WASHINGTON — Maine Gov. Paul LePage is among the more than a dozen GOP governors who have announced they would not implement a key part of the new health care law, despite a new attempt by the Obama administration to give states more time to develop plans to put the Affordable Care Act in place.
LePage this week joined Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker more than a dozen GOP governors who have notified the administration they will not set up state insurance exchanges next year, instead leaving the job to the federal government.
“I’m not lifting a finger,” LePage said in an interview with Bloomberg News at a Republican Governors Association meeting in Las Vegas. “We’re not going to get involved. We’re going to let Mr. Obama do a federal exchange. It’s his bill.”
Kasich’s decision drew quick praise from House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. “I’m proud of my governor … for taking a stand and resisting the federal takeover of health care in Ohio,” said Boehner, who just last week seemed ready to soften the GOP campaign against the law, pronouncing, “Obamacare is the law of the land.”
Exchanges are designed to allow Americans who don’t get coverage through work to go online to shop for health insurance, like shopping for plane tickets. The insurance will have to meet new minimum standards
States were supposed to open exchanges next fall so people could get insurance starting in January 2014. Ultimately, about 25 million Americans are expected to get insurance on an exchange, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Most people probably won’t notice a significant difference if their exchange is operated by state or federal officials. But the decision over state exchanges has become a new flash point in the partisan battle over the health law.
States that plan to run their own exchanges are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. All but four have Democratic governors. Several other states, including Illinois, are planning to operate theirs in partnership with the federal government.
Those deferring completely to the federal government are Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. All but one have GOP governors.
Republican governors, many of whom have refused to implement the law since it was signed in 2010, asked this week for more time to decide whether they should run state exchanges or allow the federal government to do it, citing a lack of information from the federal government. In response to the complaints, the Obama administration Thursday evening extended by a month a Friday deadline for states to decide.
Distributed by MCT Information Services
lepage’s “alliance” is with (and his loyalty is to ) the Republican Governors association NOT with the people of Maine. He does what THEY tell him to do, whether it is propose ALEC legistalton or oppose “Obamacare”, NOT so much for people before politics…PURELY PARTY FIRST and before everything espeically before serving the best interest of the people of MAINE..He is just grandstanding for his pals at the RGA for a few attaboys from the boys club
The people of Maine overwhelmingly support the Affordable Care Act. It is the law. LePage is not doing his job.
True, but nothing new for him. He must be the only person in Maine that doesn’t realize the Republicans lost the State’s House and Senate majorities simply to weaken this idiot.
It is not state law and per the Constitution the federal government does not have a right to impose a healthcare plan on the states. However, to those of you who have a job and pay taxes…I would like to hear from you in about two years…when obamacare is presumably in full swing because you (we) are the ones who will be feeling the painful cost of this program. Understand that someone has to pay for it and that someone is the working class. Wealthy people will pay their taxes too but they will not feel the pain from them like we will. I will want to know how you feel in a couple of years.
We are already paying for it now. How about your fav rep in DC getting his/her for nothing. How about they get the same as we do to make the ACA work even better?
I suggested that to an elected, never had the courtesy of a reply.
So what will it take for us to make that happen? What ideas do you have? Do you realize how much money that would free up?
The majority of the people in America don’t. Maine is getting so Blue the only thing that will be left is low income housing. Many of us feel Gov. LePage is doing the right thing. It’s a Fed. program let the Feds run it.
New England has long been a more liberal part of the country. You could always move to one of the red states…..Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia. Maybe you would find more like -minded people there.
Nah, it’s more fun to watch from here. I like watching the left running around and slapping themselves on the back telling each other how smart they are. Gotta love it.
Well gramps, you have the option of marching to the nearest Federal Building and giving back your claim to Medicare and Social Security Retirement money. Just walk right down there and give those Feds what for why dontcha? Tell them to take their Federal programs and stick em where the sun don’t shine… Then move immediately to Somalia where there is no Federal Guvmnt :0)
No thank you, I’ll keep what I have PAYED into. Maybe even get me a Obama phone and what ever other freebie I have been paying for over the last forty plus years. Which is more then I can say for a bunch of these twenty and thirty year old who think the world owe them a living and are SITTING around all day telling rough it is to get by. So lets keep those bennies coming.
Fortunately the quantity of your voting opportunities are temporally challenged.
OMG the phone thing started before Obama. Got another cliche handy?
