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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Soul Crusher on March 07, 2011, 06:45:06 PM

Title: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 07, 2011, 06:45:06 PM
WOLF: Obamacare vital signs starting to fade
Court puts law on the fast track to judgment day
By Dr. Milton R. Wolf
-
The Washington Times
6:11 p.m., Monday, March 7, 2011

________________________ ______________________



Obamacare is living on borrowed time, and even its most ardent supporters are beginning to realize it. That's why they're racing to implement - and entrench - as much of the plan as possible before the laws of economics and the laws of the land and voters catch up. They're like a deadbeat renter starting a remodeling project after being evicted but before the police escort them from the premises in hopes that it gives them squatter's rights. Meanwhile, two unrelated but devastating events have caused the ground to shake beneath the feet of Obamacare supporters.

A major component of Obamacare is "totally unsustainable." Those aren't the words of Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin; no, those belong to the Obama administration's own chief cheerleader, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. The program in question, the CLASS Act or Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act, is a massive long-term elderly care entitlement program that was quietly tucked into Obamacare and never got anywhere near the attention it deserves.

Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, called the CLASS Act "a Ponzi scheme of the first order, the kind of thing that Bernie Madoff would have been proud of." And then he voted for it. I suspect Bernie Madoff would be proud of Kent Conrad. The White House's sleight of hand goes like this: CLASS Act taxes begin in Year 1 but the benefits don't begin until Year 6, so when 10 years of revenues and five years of expenses were calculated, the Congressional Budget Office declared not only that the CLASS Act paid for itself but, as a result, Obamacare overall would reduce the deficit. However, when 10 years of revenues and expenses are counted - even accepting the White House's rosy scenario projections - the CLASS Act goes billions into the red and Obamacare itself raises rather than reduces the deficit.

Mrs. Sebelius agrees with the Medicare chief actuary that the program "is at a significant risk for failure" with or without the accounting gimmick but - channeling the spirit of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez - she claims the law gives her "administrative flexibility" to bypass Congress and the American voters and rewrite the law to her liking. Such power.

In separate testimony last week, the HHS secretary admitted to double-counting Obamacare's cooked books. The question posed was whether a $500 billion cut in Medicare should be counted toward preserving Medicare or funding the new law. Her own actuary previously acknowledged they must choose one or the other. Mrs. Sebelius' reply? "Both."

Several hundred miles away in Florida, federal Judge Roger Vinson dealt yet another blow to Mr. Obama's health care crown jewel. It was Judge Vinson, of course, who in January declared Obamacare to be unconstitutional. Many from the victorious 26 states that brought the lawsuit have sought to expedite final resolution of the case in the Supreme Court, but the White House has resisted with hopes of delaying their day of reckoning. Instead, the best and the brightest lawyers in the administration opted to request clarification from Judge Vinson regarding his ruling and its effect on implementation. If there's one thing a squatter knows, it's how to stall.

It would be understandable for Judge Vinson to take exception to this tactic since he had already declared quite clearly that "the award of declaratory relief is adequate and separate injunctive relief is not necessary." In other words, once a law is declared unconstitutional, the only option is to stop implementing it.

This week, the White House was smacked with a painful lesson: Be careful what you wish for. Judge Vinson interpreted the administration's request for clarification as a request to stay his own ruling and he granted it - with a big catch. Judge Vinson, saying "the citizens of this country have an interest in having this case resolved as soon as practically possible," has given the White House exactly one week to request that the case be expedited to the appellate court or the Supreme Court or halt Obamacare implementation.

Regrettably, Judge Vinson stopped short of demanding a complete injunction, which not only would have achieved his goal of expediting the case to the Supreme Court but also would have saved taxpayers billions of dollars in the meantime. Still, the administration's bluff has been called.

In case the White House is still unclear, let me offer them the clarification they seek: Get this case to the Supreme Court now and, unless you do, stop spending billions we don't have on an unconstitutional law.

Obamacare may be the crowning achievement of the big-government crowd erecting their ever-expanding entitlement state, but the laws of economics and the laws of the land are racing to see which will take it down first - that is, if the voters don't beat them to it. Even its most ardent supporters call the plan "a Ponzi scheme" and "totally unsustainable" and its date with Supreme Court destiny is about to be fast-tracked.

