Pillars of reason
It is my contention that were we dealing with a genuine opponent in Republicans, instead of a gang controlled by the know-nothing musings of the Beck/Palin/Limbaugh Idiot Trinity, this piece by the Brookings Institution may carry some weight.
The proposal starts from the conclusion that the standard short-term measures to address rising costs, like reducing prices, are not sufficient to succeed. Instead, legislation must support necessary changes and improvements in health care by reforming payment systems, regulations, and institutions that currently prevent patients from consistently getting the best quality care at the lowest cost.
This strategy consists of four interrelated pillars. First, as a foundation for improving value, all stakeholders in the system need better information and tools to be more effective. Second, provider payments should be redirected toward rewarding improvements in quality and reductions in cost growth, providing support for health care delivery reforms that save money while emphasizing disease prevention and better coordination of care. Third, health insurance markets should be reformed and government subsidies restructured to create competition and improve incentives around value improvement rather than risk selection. This step requires near-universal participation in insurance markets to succeed. Finally, individual patients should be given greater support for improving their health and lowering overall health care costs, including incentives for achieving measurable health goals.
Also appreciated would be more Democrat politicians who win on grassroots power instead of big money donations they curiously vote in line with.
While we are potentially looking at a likeable bill, endorsed by the AMA and AARP and a number of other big players, it’s important to remember that there are still numerous concessions being made in the name of political expediency and big donor waahbabiness. Or waahbabitude, although I feel that imaginary word to be a little too positive for the desired effect.
While I remain personally optimistic that a series of bills in the future may be able to ferret out some of the absurdities and inch us closer to the idyll most of us realize needs to be manifest, that shouldn’t lie in the way of this current bill, which is by any analysis a huge step away from the barbarisms of past decades.
-jb
November 6th, 2009 at 9:50 am
US Stock Futures Slide As Oct Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%
How ’bout that “Stimulus Package” huh?
You liberals bought the White House lie that Congress needed to HURRY UP and pass the Stimulus bill.
You liberals bought the White House lie that if it passed, the unemployment rate would stay under 8%.
You liberals bought the White House lie that the “Stimulus Package” actually is one.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Way to revel in other people’s misery.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Revel my butt, liberals need to wake up and quit listening to the Obama/Reid/Pelosi lies. It’s frustrating that some of you folks take their line of crap hook, line and sinker – and then defend them to boot!
They lie to you, and you take it.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Of course, Group frequently accuses others of lying, while almost constantly lying himself.
All of those issues have been addressed in here, but Group doesn’t debate like a human being. He sees when he’s whipped, scurries off like a rat, and then comes back a week or two later with the exact same beginning argument.
Then again, I find it hard to believe anybody is swayed by this troll.
November 6th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
jeromy still denies that he’s been lied to.
What a fool.
Your arguments lack logic.
Obama admin: Hurry up and pass the stimulus bill, the country needs help NOW!
That was said just to get the bill passed, but it was based in a lie. Sadly, liberal parrots in Congress bought the Obama crap.
Obama admin: The stimulus bill will prevent the unemployment rate from going above 8%
Another lie, also swallowed by liberals.
Public Question: You (the Obama admin) said it was urgent that the Stimulus be passed in when you first took office, but not much of the stimulus has been spent here nine months later, why is that?
Obama admin lie: The stimulus bill was not designed for short term gains.
Public Question: Then why did you push the urgency?
Obama admin lie: We didn’t anticipate how bad things were
Public Question: How can you say you ’saved jobs’ with the stimulus bill, when there’s no way to calculate such a thing?
Obama admin lie: The stimulus bill prevented the loss of jobs.
Public Question: But when questioned on why not much of the stimulus money has been spent yet, you responded that the plan wasn’t designed for short term gain?
Liberal lies, liberal idiocy, sad reality and the people authoring this blog are fools.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
“Your arguments lack logic.”
You don’t know what logic is, so I don’t care what you have to say about it.
You aren’t saying a single new thing. We’ve refuted everything you’ve said, but you ran away, only to come back in here repeating yourself like nothing happened.
You’re a cowardly idiot who spams links and soundbites because you haven’t got a big enough brain to form a coherent argument that can withstand the slightest scrutiny. But somebody smarter than you did a study showing that repeating things convinces people they’re true, and taught little dittoheads like you how to keep yapping like a Chatty Kathy doll.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Wow, typical insults instead of substance, and the only thing you’ve done to date is excuse the White House lies, you haven’t refuted a damn thing. You’re OK with Obama & Co. lying to you.
November 7th, 2009 at 11:44 am
No, I’m not okay with you continuously lying about our debates here. We’ve provided the substance and all we get is more trolling. Why should I rehash everything since you’re just going to scamper and then come back saying the exact same things all over again?
November 7th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
You’re such a liar. You’ve provided opinion pieces and liberal hack excuse making crap is all you’ve done. You’ve provided not actual substance.
I’m not OK with you trying to feed reading complete lines of b.s.
You will be continue to be challenged, you will be questioned, your crap will be exposed.
You don’t provide actual substance, and you know it.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
No, I actually know firmly and surely that we’ve addressed every one of those points previously.
You calling our rebuttals “crap” really means nothing whatsoever.
I think the only person here getting exposed is you. You’ve got a handful of soundbites with some change, and you have no idea what to come back with except repeating them over and over again.
The thought that you’ve presented any kind of argument of intellectual heft and depth here is pure comedy.
But hey, Sarah Palin doesn’t have to know anything and she’s teh greatest ex-politician ever!
November 7th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
You don’t know squat jeromy, that’s why you continue to be challenged.
You ignore things you don’t have an answer for.
Ignored by jeromy, completely:
jeromy still denies that he’s been lied to.
What a fool.
Your arguments lack logic.
Obama admin: Hurry up and pass the stimulus bill, the country needs help NOW!
That was said just to get the bill passed, but it was based in a lie. Sadly, liberal parrots in Congress bought the Obama crap.
Obama admin: The stimulus bill will prevent the unemployment rate from going above 8%
Another lie, also swallowed by liberals.
Public Question: You (the Obama admin) said it was urgent that the Stimulus be passed in when you first took office, but not much of the stimulus has been spent here nine months later, why is that?
Obama admin lie: The stimulus bill was not designed for short term gains.
Public Question: Then why did you push the urgency?
Obama admin lie: We didn’t anticipate how bad things were
Public Question: How can you say you ’saved jobs’ with the stimulus bill, when there’s no way to calculate such a thing?
Obama admin lie: The stimulus bill prevented the loss of jobs.
Public Question: But when questioned on why not much of the stimulus money has been spent yet, you responded that the plan wasn’t designed for short term gain?
Liberal lies, liberal idiocy, sad reality and the people authoring this blog are fools.
November 7th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Wow, you just repeated yourself all over again. Nice copy-pasta skills there, as TT would say.
November 7th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
To see these exact same talking points argued:
http://iowaliberal.com/?p=4048#comments
http://iowaliberal.com/?p=4112#comments
Why go through another hundred comments only to see you cutn’paste again?
November 8th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
As usual, jeromy refusing to address a challenge with substance.
November 8th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
And rightwingers get mad when people call them stupid.
No challenge has been refused. As I just pointed out, the challenge was addressed until Group2012, who seems to be you, ran away. Now he/you comes back with the exact same litany of soundbites and claims they haven’t been addressed, when any sane person could click on those links I just provided and see that they were.
All I’m doing is refusing to play the games of a propagandist and proven liar, especially one who links his name back to rushlimbaugh.com.