How President Biden Can Turn the Economy Around With a Pen Stroke

 The American economy is driven by consumer spending. It is not driven as politicians tend to promote by the number of jobs or job growth when celebrating the rise of the stock market or the latest corporate tax cut and subsidy.  Instead, its driven by higher wages, low inflation, and people having what is called discretionary spending. That means money they have to spend on things after taking care of the necessities such as basic bills. Consumer spending then means more jobs are needed because more people are dining out, shopping, going to movies, traveling, etc.

So how do we raise consumer spending?  What can President Biden and any politician who actually means it when they say they want America to grow and have a strong economy? Or that sincerely any working Americans to have a good life and that shot at the brass ring?

Raise The Minimum Wage to $15/hour

President Biden ran on this, will he really fight hard for it or was it an empty promise? This will require Congress to pass it and since corporate donors dont want to raise wages and they own money politicians (in both parties) this will be a hard fight. They will say how raising wages will cost jobs, it will send companies overseas, its bad for unions and those making a higher wage already.  All this is a distraction and mostly not a real argument if you just stop to think about it. 

• Is raising wages from the current $7.25/hour to $15 going to send companies overseas?  Well we already have many doing just that where they can get people to work for $1/day. Not a valid argument, the answer to keeping companies in America lies elsewhere, not forcing Americans to have low wages.
• But I joined a union or went to college for better wages!  Why give these people more?  First, let me say that is a remarkably selfish attitude.  Its also counter productive because if the minimum goes up, those working more skilled or dangerous jobs can more easily get a raise themselves - it will be arising tide helping every worker.  Also businesses will be making and selling more stuff so can better afford wage increases.
• What about the deficit? This is one of the stupidest arguments!  Raising wages will likely eventually result in higher govt salaries but it will likely take a year or more.  And with higher wages for most Americans we will pay more in taxes even at the same percentage rate. That lowers the deficit.
• But I cant afford to pay that much to my workers!  Well if your workers have to get by on 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet you probably have a lousy business model. In reality, more people can afford to buy your stuff or services so your business gross income will increase.  We have seen this happen over and over again in states with higher wages.  People making twice the money they do now will be able to save and spend more, benefiting everyone.

Activate the Medicare Clause for the Duration of the Pandemic

This one President Biden can do right now, without Congress.  He wont though, unless Americans push him on it. Instead he seems to be aiming for afar more expensive COBRA subsidy.

Medicare is the most efficient health coverage in America, it pays the lowest administrative and marketing costs.  Private insurance spends a lot of money on advertising and administration, sometimes up to 50%! Thy do this because its cheaper to make complicated rules and hire people to slow down or block payments when you need it. That may be good business but its not good healthcare!  Americans pay twice the average for medical expenses as every other industrial country, in many cases we pay far more - especially for drug prices. This is because the current system is designed to charge consumers as much as possible while covering clams as little as possible and done n many ways, co-payments, premiums, deductibles, pharmacy rebates, back room deals with drug companies, out of network surprise costs, and of curse simply denying your claim as long as they can and hoping you die or give up so they don't have to pay.

Much of the problem is buried in your employee benefits so many people dont know how bad it is, especially if they dont get seriously sick. But all the money your employer spends on health care means lower wages for you.  Nothing is free after all!  COBRA is kind of an example of this, its employee health insurance without the company paying much into it.  Insurance companies love this because the money still ends in their pocket - they dont care who pays after all.

What can we do?

• The AHCA had an emergency clause in it that allows the President to give everyone Medicare during a pandemic.  This means millions of unemployed workers can get health care. Even employed workers can save money by using it instead of dealing with their insurance company.
• Will this cost taxpayers? You betcha!  I'm not going to lie to you like a typical politician or TV pundit. However what they fail to say to you is that by paying insurance companies through COBRA instead of directly paying your doctor is that the method President Biden just outlined will cost taxpayers far far more.  Doing nothing not only means more dead Americans but also costs the economy and taxpayers, lost work, lower taxes (cant pay taxes with no job right?), delays on vaccination, more time lost from work as people call in sick, on and on.
• Remember every other major country does this better and cheaper than we do, all because politicians are getting paid to let YOU and your family get sick and die to benefit insurance and drug companies.  The media is just as guilty, they make a lot of money from advertising so wont call it out.
• When this is allover we can go back to being ripped off, but right now we need this to more quickly get the economy turned around and save lives.  Who knows, you just might like single-payer instead of dealing with an insurance company!  Of course that is what certain people are terrified of.

Wear a Mask!

The final thing is not up to Congress or President Biden, but up to you.  Trump, Republicans, and conservative media all made wearing a mask a political issue.  Its not, its a moral one.  We should not need a law or regulation to force people to wear masks, people should wear them them as a symbol of patriotism and loyalty to America, or just because its the right and good thing to do.

Trump originally pushed this because he was afraid people would get scared and it would hurt the stock market.  He did not care how many people died, long as the economy was good.  Thing is if Americans all wore masks we would have cut the death toll at least in half and many people would still have their jobs.  We still would be struggling but not nearly as much. Dr. Fauchi lied and said wearing masks was not likely needed in order to prevent a run on them so health care workers would have enough. Not cool guy, not cool at all.

Mass are not comfortable, but if you refuse to wear a mask because your lazy or rather people die and lose jobs because you dont want to be mildly uncomfortable get out of the country because your not a loyal American!

An Open Letter to President Elect Joe Biden

 Congratulations on your victory. I am in Oklahoma and voted for Sen. Sanders during the Primary but you in the General. Anyone was better than a draft dodger in the WH and one who has damaged my country so much. As a veteran real patriotism and the betterment of America are important to me. Not the token pretend patriotism I see from so many politicians but the real deal, where you put country before yourself or your political party. I feel Senator McCain was the last Republican at the federal level who was truly patriotic.

So I ask you, what do you want out of your term run on policy, minimum wage of $15, some vague incremental climate change idea, and the vague sole of the country. I think your dead wrong that McConnel will work with you, he blocked President Obama and cares only for personal power and his party, America is demonstrably not important to his ideology. Even if the Dems win GA Manchin will sabotage any efforts as he is really a republican.  Given all this how will you deal with it and try to accomplish?

