# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 4, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588 "2023-07-04T21:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 469
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9361 "2024-12-14T15:03:15Z")
Based on the pre-insurance bills for a couple of emergencies I’ve had, you’re off by a couple of orders of magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9362 "2024-12-14T16:35:56Z")
Besides that, unless I’m completely misinterpreting him, it sounds like he’s saying, “Hey, insurance is just for big ticket items, like cancer and plastic surgery for rich people, all you poor people who want to go to the doctor for chronic issues like diabetes or mental health issues just suck it up and deal with it.” ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9363 "2024-12-14T16:45:04Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > unless I’m completely misinterpreting him, it sounds like he’s saying, “Hey, insurance is just for big ticket items, like cancer At the risk of sounding like I know what the Swamy is saying, I think that he meant that more costs should be borne by the wallets of the insured, rather than insurance companies. One way to do this, of course, is to dramatically increase the deductible. Which may not be a bad option for some, if the premiums were also to dramatically decrease. But for the disadvantaged, it’s a terrible idea. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9364 "2024-12-14T17:09:28Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > [@Frilly\_Heck](#): > > > > fuck coffins! > > Now that could be a good niche market! Everybody loves a good paradox. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9365 "2024-12-14T17:09:37Z")
There absolutely are government employees who think that way. Not a lot, but I can certainly see one seeking out Vivek to express it. Although I’m certain she thinks she is one of the ones who be retained, “if I get fired, I’m ok with it” not to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9366 "2024-12-14T17:13:03Z")
Funny - I’d put that at 90-95% rather than 30%. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9367 "2024-12-14T18:41:24Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Its like when the CEO of 7-11 says that 7-11 makes the best coffee in the whole US. Does he actually believe that 7-11 makes the best coffee? I guess this all depends on what one considers “best” doesn’t it? For some people, it’s a matter of taste. For others, it’s all about the temperature. Still others value convenience. Certainly, for some values of “best” it is conceivable that 7-11 coffee does work for some people (perhaps even more so for this CEO). It has been my experience that, in general, people are much stupider than they are given credit for, most people, in particular, are much smarter than they appear. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9368 "2024-12-14T19:10:39Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > It has been my experience that, in general, people are much stupider than they are given credit for, most people, in particular, are much smarter than they appear. It’s still early for me and I may be embarrassed in asking, but what does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9369 "2024-12-14T19:18:01Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > but what does this mean? It is a sort of ouroboros. Assessing intelligence is extremely difficult, because people are more stupid than we think they are but not as stupid as they appear to be. (In fact, intellgence is not one-dimensional: people have it in varying degrees in various realms, so calling a person “stupid” or “smart” is a fool’s errant.) ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9370 "2024-12-14T19:58:18Z")
Some time ago I was on the registration desk at a local Mensa gathering, and one of the speakers (motivational-type) asked if I could suggest a “hook” for this particular audience. I gave her a riff on “If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?” — “If you’re so intelligent, why ain’t you smart?” Nothing in the intervening years has disabused me of this notion. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9371 "2024-12-14T19:59:30Z")
A little deeper than I intended. What I meant is that as a group, people are stupid, much stupider than one expects. Each individual, however, is likely much smarter than most people assume. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9372 "2024-12-14T20:33:07Z")
My guess is that he’s promoting the risk pool bullshit. The idea being that in the same way you can’t get fire insurance if your house is currently on fire, you shouldn’t be able to get health insurance if you have an expensive chronic condition. Read in a different light his statement could be interpreted as insurance for health doesn’t make any sense and we should join the rest of the civilized world in having government sponsored single payer, but I kinda doubt that is what he’s advocating. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9373 "2024-12-14T22:11:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Vivek Ramaswamy decides that right now is the PERFECT time to tell people that healthcare needs to be more expensive. > [@Vivek Ramaswamy](#): > > Insurance exists to cover events that are random, infrequent, catastrophic, & outside the control of the individual. That’s Econ 101. But here’s the rub: only 30% of medical events meet these criteria, yet \>70% of healthcare costs are borne by insurance. A hard question about rising U.S, health costs is whether we’re using the wrong instrument to pay for much of it. I would agree with this sentiment. What we have is health care payment arrangements that we call insurance, because we can’t 100% predict all the medical issues any particular person will experience. It _is_ the wrong model. But I’m not on board with either the “insurance should only be for the severe expected conditions, and routine health problems and chronic conditions should be paid by the patient,” or with the “deductibles should be higher,” or “risk pools should be prorated,” positions. The health insurance industry really took off when businesses started offering it as a benefit to employees. What it has become isn’t insurance, it’s “regulate costs and then pay for a chunk of all my medical expenses.” If you don’t have one of those arrangements, the costs are much higher, because those companies discount large portions of the listed price of medical service. The only thing it “insures” is that the middlemen get paid. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9374 "2024-12-15T04:20:06Z")
