It should come as no surprise that a man with no principles would attack Congressman Charlie Dent for following his conscience. Trump supposedly claimed at one point last week that Dent was "destroying the Republican party," and would get the blame when his tax code overhaul fails.
I find it amusing that Trump has suddenly become a team player, now that he finds himself at the head of that team, and wants everyone to do what he wants, right or wrong. This is the fatal flaw of partisan politics.Ron Beitler explains:
"I'm an Eagles fan of the bleed green variety. We pride ourselves in rooting for the team thick or thin. Perfectly appropriate attitude for a sports team. But not for politics. The 'click bait anti left' is far too willing to blindly ignore Trump's many many severe flaws. And Trump masterfully gives them fodder to ignore the problems with his 'fake news' fantasy. I contend that Trump populism actually hurts movement conservatism. Conservatives should be winning hearts and minds with our ideas. Not by engaging in the very same kind of identity politics that the alt left does."Charlie Dent told me the first time I sat down with him in 2007 that he considers himself a centrist who leans right. And that's what he's been. While he certainly supports his team, he believes it should be a broad-based team.He's a nuanced thinker for whom details matter. Trump is the opposite. "Forget about the little shit," the so-called deal maker with absolutely no grasp of policy told House members.
Having lost, he's driven off in his kiddie car and is blaming everyone except himself. He will no doubt recruit a challenger to Charlie Dent, and Dent will win again. A liar might fool the people briefly. But Trump has already worn out his welcome.
Dent deserves a lot of credit for withstanding the pressure from the Republican machine to vote their way. Dent would make a better President than Trump.
ReplyDeleteMr. Dent has disappointed his President, the Freedom Caucus and Republicans. He deserted the fight to end Obamacare and return democracy to healthcare. He has lost the respect of President Trump. Where is the loyalty to our President?
ReplyDeleteIn what world should anyone show loyalty to this clown of a President who shows ZERO loyalty to anyone but his own reflection?!?!
ReplyDeleteDent voted to repeal Obamacare about 50 times. Now, when it counts, he backs off and doesn't support a bill to replace. That's not political courage. It's just the opposite. He's gutless.
ReplyDeleteTrump Derangement Syndrome
ReplyDeleteIs there not one conservative Republican who can run against this RINO?
ReplyDeleteMaureen Dowd had an interesting op ed this weekend in the NYT analyzing Trump vs Reagan.
ReplyDeleteRep Dent, you are on the correct side of History on this one and could see this was a garbage bill that had everything to do with repeal for political reasons and little to do with Healthcare. Barletta, was easy to cave to a President who has a poor track record of telling the truth. Those that supported this bill should give up their CongressCare in place of this lousy replacement plan. Dent for Speaker.
I have no respect for Charles Dent and his moderate centrist views. He's been touting the repeal of Obama Care for years, however, he has not put forth one viable replacement plan. Granted, the Ryan AHCA was put together too quickly and lacked substance for a repeal and replace bill, however, When Obama Care implodes and burns millions of people, the "useless" republican from the Lehigh Valley can be the direct and proximate cause of this catastrophe! As an independent, who voted for the useless establishment Dent years ago, he will never get a vote from me again.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't single payer on the books? Let us buy into what is already there and put these greedy non for profit hospitals and insurance companies out of business once and for all.
ReplyDeleteSimple fix but if you follow the $$ and the lobiest it will never happen because the insurance company bought and paid for your republican heroes
Where is the loyalty to our President?
ReplyDeleteUnlike your loyalty oath to der Fuhrer, Dent took his to protect the Constitution. Loyalty to Trump and only Trump is what he has demanded. He got a taste of what it is like to be CEO of The United States and not his private palace.
".... But most of you know by now that our so-called President, Donald Trump, has no integrity....."
ReplyDeleteThat lost my interest right away hearing the same old "Democratic Resistance" nonsense from Bernie.
Trump's bafoonery mentions nothing about the root cause of rising healthcare costs. When he throws out mash potatoe statistics, why doesnt he quote the growing insurance industry, CEO salaries and growing profits? HEY Speaker Ryan, CongressCare seems to work. Why not nationalize it?
ReplyDelete"mash potatoe"? Who are you, Dan Quail?
ReplyDeleteWhile the Democrats celebrate the survival of the health care equivalent of the Hindenburg disaster for the GOP, the fact is that they still own the rapidly deflating Obamacare, which they passed on straight party-line votes in 2009. The Democrats still own it. The Republicans didn't fix or replace Obamacare, but they didn't break it, either.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that leftists get elected by promising free stuff. The problem with giving people free stuff, and government spending in general, is that you cannot eliminate anything later on. It's like putting the people on heroin to addict them to rely on government for everything in life.