Do you want to be loved by your peers?  Beloved by most Americans? I dont feel in the toxic hole that is D.C. the former is really possible and the latter will require something significant. If McConnel has his way you will be remembered as a do nothing and ineffectual President who served his time, probably helped with the economic recovery from the pandemic but oversaw another devastating lossto working class Americans like under President Bush. Congress will make sure the Banks and big corporations survive and get wealthier, but millions of people will have lost their jobs, homes, health, and/or lives. History will likely not blame McConnel or Pelosi in the long term, though as she saw in losing the House we blame her now.  Ask yourself, do you really care about America more than most politicians?  I think you do but in an effort to get along will let others continue to sell the country out.

Would you like to be remembered as one of the most beloved Presidents in US history?  Here is how, despite the forces arrayed against you and the country.

Invoke the section under the AHCA that lets you give Medicare to everyone during the pandemic.  Millions of Americans lost their health care when they lost their jobs. This will save thousands of lives, probably more. BigPharma and the Congress they bought and paid for will scream but most Americans, even republicans want it. Sanders almost won on that alone (plus we admire his integrity) and it took him playing softball and some shady stuff by insurance/pharma and the politicians and media they control to kill his campaign. If COVID had happened earlier even that would not have worked, you know this if your honest with yourself.  Its popular and saves lives, the only counter is it costs too much.  But ask those who complain how much is an American life worth? And it will be great for the economy, business no longer having to deal with health care suddenly makes small business more viable and competitive, people stop using ERs for primary care, and people get healthier so are more productive.  Medical bankruptcies also go away.

Lets say your reluctant to do that and instead of being the President who saved America you would rather be known as the one who saved Obama Care. Ok, The dems under Pelosi will keep losing seats as the base replaces corporate republican lite democrats with progressives and 2022 will try to salvage it. Personally I prefer the third party option, but oh well I'm in a minority - for now. Maybe President Ro Khana or President Nina Turner will get it done and be the next FDR. 

But even if your unwilling to do what you clearly can by executive order under the law use it to force Congress to take the pandemic seriously and get something meaningful done within your first few weeks as President. With Medicare for All as the alternative, even if only for the duration of the pandemic Congress will be pressured by Insurance and Pharma to come up with anything and everything to counter your threat.  It will likely be the biggest win of your career, IF they believe you will do it.

You can put America back on its way and save millions of Americans from further suffering but only if your bold enough.  Do you want to be?

There are many things you can do and Trump has shown it and the Republicans will come across as hypocrites for complaining (that wont stop them of course).

• Government Reform through establishing a transparency cabinet or department that posts information from agencies like the FEC, FCC, FTC, FBI statistics, Labor statistics, and reports from all govt watch dogs, including Inspector Generals.  Make this information easily and readily available to every citizen, even those with weak computer skills and that will help curb the corruption that is poisoning our country.
• Infrastructure combined with climate change and a jobs program.  Lots of plans, including your outline so enough said here but this is vital not just for combatting climate change but jump starting job growth once the pandemic is dealt with.  You'll get fights on it, go to their districts and tell people how climate change related disasters cost lives and money. Also, the world is moving ahead of us on electric cars and solar tech, we ether invest or get left behind and lose jobs over it.  For any fiscal conservatives that may be left point out better jobs means higher tax revenue.

Please Mr. Biden, ignore the naysayers and fight those who want to destroy America and save this great country! If your bold enough you have a real chance to do it.

Common Sense Thoughts on the COVID-19 Epidemic and Getting Past it.

As states and other entities talk about reopening lets look at this closely.

Why did people decide to shut down?

The purpose of the shutdown is to delay the spread of the virus, not stop it just slow it down enough that the hospitals are not overwhelmed. If the hospitals get too many patients at one time they cant handle the load and more people die. That includes hospital staff, nurses, service staff, even patients not in the hospital for the virus as they get ignored because of overcrowding or actually get infected.

The sooner we open up again the worse the effect on human lives and though this may give a short term economic respite it will prolong the crisis and increased overall costs.

What do I do if it opens too soon?

• Use masks and physical distancing from others as much as possible.
• If your lucky enough to have a job that lets you work from home, do it as much as possible.
• If your in an office cancel meetings in the conference room and use video or conference calls. Even if your all in the building, being in a room for an hour is asking to catch anything your coworkers have.
• Avoid restaurants, bars, gyms, salons, etc. Delivery can support them and get you good food.  These businesses will suffer the most which is why Congress needs to take care of them.
• Don't hoard! Supply chains are stressed but working, hoarding puts your neighbors at extra risk as they lack essential supplies.  On the other hand shop wisely and infrequently.
• Remember you can be a carrier before you show symptoms!  Avoid close interaction with people till a vaccine is available. If you get sick notify everyone you recently encountered.

What Should the Government Do?

Roughly every decade we have a significant countrywide disaster, its pretty predictable and the government needs to stat taking their jobs seriously and think long term. Just as any member of the military they swore an oath under God to serve and protect, time they started taking that obligation seriously.

• Get Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) into peoples hands, no excuse for this not being done months ago. It was just laziness that killed thousands of Americans. Nurses do not need to be called heroes while we send them into die from getting infected because our government doesnt want to spend the money to get them basic equipment to protect them.
• Get Testing out, again we are way behind where we should be due to laziness and government inaction.  This was no real surprise, a pandemic has been expected for decades, so why are we so unprepared?  Because politicians think short term, not long term and too many let them get away with it.
• Once PPE and widespread testing are available it wont be safe to open up, but it will be safer. Again short term thinking makes the long term cost much more severe and expensive overall. If we had been prepared we may have not even needed a shut down, and certainly fewer people would have gotten sick or even died. When things open up there will be another spike, the longer we hold back the smaller that spike will be and the fewer lives lost. They key is how prepared we are when we do open up.
• Businesses are suffering now and will suffer even after we reopen. Government needs to take care of them, primarily the smaller businesses who dont have the resources of larger businesses. Also emphasis service and restaurants.
• Politicians looking at their wallets and encouraging people to die so they can get more money for themselves and their donors need to simply stop thinking that way and put the country first.

As an aside those Churches trying to encourage people to come to service are likely doing it to serve the church leaderships pocket, not their parishioners. Ask yourself, how many services dd Jesus have in a church versus open air? Think about it, you dont need to worship together to be faithful, so whats in it for those wanting you to risk your live to go to their building?

What Should we do Before the Next Disaster?

We know there will be another one, probably not as bad in about ten years. We should think ahead and plan for it. Whether its another bank, oil, airline, real-estate, or manufacturing bailout, a pandemic, or a climate inspired refugee crisis there are measure we can take now that will save lives and money later.