Obamacare is a skipping stone careening along the water's surface, but the laws of gravity - like the laws of economics and the laws of the land - will always win.

Dr. Milton R. Wolf, a Washington Times columnist, is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist and President Obama's cousin. He blogs at miltonwolf.com.

© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/7/obamacare-vital-signs-starting-to-fade/print


Title: Re: Democrat Senator Conrad: "ObamaCare would make Bernie Madoff Proud" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 07, 2011, 06:46:21 PM
Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, called the CLASS Act "a Ponzi scheme of the first order, the kind of thing that Bernie Madoff would have been proud of."


________________________ ________________________ ___

Do you fucking idiot leftists get it yet? 
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 07, 2011, 06:56:56 PM
Got to love Obama's own relatives attacking his admn. 
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 08, 2011, 05:48:16 AM
BUMP
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 08, 2011, 06:11:56 AM
Paul Ryan has now been proven 100% correct on this.   

All you piece of trash libs who attacked us back then and called names and launched juvenile broadsides to defend ObamaCare need to STFU and admit you were played for cheap whores by your messiah.   

Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 08, 2011, 07:29:04 AM
BUMP
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: dario73 on March 08, 2011, 07:30:50 AM
Why doesn't it surprise me that a Democrat would vote for Obamacare eventhough he knew there was something wrong with one of its main components? Unbelievable. You can't make this stuff up.

Well, eventually, Obamacare will cease to exist. It is unconstitutional and it wrecks havoc on the economy. Either the Supreme Court will strike it down or it will be repealed.
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 08, 2011, 07:33:35 AM
I just want Straw and Option FAIL to defend this.

   
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: dario73 on March 08, 2011, 07:49:22 AM
I just want Straw and Option FAIL to defend this.

   

They can't. But you can count on them to come up with some witty joke about it. They will throw in some Jon Stewart in there and they will go on in their happy delusional way.
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: blacken700 on March 08, 2011, 08:19:11 AM
so your saying we have to comment on an opinion piece as fact. :D :D dr wolf obama's second cousin removed, the same guy who believed the death panels. if you want comments post real news ::) :D :D
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 08, 2011, 08:20:37 AM
so your saying we have to comment on an opinion piece as fact. :D :D dr wolf obama's second cousin removed, the same guy who believed the death panels. if you want comments post real news ::) :D :D

 ::)  ::)

A Dem Senator called ObamaCare a madoff scam, like we have told you from Day 1, if thatis not news, well, whatever.   
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: dario73 on March 08, 2011, 08:46:19 AM
Told you 3333.  These idiotic left wing wackjobs never fail to make fools of themselves.

This is an opinion?
In separate testimony last week, the HHS secretary admitted to double-counting Obamacare's cooked books. The question posed was whether a $500 billion cut in Medicare should be counted toward preserving Medicare or funding the new law. Her own actuary previously acknowledged they must choose one or the other. Mrs. Sebelius' reply? "Both."

That happened. There is even a video of it.
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on March 08, 2011, 08:47:50 AM
Proposed long-term insurance program raises questions
Opponents warn plan could require vast infusions of cash

By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 12:53 PM




As congressional leaders haggle over the shape of a proposed government-run "public option" in health-care reform legislation, a quiet revolt is brewing against a different public insurance program -- a plan to create government insurance for long-term care.

The proposal is known as the CLASS Act, short for Community Living Services and Support. The idea has been around for years, and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) pushed to have the measure included in the health-care overhaul package that passed the Senate health committee in July. A similar measure was also adopted by voice vote in one of the three House committees handling health care.

The idea is to create long-term care insurance that would be available to anyone, including those who are already disabled. People would be automatically enrolled, unless they chose to opt out, and would pay a premium in exchange for the opportunity to receive cash benefits to cover the cost of home care, adult day programs, assisted living or nursing homes after they had been enrolled for at least five years. Premiums and benefit levels would be set by federal health officials, but advocates predict that the program would provide beneficiaries with a minimal sum, around $75 a day.

The proposal has gained momentum in recent days as Democrats in both the House and Senate cast about for cash to help finance a final health package. Because the program would begin taking in premiums immediately but would not start paying benefits until 2016, congressional budget analysts have forecast that it would generate a nearly $60 billion surplus over the next 10 years, cash that would help the larger measure's balance on paper.

