The great health care insurance debate of 2020

There is no free lunch in health care. Either you pay for it with higher taxes or out of pocket or some mixture of both.. The trick is: what will reduce the cost of all health care. Medicare for All will accomplish that. The advantage of Medicare for All is a huge pool, spreading the cost around us all. In theory the larger the pool, the risk and costs of risks are less per person. There are other ways to deal with costs. It is called competition: competitive bidding required for drug companies to be approved as suppliers for Medicare, Medicaid, and others. Another is the public option that forces private insurers to compete with a cheaper, non-profit or government system; Competition can also come from other countries with similar standards to ours, like Canada. The problem is consumers have no choice if medicare for all forces them to give up private insurance they like. What nearly killed Obamacare was that contrary to Obama's promise, you can keep your insurance if you like it and found out they could not. The moderates have a powerful message: consumer choice. I am looking forward to the debate and the polls with an open mind. In Europe even those who have a government-funded health system, private medicine is permitted, and may or may not be covered by insurance or a supplemental. Only Canada forbids private insurance but does permit supplementals. Switzerland is like Obamacare without a public option. It is the most expensive system in Europe, but consumers like the choice and just voted against medicare for all proposals. They would rather pay more in order to have choice and privately provided insurance. In any case, the current US system costs 2 and a half times per person as the rest of the industrial world.

I do not fear a government health program. I have a family by blood and marriage in Europe and they think we are nuts to be against it. There are problems, but they are able to shop for doctors they like and change them and pharmaceuticals are so much cheaper there. They can afford health care regardless of their income. It is hard to say if their taxes are more of a burden than ours because they spend less on defense and military than we do. I do not hear complaints about taxes because they feel they are getting their money's worth.

Ambassador Bill Taylor's opening statement in impeachment inquiry hearings 10/22/19

A link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/opening-statement-of-ambassador-william-b-taylor/6b3a6edf-f976-4081-ba7f-bce45468a3ff/

A witness to the smoking gun
Ambassador Taylor's opening statement at today's House impeachment inquiry hearing. You may need to download a pdf. It is probably the nail in the coffin....laying to rest doubts of a quid pro quo.

CNN's take on Taylor's opening statement:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/bill-taylor-deposition-text-messages/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3IeZ4Se2RKfbHrfH9rGj8JKXduTYm8ZXlvxive4zqCF4jMKabHQeg9TJE

Ben Ghazi and the missing emails ended as fizzles and fiascos, but they still hurt Hillary

Remember Ben Ghazi?  Those hearings went on and on forever in a failed attempt to pin the tragedy on Hillary Clinton.  A certain Representative made his national mark with his aggressive appearance on that committee.  That same person is now trying to promote another one that also involves the state department. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo He is https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/11/pompeo-has-been-undermining-the-state-department-since-the-benghazi-investigation/

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/22/20924795/hillary-clinton-emails-new-york-times-state-department

"The State Department’s report reaches two broad conclusions. Clinton’s “use of a private email system to conduct official business added an increased degree of risk” that classified information would be compromised. But “there was no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.”

In 2016, the State Department’s inspector general also determined that Clinton’s Republican predecessors, Secretaries Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, also received classified information on their personal email accounts."

Link to text of Trump's July 25 telephone conversation with Ukraine president

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/read-full-transcript-trump-s-conversation-ukraine-s-president-n1058581

This is what the White House released, not what the Whistleblower complaint contained. However, they are identical.