tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post1307040908096172437..comments2024-03-21T04:02:46.799-07:00Comments on Little Catholic Bubble: Jonathan Gruber and abuse of powerLeila@LittleCatholicBubblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-26056398576562108722014-12-04T13:21:30.565-07:002014-12-04T13:21:30.565-07:00That's weird only because everyone else's ...That's weird only because everyone else's premiums have gone up. And if insurance companies were even able to stay at the same rates, they'd be plenty competitive just by that fact alone. If you ever find out the reason, let us know. <br /><br />Blessed Advent and if anyone reading this could please pray for my mother-in-law. She is possibly in her final days/hours.<br />Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-75054939443831182042014-12-04T13:04:52.788-07:002014-12-04T13:04:52.788-07:00I haven't asked my insurance company why the p...I haven't asked my insurance company why the premiums have gone down. I assume it's to compete with the other insurance companies.LizaMoorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802523171389972822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-16907267966529777852014-12-01T10:03:38.392-07:002014-12-01T10:03:38.392-07:00Yes, Leila. The (progressive) government wants us ...Yes, Leila. The (progressive) government wants us to be totally dependent on government help, because will you vote for the person who threatens to take it away once you decide you can't live without it?Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02105537078452407714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-52668098193208464942014-12-01T09:18:37.185-07:002014-12-01T09:18:37.185-07:00"The government has completely taken away our..."The government has completely taken away our ability to fulfill our familial obligations! The thing that our Christian faith calls us to do has been taken from us by force!"<br /><br />Unknown, this is exactly right!! As a family who contributes to the care of a mother-in-law who is not able to care for herself, I totally concur. It makes you wonder if the government actually <i>wants</i> us to be totally dependent on government help? <br /><br />And yes, I'd like to know as well. That was the first I'd heard that premiums have gone down, and it makes me curious as to why.Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-58139602003756717432014-12-01T08:15:54.460-07:002014-12-01T08:15:54.460-07:00Also, one person above said her premium went down ...Also, one person above said her premium went down considerably. Nobody asked but I wonder if it was because she is being supplemented by fellow taxpayers. That is the only reason I can fathom for a premium to go down post-ACA.Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02105537078452407714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-19054629800070189082014-12-01T08:14:12.728-07:002014-12-01T08:14:12.728-07:00Here's an example of how taxing for charitable...Here's an example of how taxing for charitable causes is actually damaging to society. Say I support my elderly mother by sending her $500 every month so she can live comfortably. My taxes (or insurance premiums) go up $700 per month and I just can't afford to give her the money anymore. I tell her she has to get food stamps instead. The government has completely taken away our ability to fulfill our familial obligations! The thing that our Christian faith calls us to do has been taken from us by force! In Europe, where taxation is very high to "make everything equal," charitable donations are just a fraction of what they are in America. Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02105537078452407714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-55222177018547584082014-11-30T21:34:28.890-07:002014-11-30T21:34:28.890-07:00Unknown, that is an excellent point. I have been s...Unknown, that is an excellent point. I have been saying for years that the IRS takes donations. Honestly, they do. If all those on the left who don't feel that they pay enough and would gladly pay more (esp. the Hollywood celebrity mouthpieces), they can donate to the IRS directly, no joke, and think how many hundreds of millions they could send to the government coffers!Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-76477993388377753152014-11-30T15:57:44.553-07:002014-11-30T15:57:44.553-07:00To the person who commented that she gladly pays m...To the person who commented that she gladly pays more to help those who previously were uninsured: perhaps you should have, pre ACA, given that extra money to a Catholic hospital for care of the indigent if you felt so strongly about it. Forcing others to give to "charity cases" through higher taxes (or in this case, higher premiums) is not very charitable.Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02105537078452407714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-54273065808080150112014-11-28T20:48:21.819-07:002014-11-28T20:48:21.819-07:00This is the kind of thing that is happening to the...This is the kind of thing that is happening to the middle class. Delaying treatment for serious issues, now more than ever because of financial considerations (not true for the poor). <br /><br />http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/28/gallup-peak-number-of-americans-delaying-medical-care-over-costs/<br /><br />"New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, admitted this week that congressional Democrats should not have passed Obamacare in 2010 because it didn’t benefit most of the middle class."<br /><br />Thanks, Chuck, but now you tell us? Sigh.Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-22110616610671397982014-11-26T15:39:56.233-07:002014-11-26T15:39:56.233-07:00"Why is there so much outrage now that it is ..."Why is there so much outrage now that it is happening to the middle class when no one seemed to care when it was the working poor?"