To listen to the conservative extremists who took over the Republican Party, you’d think that the new health care reform law means the sky is crashing down; we’ll soon have to wait six months, while walking around in chains, just to get a couple of aspirin; our grandmothers will be killed; Stalin will rise from the grave; and Satan will take up residence in our medicine cabinets.
Back in the real world, most of the law’s provisions take effect in 2014, but here are some things of immediate interest that will kick in within a year:
• Insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime coverage limits. Annual caps are seriously limited, and will be eliminated in 2014.
• Kids with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied health insurance, or given insurance “except for the pre-existing condition.”
• Insurance companies cannot drop you when you get sick.
• You can stay on your parents’ health insurance till you’re 26.
• Small businesses get tax credits, up to 50 percent of premium costs, for providing health insurance to employees.
• Insurance companies will cover many preventive services at no charge to enrollees.
• A temporary program will help adults with pre-existing conditions get coverage, with limits on the cost of premiums (roughly $500 per month, still high but better than the $1700/month a friend was “offered” in a “special” deal from Blue Cross Blue Shield).
• Seniors get a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who reach the Part D coverage gap (aka, “the donut hole”) in 2010; a free planning visit with the patient’s primary care doctor; and no more co-pays for preventative services.
• Insurance companies have to reveal how much they spend on overhead and, if it’s excessive, they have to offer rebates to customers.
• No death panels.
Now, back to those conservative firebrands who say they will run in November on a platform of repealing health care reform. They don’t seem to realize it yet, but if the GOP honestly expects to be successful by promising to take away the benefits listed above — plus, the rest of the package that takes effect in 2014 — they have a big, big date with the Brick Wall of Reality headed their way. Try to name anyone, or any party, that has won elections by promising to take away benefits. You can’t. I’m not saying the GOP can’t pick up seats in Congress, but it will have to come from emphasizing the lack of jobs. If they pitch an ongoing fit of pissing and moaning about their big loss on the health care issue, it will only serve to make them seem even more tunnel-visioned and mean-spirited than they already do.
Source of information: The North Carolina Health Access Coalition.
This article appears in Mar 23-29, 2010.
Oh my God. The picture above with that G.D. Sara Palin catching the elephant dung is absolutely hilarious. I will send that to friends of mine on the city council. They will love it. That’s about all that sorry woman is capable of doing anyway.
The crapper is the damn Republican elephant. She catches her own crap. One big intestinal track of trash.
My children have free lunch, you SOB.
The whining from conservatives about debt is especially pathetic since they had no problem with Dubya creating this whole debt mess by giving a monstrously huge tax cut to the very people who didn’t need it, using the reconciliation process to pass it. Where were those fiscal hawks then? The top 1% then took all that extra cash and invested it in shaky financial instruments that created a predictable bubble that eventually popped, almost sinking the economy and hurting everyone. Conservatives never worried about any debt when Dubya was ramming the Iraq War down our throats. Now that debacle is up to a trillion dollars and climbing, but they have no problem with THAT portion of the debt. Stunning hypocrisy.
Another article that’s right on target and all so true! They’ll be kicking and screaming about losting, AGAIN. President Obama has done a fantastic job. Amazing the republican still use the Bush-war tactic of instilling fear and lies to promote their agenda.
Actually, the biggest immediate benefit of health care reform is that it drives a huge bug up the collective ass of Frank Griffin and his fellow band of whining loser tea bagger douchebags.
Ah, it truly warms the heart….
He he
Because you are a racist and you hate women. That’s why you’re not surprised. How dare you say something against my children you sorry bastard.
That’s real classy, Frank, making fun of someone whose kids might need lunch assistance. Takes a real macho dude to pick on someone like that.
Grow a dick and act like a man, you asshole.
You are the only person here that has been deemed a certified nuisance and a complete insulting fool. We don’t ‘shovel’ anything out but simply try to defend the truth against your FoxNews slander and propaganda, which is posted constantly. Your job is to annoy, insult, lie, and hate. People like you get off on that. You are a sad individual, and for what it’s worth, you don’t know the first thing about my children.
Frank, you’re a puny, mousy little dweeb. It’s obvious you got your ass kicked a lot as a kid and now you’re trying to make up for it by posting your silly little opinions online and acting like an all-around big shot, when you’re really just a clueless, uninformed loser who steals all his lunatic opinions straight off the Glenn Beck Show.
I’m equally sure that if you ever met Rosa in person you’d keep your chickenshit little mouth shut and giggle nervously, hoping she didn’t recognize you and beat you up. Which she could. Easily.
Frank, if you promise to stop mentioning Rosa’s kids, I’ll promise not to mention that cheap mail-order bride you bought off the black market. The Asian who cost about a thousand bucks, which I figure is a month’s salary for you. I won’t even mention that she screws other guys behind your back.
Deal, friend?
I like peanut butter!
You are a sick and demented manchild who needs to be banned from this site. For someone to lash out at a woman’s children is disgusting. To try and bully a woman shows your true self.
It’s no surprise that Griffin can’t understand why it’s wrong to make fun of someone else’s financial situation. As others have pointed out, he seems to be a true narcissist, and one of their traits is being unable to have empathy with anyone else. What a sad, sorry excuse for a real person — just a pitiful motherfucker, really — but why in hell Loafing lets this guy keep on degrading, and reducing the value of its website with his lunatic ravings is beyond me. And by the way, Frank, the bug is spelled “gnat,” not “nat.” What a dope.
