caulfield12

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 8, 2017 -> 06:26 PM) Can somebody explain how this plan would drop 15M Americans? I thought anybody who signs on to Medicaid through 2020 gets grabdfathered forever or until they leave the program. Where's the drop Part of it's all the people (think those in their 20's not covered by parents, and those 45-64 who can no longer afford the much higher premiums that will increase another 25-75% for some of them) no longer paying for coverage, which obviously increases the number of truly sick in the risk pools and therefore creates another spiral of increasing prices for everyone with insurance. Remember, only 10% of those with health insurance are soaking up nearly 2/3rd's of all the expenses in the health care industry. The other large group is all those who are going to be cut out over time because they're in the bottom 20% (mostly low wage earners, some unemployed) who are going to see their costs increase from let's say $50 per month to $150-250. Over time, as the Federal monies allocated to the states dry up and state budgets continue to be pushed to the limits, you're going to see a large amount of poor people dropping out as well because the monthly cost is not worth it (cost/benefit analysis). They probably feel they will just go to the emergency room and get taken care of, or they will pay for a policy again when they really need it, but carrying increased monthly premiums won't work with limited incomes.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 6, 2017 -> 01:59 PM) Fran has legitimately built up this program from the Lickliter stuff. I was dissapointed how the last couple years Hawkeye teams struggled down the stretch, but to be where we are at with this years club is definitely shocking. So many freshman/sophomores contributing and they are all guys who I would suspect will be here the next couple of years. If Fran's son is a stud, that will be a huge boost to an already good/building nucleus. Hopefully Iowa shocks us and gets into the tourney and then next year continues to take steps forward. Uhl definitely took a step backwards, but he's more of a "glue/intangibles" guy anyway. Has really struggled with his confidence in terms of shooting. A month ago, it felt like you were going to lose a number of players to transfer. There were rumors that Wagner and/or Moss were unhappy. It's very hard with those two, along with Tyler Cook and Pemsl and now Kreiner to get everyone enough playing time across three positions. Four of those guys have led the team offensively for stretches with Peter Jok hurting and Bohannon cold from the outside. Courtney Williams will likely be gone, but that's probably addition by subtraction. They definitely need a "creator" at point guard (think Tyler Ulis, who they finished second to Kentucky on), which would allow Bohannon to freelance a bit offensively and to design more plays to free him up on the perimeter. Of course, Bohannon's not a typical two guard in terms of size. As far as needing to beat Wisconsin twice in two weeks...it just depends how the other conference tournaments go, and the various bubble teams. Illinois and Iowa look to be in similar positions, with Iowa rising and Illinois falling due to Rutgers. The one thing that really hurts Iowa is those two losses to Illinois, along with Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha.

The young/healthy are better off...but they're all going to sit on the sidelines and wait until they get sick.

Looking forward to seeing Tilson, Hayes and Delmonico get their opportunities to hit this year. Would be quite fortunate to get one regular from that trio.

Republicans are now paying the price for a years-long campaign of Obamacare lies http://www.vox.com/2017/3/8/14843762/ahca-...-lies-obamacare http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/cart...andowski-235784 Trump campaign approved foreign policy advisor Carter Page's trip to Russia in July, 2016... Hearings to begin March 20th on the Russia issue.

CIA spying accusations will surely provide some additional cover to Trump, or, at the very least, muddy the waters even more. Not coincidentally, all this (leaked documents) is coming from Assange/Wikileaks again...trying to take the focus away from Russia, Sessions, healthcare and the "Obama is bad (or sick) guy" for wiretapping Trump Tower set of storylines?

To help avoid this political liability, the Republican plan calls on insurance companies to continue covering and offering coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions. This, despite the fact that the sickest 10 percent of Americans account for a whopping 66 percent of the nation's health care spending. Back to the drawing board, take your time & get it right. We've been waiting since Hillary Clinton and Ira Magaziner in 1994 for a legitimate/innovative Republican plan. Did all the good ideas and original thinking go out the door with Jack Kemp?

As an Iowan, could someone please prevent Grassley and King from opening their mouths, lol. Embarrassing. https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-representati...-174638632.html “We are talking about the emergence of a deep state led by Barack Obama, and that is something that we should prevent,” King told the Times. “The person who understands this best is Steve Bannon, and I would think that he’s advocating to make some moves to fix it.” The term “deep state,” which is relatively new to American politics, has been used to describe a permanent military, intelligence and law-enforcement bureaucracy manipulating government policies in secret. King added that Trump “needs to purge the leftists within the administration that are holdovers from the Obama administration, because it appears that they are undermining his administration and his chances of success.” King’s remarks echoed a previous statement made on his Twitter account, where he wrote the president “needs to purge Leftists from executive branch before disloyal, illegal & treasonist [sic] acts sink us.”

