<html><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div>With him it's almost impossible to tell. <br><br><div>Seeya round town, Moscow.</div><div><br></div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"If not us, who?</div><div>If not now, when?"</div><div><br></div><div>- Unknown</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div><br>On Jul 11, 2012, at 6:40, "Kris Freitag" <<a href="mailto:kfreitag@roadrunner.com">kfreitag@roadrunner.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">I'm pretty sure Donovan was being
ironic.</font></div>
<div><font size="2" face="Arial">Kris</font></div>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><b>From:</b>
<a title="thansen@moscow.com" href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">Tom Hansen</a>
</div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"><b>To:</b> <a title="donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com" href="mailto:donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com">Donovan Arnold</a> </div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"><b>Cc:</b> <a title="vision2020@moscow.com" href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020</a> </div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, July 11, 2012 5:46
AM</div>
<div style="FONT: 10pt arial"><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Vision2020] The Many
Ironies of Health Care Reform: Sad, Wicked,Amazing, Delicious, Socratic,
Dramatic, and Cosmic</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mandated health insurance does not go into affect until January 1,
2014.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Courtesy of <a href="http://HealthCare.gov"><a href="http://HealthCare.gov">HealthCare.gov</a></a> at:</div>
<div><br></div><a href="http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/"><a href="http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/">http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/</a></a>
<div>
<div>-----------------------------------</div>
<div><br></div>
<div style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; LINE-HEIGHT: 16px; OVERFLOW-X: visible; OVERFLOW-Y: visible; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, san-serif; COLOR: rgb(17,17,17); FONT-SIZE: 16px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469)" class="col_body">
<p style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; MARGIN: 1em 0px; COLOR: rgb(102,102,102); FONT-SIZE: 0.81em; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" class="smaller">INCREASING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE CARE</p>
<h3 style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1em; MARGIN: 2em 0px 0.3em; DISPLAY: block; FONT-SIZE: 1.1em; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Promoting
Individual Responsibility</h3>
<p style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(136,136,136) 1px dotted; PADDING-BOTTOM: 8px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; MARGIN: 1em 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 0.81em; BORDER-TOP: rgb(136,136,136) 1px dotted; PADDING-TOP: 8px" class="date">Effective January 1, 2014</p>
<p style="BORDER-BOTTOM: rgb(136,136,136) 1px dotted; PADDING-BOTTOM: 8px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; MARGIN: 1em 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 0.81em; BORDER-TOP: rgb(136,136,136) 1px dotted; PADDING-TOP: 8px" class="date">Under the new law, most individuals who can afford it will be
required to obtain basic health insurance coverage or pay a fee to help offset
the costs of caring for uninsured Americans. If affordable coverage is
not available to an individual, he or she will be eligible for an
exemption.</p>
<p style="LINE-HEIGHT: 1.3em; MARGIN: 1em 0px; FONT-SIZE: 0.81em"><a style="COLOR: rgb(0,51,153); TEXT-DECORATION: none" class="APEdocument APEinternal" href="http://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/i/individualresponsibility.html">Learn
more about individual responsibility and the law</a></p></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>-----------------------------------</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>You realty ought to check things out once in a while.<br><br>
<div>Seeya round town, Moscow.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Tom Hansen</div>
<div>Moscow, Idaho</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"If not us, who?</div>
<div>If not now, when?"</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>- Unknown</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div></div>
<div><br>On Jul 11, 2012, at 4:25, Donovan Arnold
<<a href="mailto:donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com">donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div>
<div></div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: tahoma, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<div style="RIGHT: auto"><span style="RIGHT: auto">Has your health insurance
premiums dropped? Has you health improved? If not, then
obviously mandated health insurance is a scam because it didn't do
as promised</span><span style="RIGHT: auto">. </span></div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"><span style="RIGHT: auto"></span><span style="RIGHT: auto"></span> </div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"><span style="RIGHT: auto">Donovan J.
Arnold</span></div>
<div style="RIGHT: auto"><br></div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: tahoma, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<div dir="ltr"><font size="2" face="Arial">
<div style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 0; MARGIN: 5px 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 0px; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 0px" class="hr" contenteditable="false" readonly="true"></div><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</span></b> Nicholas Gier
<<a href="mailto:ngier006@gmail.com">ngier006@gmail.com</a>><br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</span></b> vision2020
<<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a>> <br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:23
AM<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</span></b> [Vision2020]
The Many Ironies of Health Care Reform: Sad, Wicked, Amazing, Delicious,
Socratic, Dramatic, and Cosmic<br></font></div><br>
<div id="yiv1252273207">Hail to the Vision!