• Medicare for All saves lives and taxpayers hundreds of billions annually. More than that, imagine a world where instead of paying your health insurance premium, co-pays, and deductibles you pay HALF that total in taxes instead. Imagine  not worrying about losing your health care if you lose your job (as many are doing now) or even just switch to a new job (usually you lose it for 90 days). Imagine not losing your home or lifesavings if you or a family member get cancer or other serious illness. Imagine looking for a job based on pay or it being what you like to do rather than worrying about its health benefits. As a business imagine not having to deal with insurance companies and the extra overhead. Able to hire older or disabled Americans without your health costs going up. Imagine a small business owner being able to compete on a level playing field with larger companies, or hiring full time workers instead of twice that many part time workers (and the extra training costs) or permanent instead of contractors all to avoid dealing with health care coverage requirements. Imagine a healthier workforce because they can get preventative care instead of putting it off till its far worse or maybe they infected other workers.
• Financial regulation to keep big "Too big to fail" companies from knowingly making poor decisions because the CEOs know the taxpayers will pick up the tab.
• Responsible and forward thinking EPA and Climate legislation to reduce the effects of natural disasters and seasonal extremes that are hurting so many industries.  Remember we will have to pay for it at some point, but the longer we put it off the bigger the tab and total costs. Millions of new jobs can be created, farms saved, etc and current businesses relying on fossil fuels wont shut down overnight, there will be years, probably decades in transitioning. And remember, those jobs are going away. If America does not step up other countries will (and are moving that way now) and in trying to put it off by sticking our head in the sand and thinking short term we and those people will be left behind. If we dont work on electric cars someone else will, we used to be a leader in Solar energy but other countries have started moving ahead which means jobs we just gave away. How smart is that?
• Election Reform should be a priority.  We cant hold our politicians accountable if they get billions from the wealthy to buy ads and tell us their lies. Politicians use a classic Divide and Conquer strategy to keep Americans fighting each other instead of holding them accountable to us. Voter suppression needs to be stopped for the good of everyone and money must be taken out of politics. Why should a Congressmen or Senator get away with insider trading? Especially when they put their wallets ahead of yours and the country?

Who I want to be President and Why

There are a lot of candidates running for President, several hundred in fact! Yes thats right, according to the FEC as of Aug 12 2019 we have 816 candidates who have filed to run.! Naturally we have never heard of nor are likely to most of them and of course most do not expect to win.
Lets take a quick look at some of the major candidates and my personal opinions.
Senators Sanders and Warren are my top picks so I'll start off with the others in the order I think of them.

• Marianne Williamson: Initially I thought she was kind of a nutjob but I have since listened to some of her interviews and changed my mind. She appears smart and well educated and has a good depth of knowledge on several issues, shes done her homework. Net Worth $1.5 Million, Progressive, Signature Issue is healing and uniting America. She has a lot of good plans to do that too, but I suspect some like reparations are too controversial to pass.
• Kamella Harris: I liked her more early on but do not feel she is handling the debates and interviews very well. In my opinion shes too evasive and has flipped flopped on several issues. I feel shes too worried about what polls well and not authentic. Net Worth $6 million
• Pete Buttigieg: Hes smart, maybe the smartest and best educated of the candidates. However he has not handled local division and races issues well as Mayor. I'd like to see him get more seasoning and prove his ideas. Also he is catered to by the big donor class far too much for my liking and I fear would work more for them than the average American.  Net Worth $100K, Socially left, otherwise more centrist and pro-establishment.
• Joe Biden: Far too establishment for my taste, also thinks he can work with #MoscowMitch even though President Obama was usually blocked by him. The establishment and big donor class love him and I think we have had them in control for far too long. Net Worth $9 million. Establishment and a bland moderate to Conservative. Signature Issue is "I can work with Republicans" and wont rock the boat.
• Andrew Yang: I initially dismissed him,that Universal Basic Income thing is a bit too socialist fir me. However listening to some interviews and its not as out there as I thought. Alaska does this already where every adult gets money from oil pumped out of the state. His proposal is to do the same thing for the tech industry. Considering how much they make off our personal data and the jobs they want to automate I'm ok with a tech dividend for Americans. I love that hes talking about the dangers of automation too.  No one else really hits on that but the fact is most Americans will lose their jobs to automation and sooner than most people think. Net Worth $1 million, Progressive, Signature Issues UBI and how to counter the massive unemployment thats coming.
• Inslese: An afterthought, i dint think he expected to win. I think he jumped in to get climate change talked about and I respect that dedication to a vital issue

Senator Sanders and Senator Warren

Both are strong progressives with a long track record of working for American people over corporations. 

          Senator Warren fought for us while she was a law professor and was responsible for creating the Consumer Protection Bureau. She was nominated to head it but Republicans feared her so much they killed that, she then ran for Senate and won and been a thorn in their side ever since. "Never the less she persisted" is a fitting theme.

          Senator Sanders has been a champion of human and civil rights his entire career, probably more consistently than any other serving politician. One of his early famous moments was when he was arrested at a 1963 Chicago protest for defending black civil rights. As Mayor and later in Congress he has continued to fight for human rights for everyone.

Both have the broadest appeal across the country of voters, where the others may be more popular in certain regions. This is best seen by looking at the small dollar donations and where they come from.

Both of these people are powerful progressives with plans to move the country forward and work for the people instead of the corporations. They have similar ideas, I would say that Warren is more focused on economic protections and preventing exploitation by corporations, while Sanders is more focused on health care and other basics. Either one would be great for the country.

My Preference is Bernie For President

This is purely my opinion and some of it based on feelings more than a comparative analysis.

• Sanders is the underdog and I like underdogs. Hes hated by corporate media, Republicans and Democrats both fear him and each are working hard to push the narrative that hes too left and extreme to win. With that many powerful organizations after you, your an underdog- and hes winning!
• He pushed the Democratic party to the left and we know he means what he says because hes been pushing it for 40+ years. Others have come to his ideas much later as polling shifted so we have less reason to trust them.
• Hes willing and able to fight for us, anywhere and anytime.He went on Fox TV and defended his left wing policies to a right wing audience against right wing moderators who were trying for a got'ya moment and he got a standing ovation.
• Health care is a major economic issue for Americans and he will fight hard to give it to all of us. Media trying to kill the idea of Medicare for All happily point out that his plan will raise taxes to pay for it. Where most politicians dodge that he comes out and says the truth. I love that honesty and integrity, we need more of it! I have blogged about Health care several times so wont repeat it here, check out the blog using Healthcare as the keyword.
• Climate Change is the other key issue for the country, even if climate deniers try to push it away. He has plans for that too and if we dont act soon and vigorously nothing else matters.
• Campaign Finance Reform is another important issue.  We need to change things so politicians work for the citizens, not the corporations and special interests. He is another pioneer here and while many talk about he has been fighting it for years. He is an independent to avoid the "Dialing for Dollars" routine and stand aside from the corruption rather than help it. His 2016 grassroots campaign proved individual donations from voters could fund campaigns without being bought by corporate PACs. Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats were inspired and successful because of him in 2018 and likely will be more so in 2020.

