Ms. Pelosi, Meet Mr. Gingrich

Nancy Pelosi, aka the Pelosiraptor, just finished her budget battle with President Bush. Ms Pelosi, with all due respect…you got your hide kicked.

Dubya slapped you around, lifted your skirt up, and branded a big old “W” on your hide. He let you know who was boss, and it was not you.

It is one thing to be the first person to do a job. It is quite another to look at history and ignore it. Nancy Pelosi must not be a student of history, because she only had to go back 12 years to see the seeds of her own demise.

In 1994, Newt Gingrich was a hero. He led the republicans to power after 40 years of democratic control. He then helped pass several planks in the Contract With America. He tried to reform medicare, which was a noble endeavor. Then the government shutdown happened. Newt Gingrich squared off against Bill Clinton. Clinton mopped the floor with Gingrich. How did this happen? Gingrich was rising, Clinton was sinking. What did Gingrich overlook?

Gingrich missed the key determinant in the battle. There is only one President of the United States.

Trying to take down a President is akin to the analogy of trying to kill a king or a bear. If you shoot the king and only wound him, he is coming at you with his entire army. The bear does not give a second shot.

The President has an army, ranging from hundreds of staffers, a media that, while hostile, must cover him, and a leadership role that is unmatched. The President is the Commander in Chief, and the Chief diplomat.

Gingrich was a very strong speaker. Bill Clinton was a weak President. It did not matter, because it is not a fair fight. The playing field is not level. I could play Chess against Gary Kasparov, and even if he forfeited his queen before the game started, his skill level is so deep that he would defeat me anyway.

Gingrich overreached. The public was disgusted with Bill Clinton and the democrats, but this did not mean the entire country was in love with republicans.

Flashing forward to 2006, Nancy Pelosi never grasped that the public was angry at the republicans and George W. Bush. This did not mean they were embracing liberalism. The public was upset at the way the war was going, but they were totally open to staying, provided that they saw evidence it could be won. They were not angry that the war was still happening, but that it was not progressing.

Also, disagreement with the President did not mean people hated his guts. The public was fed up with republican sex scandals, and many conservatives were frustrated not that the President had swung too far to the right, but that he did not go far enough.

The Pelosiraptor had one other disadvantage compared to Mr. Gingrich. Mr. Gingrich had a plan many people disagreed with. Ms. Pelosi had no plan at all. Disgust with republicans won a midterm election, but it is difficult to actually govern when there is no uniting philosophy of those in the majority. Does anybody remember Nancy Pelosi advocating any policies during the campaign?

Nancy Pelosi should have learned from Newt Gingrich that America does not have a Parliamentary system of government. There is no Prime Minister. The Speaker of the House is not a head of state. They are the head of 535 lilliputians that each answer to maybe a few thousand people.

Nancy Pelosi put on a burkha and sipped tea with Bashar Assad. She simply looked like an imbecile, making statements about foreign policy that she had to disavow several minutes after the words were uttered.

When President Bush has a meeting with a world leader, it means something. He speaks for America. Nobody else has that power. Senators and House members do not. Not even ex-Presidents wield such influence. Presidential spouses certainly do not have as much gravitas. The Vice President and the Secretary of Defense can only convey so much.

Newt Gingrich overreached, and within four years of being Speaker, became a private citizen. The Pelosiraptor is well on her way to being a private citizen, which would be the best thing she could do for America.

Could she recover? Of course. Anything is possible. Unfortunately, political parties eat their own, and the democrats are cannibals. She had a chance to break the President, and she instead got broken. The temptation upon achieving power is to seek vengeance and punish the new minority, but this strategy backfires. The American public wants results. They are not democrats or republicans. They just want solutions and accomplishments. Nancy Pelosi did not deliver.

Ms. Pelosi, you got too big for your britches. You might want to step out of San Francisco and Washington, DC, and get to know Middle America. They eat red meat, want us to win the war, watch football, and like country music. You might want to learn who Toby Keith is, because while there are angry Americans out there, they are angry at terrorists, not the President.

