Newt Gingrich: Gingrich: Republicans have 'zero' health care ideas

[Phokus]

"I will bet you, for most of you, you go home in the next two weeks when your members of Congress are home, and you look them in the eye and you say, 'What is your positive replacement for Obamacare?' They will have zero answer," Gingrich said.

Gingrich blamed the problem on Republican culture that rewards obstruction and negativity instead of innovation and "being positive."

"We are caught up right now in a culture, and you see it every single day, where as long as we are negative and as long as we are vicious and as long as we can tear down our opponent, we don't have to learn anything," Gingrich said, acknowledging the "totally candid" nature of his remarks. "We have to do the homework."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/14/gingrich-republicans-have-zero-health-care-ideas/

Interesting, Gingrich basically says what every liberal has been saying on ATPN for YEARS. Wonder what the reaction will be from the right? "HE'S A RINO!", "HE'S JUST DOING IT FOR ATTENTION!", "HE'S REALLY A LIBERAL!"

I mean, when one of the most divisive republicans calls your party 'negative', 'vicious', 'obstructionist', and basically having 'no ideas', that should be the loudest fucking warning bell for you guys, but i'm not holding out for any hope that you people actually learning anything.

 

[zinfamous]

So Gingrich basically saying that his entire political philosophy and strategy over the previous 2 decades is bad, eh?

 

[Phokus]

So Gingrich basically saying that his entire political philosophy and strategy over the previous 2 decades is bad, eh?

He learned from experience, i guess you could say. I'm sure he's reading the tea leaves of demographics changes and much of the negative and destructive strategies the GOP uses isn't going to work anymore.

 

[PottedMeat]

he can say pretty much anything right now without any repercussions to what's left of his career

there will never be a moonbase gingrich :'(

when he was at the top during the primaries weren't a bunch of repubs saying DO NOT LET THIS MAN WIN?

 

[RampantAndroid]

So Gingrich basically saying that his entire political philosophy and strategy over the previous 2 decades is bad, eh?

...because he worked with Clinton...?

 

[OCGuy]

Mine is "don't get sick."

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

The only healthcare idea Republicans have is to repeal Obamacare. Beyond that...nada.

 

[Phokus]

Mine is "don't get sick."

Alan Grayson was right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usmvYOPfco

 

[Phokus]

The only healthcare idea Republicans have is to repeal Obamacare. Beyond that...nada.

Woah, some actual honesty for once

 

[OCGuy]

Woah, some actual honesty for once

Will you be honest and admit that Obama-care is a true Corpratist-Republican's wet-dream?

Forcing people to buy private insurance? That is so far from liberal idealism it is ludicrous.

It is funny watching the two sides argue about it, when they would be taking the exact opposite positions if the roles were switched.

 

[Phokus]

Will you be honest and admit that Obama-care is a true Corpratist-Republican's wet-dream?

Forcing people to buy private insurance? That is so far from liberal idealism it is ludicrous.

It is funny watching the two sides argue about it, when they would be taking the exact opposite positions if the roles were switched.

I've said he's a right of center president in the past. His healthcare law actually comes from the Heritage Foundation and the GOP's response to hillarycare back in the early 90's. However, it sure is better than nothing. OTOH, it seems like he might be back dooring a public option by funding a non-governmental/non-profit entity to provide health insurance plans through the exchanges at a lower cost than for profit companies would offer, so it might not be a complete piece of shit, i posted this about a year ago, can't find the article though.

Edit: I don't see the difference between being forced to buy private insurance or being forced to pay for medicare, at least with the former, you have 'choice', from a conservative's perspective (i would rather have single payer though), i really don't understand why conservatives bitch about that so much.

 

[chucky2]

I didn't know short of UHC (and even then, it really won't) that anyone had a plan to reduce actual HC costs. In light of that, why is anyone b1tching about the GOP and their lack of plan? Dems had the political will to get UHC done, they failed. What's with the duhversion on 'What is the GOP's plan?'

 

[Phokus]

I didn't know short of UHC (and even then, it really won't) that anyone had a plan to reduce actual HC costs. In light of that, why is anyone b1tching about the GOP and their lack of plan? Dems had the political will to get UHC done, they failed. What's with the duhversion on 'What is the GOP's plan?'