<div><br></div>
<div>This is my radio commentary/column for this week. To read about
Socratic, dramatic, and cosmic irony you will have to consult the full
version attached.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>May the Force Always be with Universal Health Care for All
Americans,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Nick</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal" align="center"><b><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">THE MANY IRONIES OF <span id="misspell-1" class="mark">HEALTHCARE</span> REFORM</span></b></div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal" align="center"><br></div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal" align="center"><i><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Using tax penalties, as we did
[in Massachusetts], encourages "free riders" to take responsibility for
themselves rather than pass their medical costs on to
others.</span></i><i><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
</span></i></div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal" align="center"><i><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><br></span></i></div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal" align="center"><i><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; BACKGROUND-COLOR: white; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> Here
is where the federal government can do something<br clear="all">we could not:
Take steps to stop or slow medical inflation.<br clear="all"></span></i><i><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">—</span></i><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Mitt Romney, <i>USA Today</i>,
July 30, 2009</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></span></div>
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal" align="center"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><br></span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> There
are many types of irony: sad, wicked, amazing, and delicious. The tasty ones
are those that make you smile and smack your lips as you savor the
incongruities of improbable events. </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
Let us begin with the most scrumptious ones. The individual mandate—the
principle that all Americans should be required to buy health insurance—was
originally proposed by conservatives at the American Enterprise Institute
and Heritage Foundation.</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
In the 1990s conservatives used at least two principles in their argument
for the individual mandate: (1) the obvious truth that the larger the
insurance pool the smaller the risk; and (2) the idea of personal
responsibility. Following Republican principles (including states’
rights), no one will pay a penalty if everyone takes responsibility for
her/his own health care in the free-market state insurance exchanges.
</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
Critics of the Affordable Care Act
confuse the tax for noncompliance with the new taxes that are designed to
pay for providing about 30 million Americans with health
insurance.</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> The
non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (<span id="misspell-2" class="mark">CBO</span>) estimates that 4 million Americans will refuse to buy
insurance, and at $95 per individual the total would be $380 million in
2014. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that even with
the new taxes <span id="misspell-3" class="mark">Obamacare</span> will provide a
deficit reduction of $437.8 billion by 2019.<span style="COLOR: #444444"></span></span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Conservatives are now accusing
Democrats of lying about the mandate and taxes, but that makes Romney also a
liar when he said that those who did not comply with <span id="misspell-4" class="mark">Romneycare</span> would only pay a penalty, one which is actually
much higher than that in the Affordable Care Act.</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The most delectable ironies
abound in the history of <span id="misspell-5" class="mark">Romneycare</span>. Bay State Democrats, just as Obama was
in his debates with Hillary Clinton, were against the mandate, but Romney
vigorously supported the idea and won in the end. He now insists that he
never raised taxes while he was governor, but he did impose the mandate tax
and added fees <span id="misspell-6" class="mark">totalling</span> $502 million
in lieu of taxes. </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">It is sad irony that the Mormon
Romney, whose coreligionists are famous for their honesty and probity, not
only speaks falsehoods, but repeats them even after they have been publicly
corrected. </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">On <span id="misspell-7" class="mark">healthcare</span> Romney repeats a falsehood that many
Republicans spout: “<span id="misspell-8" class="mark">Obamacare</span> means
that up to 20 million Americans<b> </b>will lose the insurance they
currently have, the insurance that they like and they want to keep.”
</span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Also false are Romney’s claims
that the Affordable Care Act “cuts Medicare by $500,000 billion,”
that</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; COLOR: #444444; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“e</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><span id="misspell-9" class="mark">nding</span> <span id="misspell-10" class="mark">Obamacare</span> saves $95 billion,” and that “Obama is ending
Medicare as we know it.” Romney supports the Ryan budget that truly does end
Medicare. The <span id="misspell-11" class="mark">CBO</span> has calculated
that</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
repealing the Affordable Care Act will add $210 billion to the deficit over
ten years, and that it contains (not cuts) Medicare costs.
</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></span></div>
<h1 style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 1.6pt"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">It
is also ironic that many of those who oppose <span id="misspell-12" class="mark">Obamacare</span> want a much more efficient single payer system
instead. In February of 2009 a <i>New York Times/CBS</i> poll showed
59 percent agreed with the statement that “</span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; COLOR: #001b2a; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">the
government should provide national health insurance.” </span></h1>
<h1 style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 0in 0in 1.6pt"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; COLOR: #001b2a; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Those
who said that Uncle Sam should cover all medical problems made up 49% of the
respondents. </span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Except
for the mandate, nearly every other part of the Affordable Care Act has
overwhelming support, including the insurances exchanges.<var id="yui-ie-cursor"></var></span></h1>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 3.55pt 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In
an op-ed in <i>USA Today</i> (7/30/09) Romney ironically conceded that only
the federal government was in a position to control our soaring medicals
costs. This of course contradicts his current position that the states
should decide everything on their own. </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; MARGIN: 3.55pt 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">After
analyzing Romney’s column, Ryan Grimm (<i><span id="misspell-13" class="mark">Huffington</span> Post </i>3/4/12) concludes that the 2010
Democratic Congress did everything that Romney asked for: sufficient time
and reflection, a Senate bipartisan effort, provisions for cost containment,
deficit reduction (verified by the <span id="misspell-14" class="mark">CBO</span>), and rejecting the public option. That is yet
another delicious irony.<i> </i></span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Nick
Gier taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31
years. </span></div>
<div style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in" class="yiv1252273207MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"></span> </div></div></div><br>=======================================================<br>List
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