Frank, don’t blame me because you blew a whole month’s pay on a cheap mail-order bride from Asia.
And don’t blame me because your “children” don’t look a thing like you.
And don’t blame me because you make poverty-level wages and are so pathetic you have to pretend to work at a “nuclear weapons” facility. I mean, couldn’t you make up something better than that? If you’re going to pretend to be someone, at least pretend to be a pro athlete or brain surgeon or international spy or something cool like that.
Also, do me a favor: tell your wife to get herself checked out at the free clinic. She’ll know what I’m talking about.
And tell your “children” their real dads say hi.
Good day, my friend!
P.S. Jay Patrick is right: My name is spelled “Nat.” The insect is spelled “gnat.”
And yes, your spelling is a reflection of your overall stupidity.
P.S.S. Oh, and Frank? It’s spelled “surprised.” Not “suprised”
HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE
As mentioned previously in other threads, Frank exhibits several characteristics of the classic narcissist. I’ll list a few of them below:
1. Has a childlike need to draw attention to himself.
2. Has a childlike need to proclaim “victories” that exist only in his head
3. Has a grandiose, yet wholly unearned, sense of self importance.
4. Is mainly driven by deep-seated feelings of inadequacy and insecurity
4. Fantasizes that those who disagree with him are inferior in intellect and moral character.
5. Lacks empathy
6. Refuses to acknowledge the validity of counter opinions.
One need only look at Frank’s posts to see a consistent pattern of such characteristics. There has been speculation that Frank is a deeply conflicted and insecure person. I tend to agree. As to reasons, I would not venture to guess. I can, however, say with certainty that Frank has more than his share of personal issues.
In any event, he is not to be taken seriously by those wishing to engage in civil or enlightened discourse. Frank’s main goal is to validate his own opinions. Whenever an alternate view is presented, he reacts with a passive aggressive anger and disdain. Again, this is a common trait among narcissists.
My advice to those who are offended by Frank is to ignore him. That, more than anything, is what he fears the most.
Griffin, you phony bullshit artist, I don’t think you even HAVE a job — you couldn’t get away with posting on this website day in and day out if you did. Like I said before, God-DAMN, you’re an idiot.
As mentioned previously in other threads, Frank exhibits several characteristics of the classic narcissist. I’ll list a few of them below:
1. Has a childlike need to draw attention to himself.
2. Has a childlike need to proclaim “victories” that exist only in his head
3. Has a grandiose, yet wholly unearned, sense of self importance.
4. Is mainly driven by deep-seated feelings of inadequacy and insecurity
4. Fantasizes that those who disagree with him are inferior in intellect and moral character.
5. Lacks empathy
6. Refuses to acknowledge the validity of counter opinions.
One need only look at Frank’s posts to see a consistent pattern of such characteristics. There has been speculation that Frank is a deeply conflicted and insecure person. I tend to agree. As to reasons, I would not venture to guess. I can, however, say with certainty that Frank has more than his share of personal issues.
In any event, he is not to be taken seriously by those wishing to engage in civil or enlightened discourse. Frank’s main goal is to validate his own opinions. Whenever an alternate view is presented, he reacts with a passive aggressive anger and disdain. Again, this is a common trait among narcissists.
My advice to those offended by Frank is to ignore him. That, more than anything, is what he fears the most.
“Envy”, Frank? LMAO!
Oh yeah, I’m pretty sure there are thousands of kids out there right now saying, “Golly gee, Dad, when I grow up I want to work in a nuclear weapons facility! And I want to order a cheap mail order bride from the Far East!”
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE HE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A “really cool job,” Frank? Please, by all means: tell us more about your really cool job. Tell us where it is, Frank. Tell us the name of the company. Tell us where it’s located. Give us your exact position. For the life of me I did not know that the greater Charlotte area even had a nuclear weapons facility. So enlighten us, please do.
You seem so anxious to discuss yourself, all the time, over and over: tell us the name of your “wife.” And what does she “do,” exactly?
Don’t evade the questions, Frank. Come clean.
Actually, J is ignoring you, Frank. And doing a bang-up job of it. See, he’s addressing his comments to everyone else, not you. He’s talking to them, advising them on what to do. You’ll notice he never addresses you. Not once, not ever.
Ergo, he’s ignoring you.
You might want to read up on a concept called “logic,” buddy.
Ha ha, I knew you were a fake, Frankie boy. “I work in another state.” That’s a good one, oh that’s just golden. And your “wife” and “kids,” do they live on other planets?
Ahhhhh……..HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Boy oh boys oh boy, look like I forgot to take my med AGAINED!
So let me aporogize for all the dumbass comment I continues to made. I sory for acting like a moron and being such a all-arround douchebag.
If it make you feels any better, I know I a asshole when I not on my medicinations. Hell I a asshole even when I AM on my medicatations! (he he)
But I am especially stupid when I skip my meds because in adition to being a asshole, I also a whiny, uninformed, right-wing redneck who steal all my idea from Lunatic Glen Becks and try to pass off my hysterrical nonsense as pollitical insights.
And I can’t spel for shit!
Anyways, see you at the Tea Klux Klan Partys! Yaaaaayyyyy!!!!!