So Paul Ryan was trying to set health care on a path to market reform without disturbing the status quo of pre-existing conditions and insurance for 26-year-old children. But Ryan couldn't pull it off for two reasons: The Trump GOP who wanted to pull the plug on Obamacare, and Democrats didn’t see the need to help establishment Republicans stop the ObamaCare death spiral.
But the real problem isn't Obamacare, it's a symptom of the underlying disease which we were afflicted with after World War II: Government giving away free stuff for votes. I suppose that the Democrats believe that sooner or later they will get back into power and give single-payer to a grateful nation. Maybe they are right. However when we arrive at that Nirvana, who will be able to afford it?
Remember: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” - Margaret Thatcher.
All of you anti Charlie commenters above deride him for not supporting a BAD BILL which had NO CHANCE of clearing the Senate.
ReplyDeleteThanks to a clear headed Rep Dent for a rational decision and congrats on standing up to the short fingered vulgarian who occupies the people's house (until Pence assumes the job,,,,,by sept 1st ??)
I am so tired of watching Dent on TV criticize his own party, those in his Party who tried to put something forth. He should wash that dirty laundry in private, which tells me a lot about Mr. Dent. I have stopped supporting him.
ReplyDelete8:57 Jeb Bush is proud of Charlie Dent
ReplyDeleteIf the Democrats were wise, they would have organized enough House votes to pass this replacement disaster. It was essentially an Obamacare-Lite bill. Now, the coming collapse is ALL on them.
ReplyDeleteI guess this means Hillary Clinton was the better option for President. Ha!
Dave is right on target here that once you dole out freebies it is very difficult to take it back. So now let's hope Charlie Dent helps bring some democrats into the fold to scale back the handouts as Obamacare is simply a huge budget buster handing out money to freeloaders working part time. Has anyone seen the real cost of Obamacare in any report from the CBO vs their supposed expert analysis when the dems passed this handout? The answer is no because they blew it assuming businesses would cover the cost for all their part time employees. Fact of the matter is that didn't happen & the government picked up the cost & added thousands of IRS agents in the process at exhorbitant salaries.
ReplyDeleteLet's see Charlie's plan laid out with bipartisan support.
Need more in congress like Dent, both Democrat and Republican who think for themselves (and their constituents) rather than each parties extreme ideologies. The far left and far right are just distracting noise machines that are preventing anything from getting done.
ReplyDeleteObamacare is flawed, we've known this for almost 8 years, yet NOBODY bothered to prepare a workable and politically viable alternative in all that time?
We do need to drain the swamp - but that means getting rid of hard core liberals and hard core conservatives. Get independent thinkers in there who can listen and work with each other, instead of just politically scheme and plan to make the other party look bad.
The Freedom Caucus killed ACHA. Agree or disagree with them, they consistently put principles before politics. Within the Republican Caucus the ACHA vote was Trump populists and lackeys (get the "win" at all costs) vs. Conservatives who right or wrong stand for something. The "moderates" - an endangered species - were really on the periphery. Dent didn't kill this bill. But Trump needs someone in the crosshairs to blame someone. It's his nature to deflect blame.
ReplyDeleteAlso question - Jan last year full repeal passed and went to the Presidents desk where Obama vetoed. Same bill passes tomorrow. Does Trump sign?
My opinion. ACHA was a rushed total mess. It would have made the existing failed program worse. Personally, I don't believe the federal government has a role to play in finagling the healthcare insurance market. It's a role the states should fill. (should they choose to). If a state like Massachusetts wants to mess around with a Romneycare or similar system have at it. If they succeed other states will adopt. If they fail, the fallout is contained. Unleash the laboratories of Democracy on the problem. That's how our nation was designed to work.
Absent of that there is a framework that I think makes sense. It was proposed by 4 Republican Governors. (Perry, Kasich, Hutchinson, Sandoval) It maintains a federal framework but gives states a menu of options and offers maximum flexibility.
The plan which represents an improvement to ACA is outlined here and is the roadmap to move forward.
http://healthtransformation.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=S_gEqkALBFY=&tabid=160
And Obamacare is without any doubt a failure from a cost control standpoint. I say that from my personal experience. My premiums have risen 340% over since inception. As a small business owner, my premium (the lowest offered) is now 440 dollars a month. That covers myself. Not my family. My wife has her own insurance through her work which I cannot get on. That means as a small business owner making 40k or so a year my Obamacare premiums alone represent more than 10% of my total yearly income. And that of course isn't the cost of healthcare. Not even close. That's just the baseline. Before I even step into a doctors office or actually get sick. That's when the crippling 7,500 dollar deductible kicks in.
ReplyDeleteTotal and complete failure. But ACHA would have made it worse. Without a doubt.
The part I struggle with is pre-existing conditions. That's the positive of Obamacare. Is it moral to take that away from someone after the horse is out the barn?
