Cutting the fat

[boxy]

Looks like Obama is going to demand that the biggest beneficiaries of the global financial crisis bail outs in the US rein in the pay for each of their 25 highest (over)paid executives.

Cant wait to hear the screams of pain from the McCarthyites

[Lefteee]

I would love to see it happen, especially considering their breathtakingly disgusting but utterly predictable behaviour - paying themselves massive bonuses out of the vast sums of public money that brought them back from the brink of death - but I'm not sure I hold out much hope for any real change in that department.

Some say that the US government is in some ways, just an extension of Wall street.

[Jovial Monk]

Yup, saw something about that. Fuckem, they will still make more than enough money! Not only have CEO's pay gone up under movement conservatism the upper tax rates have been slashed at the same time--the head of MacQuarrie bank got a $400,000pa TAX CUT under one of Tip's last budgets! I don't want to be part of a world that is set up so incompetent swine get huge payouts after leaving a company they have about rooted!

Movement conservatism is all about dog whistles as a way of getting elected. Ronald Reagan's first speech in his presidential campaign was down South and was about state's rights. Nothing controversial about that? State's rights was code for "My Fed. govt will not keep on doing stuff like enforced desegregation! But you would have had to be a poor white in Alabama etc to understand that--dog whistles. Of course the dumb shits that voted for Ronnie got shit like their version of WorkChoices as a reward!

Movement conservatism was all about "small government." Funny then that under those so-called conservative turds like Reagan, Howard, Bush govt actually got BIGGER! The first decrease in unemployment here in Howard's first and second term was due to them hiring thousands of extra Public Servants. Neoliberals used the state to stay in government much more than that they managed the states in their care!

Read Paul Krugman's "The conscience of a liberal"

[annielaurie]

Obama is in the process of reversing all that, has a steady and relentless plan of action going, and ooooh boy, the Republicans - the rightwing GOP - are already screaming their heads off, trying to throw him off at every turn ...

[Jovial Monk]

Yeah, we hear the screams here! Socialised medicine! Yup, ideology is soooo more important than 45m US citizens not able to afford health insurance, with probably at least 100m with insufficient insurance living in dread of a serious illness in them or family member. Bur NO FREE ENTERPRISE ABOVE ALL!!!!

Dumbarses! Here Medicare and free public hospitals work well (OK, public side underfunded thanks to previous RW crap PM Howard) with those that want being able to take out private health insurance (esp for elective surgery.)

[annielaurie]

Yeah, and the dingbat Repubs are yelling that the public option plan added to the healthcare bill will lead to a gov takeover of medicine in the US - and socialism here we come!

At the same time they want a mandate to require all Americans to buy insurance, same as auto insurance, or else they could be fined or even go to jail, and they want healthcare co-ops which will still be too expensive for the poor to afford!

Now what kind of reform is that, it will only make it worse for middle class and poor! To top it all off, they want to cut Medicare so steeply that seniors will be compromised, when fully-retired have a hard enough time as it is ...

I've had it up to here with this nonsense, we need the public option, we need Obama to make it illegal for insurance companies to turn down coverage to people with "pre-existing" conditions, we need him to stand up to their ignorant selfish arses, and tell them NO, sorry but we are gonna sign dependable and sensible healthcare reform into law, now ...

[Jovial Monk]

Didn't he do that? I thought I read that his health care bill was being written off until Obama stood and said This bill will become LAW!

[annielaurie]

No, they are still arguing about it in the House and Senate ...

They need a certain number of votes - the proposals get through in stages - then they argue some more, re-write the bill, argue yet again, take another vote ...

But Obama could simply ignore the Repubs and sign his own version of the bill, which does include the public option and the new rules that insurance companies can't refuse folks with pre-existing conditions - he could sign it into law himself without the Repubs, but he is waiting to hear all the arguments before making a final decision ...

Wish he would just get on with it, the suspense is killing me ...

[Jovial Monk]

Didn't know the POTUS could do that.

[annielaurie]

Actually I think he can, but it's more complicated than I'm able to explain ...

Go here to learn about healthcare in America,
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/health.care/

Go here for President Obama's healthcare plan - the one the Repubs are yelling NO about ...

(short form)

The Obama Plan - Stability and Security for all Americans

If You Have Health Insurance
More Stability and Security

- Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions
- Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age
- Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most
- Caps out-of pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick
- Eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money
- Protects Medicare for seniors
- Eliminates the "donut-hole" gap in coverage for prescription drugs

If You Don't Have Insurance
Quality, Affordable Choices for All Americans

- Creates a new insurance marketplace – the Exchange – that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices
- Provides new tax credits to help people buy insurance
- Provides small businesses tax credits and affordable options for covering employees
- Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice
- Immediately offers new, low-cost coverage through a national "high risk" pool to protect people with pre-existing conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created

For All Americans
Reins In the Cost of Health Care for Our Families, Our Businesses, and Our Government

- Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront
- Requires additional cuts if savings are not realized
- Implements a number of delivery system reforms that begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality
- Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system
- Orders immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine
- Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images ... a.plan.pdf

This is the one he came out with at the beginning of all this, over the summer, and immediately the rightwing nutjobs went off the deep end!

This is the Obama Care everybody has been screaming about, it's the best overall plan I've ever seen, this the plan we need here, and they are standing in his his way ...

He wants to please everybody, so this is gonna end up in a compromise, which will probably reduce its effectiveness, and omit the parts that are most important to the middle class and poor of America ...

Because of the idiot Repubs, we could end up with a bastardized version of this, and we end up worse than what we have now, that's what I'm worried about ...

I say that if he is able to override the Senate - it all has to do with votes, but I'm not sure how it works - then he needs to do it, because this is what we need ...

In the meantime the Senate voted to consider another bill - written by a Democrat, and which is a compromise of this one - and now they will probably end up with a final draft that will incorporate parts of that one with parts of Obama's plan, above ...

Whatever it is gonna be, I probably won't like it as much as Obama's original ...