But an array of groups -- including the Congressional Budget Office and the American Academy of Actuaries -- have questioned the design of the program, warning that it could easily require vast infusions of cash to cover benefits after 2019.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) called the CLASS Act "a Ponzi scheme of the first order, the kind of thing that Bernie Madoff would have been proud of," and he vowed to block its inclusion in the Senate bill.  

In the House, Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) also questioned the program in a caucus meeting last week. Pomeroy said the nation needs to find a way to relieve the heavy burden that now falls on Medicaid to cover the cost of nursing home care. But he said that will require long thought and hard decisions, "not some provision cooked up by advocacy groups at the last hour."

Advocacy groups, for their part, counter that the program would be actuarially sound far into the future and would save Medicaid money.

"It is not a Ponzi scheme," said Larry Minnix, president of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, which represents nonprofit providers and is one of more than 200 consumer and other groups supporting the legislation. "It is a consumer-funded insurance pool that provides people a cash benefit to help with simple chores of daily living so they can remain independent."


View all comments that have been posted about this article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/27/AR2009102701417_pf.html


________________________ __________-


Can't to hear how the far left idiots on this board spin this one.  Will they claim WAPO is a right wing outlet?  

Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 15, 2011, 06:49:06 AM
so your saying we have to comment on an opinion piece as fact. :D :D dr wolf obama's second cousin removed, the same guy who believed the death panels. if you want comments post real news ::) :D :D

BUMP for Blackass - please comment now that obama had to end this scam. 
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: James on October 15, 2011, 06:57:54 AM
WOLF: Obamacare vital signs starting to fade
Court puts law on the fast track to judgment day
By Dr. Milton R. Wolf
-
The Washington Times
6:11 p.m., Monday, March 7, 2011

________________________ ______________________



Obamacare is living on borrowed time, and even its most ardent supporters are beginning to realize it. That's why they're racing to implement - and entrench - as much of the plan as possible before the laws of economics and the laws of the land and voters catch up. They're like a deadbeat renter starting a remodeling project after being evicted but before the police escort them from the premises in hopes that it gives them squatter's rights. Meanwhile, two unrelated but devastating events have caused the ground to shake beneath the feet of Obamacare supporters.

A major component of Obamacare is "totally unsustainable." Those aren't the words of Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin; no, those belong to the Obama administration's own chief cheerleader, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. The program in question, the CLASS Act or Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act, is a massive long-term elderly care entitlement program that was quietly tucked into Obamacare and never got anywhere near the attention it deserves.

Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, called the CLASS Act "a Ponzi scheme of the first order, the kind of thing that Bernie Madoff would have been proud of." And then he voted for it. I suspect Bernie Madoff would be proud of Kent Conrad. The White House's sleight of hand goes like this: CLASS Act taxes begin in Year 1 but the benefits don't begin until Year 6, so when 10 years of revenues and five years of expenses were calculated, the Congressional Budget Office declared not only that the CLASS Act paid for itself but, as a result, Obamacare overall would reduce the deficit. However, when 10 years of revenues and expenses are counted - even accepting the White House's rosy scenario projections - the CLASS Act goes billions into the red and Obamacare itself raises rather than reduces the deficit.

Mrs. Sebelius agrees with the Medicare chief actuary that the program "is at a significant risk for failure" with or without the accounting gimmick but - channeling the spirit of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez - she claims the law gives her "administrative flexibility" to bypass Congress and the American voters and rewrite the law to her liking. Such power.

In separate testimony last week, the HHS secretary admitted to double-counting Obamacare's cooked books. The question posed was whether a $500 billion cut in Medicare should be counted toward preserving Medicare or funding the new law. Her own actuary previously acknowledged they must choose one or the other. Mrs. Sebelius' reply? "Both."

Several hundred miles away in Florida, federal Judge Roger Vinson dealt yet another blow to Mr. Obama's health care crown jewel. It was Judge Vinson, of course, who in January declared Obamacare to be unconstitutional. Many from the victorious 26 states that brought the lawsuit have sought to expedite final resolution of the case in the Supreme Court, but the White House has resisted with hopes of delaying their day of reckoning. Instead, the best and the brightest lawyers in the administration opted to request clarification from Judge Vinson regarding his ruling and its effect on implementation. If there's one thing a squatter knows, it's how to stall.