Patriot2 is a person who claimed that we should put the brakes on repeal and replace for cogent policy reason, then reversed himself for purely political reasons.
ReplyDeleteLet's be clear about Charlie Dent. He was opposed to Obamacare. He considers it terrible legislation. He drafted and/or supported numerous amendments to the bill that would have made it more palatable. He supported an incremental approach, and likely still does.
What people are forgetting on both sides is that this was not called Obamacare but the "Affordable" health care act. The whole point was to reduce cost. Dent supported paperwork reduction, which frees up health care professionals so they can actually care for patients instead of insurance companies. He supported enabling insurance companies from outside the state to compete for business. He supported elimination of the bedpan tax, which is just passed on to you and me. He has taken a reasoned and methodical approach and is willing to look at this like an adult while Trump and his cheerleaders are only interested in winning as opposed to enacting legislation that works.
Charlie is a center-right pol. His proposals will bother some of the extremists on the left. But hopefully the center-right and center-left can get together and start governing.
Charlie's proposals are all peripheral to the real hard issue of gov't subsidy to individuals that is draining the treasury. His issues eliminate some of the revenues from the equipment tax on manufacturers without reducing the subsidy payments.
DeleteNow he needs to address the hard issue of taking away subsidies that we can't afford--let's see how he does in a leadership role in that regard before we knight him!!
Hope Ron above got a subsidy from the exchange since he only makes $40,000/ year and qualifies.
"That lost my interest right away hearing the same old "Democratic Resistance" nonsense from Bernie."
ReplyDeleteYet here you are commenting. Has Trump apologized for calling a US District Court judge a so-called judge? Until he does, he is a so-called president.
"Maureen Dowd had an interesting op ed this weekend in the NYT analyzing Trump vs Reagan."
ReplyDeleteHate to say this, but I never much cared for her writing, despite her vocabulary. I find her snide, elitist and amazingly shallow for someone who pontificates on nuanced national issues. But that column is probably her best in several years.
Bernie/Ron - completely agree - Affordable is the key word and per Ron's %'s and $'s its clearly not working.
ReplyDeleteI don't oppose a government run healthcare system, despite the abusers out there, I know there are plenty of people who genuinely need and rely on it. We have to figure out ways to control costs and increase efficiencies within the system...
We are all unconstitutional wiretapped...legal and illegal means nothing and is forever changing.
ReplyDeleteTrump isn't anything he hasn't always been unlike the fourth amendment which is now meaningless.
Tucker Carlson had William Binny on his show and explained what is going on with the bulk acquisition of the Stellarwind Program.
The interview can be seen here--- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3qlil0vyV8
There may be dozens of reason that make Trump a horrible choice for president but shinning a light on the Deep State is not one of them.
My subsidy is 20 some dollars a month. The actual cost of the plan I am forced to enroll in is 460 something.
ReplyDeleteTo clarify, my subsidy is determined by my wife and my combined income. But, I cannot get on her insurance. And therefore must enroll in Obamacare since I'm a small business owner. Our combined income is 70k. She's a preschool teacher. I pay for my obamacare out of my earnings. 12% of my individual earnings precisely for the premium before I ever get sick.
ReplyDelete#Broken
@7:26,
ReplyDeleteSingle payer will make healthcare a monopoly. It won't put the non-profit hospitals out of business. It will make them omnipotent. They will control all aspects of healthcare, from deciding if a surgery is financially beneficial, to birth and death.
We have the best healthcare arraignment... for private insurance.
ReplyDeleteWe all give money to insurance companies right up to the point where we need healthcare. At around 65 when most of the healthcare cost are realized we go on the social safety net.
Social security was not enacted to take care of seniors but to shunt the cost of healthcare to the public purse when it's most likely to occur, having collected premiums 65 years.
Now if insurance companies could just get those sick people under 65 off their books.
@11:05,
ReplyDeleteCosts could be controlled if insurance companies weren't so greedy. They are all top-heavy in management. In order to get what a healthcare provider deems to be a fair reimbursement, they must overbill. The insurer then uses their formula to knock that down to what pleases them and their suits.
Why can't I PURCHASE Medicare and Medicaid at any age?
ReplyDeleteThe system is already there all that's needed is a premium schedule.
Let insurance companies compete with Medicare and Medicaid.
I do think that putting low income earners into Medicaid with a premium schedule based on income may be the best solution vs this system of gov't reimbursing insurance carriers based upon some estimated income from the exchanges.
ReplyDeleteSo perhaps we end up with a hybrid system of private insurance thru the workplace & Medicaid for low income non working or partial working people.
Perhaps we also let private industry set up clinics for Medicaid only patients somewhat like the 24 hour emergicare centers that are cropping up all over.
Healthcare cost and premiums are counted in on the Gross Domestic Product of our country.