////////////
You are incorrect. THe OFFER for those phones was mailed via USPS. The GOP will never take the SS away. CNN and MSNBC and PBS need to tell the whole truth.
ugh
The best part of this program is that VETS who are retired on fixed income are eligible for a phone. I think this is great. My dad, a vet, only JUST recieved his offer via snail mail last week. He is going to get the phone.
Free Obama phones?? I don’t think so. Wonder where you get your information. I can bet anything you watch Fox “news.” That phone program began under a Republican president.
Glad to hear that and the left says the Republican don’t care about the poor.
I think a lot of the Republicans’ policies hurt the poor and disadvantaged. Not always though. Nothing is that black and white. I did not like a lot of George Bush’s policies but I liked him as a person (affable,etc.) and his wife and daughters. I also recognize him for all his admirable work on behalf of AIDS (research,etc.) which he continues to be involved in.
There is no Obama phone dolt. That particular program started for low income people under Georgie Bush, your former hero. But again, Medicare and Social Security are Socialist/Communist programs, right? So unless you want to be labeled a Socialist, better decline the offer.
Don’t complain about LePage and the rest of the Rep. governors. They lost this past election due to misreading of the desires of the majority of the electorate and this decision keeps them on track to lose the next one. Only two more years of LePage….
The Dems have suckered the the nation into the largest tax increase in history with lies, deceit,
I thought businesses were upset because of all the “uncertainty” about the ACA. It sounds as if your tea leaves tell you exactly what will happen.
True
These fools will inadvertently help lay the groundwork for National Healthcare. Thanks !
One can only hope Big Paw. See Sicko..the movie.
Ultimately his decision is just going to hurt Mainer’s. Is that really what we want from someone in a ‘leadership’ position? We deserve so much better than this.
Obama care IS hurting the nation.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/16/medical-supply-giant-stryker-corp-makes-pre-emptive-strike-against-pending/
http://healthreform.kff.org/SubsidyCalculator.aspx#incomeAgeTables
The above link shows how much people will pay for healthcare under Obamacare. The savings are astounding. People currently paying upward of $800 a month will pay $200. A single mother with children, working herself to the bone, might now qualify for medicaid.
The American people are going to love this, and so will small busness owners, who were footing huge bills to pay for their employees healthcare.
Of course, but you cannot reason with people like that.
I see Maine joins such states as Alabama and Louisiana in resisting….you know , those states with such good health outcomes!! (sarcasm). Some of the highest obesity rates in the nation.
I still don’t see how all these people are going to get savings? Healthcare is expensve. The money has to come from somewhere. If all I hear is how all these people are going to save money, and get medicare/medicaid, I wonder how? Where is all the money to pay for increased medicare/medicaid going to come from?
One of America’s biggest problems with health insurance is that it is associated with an employer. It costs companies money to provide for their employees. Many big companies provide good plans. These same companies are taking business to other countries where employee overhead is lower. Where they do not need nor feel the necessity to provide such an expensive cost for their employees, since healthcare is provided by the government. Canadian companies are buying American. It is cheaper for them in Canada. It is cheaper to hire a Canadian. This is one of the items encouraging manufacturing to go overseas and the American economy to go down. How can America compete on an even playing field under these circumstances?
Small businesses cannot afford this plan.
Also, for the people, the people do not stay with the same employer their whole life. They cannot afford the expensive plans transitioning, the co pays while employed, further hurting their health in cases.
Unless there is a separation from employors, so employers can lower overhead and make more profit while paying employees more money, I do not see the economic problem going away.
I see this plan as adding burdens. The increasing overhead cost of hiring and maintaining employees by forcing companies to provide a health insurance plan putting more strain on our economy, and the added expense to pay for the expanded medicare/medicaid, which are paid for by the government, i.e. taxes from the people.
Although, it may be a step in the direction of nationalizing healthcare through medicare/medicaid, which may not be so bad?
Please . . you have the nerve to quote Fix News??!! Have you seen the study done by several Universities re: viewers of Fix News? Hands down the most mistakenly and misinformed viewers in the Nation! The likes of Fix News . . Limbaugh the doctor-shopper . .Glen Beck . . are slowly going the way of the dinosaur.
“Everyone is entitled their own opinion . . but not their own version of the truth”!
Fix News does not understand the above statement!
Is the article false? Please tell me where the fallacies are in the article. The left have a very good history of discrediting groups with whom they disagree. Why don’t you examine where you get your news from. Huffington post?(blog) Rachel Madow(one who uses opinion, while posing as a journalist)?
http://www.nationalmemo.com/even-fox-news-admits-it/
http://freakoutnation.com/2011/02/10/fox-insider-admits-fox-fabricates-the-news/
http://www.examiner.com/article/fox-news-flip-flops-says-affordable-care-act-reduces-the-deficit?cid=db_articles
And let’s not forget that Faux Spews won a lawsuit allowing them to make stuff up and pass it off as news. Fair and balanced BULL PUCKEY.