It would be understandable for Judge Vinson to take exception to this tactic since he had already declared quite clearly that "the award of declaratory relief is adequate and separate injunctive relief is not necessary." In other words, once a law is declared unconstitutional, the only option is to stop implementing it.

This week, the White House was smacked with a painful lesson: Be careful what you wish for. Judge Vinson interpreted the administration's request for clarification as a request to stay his own ruling and he granted it - with a big catch. Judge Vinson, saying "the citizens of this country have an interest in having this case resolved as soon as practically possible," has given the White House exactly one week to request that the case be expedited to the appellate court or the Supreme Court or halt Obamacare implementation.

Regrettably, Judge Vinson stopped short of demanding a complete injunction, which not only would have achieved his goal of expediting the case to the Supreme Court but also would have saved taxpayers billions of dollars in the meantime. Still, the administration's bluff has been called.

In case the White House is still unclear, let me offer them the clarification they seek: Get this case to the Supreme Court now and, unless you do, stop spending billions we don't have on an unconstitutional law.

Obamacare may be the crowning achievement of the big-government crowd erecting their ever-expanding entitlement state, but the laws of economics and the laws of the land are racing to see which will take it down first - that is, if the voters don't beat them to it. Even its most ardent supporters call the plan "a Ponzi scheme" and "totally unsustainable" and its date with Supreme Court destiny is about to be fast-tracked.

Obamacare is a skipping stone careening along the water's surface, but the laws of gravity - like the laws of economics and the laws of the land - will always win.

Dr. Milton R. Wolf, a Washington Times columnist, is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist and President Obama's cousin. He blogs at miltonwolf.com.

© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/7/obamacare-vital-signs-starting-to-fade/print




Obamacare is one of the worst Bills ever signed into Law.

And to think that people still support Obama...
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 15, 2011, 07:04:26 AM
Remember the arguments i had w Straw, 240, Lurker, blacken, KC, Mal, et al about the CBO scoring? 


Those morons now look like utter dog shit, as always, since they so desperately wanted to believe the messiah.   
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: tonymctones on October 15, 2011, 07:23:03 AM
LOL at black ass calling this opinion...maybe he didnt hear about the quote by sebilious saying that it requires the constant enrollment of more healthy young ppl to sustain the old...

SOUND FAMILIAR YOU MORON!!!!

you know how a ponzi scheme works?
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 15, 2011, 07:26:39 AM
LOL at black ass calling this opinion...maybe he didnt hear about the quote by sebilious saying that it requires the constant enrollment of more healthy young ppl to sustain the old...

SOUND FAMILIAR YOU MORON!!!!

you know how a ponzi scheme works?

Remember that Tanning tax that was supposed to fund a lot of the new spending? 

Guess what?  They collected at least 50% less than they anticipated.   


ObamaCare is not only the worst law to ever have been passed, but its a perfect portrait of the Obama Admn on all levels and those who bought into his lies and still support him.   



Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: tonymctones on October 15, 2011, 07:30:56 AM
Remember that Tanning tax that was supposed to fund a lot of the new spending? 

Guess what?  They collected at least 50% less than they anticipated.   


ObamaCare is not only the worst law to ever have been passed, but its a perfect portrait of the Obama Admn on all levels and those who bought into his lies and still support him.   
LOL who are the ppl budgeting these ideas and how are these morons so far off?
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 15, 2011, 07:34:14 AM
LOL who are the ppl budgeting these ideas and how are these morons so far off?

Again - like Ryan said - its all scams,. schemes, gimmicks, and lies 
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 16, 2011, 02:14:28 PM
Bump for straw.   
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 17, 2011, 11:57:01 AM
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/187949-white-house-opposes-formal-class-act-repeal




lmfao!!!!!


Cant make this up any more.   



Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 29, 2011, 08:26:46 AM
BUMP FOR STRAW AND 180
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on October 29, 2011, 09:06:14 AM
BUMP FOR STRAW AND 180 
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Straw Man on October 29, 2011, 09:09:43 AM
wtf - we're already discussing this in another thread

you're like a child dying for some attention by a parent

did your mommy and daddy ignore you as a child (and a teenager and now as an adult)?
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on November 30, 2011, 06:59:36 PM
House votes to repeal Obama’s CLASS Act: Part of health care legislation deemed unsustainable
The Washington Times ^ | November 30, 2011 | Paige Winfield Cunningham
Posted on November 30, 2011 9:50:20 PM EST by 2ndDivisionVet

Acting with bipartisan support, a House committee Wednesday voted to repeal the CLASS Act, part of President Obama’s health care law that the administration has said is unsustainable, but also said it didn’t want to see ended entirely.