Ms. Pelosi, George W. Bush is the President. You are not. Assuming you keep your job, show some respect next time. You went after the Dub, and he took your best shot, and remained alive and kicking. That is why a year later, you ended up with a Texas sized boot in your @ss.

eric

22 Responses to “Ms. Pelosi, Meet Mr. Gingrich”

  1. micky2 says:

    Its almost sad to watch this woman in action.
    Just before the vote she sounded like some clown from the WWF.

    “For a president already lacking in credibility, it is dangerous to issue veto threats based on press reports alone.”

    Then when Bush put her in her place she issues this pathetic statement as if she had something to be proud of.

    “Democrats “set a high water mark” on many bills, she said. “Where we have to come to is a different place,” thanks to the “political reality of not having a president of the United States. And nothing speaks more clearly to Democratic victories in the next election than when you see this is what is possible.”

    A high water mark ?
    Maybe her and the rest of these clowns ought to stop trying to flex this imaginary power they think have.
    In the beginning it was “six things in six months” That goal failed miserably.
    And shortly after that they earned the title of the worst congress ever with Bin Laden even having a higher approval rating.
    The icing on the cake that the lib media has been pretty successful in not telling anyone is that the SCHIP will be extended as the Republicans wrote it originally and not the “new and improved ” version the Dems wanted to shove down our throats.
    That’s the one where she paraded all those kids out on the floor and tried to use them to get us all to choked up about health insurance for kids. Not telling everyone that some of the recipients were 28 year old kids who made 65,000.00 a year might of had something to do with that.
    ==================================================================
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/democrats-cave-on-schip_b_77601.html

    The Democrats’ yearlong fight to boost federal spending on children’s health insurance ended with a whimper Tuesday.
    After coming up short in their efforts to enact a $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) — enduring two presidential vetoes along the way — congressional Democrats signed off on Republican demands to extend the program until 2009.
    Rather than expiring just before the presidential and congressional elections next year, SCHIP will keep running through March 2009 under the plan originally conceived by House Republicans and hashed out by the Senate Finance Committee and Senate leaders late Monday.
    ==================================================================

  2. Jersey McJones says:

    Congratulations GOP. You used a slim minority to block S-CHIP and in return you got a partial war-funding bill.

    How you guys see some kind of victory in all this is beyond me.

    JMJ

  3. micky2 says:

    Soldiers get money. (this is good)
    28 year olds making 65,000.00 a year wont get free health insurance. (this is good)

    That extra 35 billion was to cover all the intended illegitimate recipients the dems wanted to add to the policy.
    The bill still covers the kids Jersey.
    So lets not play the “cons dont care about kids card” It makes you all look stupid because it just simply makes you guys look bad when you pander to peoples emotions like Pelosi did when she marched all those sick kids out on the floor.
    That was disgusting.

  4. laree says:

    Eric,

    A little off topic but I just found my Jewish Master. Have you read this blog, very witty. I noticed that Michelle Malkin and Monica Crowley, is in my Master’s blog roll. Finally. someone is going to take responsiblity for me LOL.

    http://yourjewishmaster.blogspot.com/

  5. Jason says:

    Eric

    This is not a comment, but a request for content – since there is no “contact” link on your blog, I had no other choice but to try and reach you this way.

    Goat

    I wanted to tell you that I enjoy your blogs quite a bit. They are well thought out and skillfully written.

    I run a blog site as well, called http://www.i-hate-hillary.com After putting the site up for a few months as a test, we were a bit surprised by how much traffic we were able to get. That was the good news. The bad news was that as more people came, the demand grew for better content, and keeping the site updated and marketed was keeping me from having the time to write high-quality content (well, that, and a complete lack of political writing skill).

    So….after rethinking the strategy, I’ve decided that the best course of action was to look outside at some of the better, more qualified writers, and ask if I could use some of your content on our site? Although not all posts on your blog are relevant to our site, I’d like to ask permission to use the ones that seem to be a good fit. Of course, it would be under your name, and a link back to your own site would be provided as well.