I'll be perfect;y happy with Warren for President but Bernie is my first choice. Both are fighters with proven records of working for Americans rather than against them, but for me the edge goes to the stubborn goat who has been fighting the establishment the longest. I want the underdog to win and the more the mainstream media and establishment Democrats say he can't the more I want it.

All that fear and dismissive asides tells us all what we really need to know about this race.

Senator Sanders Medicare for All Plan. Will it Save YOU $$?

Senatars Sanders plan will raise an employees payroll tax by 4%. But before you decide thats good or bad you need to look at the bottom line to find out the real answer.
According to PeopleKeep https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/what-percent-of-health-insurance-is-paid-by-employers,
Also....
https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/training/blog/what-percentage-health-insurance-employers-pay-how-much/
If you work for a good company your employer pays part of your premiums.
Single coverage costs $6,435 in 2016 according to Kaiser Health.
Family coverage costs $18,142 for the same period.
If your employer pays the average of 80% and you pay the remaining 20% plus any deductibles and copays the break points are.
Single coverage workers who make more than $25k a year will pay more in his proposed payroll tax.
Family coverage workers need to make about $120k a year before they start paying more under his plan.
This assumes a couple of things.

• If your Employer pays a different percentage, or none than the the number changes. Lets say you have no employee health insurance, either you work at a small business, are self-employeed, or just changed jobs in the last 90 days divide $6,435 (single) or $18,142 (family) by your salary to see your basic rate. If you are paid hourly double your hourly rate (assuming 40/ hour work week) to estimate your salary.
• Remember this is your premium cost, you also have deductibles and co-pays under normal insurance,
• You are also paying income tax on whatever your company pays in benefits.
• Remember this is just premiums, if you actually use it your costs go up with co-pays, deductibles, caps, and things the insurance company refuses to cover. Sanders plan adds a lot of the stuff medicare recipients use supplemental plans for now such as hearing aids, eyeglasses, etc.

80% is pretty rare in my experience but it varies company to company, and small businesses dont even offer health care. Also Part time employees usually do not get benefits. The thing to remember though is what they pay also counts towards your income taxes as if it were wages so your paying taxes on that coverage. Plus the company has extra costs from HR departments dealing with it and doing the annual shopping. With Single Payer they can skip all that, they might even give some of that difference to you in higher wages to stay competitive. Look at your paycheck to see if this is better or worse. For a single member coverage average is 6.4k and $18k for family coverage, look at your paycheck. If you make $50k thats 12% for single payer plus out of pocket expenses like deductibles and copays. If you make more than that its a lower % (like most of these news anchors) and if you make less your paying a higher %. Some low income people get a tax subsidy but were already paying for that in taxes. Senators Sanders plan linked here https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/options-to-finance-medicare-for-all?inline=file Employers pay 7.5% payroll so save huge. Employees pay 4% income tax so all but the richest save huge. Why is it so much cheaper? Lower overhead from more efficient Admin costs, no insurance lobbying (multi- Billion dollar industry), no need to advertise, no agents whose job is to prevent you getting your expenses paid, etc. Plus bigger pool better shares the costs. Also additional tax money paid by taxing capital gains and stock traders as if they were working for a living like most Americans, now they have a loophole to avoid taxes. A few other taxes on billionaires and some multi millionaires. Estate tax, Increase in their marginal rate, etc. So billionaires still get to be billionaires they just pay more in taxes. I'm ok with that.

Abortion Bills

With the recent slew of conservative judges being put on the bench states are pushing strictor abortion bills in hopes of getting Roe vs. Wade overturned.

Alabama

Said to be the strictest bill yet HB314 is effective once a fetus is in utero.

Georgia

Currently restricts abortion after 20 weeks, just signed a law that bans it so soon most women wont even know their pregnant before its illegal. it blocks abortions after about 6 weeks.
It includes provisions for up to life imprisonment and penalties if she has a miscarriage.

Iowa

Passed a law in 2018 that requires the governor personally approve an abortion (If its covered by medicare) even if the womens life is in immediate danger.

Ohio

Trying to ban birth control coverage by medical insurance.

Several other states have passed or are pushing more laws along these lines, including punishments.

You know whats missing in these so called pro life arguments?

• Contraception for women, even while male contraception is covered by most insurance.
• Healthcare for women and children.
• Severe penalties for the fathers who refuse to take care of the child once born.
• Economic support for single mothers, especially those who have children with birth defects or were raped and forced into single motherhood by the state.
• Effective adoption, foster care and other support for children.

It makes one wonder what the real priorities are here.

The Green New Deal

The Green New Deal is getting a lot of talk right now, which is why the resolution was put forward. Its not an actual bill and if it had passed the Senate it would have done nothing. It is simply put a Mission Statement. If you work or have worked for a large corporation you'll be familiar with them. They are a statement of intent and purpose, often meaning little and being a marketing tool.
Thats what this resolution is, a marketing tool to get people talking about it and declare some peoples values and goals in a broad sense.
The Green New Deal basically says that Climate change is a recognizable and immediate threat to the world and the United States of America (something the Pentagon, NASA, and others have been saying for over a decade).
It purports that to combat it in time we need a national initiative on the level of FDRs New Deal.
So the goal is not just to reduce emissions but to avoid economic collapse, whether from ignoring the problem as we have been doing or changing things. The cost to change grows every year we delay or EPA regulations are rolled back and the economic growth potential grows slimmer as other countries take up the opportunities we have let slip through our fingers.

Jobs

The coal industry has been dying for awhile now as other forms of energy become cheaper and easier to get. The Conservative answer is subsidizing the companies, meaning taxpayers pay to keep them in business. The Progressive answer is to let the free market take care of the companies rather than prop them up and retrain the employees.  Ideally using the money that has been going to the companies. The difference is that as those workers get new jobs they generate tax and local revenue as consumers when they get new jobs instead of costing more money when they get laid off.

