"Those all three were tied to COVID."

So giving money is bad, unless Republicans are doing it?!?

Are those goalposts heavy when you have to keep moving them???

"Free stuff isn't generally what you get from Republicans."

Unless you're a corporation or a billionaire, then we borrow trillions to fund expiring tax cuts.

"Should I assume you mean free stuff you can hold in your hand or deposit in your bank"

Like Stimulus I, Stimulus II, and the PPP?

All given out by Trump, who also wanted a third stimulus 42% higher than Biden's $1400.

"Just a few more dem policies rescinded by republicans"

Don't forget the energy credits.

I'm just about to send out my end-of-year tax tips. This year's headline is DO ENERGY UPGRADES NOW!

The tax credits end on Dec 31st at midnight. The installations must be completed, and the check cleared by then.

"I'll have to look into the 60% comment to see what I said or if I did say it."

It was the AI stuff you posted; clearly you'd given it some garbage prompts. It even claimed the three items I mentioned (no tax on tips, overtime, and SS) were being "phased in" (they're not) and that none expired before Trump is slated to leave office (all expire three weeks before Jan 20, 2029).

It also made my point about tax cuts going to the wealthiest, as if I'd suggested otherwise.

Clearly we're dealing with GIGO.

"He asked, "what substantive laws has the republican party passed or promoted that benefits the poor and middle class"

Well, borrowing $5 Trillion so you can get a hundred bucks doesn't benefit the poor and middle classes AT ALL.

Just like you borrowing $100,000 to burn it for warmth isn't really a benefit for you.

Also, Bill, the other night you posted a fact where 60% of taxpayers got a break under Trump 1.0.

You conflated that to mean they got 60% of the tax cuts.

Nothing could be further from the truth. American workers got roughly 15% of Trump 1.0, LESS THAN what foreign investors got.

Think of you getting $20 a week, while the billionaire gets a million dollars a week.

"The Bush tax cuts helped lower-income earners"

WTF are you talking about?

"Because (Republicans) didn't cause this."

Of course they did; who TF do you think repealed the mandate?

And are you so dumb you believe they didn't know what they were doing?!?

"I wouldn't go so far as to say I believe it, though."

That's exactly what I expect from someone with your level of intelligence.

"That's possibly true."

Admit you don't understand the math without using those specific words.

There is NO DOUBT it's true, just based on the math.

It's how all the countries with UHC make it work, and for a LOWER percentage of GDP than Americans pay, for measurably worse outcomes.

"ACA isn't working anywhere remotely like it was originally envisioned."

That's because the mandate was removed.

Even the Heritage Foundation will admit eschewing the mandate makes the equation unsustainable.

Why aren't you blaming the folks who threw the monkey wrench into the gears?!?

" I think dems already squandered their opportunity and the GOP deserves a chance to do something."

They did.

They eliminated the mandate.

Why won't you blame them for removing a leg? Or are you just going to bitch it's wobbly?

"Bill, you're no Christian. Don't know what to call you. "Leviticus?""

I think Cain serves him best.

I mean, what summarizes BJ more than Am I my bother's keeper?!?

"Dems aren't offering a workable long term solution"

They bent the medical inflation trajectory down, and kept millions of boomers like you from getting put into high-risk pools.

Time for Republicans to do something positive for a change.

"Mandate without cost controls would end up right back where we are."

You're saying it's running short of money. That's 100% the Republicans' doing.

Why won't you give credit where credit is due? This is TRUMPCARE in all its glory.

"Mandate without cost controls would end up right back where we are."

There WERE cost controls; TRUMPCARE repealed that part.

Why won't The Party of Responsibility take any Responsibility?!?

" ACA is a failure. It requires more and more money to prop it up."

Everyone who has ever worked on this problem in good faith has concluded a mandate is the only way it can survive.

Then Republicans eliminated the mandate.

This is TRUMPCARE.

One more very important thing about the ACA:

Back in the 80s, no one had ever heard the phrase "pre-existing conditions". By 2008, that phrase was everywhere, and the baby boomers (virtually all with PECs) were just about to be tossed into high-risk pools, which were charging about 10X the COBRA rate at that time.

FTW, COBRA is made available to insured folks for ~18 months after termination, but because a) it takes all comers, and b) folks who know they'll need it are more likely to opt for it...the price is roughly the same as for a 64 yr old man, i.e., the top rate of the market. But while that was roughly $500-$600/mo in the year before the ACA, the high risk pools were charging roughly $5000-$6000/mo.

"legislation that only helped the insurance companies."

Not true at all. It helped every Trustee of every Health Plan in America.

As I referenced above, the decade before O'Care saw 31% inflation, but 131% medical inflation, more than FOUR TIMES regular inflation. Health Plan Trustees were freaking out. I should know: I was a Health Plan Trustee, and my colleagues and I were freaking out.

Obamacare, combined with the fallout from the Bush Bust & Bailout of 2007-2009, bent the inflation trajectory downward, and gave a lot of breathing room to a lot of health plans. And forced rebates when profits exceeded 25% woke up the industry: any excessive jumps would just trigger excessive paperwork on the back end.

I've been on this blog over 20 years. Regulars know I've been against the ACA from the start, but always said I'd give it props if it addressed runaway medical inflation.

It did.

" and ram through a PoS legislation "

Actually, the legislation wasn't that bad: it was based on a Heritage Foundation model, which (quite sensibly) admitted it doesn't work without a mandate. In the early years, O'Care bent down the medical inflation trajectory (which had been 400% of regular inflation for the prior decade), and even caused rebates to clients (like me!) when expenses didn't hit 80% of revenue.

Then Republicans unilaterally killed the mandate.

Blaming the architects isn't fair if you cut off the one leg both sides admit is VITAL. You can't call it Obamacare if you take away its central tenet.

Since the mandate was repealed, it's been Trumpcare.

Now, it's turning into The Unaffordable Care Act

"If someone else has to provide you the "right", it isnt a right."

Say the most Un-American thing you can possibly say.

FFS, dude, isn't America's entire feel-good history centered around restoring rights some despot has taken away???

"Both parties are..."

Whataboutism is always a middle finger to Independents.

We can govern schittttty, because the other side did.

" go sit in the corner and let the adults talk"

The "adults" seem to be okay with violating international law and our Constitution.

Didn't you take an oath to protect and defend their rights?!?

"Not a shareholder?, then your opinion's meaningless in the scheme of things."

You're right.

I'll just short for no reason at all.