    Please let me know your thoughts. I’d consider it an honor to feature your work on our site.

    Thanks

    Jason
    I-Hate-Hillary.com

  6. Jersey McJones says:

    $65k for a family of four in the NYC area is virtually poverty, Micky. My wife and I made a heck of a lot more than that, and we barely got by! Fortunately, she was a teacher and I was always smart enough to work for foreign companies that treat their employees with respect.

    JMJ

  7. micky2 says:

    Then you should just move there since they’re so great.
    If you cant afford to live in NY, move ! Yes, Manhattan and the immediate area is expensive. But you have no right living there if you cant afford insurance. Priorities my man, priorities.
    Besise. the bill says its for “CHILDREN ” What dont you understand about that Mr. McJones ?

    StateChildrens Healthcare Insurance Plan { SCHIP} O.K?

    Now you and the Dems just aren’t being truthful. Yes, health care for children is good, but you along with the rest of the Dems are being a bit deceitful here. SCHIPS isn’t only for children. It is a piecemeal attempt at a back door government provided health care system. If you are going to advocate for SCHIPS at least don’t lie and use children as your leverage.

    I mean, hell, look at it this way:
    Currently 14 states allow SCHIPS to be used for adults. Furthermore, here’s a real ugly breakdown of those 14 states:
    11 states cover parents, 6 states cover pregnant women and 6 states cover CHILDLESS adults.

    Now, how does holding up a child and using that as your basis for expanded health care coverage work when states are using SCHIPS for adults; some allowing for childless adults?

    Not to mention that the dems are seeking to expand coverage to 400% of the FPL, which means that families making $80,000 a year will be eligible for SCHIPS. You mean to tell me that a family making $80k can’t afford health care on their own?

    Explain to me how this isn’t an attempt at de facto universal health care. And while you’re at it, be honest about it.

    In addition , I dug this up.
    This proposal below seems alot more functional with whats in place already and offers more choices and freedom.
    The one thing that most of the country is afraid of is our coverage being handled like the DMV if goverment gets its hooks in it.

    http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGI3NjVlYWRlOGEyOTU2MjNlMWFmNTVjM zZlNDQ0ZTg=

    In fact, “about 60 percent of the children who were eligible for [SCHIP] were covered by private insurance in the year before the program was enacted.” The CBO also estimated that for every 100 new SCHIP enrollees, between 25 and 50 children lost private coverage.

    Besides crowd out, legislators also ignore the fact that public insurance often makes it harder for poor patients to stay healthy because of an onerous bureaucracy and pervasive cost controls.

    A 2003 study in The Journal of Health Economics found that HIV+ patients fared better in private insurance, in part because “many anti-retroviral drugs [required] prior authorization from Medicaid that restricted use to advanced illness.” Privately insured patients started effective drug treatment sooner and stayed healthier. Another study in Health Affairs (2005) found that Medicaid patients had nearly as much trouble getting prescription drugs as the uninsured (22 percent v. 26 percent).

    Despite these problems, the political temptation to expand Medicaid and SCHIP into middle class entitlements is nearly irresistible. Today, according to the Government Accounting Office, over 40 states enroll children from families at 200% or higher of the federal poverty level, around $40,000 for a family of four. Seven states cover children in families at 300 percent or higher, about $60,000. (New Jersey tips the scales at 350 percent.)

    This week, Congress is set to massively expand SCHIP without doing anything to help make private health insurance more affordable. Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bill that increases federal SCHIP funding by $35 billion over five years; a family of four making over $80,000 would even be eligible for coverage. The House is expected to endorse even more spending.

    The president has announced that he will veto any bill that includes over $5 billion in new funding as an unwarranted government takeover of health care. He’s right, and Congress can do much more to help the uninsured without breaking the bank.