Yep . .and since the election results are now final . . Fix News viewership is declining . . just sayin! ;-)
BTW, Fox news publishes news that most other news organizations censor for their own political agendas.
So what you are saying is the Faux News has their own political agenda. Hmmmm…..
Misplaced modifiers? Not an english major, as you can tell. Twist it any way you want, you know the meaning of my statement.
FOX NEWS is the best for truth and balance. TRUTH. NOT SLANT.
I watch them all CNN, HLN, FOX, and NBC. I gave up on CBS cause I kept waiting to hear Obama say “I approve this news cast” I have never seen FOX news run a false news story. The latest example being Benghazi. Fox was giving the facts within twenty four hours, while the rest were repeating Obama youtube videos story.
You just keep on getting your “unbiased” “news” on Fox…..the most ideological station around as most people know.
One of the biggest problems with Faux News is that they only tell you part of the story. That’s worse than an outright lie.
You do not read or watch FOX enough to comment . They tell the whole story.
Fox news??? Ha ha ha. You have got to be kidding. They were sure Romney would win…..they were still saying that (or their clown Rove was) after it was all wrapped up.
Quite a persuasive source you have there!!!
Gee Fox News against Obamacare, what a surprise. You do know that Fox is commonly called Bull $h_ _ mountain, anything they say that is close to the truth is purely coincidental.
Sour grapes still grow.
As you are aware, Fox News is a contradiction in terms. As the Republicans sorely found out, Faux News led them down the primrose path to pick their pockets and watch them squirm after they lost. Murdoch is laughing all the way to the bank because of the gullibility of people like yourself.
I disagree. A health insurance exchange is essentially a website with underlying software, and Maine has proven itself incapable of deploying complex software projects. I also suspect that because of economies of scale, that using the Fed website will be cheaper than constructing our own.
You are taking him at face value. If he’s simply not going to lift a finger, meaning that he’ll quit it with the obstructionism and get out of the way, then what you say is true. But you’re making a risky assumption that Penguin has the self-control to stay out of this. I don’t believe that he does. He’s never demonstrated a modicum of self-control, anywhere.
Governor Paul “Won’t Lift a Finger” LePage is making himself irrelevant to Mainers’ healthcare future. Let’s hope, with a Democatic legislature, he’ll chose the sidelines on many other issues.
The presumptive Democratic House Speaker, Rep. Mark Eves said lawmakers would use the upcoming session to plan for a future state-based exchange. Incoming Republican House leader Rep. Kenneth Fredette told the Press Herald Thursday that a state-based exchange is the best option for Mainers.
So as usual Paul LePage has taken a stand against the Democratic leadership, Republican leadership and the citizens of Maine. Step aside Paulie, some of us (State Leaders and the majority of citizens/voters) are ready to go to work without any assistance or temper tantrums from you.
Fredette said he would wait and see. he didn’t say it was “good.”
The original story was updated today (17th) at 12:10 AM. My quote was a direct cut and paste of what his beliefs were reported to be when the story first appeared on the 16th. I’m not sure at all where you came up with a quote that anyone said “good”?
LePage is the doing the right thing. If Pelosi and Reid and BO want this and they passed it without vetting it thoroughly. Let them figure it out. This is not the democrats and republicans and independents choice, it is the 3 people I outlined above. Let them do it. They are under no obligation to abide by the law they implemented and voters still do not understand a basic component of American politics. Stick by your princple penguin, there are a lot of people who understand Obummercare as a farce and have more power than we think.
Totally agree with you. Gov.LePage is working for the people of Maine and clearly sees the future ramifications of Obama Care and as seen, is not the only Gov. to take this path. When will people ever understand that all in life is not free. Obama Care being mandatory for everyone to have insurance is in one way no different than needing a drivers license and that I will agree upon. But the content of this Obama Care has much to be redone or the country will go broke and there will be fewer doctors and the big question is how will this help or hinder our tax payments…………..
Your use of the catch term, “Obama Care” clearly demonstrates your lack of understanding of the health care problem. Along with your near complete ignorance about what is, you display a complementary lack of knowledge about any realistic alternatives to improve the situation.
So, you try to demonize the man and legislation with trite word play.
Pathetic.
Our country was going broke paying health care bills far higher than any other country in the world, BEFORE Obama was even elected.
