a failure of process, not a problem with the bill itself:
“I’ve stated time and time again that one of the major failures of Obamacare was that it was rammed through Congress by Democrats on a strict-party line basis without a single Republican vote. We should not make the mistakes of the past that has led to Obamacare’s collapse, including in my home state of Arizona where premiums are skyrocketing and health care providers are fleeing the marketplace. We must now return to the correct way of legislating and send the bill back to committee, hold hearings, receive input from both sides of aisle, heed the recommendations of nation’s governors, and produce a bill that finally delivers affordable health care for the American people. We must do the hard work our citizens expect of us and deserve.”
Love him or hate him, McCain did what heroes do. He took a bullet to prevent Congress from ignoring the wishes of half the country. Now we have a chance to do it right. Let in some new voices. Consider some new options. Make it a team effort.
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My optimism for a good health care outcome just hit its peak. Had they passed a bill, it would have limited their options for improvement to the stale ideas we’ve already heard. Now, for the first time, the public and perhaps Democrats can contribute some ideas and broaden the options.
Today is a very good day disguised as a bad one. If you think in terms of goals, Congress failed to pass a bill last night. But if you think in terms of systems, our options for solving health care just went from limited to plenty. We’re in the best position yet.
Did you wonder why President Trump seemed somewhat hands-off on health care? I think it’s because his strongest play as a negotiator involved waiting until Congress utterly and completely failed. That almost didn’t happen last night. It took a war hero to finish the job.
Now it’s our turn to come up with better ideas, or to support better ideas wherever we see them. And if we are smart, we will insist on testing some ideas in limited ways, such as Special Health Care Zones in some states, and that sort of thing.
And we should be focused on innovation and technology to lower health care costs. There isn’t any other path forward.
Is this a joke? The ONLY good idea for government and health (sick) care is to GTFO of it entirely, the very first step of that is to END the Ovomitcare extortion. Put the price fixers and collaborators in jail. Anything less is BS.
Does GTFO include not subsidizing employer based health insurance too?
Oh Scott, you are a rascal! McCain the war hero-that’s a good one! Like a hemorrhoid I’d have cut off my ass for guarding the rectal palace. Then praise it’s loyalty, fidelity and the wonderful job it’s done for so many years. You’re probably right regarding Trump. That I’ll give you. I appreciate the giggles you offer.
Scott, just a couple of house cleaning items:
“It took a war hero…”…………..great comedy on your part.
“Now, for the first time, the public and perhaps Democrats can contribute…”………nothing stopped the Democrats from contributing except for Schumer and his leadership of the Party of NO.
However, I am also glad the Rep. attempts failed; we do need a bill that supports the citizens and not the corporate masters.
Is Schumer bringing Gruber to ‘contribute’.
Sometimes I wonder if Scott is our token Liberal scribe.
Health Care Zones? Affirmative Action Health Care Zones like Engineered Democrat Voting Districts? That will be an improvement? Was McStain really saving us from a bad bill (oxymoron) or was he the last RINO giving Trump Republicans the deciding knife and a twist? Let the Democrat’s Obamacare live or die on it’s own; but have a Republican bill ready that considers taxpayers (instead of only the insurance companies and hospital’s expenses caused by mandatory socialist laws imposed on them). We need to have first class treatments for people that might recover and be productive again but stop wasting billions on Welfare (Medicare/Medicaid) Terminal Cases (which hospitals love because they fill their beds and pockets). Non-paying Terminal Cases should be treated humanely at Out Patient Facilities. This is not Nazi thinking, or European Death Panels; it is common sense. Anyone who has the means can spend it all on treatments but those without means have no Right to shift the costs to taxpayers most of whom can’t even afford the costs of their own 1.5 kids. Cut all the Liberalism-Commuism and Health Insurance Policies would become affordable again for most taxpayers and their employers.
last time i read adam’s column w/o reading the comments 1st-lots of good comments i’ll go back & read it,otherwise i’ll delete it–
didn’t i read in one of the posts on here that mccain agreed to vote for it after ryan made concessions to him about what would happen to it after it went back to the house,so mccain made himself a liar if that is true–
Tampa.
Way back you mentioned $10. aspirins. Well I knew that happened but yesterday I got the bill from the ambulance co.. $80. for 4 baby aspirin. It must be because they had to be handed to the guy who gave them to me by his ASSistant who also had to open the jar they were it. Since anyone of 40 know that childproof jars are difficult to open I am assuming he had to go to training to get certified to open them, Hence the extra cost.
I assure you I was not trying to break your world record for aspirin, those darn heart attacks just have a way of happening before I go to the hospital instead of when I’m there getting tested. Be of good cheer though, It only cost you and the other working stiffs $1,100 to take me 3 miles after traveling 2 blocks from the fire house. I pay the last $200.
There can never be true price discovery for a service or product that your life depends upon.
a few weeks ago my mom & sister were in a fender bender and my sister insisted on getting checked out at the emer rm,they drove themselves,no ambulance.
Haven’t seen mom’s bill but sister’s is over $17,000.
For no injuries,just tests.
Red.
Holy tomolie, that’s a lot of moolah for getting her hand held.
