With Presidency Decided, Lawmakers Face Policy Hurdles
“Wait until we see who’s president.”
It’s been an oft-repeated refrain in the last year from state agency heads and Republican elected officials pressed to act on everything from the federal health care act to environmental reforms.
Now that the deal is sealed — four more years of the Obama administration — that line won’t hold up. So what does Tuesday night’s national outcome, a major win for Democrats, mean for the key policy hurdles facing the overwhelmingly conservative Texas Legislature — and the interest groups and constituents who guide them?
Health and Human Services
Federal health reform: The ...
Comments (5)
David Spratt
expect that many will lose health insurance, and many more will have to take two or more jobs as those earning less to begin with will be cut in hrs to 25 per wk. These lower wage workers will still have to buy insurance or pay the tax,,, Many more will drop coverage and pay the fine leaving you without insurance unless you buy it on your own.
More doctors will opt out of Medicare and Medicaid as the rates paid for services fall,,, part of that 716 bil worth of " savings" Obama Found.
Where are all the doctors that will treat the estimated 6 mil new patients? Many are quitting the profession now because of ObmaCare.
Medicare Advantage seems to be going away or at the least will be priced out of seniors reach.
Just wait for the new EPA regs,, it will end up costing the so called middle class since this cost will be passed along. Expect those electricity rates to " skyrocket" as Obama promised 4 years ago.
I read the Obama plan put out a week before the election,,,,, nothing in it to grow the economy. Just hire more teachers, firefighters, police officers,,,,, put more money into windmills and solar panels and build faster trains. Free health care, contraception and abortions. More student loans and training for jobs that do not exist.
Who exactly is going to pay for all of this? The rich people? No my friends it will be you.
Those who go to work everyday and are barely getting by now will bear the immediate cost. Your children and grandchildren will bear the costs well into the future. You The American People just gave a blank check to the greatest promiser of free stuff this country has ever known. Debt will top 20 trillion for sure by 2016 and my guess is it will be several trillion more.
He does not need a budget to spend money. We have not had one since he came into office. He criticized Bush for taking out the credit card to the Bank of China. Most people do not realize the bulk of this borrowed money is borrowed from Americans. You are paying yourself,, you are loaning yourself the money and the Fed is devaluing it daily so by the time it gets back to you it is worth less.
Buy bonds and treasury notes for your retirement the interest paid was your money to start with ,, only it was worth more before you lent it to the government.
This will turn out to be the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,, but then again I guess you deserve it. After all you voted for it. Man all this free stuff is going to be great.
This country did not deserve Romney,,, after all he had nothing free to offer you. No amnesty for illegals, no free abortions,, no free contraception,, no free cell phones. How do you compete with that when all you have to offer people are jobs?
Texas RMS
To the Governor and the Legislature: Come on, people. Do the job we elected you to do. Face the issues. Fix the problems. You said you could. No more excuses. Texas is waiting.
kirk pitman
I'm not some high powered accountant, or someone with a vested interest in voting down something just because the GOP didn't think of it. What I do know is that in a very real and personal way, and not a OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST way, that I have watched my sister's catastrophic Texas HIGH RISK POOL premiums come down considerably. (These things use to be 1200.00 or more a month. I wonder if Rick Perry has stock in this. He has two incomes now.) Why would that happen? Well maybe because the premiums for the existing condition policy are considerably less. And that people with existing conditions are flocking to the Federal program because Texas didn't want it. (You see it does good things for Texans and the GOP didn't vote for it,, so therefore Obama is a Muslim and we are going to tell EVERYONE that it is ARMAGGEDON Makes perfect sense doesn't it?)
SO I am 55. Self employed. And waiting for the opportunity to be able to have a REAL POLICY, with co-pays, prescriptions, and coverage. And not what subsidizes someone's SRX. With real accountability that only 20% of premiums can go to administration.
I really don't have a bone to pick with this policy. I want what is best for Texas, not some TeaParty Biased, FoxNews, GOD I HATE OBAMA AND SOMEONE SHOULD KILL HIM, frothing at the MOUTH like some rabid dog, AND FOR GOD'S SAKES IF I CATCH YOU TALKING TO A DEMOCRAT I WILL GUT YOU LIKE A BASS ideology that doesn't answer the most basic of questions. (Isn't this extremism getting old, the polls show it is in Texas.) Is it good for Texas and Texans. Yes it is.
And unlike the Canadian Born Cruz, with his SCORCHED earth policy, I do have a closet full of guns, like to hunt dove, quail, deer, and turkey. And I have taken a few shots at a feral hog and killed a few domestic dogs gone wild while chasing the cattle.
Mr. Spratt is one of those BOOGEY men who just want to scare you. My personal experience hasn't shown that to be true. Rates will go down. It's called competition. But what do I know. I voted for a NATIVE Texan to be my senator.
God Bless Texas
Juan Reynoso
LATINOS FOR HONEST GOVERNMENT
FREEDOM IS BASE ON TRUST – TRUST IS BASE ON TRUTH
Fellow Americans, this economic crisis could be a blessing, we know that we do not manufacture 90% of the goods we consumed, no one force us to buy any imported goods we purchase these imports because they are cheaper and save us money, but your decision cost other Americans their jobs, the truth is that we are in part responsible for the millions of jobs that we lost due to this consumer choice to buy imports, and not American made products. Today we need to create jobs for Americans and we can make that a reality. We cannot depend on this corrupt government to create jobs for the American people, but we can make it happen because we know that we have the power and the ability to make the right choice and that is to create jobs for Americans by buying made in the U.S.A. We must support the American worker, and we as workers must commit ourselves to work hard and produce the best products for the American people and the nations that want to buy our products.