    The president has a better plan: creating an individual tax deduction up to $15,000, or an equivalent tax credit. Any individual could take advantage of the deduction, provided they purchased at least catastrophic health insurance. While expanding SCHIP funding would cover a few million uninsured at enormous cost to taxpayers, the administration predicts that fixing the tax code could lead up to 20 million uninsured to purchase private coverage without substantial new outlays.

    If this was combined with an interstate market for health insurance, where consumers could shop for low-cost policies across state lines, Congress could add modest new SCHIP funding and fundamentally improve health care access for the uninsured.

    Past experience has shown that expanding public programs is not a sustainable alternative to private insurance. Helping low-income uninsured children get access to public health insurance is a noble cause; but making good, private health insurance more affordable for all working families is a better one.

  8. Jersey McJones says:

    Micky, I lived, worked and played in the NYC metro the vast majority of my life. I’m happy to be in Florida now. It’s nice down here. Every place has it’s ups and downs. Around here, in a sleepy retirement region, a family of four could probably get by on 30k without need or want of anything – but healthcare, everywhere you go, is extremely expensive. Subsidized coverage should not be much to ask of even the most stingy republican. At least one could say to themself – ‘Well, let’s subsidize coverage for now until we can find a way to reduce medical inflation.’ Even if it’s a market solution (which by now we can see is unlikely), runaway medical sector inflation is out of sync with the rest of the economy. Right or Left, no sane person could say that medical pricing makes any sense these days. Obviously, there is a colusive pricing infrastructure between insurance, pharmaceuticals, practicioners, etc. The government may obviously also be a part of that conflict of interest, but it isn’t because it is over-regulating – it is because it is defining simplistic practical parameters (easily skirted) and then not regulating them at all!

    Anyone who thinks our healthcare system is the best in the world is delluded by ideology. If it was the best in the world, it wouldn’t be so exspensive. Just because something costs a lot doesn’t make it valuable. I’d rather drive a Toyota than a Cadillac. Bang for the buck, to a sensible person, is a primary requisite of value. That being considered, along with our plentiful upsides, we still shouldn’t be paying 50% more than the rest of the comparable world – not when we have few statistics to show us as actually healthier.

    As for covering those who happen to be young and healthy – those of them who are uninsured cost about 15% of our uninsured costs in total. These are morons who think they are immortal and will never get sick, or hit by a bus, or punched in the face in a bar, and so therefore will never need medical assistance. It is selfish, short-sighted, risky, libertarian thinking. Everyone needs healthcare. Everyone. One day or another we all need it. And few of us are as ugly and mean as to deny help to the truly needy. There is nothing we need more than healthcare. It is the most universal and basic of all utilities. Only a fool wouldn’t at least consider that. At least.

    JMJ

  9. micky2 says:

    You are basing your arguement for socialized medicine.
    You have not answerd the questions I asked.
    And it appears that you did not not digest intellectualy anything I said.

    JMJ said;
    “Well, let’s subsidize coverage for now until we can find a way to reduce medical inflation.”
    This would be the sneeky way to introduce socialized medicine into our society.
    I can afford and do pay for my own insurance, why should I have to pay for yours ?

    JMJ said;
    “it is because it is defining simplistic practical parameters ”
    NO ITS NOT ! Not when it says it for kids, but instead includes the list I gave you above.
    Which you conveniently ignore.

    Before you know it every deadbeat that wants free health care at the expense of people who actually work will be able to have it under this program which is just a trojan horse waiting to morph into socialized medicine.

    If the Dems were really intent on helping kids they would eliminate any possibility of anyone else besides children having access to this program. The funds appropriated would stretch a lot further to the needs of more children, instead of adults who actually make enough to buy their own insurance.

    By offering medical care to kids under schips should be enough to help the adults in the family afford their own policies. But nooo! That’s not good enough. The dems want a whole bunch of other non- eligible people to piggy back on schips also. And as you can see they have made very deliberate attempts to hide this motive by blinding us with pity mongering techniques, half truths, lies and deception.