Oh Scott, how did we not realize that if only we were nicer to Schumer and the other Democrats that they would be nicer back! They would rush to cancel Obamacare’s $420 Billion cut in Medicare that destroyed millions of plans known as Medicare Advantage policies for low income old people – I had one of those. Cancelled! Gone! The new much scaled down cr-p plans: 300 percent premium increase! Oh Scott, maybe the Democrats would stop forcing my 62 year old pal with colon cancer to lose his insurance – yes, Cancelled Scott! Oh Scott, maybe the Democrats will stop Regence Blue Shield from cancelling my neighbor’s $800 per month, $10,000 annual deductible insurance plan! (They just send her a nice letter cancelling her insurance. And Scott, that means that if She had brain cancer right now, her deductible for insurance coverage from right now until she finished treatment in the new year would be $20,000 in cash Up Front!) But, hey, she is only a police captain’s widow and – oh horrors! – she is an old white lady, too. Probably a racist and a bigot then. Oh Scott, would this mean that my Senator – the genius Patty Murray – would give back all that money she hauled in from big pharma? They got their money’s worth, too! Clever Patty stopped all imports of drugs by the little people like me from dastardly third world foreign countries like Canada, Scott!
And Scott! Congratulations for your incredible powers of discernment re the great Sen. McCain, who never saw a country he didn’t want to bomb and who is, shall we say, completely overcome by hatred, jealousy and envy of POTUS and who will do anything to hurt him, including making certain my widowed neighbor will no longer have any health insurance at all.
Finally, Scott! Until today, I respected you. I thought you were a pretty bright guy. And I will not even go into the disagreements of many regarding McCain’s Vietnam war activities. So sure, OK, let’s go ahead and call him a hero. I don’t care, Scott! However, it is not OK for McCain or anyone else to help in the continued destruction of health insurance and health care for millions of Americans who are only trying to work hard and play by the rules that McCain and others like him do not play by and are not affected by.
So Scott, get a dratted grip and do your homework before you ask us to support more cluckfustering of us out here in Forgotten Land by the Democrats and the traitors that are helping them.
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How did we ever survive the 40″s to 60’s when a doctors visit was 5 bucks. Sure it was a lot to us but we found it when we had to. Mom used to tell the story of how her and dad took me to a country Dr. at 3 months old and he said they had to take me to the hospital. Dad said he only had 20 bucks till Friday so the doctor pulled out another 20 and gave it to him and said if its more tell them he would cover it.
We were poor shanty Irish and yet we got buy. Today we would probably qualify for a zillion dollars of stuff taken from you guys. My parents wouldn’t have done it, just sayin.
Wake me up when I can get some relief from these suffocating premiums.
I used to like Dilbert. Now that I have gotten to know it’s creator, I like it a lot less.
I read Dilbert no more.
The premise offered by the normally clever Mr. Adams remains that the solution can be found in better central planning. If we could only get the central planners to cooperate, put aside partisan bickering and devote all their considerable brain power to crafting a “solution”, everything would be just fine.
This of course is complete bullshit. No group of 535 oligarchs, bought and paid for by corporate lobbyists, is going to solve this problem in the best interests of Americans. To paraphrase George Carlin, when you hear the word “bipartisan”, you can be assured that an unusually large deception is in the works.
I propose the opposite of central planning. Leave us all alone to find a solution. As I’ve said here before, the average cable bill in the US is $90/month, the average cell phone bill is $105/month, Netflix is booming, the market for weed and drugs is enormous and over 16 million cars were sold in the US last year, but we’re supposed to believe that nobody could afford health care insurance before Obamacare. This is complete bullshit.
I’m happy to recognize and subsidize those whom the market truly fails. But let’s allow the market to function first.
What health care do you get from an insurance company?
First get rid of the infinite supply of money which creates an infinite demand for costs.
Here is how : minimum co-pay of 10% this year, 15% next, 20% in 2 years, etc.
Yes, supply & demand can & do work for money as well as goods, medical costs same as as we see in college costs.
The only way to get a handle on “heath care” is 2 fold, 1. Each person must take responsibility for their lifestyle and circumstances of wayward living and realize their choices amy cost them in the end, 2. You’re gonna have to ration one way or another. There are only so many dollars to spend and someone will have to decide who gets what and it won’t be pretty. John
I won’t bother proposing my plan again.
Does it involve central planning and monolithic power structures functioning at perfect efficiency levels?
All supported by tax dollars, extracted by goons with badges and guns?
If so, then you’re right, don’t bother proposing your plan again. And GTFO.
Most voters don’t care who else pays for their Welfare or about the growing Back Hole of Public Debt; that’s why communism always gets voted in. Then when it starts failing, they blame someone else and demand another generous free helping of everything and a free circus. When the money and free shit really is all gone, they want blood: that is really the Fourth Turning.
All of these healthcare companies are monopolies and are exempt from the law. Change the law and prices will drop 90%, so you won’t need “insurance”.
Of course our weasels in CON-gress will never do that since it’s a major source of campaign and black funds.
CON-gress is an AUCTION, no more, no less .
they are NOT exempt from the law, the anti-trust and consumer protection laws are merely not applied to them
Dilbert says “We should be focused on innovation and technology to lower health care costs. There isn’t any other path forward.” Spoken like a true elitist snob with a silver spoon up his keister.
Many of us in Az have given up on health insurance so as to have money for real health care. What would lower costs are many of the things Denninger talks about. Upfront pricing, Ricco enforcement against insurance and drug companies, and no free care for ILLEGALS.
“Perhaps democrats can contribute some ideas and broaden the options.” That’s a good one, lets let the people who broke it fix it and steal even more. Full repeal would have been the way forward. Alas someone who thinks McStain is some kind of hero probably needs his head examined to begin with. I never liked your comics, many people however say your good at that. You should stick to comics as your analytical abilities suck.