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 02:51 PM) Reminder: iPhone-Shamer Jason Chaffetz Has His Healthcare Subsidized by Taxpayers Chaffetz also told Camerota that FBI Director James Comey has not responded to his attempts to discuss President Donald Trump's unverified allegation that former President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower phones. Chaffetz said lawmakers plan to investigate Trump's claims and that his attempts to reach Comey have been unsuccessful. How Congress responded to Trump's request to investigate the Obama administration. "I texted him," Chaffetz said. "I said, 'Please call me, if you can.'" But Comey did not return Chaffetz's call. "No response," he told Camerota. "But that's not atypical." www.cnn.com

http://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/3/7/1...iums-cost-price Average premium will rise $1542 in the first year, and continue increasing as 2020 hits to $2409. In general, the impact of the Republican bill would be particularly severe for older individuals, ages 55 to 64. Their costs would increase by $5,269 if the bill went into effect today and by $6,971 in 2020. Individuals with income below 250 percent of the federal poverty line would see their costs increase by $2,945 today and by $4,061 in 2020. Older and poor people would be particularly hard hit. That's the political third rail, because of their voting rates and many being on fixed incomes (due to forced early retirement/jobs being outsourced/physical health problems) without many cost of living adjustments in recent years. https://www.yahoo.com/news/house-gop-health...--politics.html With $600 billion in tax cuts for the rich, how can this meet the "go/no go" criteria of not increasing the deficit ten years down the line?

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 11:33 AM) It's the catch-22 of a healthcare system that relies on private, for-profit, insurance. If you don't penalize people for not buying healthcare, then people won't buy it until they need it. For-profit insurance relies on premiums from those who are healthy (or in the automobile industry don't get into accidents) in order to pay out the claims for the sick. It's the whole reason that the ACA required people to have coverage in the first place. What's most striking is how derivative and unimaginative the whole thing is with 7-8 years to study the weaknesses of ACA. That's the best they can come up with? Gutting Medicaid and disadvantaging everyone over 60 that's not rich (fixed income population)? No wonder everyone is losing faith in government. Bannon is getting his way, and so is Ryan. Hope they can deal with protests and primary challenges the next two election cycles. That's their new reality. When the GOP starts pointing to the success of anything Scott Walker has done in WI, look out.

Whether it's a floor or ceiling set way too low, it won't work...because the costs will outpace that 30% and you'll end up with everyone gaming the system. Run the risk of not paying when you're young/healthy, which inherently increases the risk pools for everyone else (driving up their premiums to compensate for lost revenues from all those previously paying but not utilizing it who are no longer in the pools)...then try to max out all the benefits you possibly can when sick. End result, for profit insurers will bail on that system eventually as well. Not to mention the emergency rooms will be overrun again by those without any insurance. That's leaving out the moral dimension and even more expensive consequences of taking the insurance away from 10-20 million people and simultaneously reneging on all your campaign promises to help the middle class, providing a better quality of care at a lower price. Yeah, sure.

Not only that, but criticizing Obama and his ex staff for being too political after the election by engaging back and forth with Trump through the media. Baiting. Works consistently with the GOP base, and feeds the conspiracy theory that his admin is being sabotaged by nefarious external forces and protesters/rioters who don't want to give him the opportunity to be the next transformative president like FDR or Reagan. Don't engage and defend, Trump will keep crowing about Obama being guilty and silence speaking volumes, etc.