Fellow Americans, the truth is that we hit the bottom and we are our salvation, we must create jobs for us and pay the taxes that will save our country. This debt 16.5 Trillion Dollars will destroy our country, the Washington politicians do not have the cojones to tell us the truth; it is up to us and not one else stop buying imports and tell the stores managers that you want American made goods or they will go bust.
The following is the truth please continue reading.
The days of China being the low cost manufacturing center of the world are almost over, the economic crisis in the E.U and the USA has impacted the china’s export of mid-range and high value products. The U.S and Europe multinational corporations that moved manufacturing operations to china to take advantage of the China’s cheaper labor cost will be over; due to the cost of supply chain.
China’s labor costs would double or triple overall costs of supply chain. China has been, and will continue to be, competitive in producing mid-range and high-value products for the U.S and the Europe market but for not too long. This economic crisis will make labor in the U.S. and the E.U much cheaper than what it is today and production of goods will return to the U.S and the E.U.
For the multinational Corporations, the only objective is profits; the act of cost cutting becomes the prime metric for determining their supply chain’s effectiveness, to these multinationals corporations human beings are expendable and they become economic predators that destroy society.
This United States foster and defend this strategy and called free enterprise, but in reality what this is; an exploitation of human resources and natural resources for the benefit of few, The CEOS and the investors of these corporations. This system is use by our universities to indoctrinate our people and it is protect and defended by our Government, we start wars and over thrown legitimate elected foreign governments in the name of national interest, U.S. security and democracy, to protect these U.S economic predators that destroy our U.S. manufacturing, the millions of Americans jobs, demise our wealth and made millions of Americans economic slaves. While this ill strategy is popular across many industries, it is not necessarily what is best for the U.S. and the working people of this United States.
Fellow Americans, Free enterprise is dead and was replace by predator corporatism, we have accepted this economic system and is destroying our society, we become an economic oriented people that only cares about money, we worship money and betray family and friends for money, we sale ourselves for money and become slaves of money, because we think that money will get us happiness; but that is a fallacy. Happiness is good relationship with our family, friends, community and country, we are human beings social creatures with unique and great abilities to care for each other, we know what is right and wrong, we know how to think, understand and reason. Fellow Americans do not let money destroy our country, build good relationship with others, based on honesty, loyalty, integrity and the truth. Happiness is knowing that you are doing what is right and helping others to be the best they can be.
Posted by - Juan Reynoso - Americans are us.
God Bless America
David Spratt
Kirk , You stated " Rates will go down. It's called competition." One would assume by this statement you are for the free market system. But then earlier you seemed to agree with the President that at some point you have earned enough and further rewards of your labor are not yours to keep.
Every now and again I get carried away bit mostly try to refrain from name calling and personal attacks. I prefer to deal with facts and defending ideas , not hypothetical conclusions.
Mr . Cruz is an American and attacking a specific position he holds would lend more credibility to your arguments than attacking him personally. I have never claimed Obama is a Muslim or a Foreign National, I do not know whether he is or not and it makes little difference I disagree with his policies, and his ideology. His color , nationality, religious beliefs are not of interest to me and lend nothing of substance to the debate.
You will soon get the opportunity to purchase the insurance you have been lacking. It will be mandatory you do so. The Competition for insurance policies has been out there previously,, you chose not to participate.
Every thing I wrote is factual. , The debt will be what I stated, Doctors are leaving the profession and not taking on additional patients, companies are not hiring , are cutting back on hrs, and letting people go. Americans are owed billions , and I did not even mention the 100 bil more or less of unfunded mandates that will come due not even calculated into the debt. The EPA is on a rampage , churning out regs as fast as the presses can print them.
You are worried about how much money goes to insurance companies and how much they spend on administration. Have you considered that the IRS is hiring tens of thousands of lawyers and enforcement agents to extract $ from Americans relating to ObamaCare. Further tens of thousands of other bureaucrats will be needed to write further regs and administer the provisions of ObamaCare. I would be interested in knowing how much money you would estimate this will eat up?
Name one Government institution that utilizes $ in a more efficient manner than the private sector does. Name one that does not waste through fraud , abuse and waste at least 25% of the money it takes in.
When you have to EARN the money or revenue you take in you tend to watch where and how it is spent much closer. When you extract it relentlessly without end from others ,,, and there is always more to be had,,,, you do not care how much is wasted. After all ,, you can always get more.
None of us want to see people go without their basic needs ,,, health care being one of them. Totally disrupting a market and turning it upside down,,, that serves 75% of the population fairly well to accommodate 25% is not the answer. To coin a phrase you are throwing the baby out with the bath water.
In short the problems of health care should have been addressed singly and not in an all expansive , comprehensive law that NOBODY understands fully to this day. There are many unintended consequences yet to be seen that I would bet money will rub even you the wrong way once they are made known to you and they have a direct impact on your life.
I have a problem with the government madating how I will spend my personal money as well as my tax $. I have a problem with them spending more than they have and passing the bill along to myself as well as future generations who have not had their say.
It would be no different than me telling you that you must give me X amount per month and I will spend it on your behalf as I see fit,,, but rest assured I am doing it in your best interest,,,, and if I spend more than you have ,,,, do not worry ,,,, you can pay the diffference later !!!