Three conservative-leaning Democrats - Reps. Mike Ross of Arkansas, Jim Matheson of Utah and John Barrow of Georgia - broke with their party to support the repeal, which passed the committee 33-17.

While some Democrats have argued for restructuring the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS) and the White House opposes repealing the program, Republicans insist on scrapping it in its entirety, saying the law would be a long-term drag on the federal budget.

“I believe we have to start over on long-term care reform - an issue that will affect millions of Americans as they or a loved one need care,” said Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “But first, we must erase a program that we know will not work; a program that was never structured to work, and that we could never afford.”

Long headed for troubled waters, CLASS suffered a blow this fall when Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius declared she couldn’t find a way to make the program pay for itself and suspended it indefinitely.

But even with that acknowledgment, the White House said it still didn’t want to see the program repealed from the books.

On Wednesday, some Democrats in the committee said they wanted to see the program remain but be restructured...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on January 18, 2012, 07:09:31 AM
Repeal the CLASS 'Ponzi scheme'
By: Rep. Charles Boustany
January 17, 2012 10:09 PM EST
 


‘Obamacare” appears ready to collapse under its own weight. Look at the CLASS Act, a government-run long-term care program Congress is likely to vote to repeal from the 2010 law.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ignored warnings from the Medicare actuary and the American Academy of Actuaries when they added this budget gimmick to the 2010 health law. A bipartisan Senate majority voted to strip CLASS from the law, but Democratic leaders needed CLASS premiums to offset the costs of unrelated parts of “Obamacare.”

Last year, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius suspended CLASS after department attorneys conceded HHS lacked the legal authority to make CLASS appear more actuarially sound. Citing HHS, the Congressional Budget Office added: “The program cannot be operated without mandatory participation so as to ensure its solvency.”

Unfortunately, CLASS could return to haunt us if it isn’t fully repealed before October 2012. Legal experts at the Congressional Research Service warn that a federal judge could force HHS to revive CLASS after this key deadline in the law expires.

As we seek to repeal CLASS, we should confront two myths used to sell this Ponzi scheme.

First, CLASS does not guarantee a daily minimum cash benefit for working disabled Americans with pre-existing conditions. The administration planned to break the law, according to HHS attorneys, by excluding them from coverage, writing new income rules and phasing enrollment because of health status.

HHS also said solvency or legal problems could force the program’s shutdown, at the risk of leaving some working disabled Americans “worse off.”

Second, CLASS is a bad deal for healthy Americans and leaves us unprepared for the aging of the baby-boom generation. Howard Gleckman of the Urban Institute notes the average CLASS premium would run as high as $391 per month, “which far exceeds private market premiums.”

In addition, consumers receive no private contract that guarantees benefits. They must meet a five-year vesting period and forfeit what they contribute into a pay-as-you-go system with no reserve requirements.

Approximately, six out of 10 seniors will likely need some type of long-term care. The number of Americans 85 or older could grow 250 percent by 2040, and this group has the greatest need for long-term care.

As a physician, I treated hundreds of patients who needed long-term care, including ones with Alzheimer’s. More than 13.5 million seniors could have this disease by 2040. Middle-class families remain dangerously unprepared for these costs. Some people will likely spend more than $100,000 on care. The fictional CLASS daily benefit of $50 per day won’t cover this.

I urge my House and Senate colleagues to support this CLASS repeal. We should instead make it easier for disabled Americans to save for future needs, expand access to affordable private long-term care coverage and better educate Americans about the need for retirement planning.

Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a physician, is chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight.
 
 
© 2012 POLITICO LLC
 
Title: Re: Dem. Sen. Conrad: "ObamaCare is a MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME" - QUOTE
Post by: Soul Crusher on August 13, 2012, 07:09:34 PM

Bump for Hugo - another incompetent Obama voter. 