But you only woke up to the problem when someone tried to fix it, apparently.
And, you undoubtedly supported the efforts by those in Congress who were bribed to gut the original legislation so that it is less than it could have been.
Sad that you lack the mental facility to distinguish good from bad, or to even suspect that you are being had by people who want to return to gouging the pubic.
I’d tell you to educated yourself, really educate yourself, by reading non-partisan studies about the real state of America’s health care compared to what other countries enjoy. Or to try to understand how some systems of paying for health care are far superior to ours, and how we could learn from their success.
But I doubt that you are capable of learning anything at all.
You enjoy spouting your view of Obama Care, oops, Health Care. Your accusation to me that I have a lack of understanding of the health care problem is laughable. Calling me ignorant is merely your liberal way of banter. You think you know it all and I know nothing, Isn’t that the liberal way of attack?
FYI, I have on several occasions, contacted our elected with suggestions as to how to deal with the USA health care issues.
I do Not demonize President Obama as you so rudely accuse . Yes Our country is going broke with the current system and yes It needs a serious change. Ask what the reasons are and it is cost of seeing a doctor, does your insurance, If you have insurance, cover the expensive and often unecessary Cat Scans and MRI’s. Do you have to have the latest medication or can you save money and get a generic. Those are just a few thoughts on where our system needs work.
Finally, in response to your personal attack on my character, I really do not care what you think about me. You are not worth the trouble. In fact, with the attitude you have so rudely commented with, I suggest you get professional help.
So how do you feel about Romneycare?
There is no Romney Care. He lost. He said many times that the health care proposed by this administration is a place to start but does need careful scrutiny before it is signed in ink. I am all for helping everyone in the country having health care if they want it. But mandatory requirement of health insurance or be fined, is bad and many will refuse to pay the fines. Currently I am researching Sweden’s health care system. Will let you know what I find.
Try Massachusetts bub. And a republican worked with the dems to make it work. Hmmmm……..
Sweden has near 85% who do NOT SMOKE. Do you have any idea how much money they save when not treating the volume of smokers for lung cancer that the US has to pay?? Suggest you do some fact finding yourself. My name is not BUB. what the heck is your problem that you insist on jabbing at people who are not liberal?? That attitude is what embarrasses the Liberal party.
Bub? It is just a mainer name for the nameless. Get over yourself. You need to relax. I am not a dem. The “liberal” party? how about a moderate party for those of us who are not fanatics?
Read you loud and clear. LOLs at BUB. had totally forgotten that name. so I believe I am a moderate Patriot. I just hope to see us all find common ground to help each other and our country. We deserve all good. I WILL also google Japan’s health care, Sweden has its plus and minus’s . But from what I am reading so far, their system is impressive.
Look at Japan’s when you get a chance. They have some great processes with drug companies and costs.
Why should the state spend its time and money when the feds are going to CONTROL everything associated with the BIGGEST TAX INCREASE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
Oh, my god, we debated it for a year — it was vetted.
Keep up the great work Mr. LePage
This is one more reason why Governor LePage should be re-elected. Go LePage!!
He has my vote.
…..
Maybe they are like him.
I believe you are correct. They have all been cut from the same cloth apparently. It’s rather disturbing in reality.
In the early days of Social Security and Medicare there were attempts to minimize or slow down the implementation. Once in full effect, Americans came to love both of these wonderful programs. The same thing is and will happen to the Affordable Health Care Act.
Once again LePage is on the wrong side of an important issue impacting SO MANY citizens in the State of Maine.
I cannot wait for him to be voted out of office. One-And-Done.
Just go away and take your brash ignorance with you!
The ignorant ones are the ones who do not understand how this Once Great Nation works, or the principles it was founded on.
Like slavery . . women unable to vote . . no financial safety net for retirees . . segregation . . . women unable to CHOSE WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR BODIES . . treating those that live a different / alternative life style as if they have the plague, e.g gays and lesbians . . not allowing blacks to vote . . ah yes, the good old days of America.
Did you not get the message from the recent general election? In case you did not notice . .this Nation is moving FORWARD!
Your 1st paragraph is not helping to convince people. You attack, and try to link those who do not agree with your point to racist, homophonic, and chauvinistic ideas. Why don’t you come out and say I hate women, gays, and blacks. I know you and those who support your cause are thinking it.
You prove my point. Especially the “principles it was founded on”.
Do you? Do you fear what you don’t understand? It’s human nature to fear the unknown and it’s why so many fear change.
Taking a leap into the past isn’t helping the future. Austerity measures do not work.
