Showing posts with label Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Show all posts

2.15.2019

That "Green New Deal"


A few questions for Democrats about the Green New Deal ... Presidential debate moderators should ask: How soon do you plan to abolish airplanes? And cows? 


  • As you know, the original Green New Deal appeared to call for the end of cows. How do you envision this taking place? How will cattle owners be compensated? What will happen to the dairy industry? What’s the impact on the GDP and unemployment rate of wiping out cows? Is there a technological response to the “cow fart” problem identified in the Green New Deal? Can you describe it?
  • As you know, the Green New Deal called for an end to airplanes. Exactly how are people going to travel across oceans if planes are grounded? Wouldn’t this create a significant imbalance in military preparedness if the United States gives up its aviation sector? And how many people are employed by the aviation industry? What happens to them? And what about Davos?
  • As you know, the Green New Deal said those unwilling to work will be taken care of with full medical benefits and other subsidies. What’s the cost of this provision? How do you incline the able-bodied-and-healthy-but-lazy to work when they can receive money and enjoy the same health benefits as someone who enjoys working?
  • As you know, the Green New Deal included among its 15 “requirements”: “Obtain free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples.” What does that mean? When you endorsed the Green New Deal, did you have in mind written consent from the nearly 3 million Native Americans in the country? What would they be consenting to? Does each Native American have a veto over, say, the plan’s requirement to “upgrade or replace every building in the US for state-of-the-art energy efficiency?” Even if consent is obtained, what is that new, federal, supersized nationalized building code going to cost?
  • As you know, the original Green New Deal also included among its 15 requirements: “Ensure an economic environment free of monopolies and unfair competition.” Doesn’t the Green New Deal presume a level of governmental control over all of the economy - “every building,” after all, is in its scope, not to mention the entire bovine population - that dwarfs that of monopolies of the past? How is the level of mandatory and centralized government command-and-control authority it requires different from a Soviet-style five-year plan or Mao’s Great Leap Forward? What will happen to people who say, “No thanks. My new building is up to code” or “I like my cows”?
  • How would the Green New Deal oblige the United States to deal with countries devastated by socialism and fascism such as Venezuela, which the rebuilding of - indeed the feeding of the people of - requires sale of their vast petroleum reserves?
  • Do you regret endorsing the Green New Deal? If so, what does it say about your judgment that you were for the Green New Deal before you were against it?
Comment: The text of is here / Original here / The original FAQs:



Any large-scale transformation of society can create the risk of some people slipping through the cracks. That’s why the Green New Deal also calls for an upgrade to the basic economic securities enjoyed by all people in the US to ensure everybody benefits from the newly created wealth. It guarantees to everyone:
  • A job with family-sustaining wages, family and medical leave, vacations, and retirement security
  • High-quality education, including higher education and trade schools
  • High-quality health care
  • Clean air and water
  • Healthy food
  • Safe, affordable, adequate housing
  • An economic environment free of monopolies
  • Economic security to all who are unable or unwilling to work

Posted by Jim Peet at 2/15/2019 05:44:00 PM 0 comments

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7.29.2018

Reality Check: Medicare for all is a socialist’s dream





Medicare for all is a socialist’s dream — and an American Nightmare

Excerpt:

we know exactly what Medicare for All would look like.

First, it would be unfair. Forty-four million Americans paid for their Medicare benefits by contributing for 40 years or more into the Medicare Trust. The rest of the American public did not contribute their fair share, so why should they be given for free what others paid dearly for?

Second, even in its present form, Medicare isn’t sustainable. The Congressional Research Service reports the Medicare Trust Fund will be insolvent in less than 10 years. When that happens, Medicare will be broke and seniors will not get the care they need. Why would anyone want to extend the problem of no-care to everyone?

Maybe when candidates such as Ocasio-Cortez promote Medicare-for-All, they’re looking for a system where the government provides health insurance to all for no charge. But wait! We already have such a system. It’s called Medicaid. Maybe supporters of Medicare-for-All are really advocating Medicaid-for-All.

Medicaid is a failure. Because mandates from Washington dictate how the states spend their money, states are not in control of the largest single item in their budgets. And because Medicaid spending comes first, other state priorities must accept the leftovers. Worst of all, Medicaid provides inadequate access to care and instead of making people healthy, Medicaid has caused unnecessary suffering and even death.

Let’s face it, Medicare-for-All is really code for government controlled, single-payer healthcare. After all, England and Canada appear to have successful single-payer systems. Why shouldn’t it work here? 

It all depends on how you define success. The British and the Canadians pay a very high cost for their systems, and not only in monetary terms. Single-payer health care systems take away individual choice, they discourage life-saving research and innovations, and they exchange quality of care for a balanced budget

And there are heart-breaking cases such as Alfie Evans and Charlie Gard — babies in Great Britain who were left to die at the behest of the government. In the National Health Service, the government has the final say in all medical decisions — not patients or their families.

Americans, even those who respond favorably to polls about a vague Medicare-for-All system, would never stand for that.

There is death-by-queueing in single payer systems, where sick persons die from treatable conditions because they could not get care in time and succumb “waiting in line” for care. You don’t even have to go outside the U.S. to see these avoidable deaths. In our own single payer or Medicare-for-All system, the VA, “307,000 veterans may have died waiting for medical care.” 

Medicare-for-All, aka government-controlled healthcare, is precisely what we don’t want. It will either deny us the care we need or land our nation in bankruptcy court. Most people thought the cost of Obamacare, $1.34 trillion, was excessive, but that’s peanuts compared to the $18 trillion price tag for Bernie Sanders’ — and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s — Medicare-for-All.

Instead of government-controlled, insurance-dominated healthcare, we need to return to our roots, to what made our country great: the free market. In 2017, the U.S. spent $3.4 trillion on healthcare for 323 million Americans, or $10,526 for every man, woman and child. Imagine if every family of four put $42,105 in an HSA every year! and simply shopped for and paid for their health care. No government stealing our money to pay its bureaucracy. No insurance company delaying or denying care. Just the old but right doctor-patient relationship with no one and nothing in between.
Comment: We are on Medicare. Fact ... if you don't have Medicare supplement plan, your out of pocket would sink you!

Contrarian view:
Another view:


Posted by Jim Peet at 7/29/2018 02:42:00 PM 0 comments

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7.02.2018

The New Face of the Democratic Party - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez




Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Platform




Not just me saying it ...











































Posted by Jim Peet at 7/02/2018 03:40:00 PM 1 comments

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