WOLF: Obamacare vital signs starting to fade
Court puts law on the fast track to judgment day
By Dr. Milton R. Wolf
-
The Washington Times
6:11 p.m., Monday, March 7, 2011

________________________ ______________________



Obamacare is living on borrowed time, and even its most ardent supporters are beginning to realize it. That's why they're racing to implement - and entrench - as much of the plan as possible before the laws of economics and the laws of the land and voters catch up. They're like a deadbeat renter starting a remodeling project after being evicted but before the police escort them from the premises in hopes that it gives them squatter's rights. Meanwhile, two unrelated but devastating events have caused the ground to shake beneath the feet of Obamacare supporters.

A major component of Obamacare is "totally unsustainable." Those aren't the words of Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin; no, those belong to the Obama administration's own chief cheerleader, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. The program in question, the CLASS Act or Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act, is a massive long-term elderly care entitlement program that was quietly tucked into Obamacare and never got anywhere near the attention it deserves.

Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, called the CLASS Act "a Ponzi scheme of the first order, the kind of thing that Bernie Madoff would have been proud of." And then he voted for it. I suspect Bernie Madoff would be proud of Kent Conrad. The White House's sleight of hand goes like this: CLASS Act taxes begin in Year 1 but the benefits don't begin until Year 6, so when 10 years of revenues and five years of expenses were calculated, the Congressional Budget Office declared not only that the CLASS Act paid for itself but, as a result, Obamacare overall would reduce the deficit. However, when 10 years of revenues and expenses are counted - even accepting the White House's rosy scenario projections - the CLASS Act goes billions into the red and Obamacare itself raises rather than reduces the deficit.

Mrs. Sebelius agrees with the Medicare chief actuary that the program "is at a significant risk for failure" with or without the accounting gimmick but - channeling the spirit of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez - she claims the law gives her "administrative flexibility" to bypass Congress and the American voters and rewrite the law to her liking. Such power.

In separate testimony last week, the HHS secretary admitted to double-counting Obamacare's cooked books. The question posed was whether a $500 billion cut in Medicare should be counted toward preserving Medicare or funding the new law. Her own actuary previously acknowledged they must choose one or the other. Mrs. Sebelius' reply? "Both."

Several hundred miles away in Florida, federal Judge Roger Vinson dealt yet another blow to Mr. Obama's health care crown jewel. It was Judge Vinson, of course, who in January declared Obamacare to be unconstitutional. Many from the victorious 26 states that brought the lawsuit have sought to expedite final resolution of the case in the Supreme Court, but the White House has resisted with hopes of delaying their day of reckoning. Instead, the best and the brightest lawyers in the administration opted to request clarification from Judge Vinson regarding his ruling and its effect on implementation. If there's one thing a squatter knows, it's how to stall.

It would be understandable for Judge Vinson to take exception to this tactic since he had already declared quite clearly that "the award of declaratory relief is adequate and separate injunctive relief is not necessary." In other words, once a law is declared unconstitutional, the only option is to stop implementing it.

This week, the White House was smacked with a painful lesson: Be careful what you wish for. Judge Vinson interpreted the administration's request for clarification as a request to stay his own ruling and he granted it - with a big catch. Judge Vinson, saying "the citizens of this country have an interest in having this case resolved as soon as practically possible," has given the White House exactly one week to request that the case be expedited to the appellate court or the Supreme Court or halt Obamacare implementation.

Regrettably, Judge Vinson stopped short of demanding a complete injunction, which not only would have achieved his goal of expediting the case to the Supreme Court but also would have saved taxpayers billions of dollars in the meantime. Still, the administration's bluff has been called.

In case the White House is still unclear, let me offer them the clarification they seek: Get this case to the Supreme Court now and, unless you do, stop spending billions we don't have on an unconstitutional law.

Obamacare may be the crowning achievement of the big-government crowd erecting their ever-expanding entitlement state, but the laws of economics and the laws of the land are racing to see which will take it down first - that is, if the voters don't beat them to it. Even its most ardent supporters call the plan "a Ponzi scheme" and "totally unsustainable" and its date with Supreme Court destiny is about to be fast-tracked.

Obamacare is a skipping stone careening along the water's surface, but the laws of gravity - like the laws of economics and the laws of the land - will always win.

Dr. Milton R. Wolf, a Washington Times columnist, is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist and President Obama's cousin. He blogs at miltonwolf.com.

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