What I do fear is how easily the population can be deceived. Can you prove austerity measures don’t work? The sure are not helping. They are paving the way to financial doom for this Country. Explain to me how unemployment payments, and Government paying for healthcare help stimulate the economy. The Government printing money to pay for these programs does nothing for the Country, except to delay the inevitable.
Europe’s austerity measures are causing rioting. Cutting the life line of so many will not solve the problem. Revenue must be made as well as careful cuts, not massive unbridled cuts.
Schooner – we live in a consumption based economy. When individuals pay greater and greater portions of their income for expenses, including healthcare where costs have been spiraling out of control long before “Obamacare,” there is less discretionary income to fuel the economy.
The “private marketplace” system is already socialized. If you do not think your premiums include costs of treatment for others, you are mistaken. Further, there are significant funds being injected into the “health care system” which never go towards the health care of individuals. Rather, they go towards exhorbitant salaries and bonuses.
There is a reason why nearly every other industrialized nation in the world has a health care system in place. And please don’t counter that the US has the best health care in the world without first checking the World Health Organizations statistics. For the amount of money we spend in the pre-Obamacare health industry, we do not receive top-of-the-line results for our top-of-the-line investment.
“You prove my point.” That is a common reply from the right wingers. It rings hollow every time.
Un huh, and name calling and villification like this are a common reply from the left.
Is this comment autobiographical? I think maybe it is…
And, the Affordable Health Care Act should logically be run as is Medicare — a dedicated program to provide health care to Americans. Don’t mess with it and keep robbing it for something else as has been done repeatedly with Social Security and Medicare. Medicare works — let the Affordable Health Care program work, too.
It’s time for the legislature to start the ball rolling toward having an impeachment/recall process in place. This will probably have to take the form of a constitutional amendment, and Bobo the Clown will probably get voted out before it takes effect, but we still need this, so that next time a horrible accident like this takes place, we’ll be able to respond appropriately.
There IS an impeachment process in place; what’s lacking is a recall process.
We need to get on with that process as quickly as possible. Sadly, even if passed it won’t be in time to remove the worst State leader we’ll likely ever see in Maine. Presuming that our current leader will even WANT to stick around another four years, his ultimate removal will happen the old fashioned way, with a landslide victory for just about anyone who decides to run against him.
Maine does not need a recall provision. One of the nice things about Mainers is that we have a tendency to learn from our mistakes. Well at least most of us do. For proof of that all anyone has to do is look at the last election as well as the referendum that took place on same day voting last year. We made a mistake, hell I even voted for LePage, and now we as a State are doing our best to fix it. LePage and the tea party Republicans taking control of our State was a political perfect storm. In the 2010 election voters were PO’d with government as a whole. Our economy was in the tank, people were getting laid off, jobs were disappearing, houses were being foreclosed upon, folks were seeing their life long savings disappear and to make matters worse two Democrats split the vote. The tea party crowd took advantage of this perfect storm to have some of the most radical members of the far right elected. Were we impressed by LePage with his rags to riches story? Yep we sure were and for good reason, it was a great story. Did we buy into the “we need a businessman to run our State? Yep again. Did we get hooked by the “I can create JOBS, JOBS, JOBS” tale he was telling from one end of the State to the other? Oh yeah we sure did. We even felt good when in the very first sentence of his inaugural address he announced that his administration was going to put “People Before Politics”. Except there was just one itsy-bitsy problem. It was all one massive con job. It would be easy to say that he started lying to us in that very first sentence of his inaugural address but the truth is he did put “People Before Politics”. It was just the fact that it was only certain people like Maine’s wealthiest and special interest and not the common ordinary Mainer that he put first. It has long been said that we get the government that we as a people deserve. In the case of Paul Richard LePage and his tea party parrot Republican Legislators we learned a very hard and painful lesson, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. We found out the hard way that one party control is not a good thing. Let’s hope we have learned our lesson and don’t make the same mistake again.
Perfectly well said!
Not going to hold it against you (ha ha) but you voted for LePage??! Did you listen and watch him during the debates before that election? I guess you saw something different than I did. He seemed like a bully then too.
It doesn’t matter though. You and others came to see the reality quite soon afterwards. Hindsight sometimes! Your posts always are right on the mark, in my opinion.
What this last election was about was entitlements, across the country, not just hear in Maine. If you look at the country, it was entitlements all the way. The only thing people were told was to vote with the candidate with the D after their name. If you think having more people on food stamps is progress, then keep voting for the “D” candidate, you will reap what you sow.