Obama naively thought he could reach across the aisle buy basically having the Dems submit the GOP's own ideas into a bill, but what he didn't know was that the GOP would basically sabotage everything and anything he suggests. If Obama advocated breathing, the GOP would hold their breath for as long as they can.

Frontline has a great documentary about this:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...y/the-republicans-plan-for-the-new-president/

 

[OCGuy]

I've said he's a right of center president in the past. His healthcare law actually comes from the Heritage Foundation and the GOP's response to hillarycare back in the early 90's. However, it sure is better than nothing. OTOH, it seems like he might be back dooring a public option by funding a non-governmental/non-profit entity to provide health insurance plans through the exchanges at a lower cost than for profit companies would offer, so it might not be a complete piece of shit, i posted this about a year ago, can't find the article though.

Edit: I don't see the difference between being forced to buy private insurance or being forced to pay for medicare, at least with the former, you have 'choice', from a conservative's perspective (i would rather have single payer though), i really don't understand why conservatives bitch about that so much.

Because it is another upside-down triangle like SS. When SS started, the base of people paying into was much larger than the collectors at the top.

Now, it is flipped, as people live longer, and the Baby Boomers all start to reach the age where they can collect. Also, SSDI fraud is rampant.

The purpose of Obamacare is to force young and healthy Americans (who these days purchase major medical, or completely decline to carry insurance) into the risk-pool, to help subsidize people with a 100% risk of requesting claim payouts. (elderly, pre-existing conditions, high-risk lifestyle, etc)

When you are forcing someone to contribute in order to balance risk, it is no longer "insurance." It is just a tax on the young or successful to provide healthcare to the elderly or poor, which have exponentially higher costs due to natural aging issues as well as more prevalent obesity, smoking, drug abuse, etc.

Someone went through a whole lot of trouble to put lipstick on that pig...why not just go single-payer and increase taxes somewhere else? I ultimately believe that this system will fail and will be replaced by some form of single-payer, (expanding Medicare?) even if not UHC.

 

[Phokus]

Because it is another upside-down triangle like SS. When SS started, the base of people paying into was much larger than the collectors at the top.

Now, it is flipped, as people live longer, and the Baby Boomers all start to reach the age where they can collect. Also, SSDI fraud is rampant.

The purpose of Obamacare is to force young and healthy Americans (who these days purchase major medical, or completely decline to carry insurance) into the risk-pool, to help subsidize people with a 100% risk of requesting claim payouts. (elderly, pre-existing conditions, high-risk lifestyle, etc)

When you are forcing someone to contribute in order to balance risk, it is no longer "insurance." It is just a tax on the young or successful to provide healthcare to the elderly or poor, which have exponentially higher costs due to natural aging issues as well as more prevalent obesity, smoking, drug abuse, etc.

Someone went through a whole lot of trouble to put lipstick on that pig...why not just go single-payer and increase taxes somewhere else? I ultimately believe that this system will fail and will be replaced by some form of single-payer, even if not UHC.

Guess what, young people will someday be old. And being young without health insurance is fucking stupid. I didn't see all the bitching and complaining about this healthcare plan when conservatives were the ones proposing it back in the 90's.

 

[werepossum]

Will you be honest and admit that Obama-care is a true Corpratist-Republican's wet-dream?

Forcing people to buy private insurance? That is so far from liberal idealism it is ludicrous.

It is funny watching the two sides argue about it, when they would be taking the exact opposite positions if the roles were switched.

Obamacare would be a true Corporatist's wet dream IF that were all there was to it, but the essential element of Obamacare, the one thing the left was unwilling to abandon, was having the federal government's bureaucracy take over control of health care. We've already seen this in action when the fledgling bureaucracy mandated "free" birth control. Proggies are now free to mandate anything they want, crushing private insurance and making private health insurance so unaffordable that people will demand a government single payer solution. No state government can save you; no Congress can save you. Already my little company has seen our $2,700 out-of-pocket raised to $3,700 out-of-pocket - so much for "if you like your current plan you can keep it." We escaped losing our health insurance this year by the skin of our teeth, so we'll undoubtedly be in the exchanges by 2014. But exchanges aren't charity; even not-for-profits such as most of the Blue Cross Blue Shields must at least break even. As more generous mandatory benefits and more generous mandatory freebies are established by the bureaucracy, people like myself will soon be unable to afford health insurance and the federal government will be forced to expand Medicaid to solve the problem it created.

