Awesome

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by miraja2

True, but the "subject of the thread" was a completely erroneous claim made by the original poster. There is only so much to discuss about something that somebody just made up in their head.

It may well be erroneous currently but there is much evidence that won't be the case moving forward. Surely you arent of the belief that these benefits wont be taxed in the near future as doing so is one of the very few topics that has bi-partisan support. Obama doesn't want to broach the subject in the near future for self preserving political reasons but when Baucus and McCain are both on the same side of the fence it is only a matter of time regardless of who is eventually in charge.

And I'm sure that if in one of the countless Sarah Palin threads, I posted something that was critical of Obama or Democrats in general, there would be howls of protest from the usual originator of those threads.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

It may well be erroneous currently but there is much evidence that won't be the case moving forward. Surely you arent of the belief that these benefits wont be taxed in the near future as doing so is one of the very few topics that has bi-partisan support. Obama doesn't want to broach the subject in the near future for self preserving political reasons but when Baucus and McCain are both on the same side of the fence it is only a matter of time regardless of who is eventually in charge.

And I'm sure that if in one of the countless Sarah Palin threads, I posted something that was critical of Obama or Democrats in general, there would be howls of protest from the usual originator of those threads.

You could be right of course, but I'm not convinced anything involving the health care bill is "only a matter of time" at this point. I actually think there are huge portions of the program that could change significantly over the next few years. They could be changes I'm happy about, or they could be changes you are happy about, or maybe both or neither.
Just out of curiosity, if the Republicans win control of both houses of Congress and the White House in 2012, do you think they will mount a full-scale repeal campaign or not? If not....why not?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by miraja2

You could be right of course, but I'm not convinced anything involving the health care bill is "only a matter of time" at this point. I actually think there are huge portions of the program that could change significantly over the next few years. They could be changes I'm happy about, or they could be changes you are happy about, or maybe both or neither.
Just out of curiosity, if the Republicans win control of both houses of Congress and the White House in 2012, do you think they will mount a full-scale repeal campaign or not? If not....why not?

I don't really think you could even venture an accurate guess because it will greatly depend on the shape of the economy and who emerges as the powerbroker on the GOP side among other things.

Repealing it will require a plan to replace it. That will take some time to do and we might wind up in a similar mucked filled mess that the current one went through to get passed. Isn't it really a stretch to think that there wont be any meaningful bi-partisan work done in the near future. If I had to guess I would say that they would try to reshape the current plan. Changing the funding mechanisms (and perhaps including the benefits that we are talking about in this thread-especially if the economy is heating up again), undoing the requirement that everyone must participate, granting tax relief to the businesses, etc.

If the tea party movement gains more strength and grabs a real hold on some of the power in the party (and the polls favor it), I wouldnt rule out an attempt at a full scale repeal but at this point you would think that is a longer bet than simply tweeking it.