Feel free. You’ll only need about $150K and five years.
Just waiting for someone to find him w/his hand in the proverbial cookie jar…and then to have the guts to DO something about it.
Don’t know why he can’t be impeached for failing to uphold the oath of office he took, to represent Mainers. This latest example of his failure to represent us is….what, number 57?
Sour grapes still, huh,
Good luck with that Maine Constitutional Amendment process. Please let us know how you’re doing, when you collect the first 80,000 certified signatures you need, statewide, after getting the petition language approved by the Secretary of State.
By the time any such state constitutional amendment was successfully voted on in a public referendum and passed by a 2/3 majority of Maine’s House and Senate, LePage will be done with his second term and back in the private sector.
Enjoy.
Second term! How you do make me laugh.
How can you impeach a governor for something the Federal government did. Let them do it.
boy, I could do lepage’s job, if all that requires is saying that Im not going to do anything other than be rude and ignorant, take as much federal money as I can get, and not lift a finger to do any kind of work
http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-maine-debt-clock.html
This is more than any of his predecessors have done in recent memory.
For the first time that debt clock is running back wards. That is LePage.
I wonder if the other Republican Governors who are refusing to act are led by their particular Heritage Policy Center?
Don’t worry what you say is true. they only care about the wealthy, not the average American. When will they figure out it is 2012 not 1775.
BALONEY………………. LOLS.
I’ve been self employed for almost 40 years. I have health insurance which I pay out of my own pocket. I MUST buy my insurance from Anthem, because Maine won’t allow competition. The best my wife and I can afford is the $15,000 deductible, which is Anthems most popular plan among self employed like me. We still pay $7,000 a year for that almost worthless insurance.
I am looking forward to the Affordable Care Act being in affect and hopefully enabling my wife and I to have several alternatives for health care.
I take LePages refusal to participate in Affordable Care Act personally. I have worked hard for 40 years, NEVER taking unemployment payments or any type of welfare.
And now, FOR IDEALOGICAL REASONS ONLY, LePage is acting as an obstructionist for hard working people to get more competitive rates on their healthcare premiums.
LePage says he’s on the side of Maine working people, but I think he’s a liar, and is simply doing the bidding of his Republican/Tea Party bosses.
Simply based on the health care issue alone, I would NEVER vote for this monster.
Yup.
The sad truth is that all of the Tea Party / Republican rhetoric is just pap to keep the intensely stupid in line. Their objective is perpetuation the perks of the very rich. Those of us who work for a more modest living aren’t on their radar screen.
They put millions of dollars in health sector bribes into their pockets. And they work for the interests of the corporations, not the majority of the people.
Study after study has shown that American health care is amongst the least cost effective in the western world. The same right wing airheads who demand more value for money from underpaid public school teachers just wave over the billions in profits made by health care corporations by denying their clients the coverage that they actually paid for.
I certainly don’t know how to fix this easily in a democracy. Because as right wing voters demonstrate during every election cycle at every level, you can’t fix stupid.
I agree %100
I honestly feel that that the Affordable Health Care Act will HELP my wife and I save a few bucks on our health care. After almost a lifetime of hard work and being stuck with only one insurance carrier, we finally will have more options as to which provider to choose.
It’s hard to understand why rank-and-file- Republicans are so dead set against a law that does so much for working people.
I think you know why they are dead set against it and why they do not call it the Affordable Health Care Act and never did. In the run up to the election they thought (mistakenly as usual) if they kept repeating “Obamacare” over and over, that it would help their cause. They got that wrong too.
Yes, I know why………….
And our country is worse off because of that attitude.
Is it “hard to understand why rank-and-file- Republicans are so dead set against a law that does so much for working people”? Perhaps Republicans are against working people.
The humble Farmer
Nonsense is your spout. Not every Republican is a member of the Tea Party and yet you continue to assume they are all one in the same. Right Wing Airheads you spout are non existant. You describe yourself. Suggest you bone up and buck up on real news.
Now Just a second. This is a federal law passed at the Federal level. Let them implement it. Are the Feds afraid they might be exposed as inept and throw this folly on the states?
So because your insurance is expensive you expect someone else to pick up part of that cost? What you should really take personally is Maine’s refusal to allow competition. Your own words.
Maine’s refusal to allow competition? I thought we were open for business?
You should not forget why premiums are so high and who is responsible.
Hello Cheesy – thanks for your reply.
Well, I think premiums are high for many, many reasons. Probably the most prevalent is corruption at all levels – from individuals who play and defraud the system all the way up to insurance companies who are purely profit driven to the politicians on both sides who accept political payoffs at the expense of the entire electorate.
