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Bushcare: Bush found solution to America's healthcare crisis 7 years ago. Too bad nobody listened.
Politico ^ | February 18, 2014 | By EDWARD LAZEAR

Posted on 02/19/2014 11:59:43 AM PST by Brad from Tennessee

The Congressional Budget Office’s warning that the Affordable Care Act will cause employment to fall by the equivalent of 2.5 million full-time workers is just the latest of Obamacare’s negative surprises. Unfortunately, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s statement that “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it” is proving to be depressingly accurate.

The law’s defenders legitimately argue that it is not sufficient merely to criticize the Affordable Care Act; responsible action requires proposing an alternative. Fortunately, Republicans have a good one, and it’s been hiding in plain sight for the past seven years. The plan was first described in President George W. Bush’s 2007 State of the Union Address, but it remains timely. This plan would remedy most of the major problems that exist in America’s health care system and cause less destruction with fewer adverse consequences than Obamacare.

There are two main problems associated with health care in the United States today. First, it is expensive. Health economists, among them Daniel Kessler at Stanford, have shown convincingly that the United States spends a larger share of its gross domestic product on health care than other countries (for example, about one-and-a-half times what Switzerland spends per capita) because of inappropriate incentives to use care efficiently. . .

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: abortion; bush; deathpanels; edwardlazear; gwbush; healthcare; obamacare; zerocare

1 posted on 02/19/2014 11:59:43 AM PST by Brad from Tennessee
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To: Brad from Tennessee

Remove regulations. Economies improve.


2 posted on 02/19/2014 12:02:26 PM PST by mbarker12474
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To: Brad from Tennessee

If you call the Bush plan ‘Obamacare’ (assuring that credit is not given to whom it is due), I’m sure that even lying conniving Democrats would vote for it.


3 posted on 02/19/2014 12:06:20 PM PST by LucianOfSamasota (Tanstaafl - its not just for breakfast anymore...)
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bfl


4 posted on 02/19/2014 12:10:06 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: Brad from Tennessee

I hate websites that insist on loading up my computer with their crap!!!!

I just bail when I cant stop a page from deluging me with garbage and videos that start while I’m trying to read.,
Fkrs


5 posted on 02/19/2014 12:12:47 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: LucianOfSamasota

A lot can be accomplished if you don’t care who gets the credit.


6 posted on 02/19/2014 12:28:37 PM PST by SMARTY ("When you blame others, you give up your power to change." Robert Anthony)
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To: Brad from Tennessee

Our problems with health care were the uninsured, and those with pre-existing conditions whom the insurance companies did not want.

We could have dealt with that for a fraction of the price of Obamacare. And without upsetting the apple cart on everyone else’s insurance.


7 posted on 02/19/2014 12:30:17 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Brad from Tennessee
Well, Pardon My Ignorance, but I believe that "there MUST be a Government plan is EXACTLY what America is NOT about.

The American way of life is that you live your life making out the best you can and I do the same. And, as long as we are not causing harm to one another, then it is not the Government's or anyone else's business. So, if I want health care coverage for me and mine, I get insurance. If you don't want to pay for insurance, then that's your business. I roll the dice with my money, and you do the same. If you crap out, then you hit up a charity hospital, but you, and your politicians, don't have the right to reach into my pocket to cover your expenses.
8 posted on 02/19/2014 12:38:59 PM PST by Darteaus94025 (Can't have a Liberal without a Lie)
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To: SMARTY

This comment was also posted on the desk of Commander Joe Rochefort, leader of Signals interception for the Navy in Hawaii during WWII.

He was relieved of command by Washington officers following the Battle of Midway who were interested in furthering their own careers. (The Redman Brothers).

Source: “And I Was There” by Admiral Layton, at the time of the war intelligence officer to Admiral Nimitz. During the war he held Commanders’ rank.


9 posted on 02/19/2014 12:43:05 PM PST by stisidore (MM, let's see here)
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To: Darteaus94025

It helps to read the column before posting. Lots.


10 posted on 02/19/2014 12:52:24 PM PST by Jacquerie ( Obama has established executive branch precedents that no election can reverse. Article V.)
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To: Brad from Tennessee

The”Answer”is “Vouchers”and FREE TRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


11 posted on 02/19/2014 1:16:27 PM PST by bandleader
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To: Vendome

Yeah, I just had to learn Politico is rarely worth it. I see “Politico” as the link, then when I reach the “Excerpt” link I start skipping down the thread to see if anybody mentions what I’ve missed. I really hate some excerpts.