Yeah, I could see a case to be made that insurance should be geared toward unexpected, catastrophic events. If they really want American health care to follow that model, there are some other changes that should go along with it. As health insurance covers fewer things, the costs that insurers charge their customers should go down, too. Since most people have their health insuance through their employer, employers should pass those savings along to the employees in the form of increased pay, so the employees can afford to pay for the routine health care, like yearly checkups, that are no longer covered. And the whole health care system should have transparent pricing, so consumers can shop around and get the benefits of comptition. If Ramaswamy really wants to reform things, let’s hear him talk about all those other issues, as well. And there’s one more thing he doesn’t take into account. If people have to pay for their own checkups, but insurance covers major illnesses, I think a lot more people will neglect their routine appointments and let their health degrade until it becomes bad enough for insurance to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9375 "2024-12-15T04:31:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If Ramaswamy really wants to reform things He doesn’t. He wants to increase profits for the ultra-rich and to let the rest of us eat cake. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9376 "2024-12-15T04:53:09Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I think a lot more people will neglect their routine appointments and let their health degrade until it becomes bad enough for insurance to pay for it. At which point the insurer has an economic interest in the insuree getting preventative care. Statins and such are cheaper than triple bypasses and such. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9377 "2024-12-15T07:19:19Z")
The former governor of Maryland reports the constellation Orion as a formation of drones over his house. > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3ldd4gxzjbc2n)** > > Simply incredible > > \[contains quote post or other embedded content\] ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9378 "2024-12-15T11:28:08Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Quote from that linked article: “Testimony and video from the day showed Babbitt being pushed through a door window into the House Speaker’s Lobby behind the House floor when, without warning, she was shot by Byrd.” > > I watched the video of that encounter several times and this is outright propagandist tripe – warnings were shouted and she actively climbed into the broken window. As I was home that day and trying to keep up with the new I happened to watch that video live - @EddyTeddyFreddy has the right of it. What the Republicans are doing is disgusting. > [@Irishman](#): > > As for warnings, the barricade is the warning. Not sure you understand - people on her side of the door were shouting “he’s got a gun! He’s got a gun!” A chaotic as the situation was, it wasn’t _just_ a barricade. She acted like she was the star of an action movie equipped with plot armor. I recall that when she fell backward, bleeding, she had a surprised look on her face, like she was dumbfounded that she had actually been shot (because, as I said, I was watching it live and there wasn’t any pixelation) > [@Atamasama](#): > > Nancy Mace is literally a terrorist. Filing false reports to have someone jailed for expressing an opinion is an act of terror. Well, that’s a tactic used all the time by authoritarians, fascists, and oppressors. Now that the new administration is being loaded with people known to be advocates of that sort of thing I expect we’ll see more of that. Unfortunately. Things are going to get real shitty in the near future for anyone who doesn’t pass the Trumplikin purity test(s). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9379 "2024-12-15T12:18:03Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Which may not be a bad option for some, if the premiums were also to dramatically decrease. Ha-ha-ha… no, not gonna happen. No way premiums come down. > [@Irishman](#): > > The only thing it “insures” is that the middlemen get paid. ^ This. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/9380 "2024-12-15T21:26:41Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Not sure you understand - people on her side of the door were shouting “he’s got a gun! He’s got a gun!” A chaotic as the situation was, it wasn’t _just_ a barricade. I’ve watched it, though it’s been a while. I know it wasn’t just a barricade. My response was somewhat flippant that if you are crawling over/getting boosted over a barricade through a door window you had to break, you’ve given up the right to claim you weren’t sufficiently warned not to do that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588.md?page=468) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588.md?page=470)