And here in Maine, the lack of competition that has been denied us mostly because our politicians – predominately Democratic – have again been “influenced” by the insurance industry to the detriment of all of us.
All that being said, and all blame being laid, it does’t change the fact that the ACA establishes a system that finally introduces competition. And as I said, I feel that it will offer my wife and I options that will ultimately save us some money. And I know that remains to be seen.
And one final point. I dislike Obama and his health care plan ( I favor single payer universal healthcare) and I did not vote for him. Nor did I vote for any of Maine’s congressional delegation. Indeed over 40 years of voting (and I don’t think I ever missed a 2 year cycle), I think I’ve voted for a major party candidate less then 10 times.
So if you are dissatisfied with the condition our country is in, please don’t blame me for I DIDN’T VOTE FOR ANY OF THOSE CROOKS!
But I’m betting that most all of the posters on this board DID.
Finally, Cheesy, thank you for responding to my post without insulting me. That’s getting more and more rare – on both sides.
Have a good weekend.
Spoken like a true Democrat. Blame LePage when the lack of competition is due SOLELY to Democrat laws passed over the past 40 years. In fact, as recently as 2 years ago, Democrats defeated legislation which would have allowed people like you to purchase across state lines.
It has got to be tough to drink that KoolAid all the time.
As for why LePage objects it is NOT for ideological reasons ONLY. It is because OBAMACARE is a financial disaster and the sooner the left realizes this, the better. BUT, may we should just go over the cliff and let China rule.
The feds more than likely will do a better job than LePage. This will eventually have to be done whether he likes it or not. He’s just being the belligerent child he is deep down.
sounds like the sour grapes are still in the air.
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Hopefully you are one of the ones that will be paying for this Obamacare… I know I do… Easy to have others pay for some one else when they arent the ones paying…Hear me..
So following LePage’s lead, if we don’t like a bill, we shouldn’t have to follow it or obey it and there should be no consequences. Okay, I don’t like his legislation forcing public sector workers to pay more into the retirement system to make up for the state’s FAILURE to hold up its end of the bargain for 40 plus years, so I don’t have to pay more. Right. How do we know that LePage and his cronies haven’t been playing fast and loose with the retirement funds like International Baking? So now, LePage has failed to take action so that he can make whatever negative claims he wants and at the expense of Maine citiznes. “So much for the governor of the people.” Glad to know he’ll be gone in two more years; fortunately, we have a Democratically ELECTED and CONTROLLED legislature that will work to prevent LeThug from inflicting too much more damage on the state.
These Teabillies think they are taking a victory lap, when in reality they are circling the drain, and taking the GOP with them !
That “drain” is created by democrats!…FLUSHWARD!
How did you ever survive election day Bill?
Strength and the ability to see through all of the liberal “bull$#*t”!
Thank you Governor LePage! You, and the other governors standing their ground, are the only thing standing between us and a federal government that could care less about state rights…never mind individual rights.
Actually, it is “could NOT care less.” Don’t worry though, most get that one wrong. BTW, Paul LePage, Scott Walker, and Paul Ryan are all disciples of Ayn Rand and the Koch brothers. Ayn Rand was a mentally disturbed crackpot that advocated for greed, tirelessly. The Koch brothers were born millionaires and have spent their whole life working their butts off to drop the standard of living for the working men and women of America. They are obsessed with getting us back to a nation of sweat shops. Nice examples to follow, governor.
And the fact that they pledge their allegiance to Norquist, a lobbyist, over America.
Ayn Rand was a cold selfish person to put it mildly. Ann Coulter must have admired Rand. Two of a kind.
Wow!!! What a great comparison! I saw an interview with Ayn Rand one time. I remember thinking how cold and bitter she seemed. I get the same feeling when I see Ann Coulter. No one but Fox would ever hire her, let alone put her on television to espouse that crap that seems to flow out of her like raw sewage.
The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people.” How is it that anyone thinks that the federal government has the right to force us to buy federal government healthcare?! They don’t…nor should they.
“How is it that anyone thinks that the federal government has the right to force us to buy federal government healthcare?! They don’t…nor should they.”
Well actually the Heritage Foundation, the leading Republican “think tank” thinks that the Feds can “force” us to buy healthcare, as it was that foundation that originated the idea in the first place.
This is back in the day when Republicans were also trying to find a solution to the healthcare problem instead of objecting to everything.
The idea of mandates is a CONSERVATIVE one, championed by none other than Newt Gingrich in the 1990s.