 

[OCGuy]

Obamacare would be a true Corporatist's wet dream IF that were all there was to it, but the essential element of Obamacare, the one thing the left was unwilling to abandon, was having the federal government's bureaucracy take over control of health care. We've already seen this in action when the fledgling bureaucracy mandated "free" birth control. Proggies are now free to mandate anything they want, crushing private insurance and making private health insurance so unaffordable that people will demand a government single payer solution. No state government can save you; no Congress can save you. Already my little company has seen our $2,700 out-of-pocket raised to $3,700 out-of-pocket - so much for "if you like your current plan you can keep it." We escaped losing our health insurance this year by the skin of our teeth, so we'll undoubtedly be in the exchanges by 2014. But exchanges aren't charity; even not-for-profits such as most of the Blue Cross Blue Shields must at least break even. As more generous mandatory benefits and more generous mandatory freebies are established by the bureaucracy, people like myself will soon be unable to afford health insurance and the federal government will be forced to expand Medicaid to solve the problem it created.

Indeed, the experiment has been tried before, with the same results. People who are paying disproportionate premiums compared to their peers, that are not connected to their risk profile, will gravitate towards the .gov plan:

"(AP) HONOLULU – Hawaii is dropping the only state universal child health care program in the country just seven months after it launched.

Gov. Linda Lingle's administration cited budget shortfalls and other available health care options for eliminating funding for the program. A state official said families were dropping private coverage so their children would be eligible for the subsidized plan.

"People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free," said Dr. Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services. "I don't believe that was the intent of the program."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/1...alth-care-7-months-after-start/#ixzz2cAhbFhZa

 

[Pocatello]

Yes, I would love to see ideas coming from the Republican party. The Republicans cannot be doing the same thing years after years and expect to win. Give the American people something to compete against Obamacare. Stop spouting "America has the best healthcare in the world", which is a joke.

 

[BlueWolf47]

Its easy to say no to everything. Now to have actual ideas and policies? That may be just beyond the reach of the current republican party.

 

[Spyhawk]

I dont understand America's reluctance to go with universal health care when every other advanced, modern society has done so.

 

[Phokus]

THIS is why conservatives are so full of shit when they bitch about Obamacare:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vi...heat_for_romneycare_by_santorum_gingrich.html

Romney: "Actually, Newt, we got the idea of an individual mandate from you."

Gingrich: "That's not true. You got it from the Heritage Foundation."

Romney: "Yeah, we got it from you and the Heritage Foundation."

Gingrich: "Wait a second. What you just said is not true. You did not get that from me. You got it from the Heritage Foundation."

Romney: "And you've never supported --"

Gingrich: "I agreed with them. I'm just saying. What you said to this audience just now plain wasn't true. That's not where you got it from."

Romney: "Have you supported in the past an individual mandate?"

Gingrich: "I absolutely did, with the Heritage Foundation, against HillaryCare."

Romney: "You did support an individual mandate?"

Gingrich: "Yes sir."

Romney: "OK. We got the idea from you and the Heritage Foundation."

Gingrich: "OK, a little broader."

Conservatives are just flat out embarrassing and nothing justifies your existence.

 

[Incorruptible]

I dont understand America's reluctance to go with universal health care when every other advanced, modern society has done so.

Because it is socialism and doesn't work. The Free Market works best.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The only healthcare idea Republicans have is to repeal Obamacare. Beyond that...nada.

Well yeah. The Dems don't have a plan but they have a... thingy.

 

[Phokus]

Because it is socialism and doesn't work. The Free Market works best.

Dude, even Singapore, who conservatives and libertarians tout as some sort of 'free market paradise', has price controls on healthcare delivery and subsidizes their healthcare as well.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I dont understand America's reluctance to go with universal health care when every other advanced, modern society has done so.

Most systems developed over time with less partisan considerations. Consider that instead of a budget we have the Sequester. What we are politically capable of would look worse still. Government could be a valuable facilitator. A substitute for medical judgment? Pretty poor.