Puterbac News Network and Political Discussion Thread

[Toemeesleather]

Minorities hurt the most.....

[bluetick]

Minorities hurt the most.....

Yes. That's been true since Lincoln(R)...

[Toemeesleather]

Sooooo, it's now officially....

Hope and no change.

[sardis]

Notables from the Poverty Rate chart: poverty rate was at it's height during Eisenhower(R)...falling thru Kennedy(D), in a freefall during the War on Poverty of Lyndon Johnson(D)...takes a huge upward swing during Reagan(R)....next longest sustained drop in the poverty rate after Johnson was during Clinton(D)...then swings upward during the reign of dubya(R).

1980 is on the same trajectory as 2008. Blaming 1980 on Reagan and blaming 2008 on dubya is a little inconsistent reasoning don't you think, tick?

[bluetick]

Sooooo, it's now officially....Hope and no change.

Sad how this has become your new schtick. "Black poverty continues unabated WITH A NEGRO PREZ!!ii!!" It's not pretty seeing how much satisfaction this gives you.

1980 is on the same trajectory as 2008. Blaming 1980 on Reagan and blaming 2008 on dubya is a little inconsistent reasoning don't you think, tick?

Reagan didn't take office until '81. To his credit the poverty rate was essentially the same when he began in '81 as when he left 8 yrs later. Whereas dubya saw a 2 pt increase in his tenure (11.3 to 13.2). oprama has seen roughly the same increase and is holding at 15.

[hedge]

"Sooooo, it's now officially....Hope and no change."

Actually, as far as you're concerned, it's no hope and no change. Ever...

[sardis]

If the economy is doing so well, why do we need to continues QE?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/busin ... ml?hp&_r=0

[Toemeesleather]

...my schtick.....how much satisfaction this gives you.

My schtick.... AKA journalism in the Bush years.

My satisfaction is your tacit admission of media bias.

[Toemeesleather]

Administrators at the Cleveland Clinic announced on Wednesday that the health care giant would be cutting as much as $300 million from its 2014 budget, and that the cuts will likely include layoffs.

"Health care reform has really changed things, and the burden of cost is going to be falling on patients," spokeswoman Eileen Shiel told The Plain Dealer. "We want to make sure we can keep care affordable."


During a regularly scheduled quarterly meeting, Cleveland Clinic President and Chief Executive Dr. Toby Cosgrove told employees about plans to reduce operating expenses by about 6 percent, and cited the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as one of the reasons for the cuts.

"To prepare for health care reform, Cleveland Clinic is transforming the way care is delivered to patients," the Clinic's representatives said in a statement. "Over the past several years, we have had an ongoing focus on driving efficiencies, lowering costs, reducing duplication in services and enhancing quality to make health care affordable to patients."

An early retirement package will be offered to about 3,000 employees by late October, Sheil told the Beacon Journal. Any possible layoffs will be considered after January, she added.

"We know we're going to get paid differently and reimbursed less to do more," Shiel explained. "It will affect the work force, but we're not sure how yet. There will be a reduction."


"We can do as much as we can to not affect the work force, but that's a difficult thing to do," Sheil said. "We've scrutinized the non-employee costs first, but it's just not going to be possible to meet this with those cuts alone."

The Cleveland Clinic isn't alone in cutting costs and trimming its workforce in the face of health care reform. On Wednesday, Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, confirmed that it was trimming $8.2 million from its budget by laying off 58 workers this week, cutting back the hours for 46 more, and opting not to fill 132 open positions, mostly through attrition. In February, Akron General Health System laid off 132 employees and cut 118 other positions. In 2011, University Hospitals announced $100 million in cuts over two years, and MetroHealth Medical Center laid off 450 people by cutting $30 million and closing a 144-bed skilled nursing facility.

[hedge]

What's wrong with trimming costs? I thought you "conservatives" were all for that sort of thing...

[Professor Tiger]

How big were management's bonuses?

[AlabamAlum]

Management bonuses are well earned and deserved.

[Owlman]

Here's the article cite: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/201 ... of-layoffs

Without these allegations stating how the ACA is supposedly increasing costs, they really have no meaning.

It is true that hospital costs are going to increase even more than they have been increasing for the past several years. This isn't because of the ACA, at least not directly.

Under the ACA, the expectation is that many of those that have not had any coverage in the past will have some sort of coverage. Therefore, the Congress eliminated uncompensated care (UCC) money that had been going to hospitals. As it turns out, hospitals were getting UCC money to cover patients that came in who were did not have insurance and who do not qualify for medicare or medicaid. That money is now gone. In states that have decided against receiving ACA funds (such as Louisiana), hospitals are facing a big shortfall.

[Jungle Rat]

Management bonuses are well earned and deserved.

Agreed

[Professor Tiger]

Any discussion on the looming votes on the debt ceiling to defund Obamacare?

The House Republicans have convinced themselves this is a great idea. I'm sure Custer thought it was a great idea when he took the 7th Cavalry into the Little Big Horn.

[Jungle Rat]

Nope. Gonna be fun to watch though

[Dr. Strangelove]

I don't think there's much chance of the govt actually shutting down. It's obviously a disaster for Republicans if it does.

[10ac]

Obviously.

[Owlman]

Don't think it'll effect the House much at all. The districts are so gerrymandered for both sides, there's not much risk. The biggest risk is to the few remaining swing state Republicans and I suspect that they will not go along with Cruz. The open seats can say whatever they need to so it won't stick to them. The shutdown could happen, people will get angry but there will be no one that they can punish about it.

[Johnette's Daddy]

Don't think it'll effect the House much at all. The districts are so gerrymandered for both sides, there's not much risk. The biggest risk is to the few remaining swing state Republicans and I suspect that they will not go along with Cruz. The open seats can say whatever they need to so it won't stick to them. The shutdown could happen, people will get angry but there will be no one that they can punish about it.

If the Dems somehow wrest control of the house in 14 or 16 and keep the Senate, expect military base closures in Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina as cost-cutting measures. Texas and Missouri will be on the bubble for base closures, too, but if they trend democratic in the election, then National Security concerns will override the need to reduce the budget.