The Trump presidency is in a hole

[piezoe]

Gotcha, Scalia, 2nd, as far as bankruptcy, all drivers must carry liability but not comprehensive. I have long been in favor of means tested gov/tax paid for catastrophic insurance in lieu of medical bankruptcy. And also higher qualification levels for medicaid. But I'm not in favor of fixing ACA or introducing anything new until they first fix Medicare. When you can show me that Medicare is a first rate system, better than Canada, completely solvent for eternity, then I will consider Medicare for all. As far as Trumps hole, he should give Americans a true choice, don't touch ACA benefits, keep the subsidies in place at current levels, and eliminate all restrictions on private insurance. It aint the whole enchilada, but it would insure a clean transition with no affect on the people who are poor until they start working like normal people.

As long as the means test is set very high so that it only allows the upper say 0.1% of the wealth distribution to opt out, i see no practical problem, though I'm philosophically strongly opposed. But you do realize two things, don't you? 1) there is no capitalist, free market solution to the healthcare problem, because medical pricing is inelastic, and 2) To get the maximum benefits from risk sharing, the risk pool has to be as large as possible. These are the reasons why these lovely sounding, so-called, free market plans can never succeed, other than for a small subset of the population.

For example, putting all the young and healthy in one pool, all the sick and dying in another, the poor in another still, and everyone in between in still another. Is a bad idea. If you do that in a capitalist economy, guess which pool the insurance industry will end up with? That's right! Good guess! The pools will be divvied up so the insurance industry takes on the lowest risk, and the government the highest. Everyone gets screwed except those that suckle at the insurance industry teats. This arrangement is the perfect plan if the goal is to maximize price. All the other free market economies in the world have long since figured this out and done something about it. That's why their costs are fifty percent or more lower than ours for a better result! And that's why medical expenses are the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in the United States!

 

[Tsing Tao]

Without reading the last 6 pages and just commenting on the OP, I have to concede I'm summarily unimpressed with the Trump Presidency thus far. Granted, it's only been two months and granted, the other side of the aisle (and half of this side of the aisle) is as hostile as can possibly be, with them doing everything in their power to thwart and distract Trump at every possible opportunity. But haven't seen anything spectacular yet. I guess that is to be expected from the establishment and the deep state.

If he gets Gorsuch approved, that'll be a huge win. Not sure how they can mess THAT up.

 

[Tom B]

As long as the means test is set very high so that it only allows the upper say 0.1% of the wealth distribution to opt out, i see no practical problem, though I'm philosophically strongly opposed. But you do realize two things, don't you? 1) there is no capitalist, free market solution to the healthcare problem, because medical pricing is inelastic, and 2) To get the maximum benefits from risk sharing, the risk pool has to be as large as possible. These are the reasons why these lovely sounding, so-called, free market plans can never succeed, other than for a small subset of the population.

For example, putting all the young and healthy in one pool, all the sick and dying in another, the poor in another still, and everyone in between in still another. Is a bad idea. If you do that in a capitalist economy, guess which pool the insurance industry will end up with? That's right! Good guess! The pools will be divvied up so the insurance industry takes on the lowest risk, and the government the highest. Everyone gets screwed except those that suckle at the insurance industry teats. This arrangement is the perfect plan if the goal is to maximize price. All the other free market economies in the world have long since figured this out and done something about it. That's why their costs are fifty percent or more lower than ours for a better result! And that's why medical expenses are the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in the United States!

Medical prices are elastic.

 

[RedDuke]

Without reading the last 6 pages and just commenting on the OP, I have to concede I'm summarily unimpressed with the Trump Presidency thus far. Granted, it's only been two months and granted, the other side of the aisle (and half of this side of the aisle) is as hostile as can possibly be, with them doing everything in their power to thwart and distract Trump at every possible opportunity. But haven't seen anything spectacular yet. I guess that is to be expected from the establishment and the deep state.

If he gets Gorsuch approved, that'll be a huge win. Not sure how they can mess THAT up.

They will not and Gorsuch all but guaranteed now to be on supreme court. However, just like 2013 and now 2017 removing filibuster is a horrible idea. Senate was indented to be different from the house by founding fathers where simple majority rules, but it will not be anymore. Just like Democrats crying now, so will GOP few years down the line.

 

[Tsing Tao]

They will not and Gorsuch all but guaranteed now to be on supreme court. However, just like 2013 and now 2017 removing filibuster is a horrible idea. Senate was indented to be different from the house by founding fathers where simple majority rules, but it will not be anymore. Just like Democrats crying now, so will GOP few years down the line.

Probably. But if Trump gets Gorsuch and maybe one other into the SC, at least that gets done. That's a big win on it's own.

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

Without reading the last 6 pages and just commenting on the OP, I have to concede I'm summarily unimpressed with the Trump Presidency thus far. Granted, it's only been two months and granted, the other side of the aisle (and half of this side of the aisle) is as hostile as can possibly be, with them doing everything in their power to thwart and distract Trump at every possible opportunity. But haven't seen anything spectacular yet. I guess that is to be expected from the establishment and the deep state.

If he gets Gorsuch approved, that'll be a huge win. Not sure how they can mess THAT up.

I kind of agree. Trump has suffered some unforced errors. At the same time, I don't believe any president has faced the hostility and outright sabotage he has from day one.

Merely stopping the Obama agenda is a huge positive. ICE is now free to do its job, the war on coal country has stopped and we probably can avoid war with Russia.

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

I don't mean like anecdotes. I mean ridiculous stuff like Papa Doc, or whomever, owns the NY Times. Who owns the Times is not something open to "alternative facts".

Carlos Slim is the largest public shareholder of the NYTimes. He previously bailed then out with a large loan when they faced ruin.

 

[RedDuke]

......At the same time, I don't believe any president has faced the hostility and outright sabotage he has from day one.....

Are you serious ??? Obama was hated just as much by the right if not more.

 

[piezoe]

Carlos Slim is the largest public shareholder of the NYTimes. He previously bailed then out with a large loan when they faced ruin.

The loan was paid off. The Times does not owe him anything. He doesn't own it, he doesn't control it. Get a grip. He picked up a few shares by exercising some warrants. His shares are a different class than the owners. It's been family owned since the 19th century. In fact I think its actually owned by a family trust or foundation. It is not for sale, probably never will be in our lifetimes. You need to stop reading Breitbart or Alex Jones, or whatever it is you read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/opinion/nocera-how-punch-protected-the-times.html

 

[piezoe]

has faced the hostility and outright sabotage he has from day one.

That's to be expected when you go around grabbing pussies of people you hardly know. It is not uncommon for asshole liars to end up sabotaging themselves. How can you guys support someone that lies continuously to you. When are you going to stand up for yourselves and say enough is enough, stop lying to me, stop playing me for a fool?