    I have no problem helping sick kids or making preventative medicine available to them. I dont know anyone that doesnt. But if you are not going to be forth coming and transparent about it you cannot be taken seriously and create doubt. This only impedes the process and so in the long run you are actually screwing the kids out getting what they need.

    How dare you and the Democrats pull at the heart strings of America with children as the main tool in this deceitful way of obtaining ulterior goals ? At the same time trying to make the country believe that Bush doesn’t care about kids. After you look at everything it makes me wonder what kind of people are willing to prop up a sick kid in front of the world to try and get what most Americans do not want.

    Schip is a successful program, but its continued success and growth depends on whether or not the Dems want to exclude the leeches and clingons. But they dont and wont.

    Bush said he would not veto the extention if they dont ask for more than 5 billion a year for the next 5 years. That was only fair since that has been the cost of the program in the past. O.K. so its a new time and we have inflationand the opposition says it cant operate the program on that budget. Well you know what ? If you really want it to work you would discontinue issuing benefits to those that are not children.

    Otherwise change the name to ASCHIP Adults “and” childrens state health insurance program, then see how far you get.

  10. Jersey McJones says:

    I really think conservatives are just small-minded and cheap sometimes. It’s times like this – Christmas Eve, that really show just how maddening this attitude is.

    JMJ

  11. micky2 says:

    Whats even more maddening is those who think only conservatives celebrate Christmas.
    If that wasnt the most discriminating and generalizing remark I’ve ever heard from a liberal/democrat then I just havnt heard it yet.
    Merry Christmas Jersey.

  12. Jersey McJones says:

    Merry Christmas, Micky – and that from a liberal atheist. I’m sorry, but I meant it. I see no logical argument against universal healthcare. It seems to me that conservatives are just rationalizing on behalf of their intractable ideology, and behind that ideology I see a sad, angry hardness of the heart.

    JMJ

  13. micky2 says:

    Once again, please stay on topic. The original intent of the program is for children, not universal health care. It is a deceptive measure. If they are pushing for universal health care , then that is what they should say. They are hurting their cause by being deceptive.
    A lot of people would like to have it, it would be ideal. Unfortunatley the government cannot be trusted to maintain and dispense such a program, which is what Americas prevailing concern is. with government mandated health care.
    It would suck.

  14. micky2 says:

    Its just gonna be maddening to see the look on my sons face when gets that Remote controlled Nitrous Oxide .18 cc Meyers Manx sand buggy, as big as a shoe box and goes 45 MPH.
    Its gonna be just maddening to see my wife’s face when she looks in the fridge tomorrow morning and sees 30 lbs of Brie and Camembert along with a jar of truffles with spiced lobster all on a cold seafood platter. She doesn’t know how maddening it will be to have to sit on her new deck furniture and eat it all under the Hawaiian sun.
    Its gonna be maddening to see my mothers (yes the moonbat) face when she opens her box and sees the album of family pictures I assembled for her. Going all the way back to her childhood up to last Christmas.
    What will be really maddening for my whole family is when after all that I will excuse myself from the family festivities to go to the salvation army mission and volunteer my culinary services to about 500 homeless people.
    And then we will pray and thank God for the birth of his son and all that they have made possible for us.
    If you only look at it from the worst perspective, which would be the retail aspect. You could call it madness.
    But we are not as small minded as some would like to believe.
    We are quite capable of discerning the fluff and glamour from the true context.
    Because after everything has been said and done . And all the presents have been opened, more American families will be together enjoying themselves than any other day in the year.
    And that’s a good thing.

  15. Jersey McJones says:

    How can you have healthcare for kids and then none for their parents? What good is a sick parent to their kids and to the health and economy of the family?

    What’s truly maddening is a healthcare system that is no better or worse than the rest of the free world but costs 50% more. That’s not just maddening – it’s stupid.