The oil and gas industry is still thriving, though we also subsidize them. This industry is not going away anytime soon, even if we cut back on emissions. However it will go away and living in Oklahoma I can tell you that workers are laid off all the time, then sometimes rehired. Its effectively seasonal work for many nonadministrative personnel. As the price of oil changes so do the number of employees!

Further we KNOW that the amount of oil and gas is limited and getting whats left costs more each and every year.  Also we leave our country vulnerable to threats from the Middle East and elsewhere. Oil funds terrorism in many countries and is a significant national threat,

Renewable energy sources such as wind, water, and solar power are getting cheaper each year (though the Trump administration is working to counter that trend by imposing tariffs on components and curbing research), and more people are working in these fields as well.

Look at the jobs data below, more people are working in green energy than oil and gas extraction

Environmental Costs

Every year we see huge costs for disaster relief efforts, both money spent and lives lost or uprooted. Besides the big tax bill were paying out, local economies suffer from lost revenue and even the national economy suffers. How much?  2017 cost the US $306 billion in 2017 and $91 billion in 2018! Think what we could do if we just cut that in half! And as storms get more severe, sea waters rise, and farmers suffer from droughts and floods because the weather is less predictable and keeps swing towards extremes the costs as taxpayers and consumers just keeps going up.

A dramatic effort now can slow and perhaps reverse the change, had we started in the 1970s when we first knew of the problem it would have been easier. But that is what happens when you keep borrowing money or procrastinating a problem, it just gets worse. Hiding our heads in the sand wont resolve the problem.

And for those hoping thoughts and prayers will solve the problem, why should God fix the mess we made for ourselves? God gave us a beautiful and wondrous planet, its sacrilegious what we have done to it regardless of what your Faith is.

Summary

The Green New Deal is a least a declaration of intent, until most of Congress and the President are replaced nothing will actually get done. Our politicians are bought and paid for and will just keep kicking the can down the road and let another generation deal with the consequences. Working now to resolve the issue means hard work, tough decisions, and sacrificing bribes by the oil and gas industry. As a voter it is up to each and everyone of us to check the policies of our representatives, and check where they get campaign donations from. Remind them they are supposed to work for American citizens, not international corporations. 

Its possible to lessen the impending disaster, it might even still be possible to prevent it, but every year we delay the chances go down and the costs go up.

The Green New Deal is simply patriotic, it proposes we help Americans and America itself by creating new jobs in energy, manufacturing, construction, and service sectors (boosting the economy far more than a billionaire or corporate tax cut) and including ideas such as safety nets for retraining, keeping our healthcare promises to those coal miners who sacrificed for us, and improving the quality of life for every American.

Relevant links

AWEA says 105,000+ jobs now
The Solar Foundation says 242,000+ jobs in 2018

Various Bureau of Labor Statistics

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey 2018

So based on those numbers in 2018 Oil & Gas extraction =784k. Coal Mining =78k

Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction: NAICS 21

Oil and Gas Extraction: NAICS 211 About 150,000 (Seasonal)

Careers in Wind Energy

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Single Payer Week: Paying for it

So how much will a single payer system cost us?
Different sources give different numbers, please research several sources before making a decision on it. Also some studies take into account current costs and others don't, which makes a difference in the results.
In 2016 the government spent 1.38 trillion on healthcare, including CHIP, Medicare, Medicaid and VA care, as well as tax deductions and subsidies.
Adding those who are uninsured or have private insurance will obviously increase that cost.
Where does the government get that money?
If my taxes have to go up to cover that dont I lose? Not likely.
Look at how much you spend on medical costs each year, include your insurance cost, deductibles and co-pays. Before I retired I paid as a single person about $80 a check and rarely went to the doctor until the last few years. This was about 6% of my paycheck towards private insurance.
What percentage do you pay? And if you or your family see a doctor that year add those costs to your total.
In my case if I paid 6% in taxes instead of to the insurance company, I broke even. If I actually used a doctor I came out ahead. The Sanders plan would cost 6.2% so I would pay more, most of my coworkers would pay less under his system.
Is that a good deal for me?

• I pay a little more in years I dont use it but likely save money if I do use it, and save a lot if I used it several times.
• I save a lot of hassle dealing with choosing a plan each year and if I do get sick a lot of hassle with paperwork and aggravation dealing with the insurance company.
• Even if I don't use it I get the piece of mind my money is helping other people, including friends, family and coworkers rather than to the profit of an insurance company.

What about my employer? Will they save money or spend more?

According to most estimates employers would pay less than half what they pay now. One example we can see is that our major auto companies pay a lot less in Canada and eagerly embraced their single payer system over the cost of private insurance. 

Wait, if employees pay less and companies pay less, how can this work?

That question is what tripped me up for years and made me leery of this idea. However after some research I changed my mind and now embrace it.

Americans pay more than other countries for the same care. On average we pay twice as much for health care and a LOT higher prices on prescription drug costs.

Medicare pays about 3% on overhead, where insurance companies pay 15% to 25%. Why do they have so much overhead? Aren't private industries supposed to be more efficient? That money is spent on advertising, lobbying, marketing (to companies and doctors) and a complex system designed to make it harder for doctors to get paid. Government health care is aimed at treating patients as efficiently as possible and leave much of that to the doctor. Insurance companies do not want to pay for care so they can keep more of that money. think about your auto or homeowner insurance, they raise your rates if you use it to discourage you from using it.

So single payer will cut the actual money spent on health care in half! Imagine what we could do with all that extra money...

This is America, one of the greatest if not THE greatest countries in the world. Why d we pay more for less than everyone else? Are those who tell you single payer wont work saying our country is not up to the task of doing what almost every other country has been doing successfully for years? Sounds unpatriotic to me.

Some Sources

The Sanders Plan
Politifact review
Physicains for Single Payer Myths and Facts
Health Care Spending per Capita by Country or what your insurance company does not want you to know!

