Glenn Beck has audio of Chuck “Americans don’t care about pork spending” Schumer informing Progressives that he’d like to explore how to circumvent the U.S. Constitution.
Basically, Chucky wants to change the Constitution, which requires legislation to be passed by 2/3rd Majority vote. This will end any chance for the minority party to use the filibuster. Now why would Chucky do that? Maybe for those awesome progressive bills like ObamaCare?
OMGosh! I just heard about this and googled it. Thank you for posting! Tara
I just heard about Schumer’s declaration as well. Nothing any of these politicans do surprises me any more – left or right.
I would like to add some info about Obamacare here although not the topic.
I’m a MA resident living now for nearly 4 years under the mandated health insurance law in this state which is the underlying model of Obamacare. The Dems are telling everyone lately that people in MA have a great plan that they love. This is not true. It is regressive and oppressive, has caused taxes to increase and cuts to vital state programs. We understand firsthand how Obamacare works. Democrats here voted for Scott Brown in the hopes of stopping it.
Obama said all Americans will have choice. This is not true. If you are found eligible for expanded Medicaid, you have no other choice unless you can afford to buy a plan on the open market or are not auto-enrolled which is mentioned in the bills but not clear. Not only will you have difficulty finding a doctor who will see you, you will be subject to the federally-required estate recovery program which affects people 55 and up. This means that when you die, the state is allowed to take your assets $ for $ to pay for the benefits you rec’d. This is not a state decision. It is a federal reg which mandates states that receive federal Medicaid funding to have this program. Some states recover the minimum required – RX and hospital – some recover the max – all medical benefits – and some recover a mix. Estate recovery is not in the bills they are trying to pass. It is part of Medicaid regs, and the expansion of Medicaid is an integral part of Obamacare b/c without this, the CBO score would have been too high.
This is unconscionable under a mandate with no other affordable, comprehensive choice. If you enroll by phone (mentioned in the bills) or are auto-enrolled, how will you even know the terms of the contract and have an opportunity to agree to them by signature which is really a moot point b/c the insurance is compulsory. It is exploitation and discrimination.
Congressional members know about no choice for this segment of the population which in this economy is growing by leaps and bounds, and also about estate recovery – its been discussed in committees. They just don’t want to talk about this stuff and will either ignore you or tell you it’s only for old people going into nursing homes. Not true. It’s right on the signature page of the Medicaid forms b/c procedural rules state that applicants must be notified about estate recovery upon application and annual re-determination. You can read about what when on in MA around this at the truth link shown below. Some residents who are eligible for subsidized plans won’t sign up and opt for penalties. In MA, the subsidized plans are run through Medicaid. Medicaid also uses gross income instead of adjusted gross for eligibility whereas the subsidized plans at the Exchange will use adjusted gross per the bills I read. This is also discrimination.
Many in MA know what it’s like to pay tax penalties enforced as income tax evasion if not paid in full, on time. We know what it’s like to have to intentionally lower your income to get a cheaper penalty b/c you can’t afford the “affordable” insurance including the subsidized plans, and if you earn more money which you need to pay the increasing cost of living bills, you could end up in a more expensive insurance plan but didn’t earn enough to cover this AND never got to use the money to pay those bill. If you buy the cheapest gov’t approved coverage, it’s really quite expensive AND you can’t afford to USE it. And you won’t have carte plan shopping at the Exchange (this is called the Connector in MA) b/c the gov’t will tell you how much you can afford to pay based on PRIOR year income which will be verified b/c the Exchange will have access to your IRS return info.
There is much more but this blog isn’t the place and can’t hold it all anyways.
You can visit http://www.masshealthlawtruth.org to find out how this works in MA. Obamacare is very similar and will have the same affect on your life. Be sure to check out the links in the text to read the surveys and articles as also read all the articles under Other Resources.
This law is an abomination! Kennedy hired an architect of this to work on one of the Senate bills for Obamacare, and the math wizard who worked on the affordability scheule for the MA plan had a no-bid $400,000 contract with HHS to deal with some aspects of Obamacare and also met with Obama. That would be Jonathan Gruber. The MA plan was Romney’s brainchild, but Kennedy played a large role (read: bipartisan).
MA State Treasurer Cahill, an independent running for MA governor, has criticized the MA plan openly and says it is bankrupting MA and will do the same nationally, if a similar plan is passed in Congress. You can find the article at http://corner.nationalreview.com/
Hope you don’t mind my taking up this space to give info so you can let others know. People must read the bills. This law will put a cloud over the heads of many millions of Americans when they find out how it affects their daily lives.
We need reform, but this isn’t it. Sickness doesn’t know if you are red or blue, and politicians have no business deciding about our care. They are playing with our lives, and this is a bully law that targets a segment of the population that doesn’t have the resources to defend itself.
I made an error in my post above:
And you won’t have carte blanche when shopping for a plan at the Exchange is what I meant to say in the 7th paragraph. Any other typos, sorry. It’s 4:00 a.m.
[...] attempting to change the constitution and the process by which our government was designed to work. Ask Chuch Schumer about [...]