Tom Toles for December 06, 2013

Sure. We can treat that. Stand up, turn around, take your briefs down, bend over, and RELAX. It’ll be just what you need.

Worse news:Obamacare Now Projected to Cost Hundres of Billions Less Than Expected

Cost estimated at this point to be $600m. (That’s roughly $2 per American citizen.) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/11/19/how-much-did-healthcare-gov-cost-part-2/?hpid=z2)By contrast, “The Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, taken together, will be the most expensive wars in US history—totaling somewhere between $4 trillion and $6 trillion." (http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-wars-in-afghanistan-iraq-to-cost-6-trillion/5350789)And remember that the Iraq war was supposed to pay for itself, so while healthcare.gov cost more than some estimates (it’s hard to judge, actually), the Iraq war cost INFINITELY more than it was estimated to be, and TEN THOUSAND TIMES more than healthcare.gov is expected to cost.So making that particular comparison was quite unwise on your part — especially since healthcare.gov is working, and the Iraq war has been utter and horrific failure.

I have one goal this weekend. I want to hang my lighted "Seasons Greetings’ sign in the front window to, um P**s off the right wingers.

The PPACA rollout is about where Medicare Part D was at this point in its history, except that unlike then, when the Democrats reluctantly rolled up their sleeves to make the program they’d voted against a success, the other side is still throwing every monkey wrench they can into the works.

Republican governors refuse to open exchanges in their states, hoping to drag the website down. Republican congressmen refused additional funds (a pittance, compared to what it ended up costing) that probably would have made the rollout much smoother, back in April. Now they’re putting up phony websites to hinder the process. Truly classy.

Imagine if the Democrats had done that with Part D. You’d still hear the Gops sobbing about it on Fox News.

(Ever Lasting Gop Sobbers!)

That gets MY vote. Healthcare is a human right.

Rockngolfer: Another advantage to “Season’s Greetings”, it can be used in the Spring, Summer, and Fall when the Reich Wing try to prevent anyone from being merry.

Yea, it works like a union employee on his lunch break…

“NFL” only accepts information from the “Beck/Limaugh/Hannity/ Fox et. al. Fact Fairy”.

I am glad my health providers have all notified me that I don’t have to file, or change anything as they’re all in compliance with the law. It’s also interesting that my group policy is increasing only 3%, as opposed to the annual 13% of the previous decade. AH, but my copay on drugs is doubling! OH THE PAIN! From $5 to $10 per prescription. More irritating is the drugs NOT on their formulary (the provider IS a pharmaceutical company) because the big mama company doesn’t hold the patent .

“So who has really come out ahead here?”

The insurers, of course. As intended.

This health care system is carefully crafted to best serve 22yr old professional athletes on steroids, who have multi million dollar pro sports contract.

The poor, the sick, the elderly, the infants – need not apply. What a great system, eh?

“We are still in a Depression, it is very selective. only hurts the 80% on the bottom side of the economic pyramid.”

In a nutshell. Very well said!

And Bushie Baby IMMEDIATELY decided that WE didn’t need a surplus, and so he reduced taxes, then proceeded to tell us (with Darth Cheney’s help) that deficits DIDN’T Matter!!!

Oh, Republicans? That furrin word, “schadenfreude,” is German. It means the feeling you get watching coverage of Obama on Fox News.

Wait first it’s, “I also accept the info from MSNBC (Maddow, Matthews, Hayes etc) as well as ABC, CBS, NBC.”Then it’s, “Rather the truth than the coverage by ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN.”No news organization is 100% perfect, & we’ve had discussions about the fact that most of the programming on the cable networks isn’t ‘hard news’, it’s opinionators like Maddow & O’Reilly. Not sure what you’re saying other than anything that contradicts your idea that Obamacare is a failure must be false.

“What facts??? The article UJ noted was an opinion piece…”The CBO has reduced the cost of Obamacare by hundreds of billions. That’s fact, not opinion.Ungar goes on to suggest that much of the reduction is because of people cutting back on health care spending because of the economy. That is an opinion.

Was curious about AFLAC sponsoring NASCAR, a generally younger audience, with Carl Edwards driving for them and speaking for them. Googled them and the age of insured, they have a page covering the different " generations" Y 18-24, X 25-44. "baby boomers 45-65and “traditional” (oldies). It was very interesting what folks are buying, and what percentage. interesting that X’s for example who have insurance, 86% have major medical. The breakdowns of the demographics, and “generation outlooks” on “life” are also very interesting, and make the PPACA a much more desirable thing, across all ages, than the naysayers would have us believe!

Hmmm also interesting on another link that AFLAC has a VERY short retention span on their “employees”.

Just a different way to look at things from an insurance companies perspective, especially one that focuses on major medical and disability, and advertises very heavily on TV to “younger folks” based on where they place their sponsorship.

“True, Uncle, but why do the liberals always first blirt out Faux Fox, etc., etc., then provide no examples. And what posts do the liberals make that don’t contradict their ideas concerning Obama policies.”I’ve called people out for using terms that do nothing other than insult & inflame. I can’t say I’ve devoted as much time to it as folks like Respectful Troll. I don’t spend much time taking conservatives to task over using silly terms, either.You have to have seen comments from many other liberals to the effect that Obamacare was a poor alternative to Single Payer. But, most of us think the objective of increasing the number of people with basic insurance coverage is a good idea. The ACA can & will be improved over time.There has been plenty of criticism over domestic spying, drones, corporate bailouts, etc. The claim that Obama gets a pass from the left seems kind of weak, IMO.I can be pretty harsh when I see someone posting obvious talking points with no supporting information. When I see something I believe is false, I try to counter with supporting evidence. Sometimes I slip & say something about the poster, but I try very hard not to.You guys have as much right to post your opinions as me, & I appreciate it when someone contributes good information, regardless of the source.

I’ve concluded that Toles and I live on different planets.