<br /><br />Precisely because now there is <i>more</i> people suffering, not fewer. That's the point. I would gladly pay more if Obamacare actually, truly <i>helped</i> more than it hurt. I don't believe in supporting something that "sounds good" and yet really helps very few and hurts a lot. I see that on the left all the time. If it sounds compassionate, if it sounds "nice", if it sounds like we are helping (because we care more!), then we support it. Honestly, my brain does not work like that. If the ACA were a private business, it would have crashed and burned and never seen the light of day, because it's a stinker and it's only going to get worse.<br /><br />And yes, the sudden lack of co-pay is because of Obamacare. I had a $35 co-pay before, but now anything "preventative" (well-checks for kids, well-women care, and of course contraception and abortifacients and sterilizations) is to be provided at no charge to me, no co-pay. This kicked in when my insurance company had to comply with the mandates, and also when they jacked up my premiums, so I not only get no savings from the co-pay disappearance, I also get no options to do a medical savings account or get a catastrophic plan. Less freedom, less choice, more money -- sounds like a plan only a bureaucrat could love, or those on the political left. It is frustrating. Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-88910633655877920282014-11-26T15:32:35.796-07:002014-11-26T15:32:35.796-07:00Most politicians lie, LizaMoore, but as far as I c...Most politicians lie, LizaMoore, but as far as I can remember, none so easily as Mr. Obama. Even the Weapons of Mass Destruction "lie" was not a lie, because everyone in the intelligence field and in Congress believed it, too, and it's since been proven true. <br /><br />And this:<br /><br /> "If women have what they need, they won't need to abort their child."<br /><br />First, that is not always true, especially if you are talking simply about financial things. And who gives the most support to pregnant women in need? The crisis pregnancy centers and the pro-life movement. We have INCREDIBLE programs and free support, long after baby is born. But who wants to actually make Crisis Pregnancy Centers illegal and shut them down? Democrats. The Left. How could anyone who is pro-life vote for the abortion pushers, who also shut down any attempts of Catholics to help -- REAL help, on all levels, financial, emotional, spiritual, material, etc. <br /><br />I will never understand.<br /><br /><br />Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-36379092894439635902014-11-26T15:01:21.553-07:002014-11-26T15:01:21.553-07:00My point is not that I am doing well with my cover...My point is not that I am doing well with my coverage. This isn't about "all is well with me and that's all that matters." Not at all. My point is that I am making the necessary sacrifices in our family budget to pay the increased cost of coverage without complaining about it. It costs us dearly to pay for our health care. As I said, more than our mortgage. Which is in part why we do not have some home improvements we need, etc. What I think matters is getting health care to those who did not have it and cannot afford it, and it also means middle class Americans are paying more. It is a very difficult and complex problem, and I agree with you about that point. There is no easy fix to the very high cost of health care and the incredible needs of Americans. I think there is over-consumption as well. You made a comment about the fact that well child care has no co-pay. I guess I don't know what type of coverage you had before the ACA was passed, but I was taking my first child to the doctor in 1999, and there was no co-pay for well child care back then either, which was a long time before the ACA was passed. My co-pay back then was only $20 for office visits, which was not charged for well child visits for my kids or annual physicals for me. At least from my experience, that dynamic has nothing to do with the ACA.<br /><br />The horror stories about people losing their lives and their inability to afford their old plan, or not being allowed to keep it . . . I understand that those are real problems happening to real people, and I don't mean to minimize that. I really don't. But before ACA there were also real people who could not get coverage at all that had these problems. I believe that there is an obligation of those with the means to afford their coverage to pay more so that people who cannot can have coverage. From conservative talk radio, I get the sense that there is such incredible outrage that - as your friend put it - the middle class is now down there with the poor in the "bottom tier" experiencing the inability to get and afford health coverage. Why is there so much outrage now that it is happening to the middle class when no one seemed to care when it was the working poor? I'm just suggesting another way of looking at the problem, even assuming your friend's comment is accurate, which of course I don't think that it is. There are individual "horror stories" just like there were individual "horror stories" with any reform. But before the ACA, entire groups of people did not qualify for Medicaid and yet could not get coverage. This overhaul has changed that, and I think it is a good thing. I understand your position and that we disagree, but contrary to your somewhat caustic comment, I don't care only about me.Pro ACAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09577135823624254505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-57076950989934198312014-11-26T14:31:14.811-07:002014-11-26T14:31:14.811-07:00Leila, what President hasn't lied? Obviously,...Leila, what President hasn't lied? Obviously, I'd prefer a government that doesn't lie, cheat and steal. I don't know of any administration in this country that didn't engage in unethical practices. Governments throughout history all over the world are the same. <br /><br />I can't figure out why people are acting like President Obama is the first government leader that said something and did something else. They all do that. It's been going on since the beginning of time.<br /><br />I vote for the person who will do least evil and harm. Sometimes that person is republican, democrat or independent. I don't vote based on how they voted on abortion. I vote for the person who I think does the most to help women not have a reason to have an abortion. If women have what they need, they won't need to abort their child. LizaMoorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802523171389972822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-39766815284670397522014-11-26T00:28:53.356-07:002014-11-26T00:28:53.356-07:00And this:
"The ACA is far from perfect, but ...And this:<br /><br />"The ACA is far from perfect, but it is better than what we had before."<br /><br />According to whom? <br /><br />All those new senators and congressmen/congresswomen who won in the November election campaigned specifically against Obamacare. So, who says it's better than what we had before? Not for the people I know, and not for the voters. Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-77939222224386719842014-11-26T00:25:31.919-07:002014-11-26T00:25:31.919-07:00Thanks for your thoughts. They are obviously very ...Thanks for your thoughts. They are obviously very different from my own. I think a great many citizens are terribly disturbed about being lied to on such a massive scale, and on something that affects us so personally and profoundly (our family's health and financial well-being). For some, the lies that got this monstrosity passed cost them their lives. There are ways to go about providing health care without destroying the entires system. Pope Francis is not in the nitty-gritty of policy in America. If he were to look up "Obamacare horror stories" on google, he might well be in sympathy with those people who have lost so much at the hand of our "betters". <br /><br />I am glad you can afford to pay $1900 a month for premiums. Many middle class folks cannot. But at least all is well with you and that's what matters, right?<br /><br />Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-51481743449352823992014-11-25T19:48:33.442-07:002014-11-25T19:48:33.442-07:00Amen, LizaMoore, Amen. The Affordable Care Act is...Amen, LizaMoore, Amen. The Affordable Care Act is a great step in the right direction. Health care is not a luxury. It is a right. And that is consistent with Catholic social teaching. Our family pays $1900 per month in health care premiums, more than our mortgage. I don't complain. That's what health care costs. We need to provide health care to all, and if those who can pay for their health care pay more so that others can have coverage, that is fine by me. There is NOTHING I feel more strongly about than the right of every person to have access to health care. And in America, where we have sophisticated health coverage in most parts of the country, everyone should have access to it. The ACA is far from perfect, but it is better than what we had before. Middle class families are finding themselves paying more. My family pays more. No surprise. This has happened wherever mandates have passed at the state level. Some people are "worse off" after ACA. Again, no surprise. I guess I am not that upset about all the "deceit" and "lies" about the program. It didn't come out the way it was promised. Duh. That's true of everything politicians promise. George Bush the senior "lied" when he said he was pro-life. George W. Bush "lied" when he said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He also "lied" about what No Child Left Behind would do for school children. Bill Clinton "lied" about numerous things, and of course he lied for real under oath as well. This is just politics. Gruber's mocking and condescending tone in referring to American voters is awful and sinful. But I am not at all riled up about it. I just think to myself, WWPFD? What would Pope Francis do? I don't think Pope Francis would be worried about how Americans were allegedly "duped" by Gruber. And I think Pope Francis would DEFINITELY be unimpressed about the complaints of most middle class Americans about our struggles to pay our health premiums. Pope Francis would want Government to respond to the basic human right of health care. And I assume he wouldn't be too worried about all the ways it was going wrong, and instead focus on the uninsured it was reaching. Those are just my thoughts. Pro ACAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09577135823624254505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-12987037937648412122014-11-25T18:10:11.902-07:002014-11-25T18:10:11.902-07:00Munchie Mommy, I don't know if we can begin to...Munchie Mommy, I don't know if we can begin to know all of the things that we were deceived about (the bill was monstrously long, and no one read it, save a handful of Americans, including my lawyer friend Dorinda of BDF, and she was the one who uncovered the abortion coverage that of course was promised not to be there -- that is one lie among many). We know that the specific deception he was talking about in his videos was the idea that the ACA really is a tax, and that the cost really does get passed on to the consumer, and that the healthy will be paying more for the sick, etc. All the stuff that was sold another way. It took the US Supreme Court to expose that in fact the ACA is a tax (the individual mandate, which has been waived for many thousands of Obama's buddies). Obama surely lied, and so did Pelosi and the others. They knew the American people did not want this thing forced on us in a rush, no one knowing what was in it, so they lied and deceived from the get go ("If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor", "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan", "this is not a tax", "there will be no taxpayer funded abortion", etc.). Gruber was more than a numbers guy, he was the one who wrote the bill, essentially, and he was also the architect of the Massachusetts bill as well, which had come before and which he talks about in some of the videos you can find online. He boasts that that was manipulated to get past the stupid voters as well. <br /><br />I am looking forward to hearing what Gruber has to say when he testifies before a Congressional committee in a couple of weeks. We should all be watching.Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-54226598051955569282014-11-25T18:03:13.040-07:002014-11-25T18:03:13.040-07:00You are not a pest! I appreciate the thoughtful qu...You are not a pest! I appreciate the thoughtful questions. The new earth will definitely have animals and plants and be teeming with life. Whether or not they are the same animals who have died before is something we don't know. Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-6885399202979707562014-11-25T16:12:29.589-07:002014-11-25T16:12:29.589-07:00Sorry to be a pest but I thought of another questi...Sorry to be a pest but I thought of another question. If animals, plants etc. are not meant to be eternal, then when people are resurrected on a new Earth, wouldn't that new Earth be rather barren and sterile without other lifeforms? Like the surface of the moon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-10579865581292955152014-11-25T15:07:24.374-07:002014-11-25T15:07:24.374-07:00Thank you for your responses and reading suggestio...Thank you for your responses and reading suggestions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-80322280199591142912014-11-25T12:54:18.097-07:002014-11-25T12:54:18.097-07:00It's a great question, and I think you are bri...It's a great question, and I think you are bringing in the question of evolution and how that fits in. I have a friend who knows much more about this than I do, and years ago I posed a similar question to her and she postulated:<br /><br />"One thought: It's possible that when God created animals, they were not meant to be eternal. They do not have souls. They die--they died in pre-history, and they die now. When, as Genesis tells us, God breathed His own breath into Adam's nostrils, that represents the moment (perhaps) that God, using pre-existing animal life, created MAN as a rational being, in His own image, with an immortal soul. Man and the animals were separated this way, and perhaps evolution was the mechanism to prepare an animal to become MAN when God breathed divine life into him. In this way of thinking, there is no contradiction being dying animals and God's original plan for immortal human beings. God warned Adam that disobedience would mean death--he would become, once again, like the animals."<br /><br />As for the theological part of it all (the part that speaks salvation to us, and that we need to know since we all can't be scientists, and I don't mean that snakily), please start here:<br /><br />http://littlecatholicbubble.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-i-never-learned-part-i.htmlLeila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-28535331882693591922014-11-25T12:29:35.293-07:002014-11-25T12:29:35.293-07:00How can physical evil be caused by sin? There was ...How can physical evil be caused by sin? There was suffering and death long before man appeared on Earth. Most species that ever existed were extinct before man was around. What kind of wonderful creation is that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-74707116944453575012014-11-25T10:56:19.440-07:002014-11-25T10:56:19.440-07:00That's another St. Teresa quote that is belove...That's another St. Teresa quote that is beloved by Catholics! Yes, the saints suffer... redemptively. And yes, physical evil (tsunamis, plagues, etc.) is caused by sin. The Fall of man, Original Sin, brought both moral and physical evil into the world. But if evil were the last word, you'd be right. However, evil is not the last word. "A bad night in a bad inn." You should read more of the works of St. Teresa of Avila. Brilliant woman, transcendent saint. We are all called to it, actually. We are all called to be saints. Leila@LittleCatholicBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09357573787143230160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-90314190153075341822014-11-25T10:34:49.255-07:002014-11-25T10:34:49.255-07:00After she fell off her donkey and injured her leg ...After she fell off her donkey and injured her leg St. Teresa of Avila asked God how he could let that happen, God said "That is how I treat my friends." in reply Teresa said "And that is why you have so few of them!" Bad things happen to man that weren't caused by man, e.g.plagues, tsunamis etc. Nothing loving about that.Some people suffer so much that it drives them mad. No angels came to comfort them like they supposedly did with Jesus in the desert and Gethsemane.<br /> I didn't have any formal religious training as a child.About the only time we went to church was for funerals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-240447238522390484.post-32195486847555146812014-11-25T10:04:08.435-07:002014-11-25T10:04:08.435-07:00I am genuinely curious and don't know the answ...I am genuinely curious and don't know the answers to the following:<br />What is the actual content of the deception about Obamacare? What was the actual lie that is causing this scandal? <br />Was it actually Gruber who lied, or the Obama administration? I thought that he was hired to estimate costs, not to sell the ACA to voters?<br />The video link doesn't answer these questions.Munchie Mommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02235606806806233833noreply@blogger.com