Single Payer Week: Follow the Money

The Republican party was paid over $5 million by insurance companies and over $4 million by pharmaceutical companies in the 2018 cycle. And remember this is a midterm, lobbyists usually pay more during presidential elections as more people vote.
How much did your rep take in?
My congressman Frank Lucas was given $44,000 by insurance companies, his largest contributor was of course security and investment companies at $97,500 and he has a safe seat so no real competition.
My Senators of course get most of thier money from energy and utility companies, though Senator Lankford received $301,000 from healthcare and $240,000 from commercial banks.
I just looked at the top 5 contributor industries for this election cycle. OpenSecrets.org is easy to use for you to see who lines your representatives pockets.
Its possible to dig deeper using the FEC or other sites but all we need to know here is how much money they get from companies who want to fight single payer.
Insurance and drug companies like the current system, not many other industries do.  How about you?
The thing is we must consider when our representatives take in that kind of money will they ignore it when working on legislation or will they work with your interests in mind instead?
Those companies are not spending that money for nothing, they expect a return on that investment. Maybe its just tax breaks and lower regulations so that the lobbying costs pay for themselves. But there are going to want as much as they can buy for their money.

Follow the Money, always.

Single Payer Week: Scare Tactics

Single Payer opponents rarely use facts to counter it as those are easily refuted. Instead they try to overwhelm with scare tactics and shout their opponents down. Watch them and you'll see.

Common Scare Tactics

• Its Socialism: While socialism can go to far the concept is not inherently bad. Other things that can be attributed to socialism, police, fire departments, Non profits that get tax breaks, including churches, FEMA and the National Guard going in for disaster relief, charitable contributions being tax deductible, Social Security, National Parks, and other ideas where the government helps the American people rather that let everything go wild.
• Long wait times for care: Ask your friends from Canada or European countries about it, I have. ERs are based on Triage so see the ones at greatest risk first then everyone else. Other visits you call your doctor and make an appointment. In the USA you may have to wait to have the doctors office check with your insurance company but otherwise your delay is comparable to most other countries.
• Its expensive!: The most conservative estimate (Koch brothers) says it will save $500 billion over the next ten years! Some say as much as $17 trillion, though most estimates come in around saving $2 trillion. Our current system means average medical costs are at least twice that of most countries, and drug prices even more than that.
• Healthy people will have to pay the costs of sick people! Really Mr. Ryan? This should not even need to be addressed but that is exactly how it works now. Insurance companies charge people and hope they are low risk so they make a bigger profit.
• Privatized Healthcare is anti capitalism! Doctors and hospitals will still be privately owned and run, all that changes is you pay the government instead of an insurance company. How well do you like your insurance company anyhow?
• Government run programs are as efficient because they are not trying to make a profit. This IS true for some things. And is a strength of capitalism vs. say communism. However you need to look at the details. If a company produces a product and you dont have to buy it they need to sell it at a desirable price or you wont buy it. Health care does not work this way for most things. If your sick you need care and will pay anything you can to get better. Companies know this which is why prices are so high and the number one people go bankrupt in the USA is medical bankruptcy. Medicare is the most effecnt system in the USA because it has a low overhead and does not spend money lobbying or trying to create complicated policies to avoid covering you when you get sick.
• But Venezuela! A popular Fox talking point. Venezuela like almost every other country in the world has socialist health care and the country is in sad shape. But so does Canada, England, Finland, Sweden, and again just about every other country in the world. They have it so bad because the government is corrupt. Are you really saying that America is so pathetic that instead of doing it better than everyone else we would do it worse?

Single Payer Week

Single payer, Medicare for all, universal health care, what do these things really mean?
In the upcoming week I will be posting an entry a day to explain the concept and what it means for Americans and business, and I look forward to comments and questions.
Starting off lets break down some of the words above.

Medicare For All

The idea here is that we already have a federal health care system for the elderly. Signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) in 1965 as an amendment to the Social Security Act (Created by Franklin Roosevelt (D)). He also signed Medicaid into law at the same for the disabled. President Truman was actually issued the first Medicare card as part of the ceremony.

It was created because private health insurance was virtually unavailable to those over 65.  Health insurance companies make their profits by charging the healthy and avoiding paying the sick as much as they can. So if they can exclude people based on preexisting conditions or being to old they will in order to increase profits. The reason this has so much traction is it already exists and has a proven track record of low administration costs and overhead so its more efficient per medical dollar than any other system in the USA. The idea here is instead of creating a new thing we just expand it.

Universal Health Care

This is a less specific idea that seems to have less traction but the goal is the same. Create a new agency or process to provide funding for health care. Possibly funded by SSI, possibly another tax.

Single Payer

Really it all boils down to this. The idea is that instead of paying for insurance through your health insurance and its maze of deductibles, co-pays, and caps you use a government issued medical card and its covered by the government. See posts later in the week for plans on how its paid for.

It is important to note that this is not a take over of private medical care, anymore than Medicare or Medicaid uses government doctors instead of private doctors. It wont even completely abolish medical insurance, though they will have stiff competition and be used to cover specialized care such as elective surgery.

I am Pro-American

Listening to some of the news pundits and I found some agreeing with the goals but hating the term of Democratic socialism. They are right, there is a lot of baggage associated with the term as we have seen. I mean most people d not even understand what the term means so its easy for those opposed to it to misconstrue it. Some are even confusing it with communism, either deliberately or through ignorance.

So how about a new term?

Its hard but so far Pro-American is the best I have. When someone attacks the platform by name calling turn it around (Pull a GOP tactic).

• I'm Pro-American, Americans should have good health care at affordable prices not ones inflated by insurance or drug companies. #Singlepayer
• I'm Pro-American, I dont want my taxes wasted on corporate welfare and donor subsidies, single payer will save at least 2 TRILLION dollars in overall health care costs compared to the current system over the next ten years.
• I'm Pro-American, I believe our kids should have access to quality education so that ALL Americans have the best chance at a better life and good paying careers.
• I'm Pro-American, I believe Americans should decide who our representatives are and have them be accountable to US, not corporations, special interests, or foreign governments. #NoPACMoney
• I'm Pro-American, I believe we should all have the right and opportunity to financial dignity and good paying jobs. Not struggling at 2 or even 3 part time jobs, or afraid of the next lay off.
• I'm Pro-American, Veterans deserve to be taken care of and helped back into the work force. Active duty service members should protect our country, not be used as fodder for corporate interests.
• I'm Pro-American, I want us to keep our national parks, have clean air and water, and curb the ever worsening weather due to out dated technologies.
• I'm Pro-American, I want Anerica to be the world leader in renewable energy sources and the job growth and other benefits that will give the country.

Why Single Payer or Medicare for All is good for YOU

Progress is being made towards a Single Payer system but there is still a lot of opposition.
Here are reasons its good for you and some talking points.

