[Psudo]

Harvard econ professor wrote:

The essence of the plan is the federal government writing me a check for $1 billion. The plan will be financed by $3 billion of tax increases. According to my back-of-the envelope calculations, giving me that $1 billion will reduce the budget deficit by $2 billion.
[...]
The healthcare reform bill passed last year increased government spending to cover the uninsured, but it also reduced the budget deficit by increasing various taxes as well. Because of this bill, the advocates say, the federal government is on a sounder fiscal footing. Repealing it, they say, would make the budget deficit worse.

So, by that logic, giving me $1 billion is fiscal reform as well.

[andyt]

Psudo wrote:

Harvard econ professor wrote:

The essence of the plan is the federal government writing me a check for $1 billion. The plan will be financed by $3 billion of tax increases. According to my back-of-the envelope calculations, giving me that $1 billion will reduce the budget deficit by $2 billion.
[...]
The healthcare reform bill passed last year increased government spending to cover the uninsured, but it also reduced the budget deficit by increasing various taxes as well. Because of this bill, the advocates say, the federal government is on a sounder fiscal footing. Repealing it, they say, would make the budget deficit worse.

So, by that logic, giving me $1 billion is fiscal reform as well.

\

Absolutely. If you don't give a fuck about the uninsured, you can save all kinds of money. Don't just not cover them with health care, but don't even let them in the hospital doors if they don't have coverage, even it they have a serious disease. Let em die on the street where the garbage trucks can pick them up. Then get rid of medicare. Who needs all those old people sticking around. Give em a one way free taxi ride to the garbage dump, or a crematorium, if you want to get fancy (that will increase GHG tho) and be done with it. Same with health care for veterans. What kind of socialistical commie plot is that? If those guys had the decency to die on the battle field there would be none of those expenses. If they're not dying in battle, they're just not trying hard enough. And medicaid, for a bunch of lazy welfare bums, don't get me started. All the state should be spending money on is the military (see exception above), police and prison (but not courts - the cops know who's good and who's bad) and roads. That's it.

[romanP]

Hey, don't forget the money that will be needed to build a wall around the country so that everyone can be put under arrest. Then you won't have to build all those prisons.

[Gunnair]

romanP wrote:

Hey, don't forget the money that will be needed to build a wall around the country so that everyone can be put under arrest. Then you won't have to build all those prisons.

[Psudo]

There are good reasons to spend money, but it's irrational to think that a fiscal crisis is the perfect time to create a new, very expensive spending program of any sort. Yet balancing the budget was one of the arguments in defense of this health care bill. Health insurance programs aren't inherently a bad idea, but that particular argument is crap.