    JMJ

  16. micky2 says:

    JMJ said;
    “How can you have healthcare for kids and then none for their parents? What good is a sick parent to their kids and to the health and economy of the family?”

    The bill is not supposed to or was it ever intended to insure complete families.
    If you study the intention of the bill it was laid out by the finacial perimiters of parents who made enough to buy insurance for themselves but not there kidsI t was a bill intended to help those who were on a borderline income. Being well off enough to not be included as poverty but still could not afford insurance. By having the government insure the children it enabled the parents to purshase a policy for themselves.

    I’m not going to get into the quality of private health care as opposed to government cheese.
    We cant even treat our vets right and you want the same system covering the whole country ?????
    That my friend is not only maddening it is a collosal mistake to think nationwide universal health care is a good idea.
    I’ll take my chances with the private sector thank you very much

  17. Jersey McJones says:

    LOL! You are one unrealistic man, Micky. Enjoy your ideological universe. I hope you’re happy there.

    And sincerely, Merry Christmas.

    Peace, JMJ

  18. micky2 says:

    Unrealistic !
    Is that your best shot ?
    What is unrealistic ?
    Everything I said about the SCHIP is factual and verifiable. I know exactly what the plan was intended to do. It originally was drawn up by conservatives as a supplemental aid for for families just below the poverty level.
    The left is trying to morph it into universal care for the whole country, and they failed.
    Please tell me what is unrealistic about the excellent health insurance I have had for 20 years now under the same plan ?
    Is something unrealistic about the fact that our soldiers do not get adequqte medical ?
    Is there something unrealistic about the widely known failures at Walter Reed ?
    Please, have some balls and explain !

    I have to give you some advice hear dude. Look at it as a Christmas gift.
    Stop telling people to face reality. When they dont see things your way. Its weak.
    Stop telling people they are unrealistic when they are happy with what works for them.
    Its an incredibly ignorant thing to expect others to see your world as a reality when they dont live in it.

  19. Jersey McJones says:

    The VA has it’s ups and downs and most of those downs have to do with location of services – veterans are scattered all over America and the VA can only realistically be in so many places. Some people love the VA, some don’t. They’re all probably right. We should do more to help them.

    Medicare has an overhead of around 3%. Our private systems average about 30%. That’s ten times less efficient with overhead. You can’t realistically say that the private system is an overall full third better than Medicare. And you certainly can’t realistically say that overall American care is 50% better than the rest of the First World and is therefore worth 50% more expenditure, as we have now.

    Get real. Even Romney and Hillary, et al, get this! They want mandatory coverage for all. I want coverage for all without the pseudo-“mandatory.” The point is simple – those who think they don’t need health coverage need it, those who need health coverage need it, those who have health coverage need it – WE ALL NEED HEALTHCARE. We DO NOT NEED pretty much everything else. We don’t need IPods, or Mercedes’, or swimming pools, or cocaine, or cheap sex, or whatever. But we ALL NEED HEALTHCARE. It is a most basic utility, a most necessary infrastructure for a healthy and sucessful society.

    JMJ

  20. micky2 says:

    Once again ( the third time )
    That has nothing to do with your confusion between SCHIP and universal health care.
    But since you want to go their, I’ll indulge you.
    You see, here’s the big problem though. Why should health care be publicly subsidized? Why should the American people have this sort of altruistic bullcrap forced upon them. Is it a sad situation? Sure, of course it is. All those poor children without health care. Ya know what? Cry me a river. How about this for a suggestion, stop having kids if you can’t afford health care for them. Now there’s a novel idea that doesn’t require screwing the general public. Just because you have some strange feel-good sense of altruism doesn’t mean the rest of us do, and it’s absurd to think that it is our “duty” to run around helping everybody else out of their jams.