I dont want to pay for someone elses healthcare, especially if they dont work

A common objection and while its not very christian or humanitarian it is pragmatic and understandable. But there is a problem with that objection.

• You already are. Those who dont have insurance or have medical conditions not covered by their insurance often raise medical costs which means higher costs for everyone.
• Understand how insurance works. Insurance companies are businesses that need to make a profit. To do that they get tax subsidies and charge customers more than thy pay out. I paid insurance through work for decades and almost never used it, they loved me. My coworkers benefited from that which I dont mind, the insurance company benefited more though. As a patriot I would rather that extra went to the USA than a private company, especially one I had no choice or voice in.

Government is inefficient, I trust companies to be more efficient

• We all know government bureaucracy can get crazy and a company is more likely to cut costs. So that makes sense insurance companies are better than government health care right? Nope, here is why. The goal of an insurance company is to avoid paying for healthcare so they have higher administrative and other overhead due to trying to male it hard for customers to get coverage. How pleasant is all that paperwork and phone calls when your sick? Its even worse for your doctor who has to hire staff just to navigate the insurance maze.  That drives medical costs up, while giving you less coverage and higher deductibles. Its just smart business for them to do everything they can to avoid covering your medical expenses.
• Medicare and VA healthcare are very efficient at delivering healthcare at a lower cost because they cut a lot of that overhead. As a veteran I see a huge difference between my VA care and private care covered by insurance. Now the VA is understaffed and underfunded so sometimes you have delays but there is no doubt its better and the numbers show costs less (not just me but overall costs).
• Singlepayer does not get rid of private practice, it just changes the dynamic of who you pay. Insurance or government. So its not privatized medicine or an attack on capitalism.
• Paying for our health care: Either way the money is coming out of our paycheck, either a payroll tax or a deduction to the insurance company. If I get taxed an extra 2% on my paycheck but dont have to pay $80 a check to an insurance company, plus no deductables and even better no paperwork or arguments with insurance companies I call that a win for me. How about you?
• Business no longer have to worry about paying and dealing with insurance companies. Maybe they get taxed so they pay the same as they do now, maybe not. Either way they likely will pay less, especially since they dont have to make deals. Also they dont have to worry about hiring part time to avoid medical requirements for full timers, same with how many people they can hire or have to force everyone to be a "temp" employee.

No lapses in coverage or preexisting condition restrictions

• If you change jobs you often have to wait 90 days before you can get coverage through the new job, your old coverage may lapse or requie special higher cost programs like COBRA. What if you get sick?  Or what if you get laid off work? No you have no coverage despite being a hard worker and taxpayer!
• Preexisting conditions, as a vet injuries sustained during military duty not covered by my insurance, If they could try and blame my doctor visit on that they would (and did) to avoid paying. Pregnancy is considered a preexisiting condition in some states so women have to pay more, that fair? Takes both sexes to have a baby after all. Injured on the job? Once you get another job those expenses may not be covered with new insurance.

Medicare for All means you pay less per paycheck and get better medical care. This is not a dream or guesswork, the evidence is in every other industrial country in the world where they have better care at less than half what we pay.  Why should the richest and greatest country in the world have the worst and most expensive healthcare?

The way we do it now just makes no sense.  Except to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies!

More notes here...

Why Medicare for all is a win for America

Watch this if you care about Medical Costs.

It was a good Town Hall, far more then any other sitting Senator or Congressional Rep would care to do.
Medicare for all would..

• Reduce business costs as employers would no longer have to spend so much time, money and staffing to handle company based insurance,
• Reduce lost productivity since their employees would be healthier.
• Save workers money paid towards premiums.
• Raise employee and likely business taxes but STILL mean each pays less annually, and get rid of copays and time lost while waiting to see if they will cover a procedure.

Who wants it or something like it?

• The Left wants Medicare for all because its the moral and christian thing to do.
• Medical Providers (Other than Insurance and Drug companies) want Medicare for all because it saves them money and hassle.
• Businesses want Medicare for all because it saves them LOTS of money.
• Workers should want Medicare for all since employers can more easily higher full time people.
• Workers should want it since wages could go up.  Ok, they may not but its the same logic as giving tax cuts and hoping they use that money to increase wages.
• Older workers who are often let go and discriminated because of their age. Insurance companies try to discourage companies from hiring older workers.
• Women who are discriminated against.
• Vets who are also discriminated against by insurance companies.
• Taxpayers who will save by reducing all these bailouts and cut back on related expenses.

Who does not want Medicare for all?

• Banks who profit from foreclosures from medical bankruptcy.  This is the number 1 reason for bankruptcy in the USA.
• Drug companies who make billions off scams with insurance companies.
• Insurance companies who profit off your pain and suffering. They take your money for premiums then try everything they can to avoid paying the bills they promised you they would take care of.
• Some Conservatives who feel the old way is always the best way and fear change.
• Politicians who rake in billions from Banks, Drug and Insurance companies

1 week to go for the GOP to try and repeal the AHCA

The GOP has decided to make another attempt to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act using a procedure to bypass the normal repeal process.
If Congress was operating in good faith they would change the law for the better.  That they feel they have to resort to trickery and legal loopholes rather than persuade the citizens that the changes to be made are good for us. That the GOP feels they cannot win a debate or persuade a majority of the country to support it indicates a failure of leadership and the lack of desire to serve the people.

Republicans say they must do this as they promised to repeal and replace an unpopular law.
However they seem to have missed the point.  They promised they had a better plan that would lower costs for all Americans, yet all evidence points to this doing the opposite for most.
The elderly and sick will suffer first but eventually everyone gets sick and if they are lucky enough old.  Further business will suffer as more people get sick and cannot afford health care and lose time at work or fail to pay their bills and as so many before file bankruptcy because they got sick.
Also it seems likely more people will be removed from employee based insurance plans.
Ask your Senator to vote no or justify their actions to you.

The Health Care lie

So the GOP is trying yet again to quickly push a Repeal and Replace bill.
They had 7 years to work on a bill and have been running on it as a signature issue all that time.
They have shown us they did not bother and when they took over the legislative and Executive branches they had nothing ready to go. They keep trying to pass something using deceitful and under handed methods.

