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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The RIGHT Alternatives

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  September 8th, 2009 at 07:30 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Jed Babbin has the top story at Human Events today. He’s looking at conservative alternatives to the Democrats’ healthcare ideas.

After a disastrous August recess for the president’s Obamacare plan, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid will call Congress back into session today.  

Did they learn anything during “teachable August”?  Apparently not. The national unemployment rate is still rising (exceeding the worst level in more than 26 years), the war — in both Iraq and Afghanistan — is going badly, and Congress will be devoting all its time and energy to health care “reform.”

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COMMENTS

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  • EagleWatcher

    How much lipstick will they need for this Obama Hell Care pig?

  • lurker9876

    Looks like he’s about to cave in to give Baucus what he wants. He’s embracing: 1) Coops. and 2) Taxing the insurance companies to cover the costs of the uninsureds.

    People need to call him.

  • Mayhem

    This is great for conservatives. I tend to think real conservatives have been advocating these ideas for many months now.

    For the Republicans in Congress, though, I think it is best to just sit back and watch the Democrats feed on themselves. If the Republicans come out with a significant alternative bill, it will change the dynamics of the debate (against us, I fear) and allow the Democrats to unite around an opposition plan.

    The Dems are looking for anything to gain traction from, and a GOP bill to attack would provide them with that. I think the worst thing the GOP could do is to offer an alternative reform plan. It won’t get a vote anyway, and the voters won’t start paying attention to it until late next year, when the midterms approach.

    Conservatives, keep pushing these ideas in the media. Republicans, please don’t put them on paper.

  • JoeG

    I agree with your point completely.

    The democrats are figuring out it’s a LOT harder to be in power than to be in the opposition.

  • larryp

    I had the man from the NSRC call for money. I said what exatly are the Republicans doing on the Health care. Absent from the debate., He said Oh John Cornyn is speking out.Have you heard him? I said sometimes 20 sec onthe news. So the NSRC fund raiser says ‘Oh Sen Cornyn is on C-span a lot talking on these issues…
    C-span?? with like 4300 watchers maybe.
    Pathetic.
    so my idea is to buy 1/2 hr of tv time on the ABC,NBGC CBS. Won’t sell it to the GOP? Keep raising the price. By the time it gets to 20 million or 25 million dollars, one wil crack and then all will jump forthe money.It will be the best money spent. Expensive but better than being an echo or Democrat punching bag.
    Then choose some one that is not a Squish-goper to give the talk.No one sleepy or dopey, no one wishy-washy either.Maybe Boehner, He has some pretty good comments sometimes that no one sees ever.
    He can talk to people,not at or over, Talk aboutthe crossstate idea. Talk about tax credit for the purcase of health coverage. Build up tedoca and the nurses and support staff. Hold up the HR 3200. Show itto the people.
    read a couple of sections. No health care there only control. Can’t get the kids medical tratment from HR3200.

  • sickofitall

    1. abolish Medicare and Bush’s disaster of a prescription drug benefit
    2. abolish tort law or in a worst case scenario cap all settlements (something like $15K)
    3. enact federal tax exempt savings plans to finance the purchase of insurance and payment for procedures
    4. pass a law preventing the government from meddling in private insurance’s ability to choose to whom they offer service

    The end result will be a more robust medical community, lower bills, lower overhead for insurance companies, more money in the hands of patients to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. The only way for America to get back on to the path to greatness (besides rejecting our failed leadership) is for people to take personal responsibility for their health and well-being. Obviously this combined with serious tax reform (elimination of the death tax, capital gains taxes and all income taxes above a certain bracket) will also leave a lot of extra capital in the hands of charitable organizations who can easily fill in any gaps in health care coverage.

  • baserunr

    but the GOP should definitely use one of it’s Docs! There needs to be an alternative in the ether, but I would avoid, for the moment, giving the Dems anything to concentrate their firepower on. Debate this everywhere except on the floor of the legislature.

  • Kyle-MI

    Heard reporting on the radio about Obama’s Labor Day speech to his union thugs. The part that really got me riled up was Obama’s complaint that Republicans are complaining but have nothing to offer as an alternative. What a bald face lie! There are plenty of Republican (and more importantly conservative) ideas for healthcare reform. Everything from tort reform to decoupling health insurance from employment. The problem is that all GOP ideas do matter while the Dems hold the White House and both houses of Congress. The Dems don’t need a single GOP vote to pass their garbage. Obama and the Dems are simply looking for political cover.