Buffet denies he wants to scrap Obamacare

Republicans and Tea Party members take his comments out of context. Nothing unsual there when the end justifies the means. Just lie and keep on lying.

Warren Buffett on Obamacare
A three year old interview was taken out of context by a blogger. Now Republicans are running with it. It doesn't matter how many times Buffet denies he called for scrapping the Affordable Care Act. Certain politicians are bent on misinformation.

A week ago, billionaire investor Warren Buffett denied he wants to “scrap” Obamacare, calling such reports “totally false.” But that has done little to stop some Republicans from spreading the rumor.
A day after Buffett’s denial, Rep. Jim Jordan said, “All the momentum is in our direction. Warren Buffett said yesterday, ‘Scrap the bill.’”

There's more at Factcheck.org. The article takes us back to the origins of this lie. The interview was on CNBC in March, 2010.

In the CNBC interview, Buffett talked about the high cost of health care in the United States — which he correctly said consumes about 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. He compared health care costs to “a tapeworm eating, you know, at our economic body.” He then said the Senate bill would do little to address the cost of health care.

“Unfortunately, we came up with a bill that really doesn’t attack the cost situation that much. And we have to have a fundamental change,” Buffett said.
The host, Becky Quick, asked Buffett if he was “in favor of scrapping this and going back to start over.” He said: “I would be if I were President Obama.” But he also said that he wasn’t changing his mind on the bill and he preferred it to the status quo.

So, what are the ethical standards of politicians who fail to check sources? What about when they know something to be untrue and they continue telling the lie? Is the standard among partisans that you can say or do anything as long as you win? Has this become the ethical standard for our society? country?

The Complexity of the Healthcare Debate

There are 50 million people in this country without healthcare insurance. Most simply cannot afford it. When the need for healthcare arises (It will for for all of us) the costs are astronomical.  Basic, affordable health insurance can solve many of these problems because the problems can and will be found before they go too far.
A thoughtful and insightful article in the New Yorker by Atul Gwande points out the three types of arguments being thrown in the path of Obamacare. Reactionary arguments take three basic forms. They are perversity, futility, and jeopardy.

The perversity argumnent is that the change will not only fail but, make the problem worse. The futility argument is that the change will not be meaningful. The jeopardy argument is that the healthcare law will result in unacceptable cost on our society. Part of this argument is the desire to exclude the "others." Healthcare is for the deserving. The deserving is narrowly defined.  Gwande writes,  "During the nineteenth century, for instance, most American leaders believed in a right to vote—but not in extending it to women and black people. Likewise, most American leaders, regardless of their politics, believe that people’s health-care needs should be met; they’ve sought to insure that soldiers, the elderly, the disabled, and children, not to mention themselves, have access to good care. But many draw their circle of concern narrowly; they continue to resist the idea that people without adequate insurance are anything like these deserving others."      

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/06/something-wicked-this-way-comes.html#ixzz1zQXaPulc

There's a moral imperative to caring about the fate of those who are less fortunate. It is key to the Christian Faith that we care for one another. It's the second half of the two great commandments given by Christ found in Mark Chapter 12. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[c] There is no commandment greater than these.” 

I once had sin described to me as seeing someone in need and turning away...not doing anything about it when I could.  We're in a position to do something about it now. Playing politics at the expense of 50 million people would be more than a shame. It would be a sin.

Medical Costs and Politics

When the the supreme court heard the case about Obamacare, members of the Tea Party and people who support the bill faced off outside the Supreme Court in dueling protests. There was actually a point of agreement. I'm almost certain it was missed. Both sides think the cost of health care is too high. 


Today there were two stories that caught my attention. The first from NPR about the increasing cost of health insurance. Costs are going up while coverage is going down. The story focused on one family but, what they are experiencing is the same for many families. High deductibles and decreasing coverage. 

Health Insurance Cutbacks Squeeze The Insured


I recently got some quotes for health insurance. We need to get individual insurance . Being underemployed means we have no other option. Deductibles start at $5000 and run as high as $10,000. After that, the plans might cover 80% of the cost. There's a lot that is not covered like office visits.


In the case of the Cooper family in the NPR story, Amber Cooper needs medication for her liver transplant that cost $1000 a month. It is no longer covered. The Cooper's now pay the entire cost of the medication out of pocket.

The second story that caught my attention was in the Huffington Post by Khadeeja Safdar. Medical costs are pushing Americans into credit card debt. According to a survey by a policy center called Demos, 50% of those surveyed paid for out of pocket medical costs with credit cards.  There's more in the article:

• Health care costs rose 6% last year.
• Over 25 percent of Americans ages 16 to 64 went without health coverage for at least some part of last year.
• An ordinary family with a job based plan will pay $20,000 toward health care. That's about 40% of their income.

Right Infighting Over Health Care

Meanwhile, the gridlock in Washington will make the situation worse. According to an article in Politico Republican plans to retool the Obamacare plan as an alternative were shot down by conservatives. They want full repeal. Nothing less. Their stance? Any national health care plan is creeping socialism at its worst. According to Politico's Jake Sherman, the drive to completely repeal is led by groups like Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform to Heritage Action to Club for Growth. Any attempt at compromise is being blocked by people with very deep pockets.  

Can anything be done? Be informed. Speak up. Tell your representatives you want something positive to be done.

There are groups that can help. One is called Center Politics. It's a nonpartisan political action committee.

http://www.centerpolitics.org/

You can find out more about the deceptions and confusion in US politics by going to FactCheck.org. FactCheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. It is nonpartisan.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76471.html#ixzz1vjVExyZE