Monday, the bill was released without any Congressional Budget Office score, a sign that Republicans may be worried about the fallout once Americans understand how many people could be affected by changes in coverage. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/politics/rep...plan/index.html Republicans unveil new healthcare plan American Health Care Act...how long until TrumpCare becomes the brand? DumpYourCare? DumpedCare? You'veBeenTrumpedCare? http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/06/news/econo...bill/index.html But the Republican bill would go beyond just eliminating Medicaid expansion. It would overhaul the whole program, which covers more than 70 million people, by sending states a fixed amount of money per enrollee, known as a per-capita cap. This would limit federal responsibility, shifting that burden to the states. However, since states don't have the money to make up the difference, they would likely either reduce eligibility, curtail benefits or cut provider payments. All this could hurt not only poor adults, but also low-income children, women, senior citizens and the disabled. The legislation also would eliminate the subsidies that reduce deductibles and co-pays for moderate-income policyholders on the individual market. And the tax credits it would provide would not go as far Obamacare's subsidies. Folks making $20,000 a year take the biggest hit at any age under the GOP plan, a recent Kaiser study found. A 27-year-old would get only $2,000, instead of $3,225 under Obamacare, on average, while a 40-year-old would get $3,000 versus nearly $4,150. However, the biggest loser would be a 60-year-old, who would receive only $4,000, instead of nearly $9,900 under Obamacare. Older Americans could have to pay more. Enrollees in their 50s and early 60s benefited from Obamacare because insurers could only charge them three times more than younger policy holders. The bill would widen that band to five-to-one. The winners? The healthy (who would have more flexible/lower-cost packages), young people, the insurance industry and the rich. Of course, only the first two groups are going to be "politically" popular, and one would guess the majority of Trump voters in the Rust Belt/Midwest aren't exactly setting any health/fitness records, and most of them are in their late 30's through early 60's, so not young, either. So the irony is that two main groups to benefit from the proposal are basically Sanders supporters living on the two coasts, where people in general tend to be healthier than the Midwest and Deep South. This response to the article made me laugh...at least the writer made his point Here's the thing. Regardless of the changes that Republicans say are coming, there will still ne NO affordable options for lower and middle class working people. They will have to go back to using emergency rooms, just like they did before. This will force up costs which will be passed on to people paying premiums, which will go up. Healthcare in America is FOR PROFIT. As long as it remains FOR PROFIT, policies will never be affordable. Should I repeat that? Healthcare in America is FOR PROFIT. As long as it remains FOR PROFIT, policies will never be affordable. Obama wanted NOT FOR PROFIT insurance, i.e. Medicare for all, but Big Insurance and their Republican supporters in Congress would have no part of that (they even worked hard to kill the public option compromise which would have lowered premiums but cut into their almighty profits), so Obama settled for a few small changes like pre-existing conditions and covering the poor. The so-called ACA was never affordable, but not because of Obama, rather because it remained FOR PROFIT, as Big Insurance and the Republicans wanted. Republicans then turned around and absurdly called the ACA "Obamacare" to blame HIM for their FOR PROFIT act, which is not what Obama ever wanted. And now, once again, the exact same thing will happen. They have crafted another FOR PROFIT insurance act, with a different name, and they are telling you that you will have affordable choices (which you won't). So, one more time .... Healthcare in America is FOR PROFIT. As long as it remains FOR PROFIT, policies will never be affordable. Really people, put your politics aside and try to grasp. Another... Funny. Waiting to see how some articles address this. Most important piece for me is, replace the individual mandate, in which the penalty was money going to the GOVERNMENT to subsidize others paying insurance (redistribution) with a GOVERNMENT REGULATION that allows a PRIVATE, FOR PROFIT, BUSINESS to charge you 30% more; so the penalty now goes to a PRIVATE, FOR PROFIT BUSINESS, which will not be used to subsidize or lower insurance costs for others. Cannot make this stuff up. Finally, no mandate and tax credits based on age not income? How is this not going to end up costing more and covering less people?

Ben Carson perhaps not on the same wavelength on travel ban? http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/politics/ben...very/index.html Washington (CNN)Ben Carson appeared to liken slaves to immigrants who choose to come to the United States while addressing employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development Monday. Carson, who was confirmed to lead the department earlier this month, heralded the work ethic of immigrants before implying slaves who came to the United States worked harder than others. "There were other immigrants who came in the bottom of slave ships, who worked even longer, even harder, for less, but they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land," said Carson, who is black. "And do you know of all the nations in the world, this one, the United States of America, is the only one big enough and great enough to allow all those people to realize their dream. And this is our opportunity to enhance that dream," he added. Earlier in the remarks, Carson said: "That's what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity." HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan attempted to clarify Carson's statement, saying, "Nobody here believes he was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trum...te-house-235703 Knives out for Priebus.

Russian mystery threatens to consume Washington http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/05/politics/don...gton/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/politics/tru...x.html?adkey=bn 65% want a special prosecutor appointed, while only 32% believe Congress can handle it correctly Amazingly, through all this, Trump's popularity rating ticked up 1 point, from 44% to 45%. I'm going to assume those numbers were all compiled before the Obama is a bad or sick guy story controversy broke on Twitter.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 5, 2017 -> 09:49 PM) Chaffetz string arming the Hillary news seems more and more likely. He's busier with bringing down Obama, lol... Jason Chaffetz‏Verified account @jasoninthehouse 10h10 hours ago DHS hearing: Obama Admin gave 9,500 visas to potential terrorists, 12/2015 https://youtu.be/WWq6MhBNFMw @realDonaldTrump is fixing this