The idea of mandates is a big government idea and it doesn’t matter what one calls themselves (conservative, liberal, or whatever). I am not saying our healthcare system isn’t a problem…I am saying that the federal government does not have a right to make the citizen’s of the United States buy government run/controlled healthcare. It is unconstitutional.
I understand that YOU don’t think the government has a right to mandate health care. And believe it or not, I respect your OPINION, as long as we agree it’s your OPINION.
However you are incorrect when you say the Affordable Healthcare Act is unconstitutional. The supreme court ruled that government mandates ARE constitutional. And that settles that question.
I know, and I respect that you disagree with the courts decision, but that doesn’t make the AHA any less constitutional.
And btw, there are many things that I think the Supreme Court gets wrong too.
You answered your own question. Obviously, as the Supreme Court has stated, this IS a power delegated to the United States, and therefore it is not reserved by the States. And people are not buying “federal government healthcare”, they are purchasing it from a pool of providers. What is it about good old fashioned competition that scares the Republicans? What is your party’s alternative solution….you don’t have one. So sit back and complain, we are moving onward to make sure that people get and pay for basic medical coverage at a reasonable price.
Where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government has a right to make us buy its healthcare or any healthcare? Just because they did it doesn’t make it Constitutional (our government is corrupt on both sides). This is not a republican versus democrat issue…though so many try to make it just that. I fully intend to sit back and watch as in a couple of years obamacare supporters start screaming about how awful it is and how much it hurts the middle class and small businesses. If our corrupt government won’t (and doesn’t have to) buy into it how good do you think it really is?
The Necessary and Proper Clause. Article 1 Section 8:
*Congress shall have the Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Impost and Excises to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence (sic) and general Welfare of the United States, but all Duties, Impost, and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
* To borrow money on the credit of the United States
* To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states……
The United States Supreme Court, says that these provide the federal government with the authority to care for the welfare of the United States, which is what the ACA is addressing.
And you can speculate all you want, “sit back and watch”…..isn’t that what we have been doing while people are going without insurance? You don’t know what’s going to happen in a couple of years no more than I do.
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Or Vidkun Quisling.
Democrats are the worst thing that has ever happened to America! Thank You Governor LePage for showing common sense in an ignorant world!
They do seem to like to take what they can get while others pay for it…..Its the new American way…
Same here Bill Peters. He stands his ground and demonstrates common sense, no matter what.
People before politics, eh Paulie?
The Supreme Court said that the ACA was legal.
The citizens in some states may have indicated that they were against implementation, by voting in Republicans or voting for Romney.
But Maine was not one of those states.
The vote here was overwhelmingly in favor of Obama, and by extension, the ACA.
The churlish buffoon temporarily occupying the Blaine House once again demonstrated that his oath to serve the people of the State of Maine was nothing more than another lie in the endless stream of lies that spew from his mouth.
When directed by the voters to get with the program, he pouts, he whines, and he digs in his heels just like a demanding two year old in need of discipline.
What a sad excuse for man. What a sad excuse for a Mainer. The sooner this fool departs to his senile dotage in Florida, the better for us all.
Elected by the poor people of Maine, To serve the upscale of Maine and his family.. Penguin wont do anything to help with us common folk, but i bet if some rich guy needs a loan or a tax break so he can achieve record profits bet he jumps in both feet to help then..
You drive around the rural parts of Maine, often an old rundown house or trailer with rusted vehicles all around it , and guess who they often vote for? Yup, you got it. They think people like LePage are on their side and relate to them.
You mean “kind of like King Angus”?
What a shmuck. LePage ‘won’t lift a finger’ and then will b*tch, p*ss, moan and groan about the federal government setting up the healthcare exchanges here in Maine and play the victim. DO YOUR JOB Governor….2014 won’t get here soon enough..
Yes, the whiners…
The people that like Obama care are the ones who dont pay for it…..How Ironic…
Good about the FEDGOV learns the power they have stolen comes from the states not the other way around. Something that a lot of people has forgotten. Oh well, go have a twinkie and enjoy the messes you have allowed to be created in your name.
In other words, he is refusing to help the people of Maine. No surprise there.
Is it not what is in the best interest of Maine and its residents or do we have an agenda and ego that must be preserved, regardless of the consequences upon all
our citizens. That is why, we need to get rid of our 2 party , outdated system. So our officials can speak for all the people without involving, separation.
Don’t worry Paul, election time is not far away… You can join the ranks of the other “Do Nothing GOP”…
two more years and counting and this tea party governor is history!!