ReplyDeleteThis bookkeeping scam of counting a cost as and part of the GDP is a problem when you try to cut cost in healthcare, you essentially lower the nations GDP.
How does lowering the nations GDP sound?
This is what you get when you leave healthcare to capitalist.
Dent only, represents himself. He should be voted out of office!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to personally thank all of the PA voters who entered the booth with a head full of Russian fake news and conspiracies about Hillary Clinton and elected this human excrement to the Presidency. Good job, dunces.
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteLove the pic, a senior moment of road rage of the somewhat fake Perez?
"Dent only, represents himself. He should be voted out of office!"
ReplyDeleteDent is one of the few grown-ups left in Congress, and I would much rather see him in the White House than the current buffoon. He has withstood numerous challenges over the years, and it is a mistake to take him lightly. The kind of mistake I would expect from someone who expected support for a bill that was worse than the one it was intended to replace.
Is there not one conservative Republican who can run against this RINO?
ReplyDeleteHere's a genius that thinks the Lehigh Valley will vote for a farther right Republican than Dent. Dreamland. Dent just got a lifetime seat with this stance.
I am so tired of watching Dent on TV criticize his own party, those in his Party who tried to put something forth. He should wash that dirty laundry in private, which tells me a lot about Mr. Dent. I have stopped supporting him.
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth would he support an incompetent traitor? Its the other Repubs you should be worried about, Komrade.
"They will control all aspects of healthcare, from deciding if a surgery is financially beneficial, to birth and death."
ReplyDeleteThey already do and have long before Obama was President. What fairyland do some of these people live in? When did for profit health insurance companies become charities? When did insurance company accountants not decide what your healthcare would be?
I really wonder what echo chamber bubble some people have lived in for the past 30 years. The fact is healthcare has been spiraling out of control since the early nineties. The cost explosion has escalated. No one forced Insurance companies to raise premiums in ridiculous ways, no one forced Pharmaceutical companies to charge U.S citizens exorbitant costs for basic medication.
There was a time when you could buy shit policies that worked as long as you went to a doctor once a year and didn't really need serious care. Once you did you were in trouble.
Healthcare is not the auto industry. Pure capitalism is not inherently moral or compassionate. It is time for healthcare to be a right of all people regardless of income or type of job.
The only cost drivers of healthcare is the Healthcare Industrial Complex itself. The ACA just exposed how flawed the system has always been.
When you see Capital Blue Cross signs at baseball parks and arenas and as sponsors of Chamber of Commerce galas' and etc., did you ever wonder who is paying for all that expensive advertising???
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ReplyDeleteIf you want to ask personal questions, call him up and ask him. I never cease to be amazed that anonymous turds who decline to ID themselves ask personal questions.
ReplyDeleteBernie someone you know that is in politics gave me his idea on fixing healthcare and I have to admit, I like it. He said that all federal representatives and senators should have the worst healthcare plan offered in the nation. He also suggested that all state office holders have the worst healthcare plan offered in their particular state.
ReplyDeleteHe believes that would bring us to a consensus on healthcare real quick. I sort of like the idea. Although we know it will never happen.
The freedom caucus snowflakes have a very strong guiding principle. They don't believe in the federal government.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Party is going to fracture. As a Rockafeller Republican I eagerly await this so we cast the far right off.
ReplyDeleteHank-Hill
Watching the Republican Party implode I cannot help comparing it to watching professional wrestling.
ReplyDeleteYou are not going to get anything close to accurate reporting on Dent from Bernie O'Hare. Dent is his second most loved man crush, right behind Ron Angle.
ReplyDeleteWithout question, I deeply admire Charlie Dent. He certainly is among my favorites. But I defy you to name one instance in which my reporting on him has been inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteDon't be so sure Dent will win again. He's really pissed off his constituents this time! People have finally had enough!!!!!! Time for him and his blockhead staffers to go!
ReplyDeletePlease don't compare Charlie Dent to Ron Angle, Charlie has a conscience and principles, the other is just a blowhard phony baloney.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean @2:27AM? Pissed off constituents? Only 17% of Americans supported ACHA. 83% opposed it. Looks like Charlie did exactly what his constituents wanted him to do. That is kill this crappy rushed plan and go back to the drawing board.
ReplyDelete"Please don't compare Charlie Dent to Ron Angle, Charlie has a conscience and principles, the other is just a blowhard phony baloney."
ReplyDeleteA person who is unwilling to sign his or her anonymous slurs is in no position to discuss conscience or principles.
@9:12 Charlie's been pissing off his constituents for over a year now with his anti-Trump stance. Do you not pay attn. to FB posts? He's done!
ReplyDeleteDid the picture of Trump in the little car come first, or was it inspired by Trump climbing into that semi and tooting his horn?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhoWlxHgdi8
This reminds me of a funny looking guy with a helmet in a tank.