The timing is going to be terrible on this new immigration ban. The only changes are excluding Iraq and also not blocking green card holders. As someone mentioned, Wag the Dog comes to mind...although the problem is that the new immigration ban and then the ACA Repeal (probably Wednesday) vote are going to stir up even more controversy, instead of diminishing the scrutiny. Nobody in the Senate or from the Democratic Party has even seen the repeal bill...and it hasn't been scored by the CBO, and it probably won't be at the time of the vote. So how do you have 7-8 years now to offer a better version of health care and then turn around and jam it through a straight party line vote, knowing that the CBO's headline will be the loss in budgetary revenues due to the tax credit and especially the millions who won't be able to receive Medicaid with new state caps in place. Unless the bill asserts that competing across state lines and Trump personally controlling drug costs will do the trick, lol?

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/201...internet-214856 The Great Meme War (insightful article on how Trump dominated social media/4chan)

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/chicago...s-robert-030317 It's being reported Ynoa is close friends with him as well...might turn out to be the key to the Shark trade, haha.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-hotel-...-082354494.html Trump D.C. Hotel has raised rates to $500 per night...some suites were $18,000+ the weekend of the inauguration. Although Trump says he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of his businesses, he retains a financial interest in them. A stay at the hotel gives someone trying to win over Trump on a policy issue or political decision a potential chit. That's what concerns ethics lawyers who had wanted Trump to sell off his companies as previous presidents have done. "President Trump is in effect inviting people and companies and countries to channel money to him through the hotel," said Kathleen Clark, a former ethics lawyer for the District of Columbia and a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. She said the "pay to play" danger is even greater than it would be if people wanted to donate to a campaign to influence a politician's thinking. Spending money at a Trump property "is about personally enriching Donald Trump, who happens to be the president of the United States."

Singh said Puget Sound-area Sikh men in particular have reported a rise in verbal abuse and uncomfortable encounters recently, “a kind of prejudice, a kind of xenophobia that is nothing that we’ve seen in the recent past.” To Singh, the number of incidents targeting members of the religion, which has its roots in the Punjab region of South Asia, recalls the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. “But at that time, it felt like the [presidential] administration was actively working to allay those fears,” he said. “Now, it’s a very different dimension.” Sikh Coalition Interim Program Manager Rajdeep Singh, in calling for the hate crime investigation, said in a statement: “While we appreciate the efforts of state and local officials to respond to attacks like this, we need our national leaders to make hate crime prevention a top priority. Tone matters in our political discourse, because this a matter of life or death for millions of Americans who are worried about losing loved ones to hate.” Matt Day: 206-464-2420 or [email protected]. On Twitter @mattmday

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trum...bsession-235681 Trump just can't quit Obama If there was a wiretap, after all, Trump now has the authority as president to make it public. Matt Miller, a former Justice Department spokesman under Attorney General Eric Holder, tweeted, “By confirming it publicly, Trump has also pretty much guaranteed no one can be charged for leaking the existence of this FISA warrant. Oops!” As is usually the case, Trump’s supporters in the conservative media gave him all he seems to feel he needs. The Twitter fury that Trump greeted the world with Saturday morning appears to have wormed its way from conservative radio host Mark Levin to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s former Breitbart News website to the president pecking out on his phone, “Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Very quickly, he got an echo from a reliable source. “What did OBAMA know and when did he know it??” Hannity wrote on Twitter. Lindsey Graham and Sasse (both Republicans) calling for investigations into wiretapping allegations http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/03...response-nr.cnn

QUOTE (KagakuOtoko @ Mar 4, 2017 -> 07:14 PM) I can see it now. Minority gun sales have probably increased ten fold since the election. Just a matter of time before they start shooting this crazy white f***ers dead. Go back to your country? You first, motherf***er. Just let the Oklahoma State House start working with ICE, VOICE and DHS. TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma lawmaker who once likened Islam to cancer required Muslims to answer several written questions — including, "Do you beat your wife?" — before agreeing to meet with them. Republican state Rep. John Bennett's office distributed the questionnaire on Thursday as the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations organized its annual Muslim Day at the Capitol. The lawmaker's office gave the list of questions to three Islamic school students who came to his office and asked to speak with him. "(The prophet) Mohammed was a killer of pagans, Christians and Jews that did not agree with him," read one of 18 questions on the form. "Do you agree with his example?" The questions asked Muslims whether they would denounce terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and whether they believed former Muslims should be punished for leaving Islam. One question asked Muslims if they agreed that Islamic law, known as Sharia, should rule over non-Muslims. https://www.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-lawmake...--politics.html