Kill It With Fire!

Before the gendarmes (it means “Gentlemen At Arms” in French, also Police, and they are rarely ‘Gentlemen’ but mostly armed thugs employed by the aristocracy) get all down on me as threatening and advocating violence, “Kill It With Fire” is an authentic Internet and Gaming meme arising from the fact that certain antagonists (‘Bosses’ in common parlance) have a distressing ability to resurrect themselves unless dispatched with non-intuitive levels of vigor.

Thus “Kill It With Fire” which in the case of most undead opponents is surprisingly ineffective (Mummies being the exception as they are covered in flammable rags) as their rotting flesh suffers little damage and they are more than likely to return the favor in a flaming ‘Zombie Hug’. This is why I prefer vaporizing and bone shattering attacks ranging from high explosives to your standard Louisville Slugger (Ash please, Maple is too hard and hurts my hands).

But it’s a vivid and effective metaphor for the continuing struggle against bad Neo Liberal ideas that keep getting injected into the policy conversation despite their overwhelming rejection by super majorities of the population simply because they benefit the .01% Plutocrat Billionaires and their Seven Figure sycophants in the professional political class.

In this particular case it’s gutting Obamacare without replacing it with something sensible like Single Payer.

The reason it’s important is because they’re idiotic fiscal hawks (Varus! Where is my Inflation!) and without it they can’t get the $1 Trillion to transfer using tax policy to the .01% Plutocrat Billionaires (did I mention them?) on a permanent basis (in the most regressively undertaxed of the developed nations) and instead must use the ‘eye candy option’ of a 10 year temporary proposal to satisfy the Byrd Rule (sigh, only temporary increases in the deficit, which doesn’t matter, as scored over a 10 year period, which is arbitrary, can bypass the filibuster for a simple majority vote in the Senate). Of course this will prove to be as “temporary” as the W Tax Cuts that Obama was quick to ratify (thank you Barack, you Republican Quisling) and make permanent.

But if you’re a Neo Liberal Technocrat 1% Elite you just get your rocks off on a little Prole Punching sadism wherever you can get it.

GOP makes new bid on Obamacare repeal
By Adam Cancryn, Politico
04/20/17

House Republicans are outlining a new deal that could revive their bid to repeal Obamacare — and set up an all-out sprint to make concrete progress on health care amid the specter of a government shutdown.

The flurry of activity just days before Congress returns to Washington aims to reunite the GOP behind Speaker Paul Ryan’s embattled American Health Care Act, offering concessions meant to win over the party’s moderate and conservative wings.

The deal — brokered by centrist Tuesday Group co-chair Tom MacArthur and hard-right Freedom Caucus head Mark Meadows — proposes giving states more flexibility to opt out of major Obamacare provisions, while at the same time preserving popular protections like the law’s ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.

It remains unclear whether the proposal can succeed in shifting any votes — President Donald Trump and leaders were forced to abandon a planned vote last month in the face of intraparty rebellion. They’ve since struggled to find a path forward, and even the deal being floated now relies largely on rehashing concepts lawmakers previously rejected.
…
The renewed effort also comes just days before the high-stakes deadline over funding the government or facing the politically risky scenario of shutting it down over one of several contentious issues — including whether Republicans will fund a key Obamacare subsidy program, financing for Trump’s border wall and boosted military spending, among others.

Trump and some administration officials have threatened to cut off Obamacare cost-sharing subsidies — a decision that would wreak havoc on the Obamacare insurance exchanges — to get Democrats to the table on a replacement plan.

Those subsidies, which are at the center of a court battle begun under the Obama administration, help lower-income people pay medical bills and insurance deductibles. Taking them away would prompt insurers to either flee the market or severely hike premiums to cover those costs. Despite calls from the health care industry, business groups and Democrats to continue the payments, the White House has yet to tip its hand.

According to a draft of the tentative deal obtained by POLITICO, the latest proposal would allow states to apply for “limited waivers” that would undermine Obamacare’s protections for pre-existing conditions. Under these waivers, states could opt out of Obamacare standards setting minimum benefits that health plans must offer and a requirement — called community rating — forbidding insurers from charging different prices to people based on health status. Both are provisions that the GOP’s ultraconservatives have pushed to eliminate as part of the repeal effort, contending that these coverage mandates drive up the cost of insurance.

States opting out of the community rating rules would be forced to set up separate insurance pools, known as high-risk pools, where people priced out of the private market could purchase coverage.

At the same time, the deal would allow states the option to maintain insurance protections, supported by centrist Republicans, including community rating.