• Senator Barosso (Wyoming)  when interviewed refused to answer any question on the new bill and kept pivoting to Obama Care.   If you honestly believe your thing is better than the other guy you would tout its merits rather than just deflect or attack something else. This is a bullying tactic not a rational one.
• Senator Cruz (Texas) Says there are no cuts, though there are.
• Vox interviewed 9 Senators and NONE were able to sell this as a better bill for American citizens.
• The GOP is still trying to force it through reconciliation to avoid Democratic votes.  They want to pass a partisan bill despite complaining that the AHCA was passed as a partisan bill (It wasn't, GOP members voted for it and put in amendments) and rushed through (again, a lie as AHCA went through committees and was looked at for over a year) and this new effort is again going to be rushed through without full examination

Call your local senator office and let them know your feelings.

We need and deserve a congress that works for the American people rather than the drug and insurance companies that fund their campaigns.

Democrat vs. Republican: A study in Ethics and Morality

Readers of this blog may think I hate the Republicans and like the Democrats.
That is only half true as I hate both parties.  Not all individuals in both, but overall both stink.

However the latest GOP attempt to pass something, ANYTHING along the lines of repeal for Obamacare (The Affordable Health Care Act) shows the hypocrisy in a dramatic (though not the only) way.
Republicans screamed that not enough time was taken to discuss the AHCA and that it was passed without bi-partisan support.
The AHCA was debated in the senate for a month and numerous GOP amendments added to it.  This after taking about a year to pass through various committees, being scored by the CBO, and public exposure and discussion.
And now?
Republicans have been screaming for repeal and Replace for over 7 years yet never bothered to actually work on a plan.  If they had we would have seen it by now.
Instead they keep coming up with rushed plans behind closed doors where not even all party members get to carefully examine it before voting on it.  They deliberately exclude and dont even try to get Democratic support. Granted getting support to repeal a bill that you passed and so many of your party sacrificed for would be a tough sell but to not even try?
Further after failure after repeated failure the GOP Senate decided to just call for a procedural vote on a bill none had seen just so they could check a box.
Understand that this is not actually passing anything but it is a step towards it. The idea i to vote quickly on whatever Mitch McConnel wrote and try to hash it out in reconciliation between House and Senate leadership. Democrats are expected to try and push amendments in order to slow things down enough that people will have a chance to read it.

Do you understand the difference here?
Democrats worked on trying to make health care better for over a year and let the public and Republicans look it over and put in amendments and comments. Their President asked them to take a stand for making Health Care better (not perfect but it did slow down premium rate growth and saved lives) and they fell on their swords and many lost their seat as people did not really understand what was really going on. Democrats suck at messaging compared to Republicans, witness how much more popular the AHCA is now after Republican attacks and people have a chance to see the real benefits to them compared to GOP plans.
However now that they have the power the Republicans refused to do the homework on crafting a bill (7 years and nothing to show for it?) and keep trying to sneak something past not only the Democrats and the American People but others in their own party as well.  They violate everything they complained about before.
Republicans have demonstrated they are short on ethics, morality, and commitment.

Right now many want to pass something, anything so they can go home and aid they kept their promise to Repeal and replace.  They forget they also promised to make it better and transparent.
What they did not forget is to cut taxes to their wealthy donors.

I hope people remember what happens here and hold them accountable.  Though they are trying to procrastinate and pull one over us by pushing out most of the damage for two years.
So they hope to get reelected because people wont realize the costs in time.

In summary both parties are full of problems but at least the Democrats are less bankrupt than the Republicans.  Lets replace them all by voting in fresh faces at Brand New Congress!

Health Care talk

So confused about Universal Health Care, Medicare for all, or a Public Option?
This is a good explanation.
Here is another

A Public Option is a reasonable compromise as Insurance companies will still exist but they will be forced to be competitive or get out of the market.
However Universal Health Care is more where I think we need to go.  Lot of options on how to pay for it.  I think basically payroll taxes like we currently use for Medicare and our employer based insurance.
But the republicans will have to cave and allow it to negotiate prescription drug prices which they dont like and is the requirement they placed on Medicare and Medicaid.


The Free market bit tht republicans want will simply never work.  Health Insurance is something everyone needs but needs mot when they do not expect it.  And if you do not have enough the tax payers and hospitals eat the cost.  So it shuts down rural hospitals and medical care and bankrupts millions of Americans and small companies.

Broken Care Reconciliation Act

The Grand Old Party is so stuck on the idea that they have been promising to Repeal the AHCA for the last 7 years that I think they have lost sight of what they actually promised.
Trump ran and won on the idea of making Universal Health Care and the GOP has been promising something better, with lower premiums and better coverage.
The concepts they are focusing on instead are...

• Taxcuts for the wealthiest.
• Taxcuts and incentives for Insurance CEOs.  Why do they need a special benefit/perk?  How is this even classic republican?  If they run a good business they should not need further incentives.
• Free market policy.  The idea beign that more competition lowers prices and improves quality.  The trouble is that wont work for Health Care. Remember Insurance companies make a better profit if they can get people to pay premiums and no need medical care.  There is no free market concept that encourages insurance companies to provide good coverage at good prices.  They WANT people who are at risk of getting sick to go to another company and will be fighting for the healthiest part of the market and trying to avoid covering the rest. Republicans are either too stupid to understand that concept or they just don't care.  I think its more the latter.

This bill is not about, nor does it even try to improve health care.  Its about checking off a box and passing a tax cut to themselves and their donors.

So if they manage to get it passed everyone who loses coverage, knows someone who loses coverage or see rates go up faster than inflation, or knows someone who dies because if this needs to remember this when it comes time to vote again.

The AHCA was not perfect, nor even as good as President Obama promised but it was better than what we had before. Working on improving it or replacing it with something better would be the right thing to do.  However the Great Obstructionist Party has been unable (actually it looks like they never even tried) to come up with something better, despite 7 years of looking forward to this.

Republicans back to Repeal and maybe replace

This would be a disaster for everyone.  Insurance companies have been bailing due to uncertainty and inaction of Congress.  Repeal with no plan would just make that worse in the short term.
Long Term? These people had over 7 years to come up with a plan, how are we supposed to trust them to come up with one now?
I want to see the new plan before they get rid of the old one.
This is not about improving health care its about giving tax cuts to the wealthy. Repeal would make the former worse for everyone, even those not on AHCA.  However it would let them say they did something to the voters while keeping the donors happy with the tax cuts.

Dont let them get away with it.

Oh and in case you missed it earlier I found another article going over an aspect of Trump Care I haven't heard people talking about much. Removing the requirement for large employers to offer employee health insurance