    I don’t mean to sound cold or cruel, but it’s the facts. Why not set up a system where people like you can voluntarily give into a pool to be used for subsidizing health care for others? If you feel so charitable, then you can give, but why force the rest of us to do it to? Maybe I would be more receptive if I wasn’t being forced to do it, but when you force charity upon people, you lose a lot of support from those people. You breed contempt and bitterness. Why even try to go down that path? People don’t want that sort of thing. Just look at Wisconsin. They haven’t passed their JULY budget bill yet because the dems refused to take their universal health care provision out of it, and the people as a whole didn’t want it. Despite the fact that the people didn’t want it, the dems refused to take it out until just the other day. But why? Was it because they were doing what the people wanted and the evil conservatives were blocking it? Hell no, they were doing the bidding of people like you at the expense of the majority. Is that what this country is coming to? screw the majority, it’s all about who bitches the loudest?

    Heres some real stats.
    http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGI3NjVlYWRlOGEyOTU2MjNlMWFmNTVjMzZlNDQ0ZTg=

    In fact, “about 60 percent of the children who were eligible for [SCHIP] were covered by private insurance in the year before the program was enacted.” The CBO also estimated that for every 100 new SCHIP enrollees, between 25 and 50 children lost private coverage.

    Besides crowd out, legislators also ignore the fact that public insurance often makes it harder for poor patients to stay healthy because of an onerous bureaucracy and pervasive cost controls.

    A 2003 study in The Journal of Health Economics found that HIV+ patients fared better in private insurance, in part because “many anti-retroviral drugs [required] prior authorization from Medicaid that restricted use to advanced illness.” Privately insured patients started effective drug treatment sooner and stayed healthier. Another study in Health Affairs (2005) found that Medicaid patients had nearly as much trouble getting prescription drugs as the uninsured (22 percent v. 26 percent).

    Despite these problems, the political temptation to expand Medicaid and SCHIP into middle class entitlements is nearly irresistible. Today, according to the Government Accounting Office, over 40 states enroll children from families at 200% or higher of the federal poverty level, around $40,000 for a family of four. Seven states cover children in families at 300 percent or higher, about $60,000. (New Jersey tips the scales at 350 percent.)

    This week, Congress is set to massively expand SCHIP without doing anything to help make private health insurance more affordable. Last Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bill that increases federal SCHIP funding by $35 billion over five years; a family of four making over $80,000 would even be eligible for coverage. The House is expected to endorse even more spending.

    The president has announced that he will veto any bill that includes over $5 billion in new funding as an unwarranted government takeover of health care. He’s right, and Congress can do much more to help the uninsured without breaking the bank.

    The president has a better plan: creating an individual tax deduction up to $15,000, or an equivalent tax credit. Any individual could take advantage of the deduction, provided they purchased at least catastrophic health insurance. While expanding SCHIP funding would cover a few million uninsured at enormous cost to taxpayers, the administration predicts that fixing the tax code could lead up to 20 million uninsured to purchase private coverage without substantial new outlays.

    If this was combined with an interstate market for health insurance, where consumers could shop for low-cost policies across state lines, Congress could add modest new SCHIP funding and fundamentally improve health care access for the uninsured.

    Past experience has shown that expanding public programs is not a sustainable alternative to private insurance. Helping low-income uninsured children get access to public health insurance is a noble cause; but making good, private health insurance more affordable for all working families is a better one.

    — Paul Howard is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Medical Progress and is editor of the daily blog http://www.medicalprogresstoday.com.

    Its amazing , I brought the same thing up with Greg yesterday.
    The government cant be trusted on the war, but I’ll let them cut me open if its free.

  21. Jersey McJones says:

    Yes. I’m saying, “Fine, bring on national healthcare with the SCHIP bill” – argue against that. I say universal healthcare – not “mandatory” or “coercive” – with just help when you need it and upkeep for those who are more responsible is a good idea.

    JMJ

  22. micky2 says:

    Awww, you mean we can work together ?
    Fine, as long as I dont have to pay for my families policy and some other families also.
    Im willing to help anyone get on their feet. But I aint doing it forever.

    Happy Holidays Jersey. :-)
    Now get away from the keyboard and go do something nice for yourself, or somebody.

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