12 posted on 02/19/2014 1:24:19 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (H.L. Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.")
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To: Brad from Tennessee
There is nothing wrong with American healthcare, we got the most excellent care in the world.

It is paying for it when the government keeps imposing itself so the cost goes throughout the roof.

Just thought I would reiterate it.

13 posted on 02/19/2014 1:26:46 PM PST by Slyfox (We want our pre-existing HEALTH INSURANCE back!)
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To: Jacquerie
It sure does, AND it helps to understand a comment before insinuating a criticism!

The article's point: the Republican's have proposed a plan, and that plan is better than the ACA.

My point: The Republicans are under NO obligation to offer any plan, and that, I believe, is the point they s/b making. The very act of the Republicans proposing a plan, sends them up the political box canyon of "Who's plan is better", and that argument ("Who gives away the free stuff") they will never, EVER win.

Back to my point: the Republicans s/b arguing that citizens should keep their own money and make their own plans-period! That is the argument they s/b advancing DIRECTLY, not as an occasional after mentioned side effect of being able to "purchase plans across state lines", so you will be able to save some of your money.
14 posted on 02/19/2014 1:47:38 PM PST by Darteaus94025 (Can't have a Liberal without a Lie)
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To: LucianOfSamasota

I liked my old has so much if I could get it back ,I’d give it a try


15 posted on 02/19/2014 4:20:45 PM PST by griswold3 (Post-Christian America is living on borrowed moral heritage)
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To: stisidore

Attributed to Reagan, Truman, and Bob Woodruff(Coca Cola CEO 1926 -1954)

http://www.quotes.net/quote/8259

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/harrystru109615.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_said_there_is_no_limit_to_what_you_can_achieve_as_long_as_you_don’t_care_who_gets_the_credit


16 posted on 02/19/2014 5:43:06 PM PST by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad and lived with his parents .)
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To: Vendome
"I hate websites that insist on loading up my computer with their crap!!!!"

Even more frustrating are those sites that tease you with a message like "Five Sure-Fire Anti-Cancer Foods," so you click on it, are taken to a website, and are greeted with endless folksy yammering. I don't mind if they are trying to sell me something, but GET TO THE POINT!!! They go on and on - 5, 10 minutes or more - and you still haven't gotten to the meat of the message. I've gotten to the point where if they don't deliver in 60 seconds, I'm gone. It seems like a horrible marketing technique to insist on taking up so much of people's time.
17 posted on 02/19/2014 6:02:12 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Vendome
I hate websites that insist on loading up my computer with their crap!!!!

I didn't get any such thing.

18 posted on 02/19/2014 7:07:02 PM PST by Right Wing Assault
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To: Brad from Tennessee

“The basic structure is to offer all Americans a standard tax deduction, in 2007 set at $15,000 for families and $7,500 for individuals. The deduction would apply to payroll tax — both employee and employer contribution — as well as to income tax. Importantly, the size of the deduction would be independent of the amount spent on the plan. Any taxpayer who has a plan that includes catastrophic coverage gets the full deduction, irrespective of the plan’s cost. That is important because it creates the incentives to choose efficiently. A family that wanted to spend less on the plan than the value of the deduction would pocket the difference. A family that wanted to spend more on a plan than the value of the of the deduction would bear the additional cost out of pocket. As a consequence, consumers would reap the full benefit of keeping the cost of their plan low, which prompts them to shop and choose effectively. If the extra coverage offered by a $10,000 plan over an $8,000 one is not worth at least $2,000 to the consumer, he will not purchase it.”


19 posted on 02/19/2014 7:21:42 PM PST by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: TBP
Thanks for explaining this in more detail. The merits of this plan is its simplicity for the consumer and its frugality in terms of bureaucratic resources required for its administration. That's why Democrats rejected it. The main goal of ObamaCare, as well as Dodd-Frank, the “Stimulus,” and the proposed Cap-and-Trade act, is to build new monolithic bureaucracies staffed and run by partisan Democrats.
20 posted on 02/22/2014 9:45:21 AM PST by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
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