Socialist Medicine Moves Forward in California

The People's Republic

The Socialist Democrat super majority is determined to abolish private insurance businesses

(ABC 10)  -  A California bill to replace health insurance companies with universal government-funded care is advancing to a vote in the full Senate.

But Democrats who back the measure have not identified a way to pay for the estimated $400 billion annual cost.

The single-payer health care bill cleared a hurdle Thursday when it passed the Appropriations Committee in a 5-2 party-line vote.

SB 562 has energized liberals at a time when President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are looking to overhaul former President Barack Obama's health care bill.

Supporters say a single-payer system would redirect insurance company profits and administrative costs to patient care.

Insurance companies and business groups say the bill would upend the health care system and its costs would cripple businesses.

A vote in the state Senate is expected next month.

Read More . . . .

Socialist Democrats to base traffic fines on your income

New Democrat Slogan:

"Fuck anyone with money"

(New York Times)  -  A bill in the State Legislature would make California the first state to assess traffic fines by income level: The poorer you are, the less you would pay.

The sponsor of the bill, State Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, says California’s traffic fines are “ridiculously high” and unaffordable for low-income families. Many fines don’t get paid.

An amnesty program that allowed violators to pay only a fraction of fees owed expired in March. It sought to chip away at California’s $10 billion in unpaid traffic fines.

Mr. Hertzberg’s bill, one of many being considered in current budget negotiations, would also make it illegal to suspend someone’s license because of nonpayment of a fine.

According to a report published this month by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, an advocacy group, California’s traffic fines are among the highest in the nation.

Running a stop sign has a base fine of $35, but once court fees are added it can cost $238, the group calculated.

The report, Paying More for Being Poor, makes the case that the traffic system is discriminatory because of racial profiling by police officers: Black drivers are more likely to be pulled over for no cause.

Elisa Della-Piana, the legal director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, also makes a case purely on income grounds.

“Many folks see that we have an unfair system,” she said. “You have two people, each of whom rolled through a stop sign. One mails in a check. The other doesn’t have enough money and experiences license suspension, arrest, job loss. Those are disproportionate consequences.”

Read More . . . .

Democrats to allow Communists in Government

Democrats - A Party of Traitors

• With all the problems facing California the only thing Democrats can think to do is defend Communist mass murderers.

(Sacramento Bee)  -  Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California government employees under a bill passed Monday by the state Assembly.

Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill to repeal part of a law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate and overthrow the U.S. government was rampant. The bill now goes to the Senate.

It would eliminate part of the law that allows public employees to be fired for being a member of the Communist Party.

Employees could still be fired for being members of organizations they know advocate for overthrowing the government by force or violence.

The bill updates an outdated provision in state law, said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the San Francisco Bay Area Democrat who authored the measure.

Some Assembly Republicans said the Cold War-era law should not be changed.

Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Southern California Republican who fought in the Vietnam War, said communists in North Korea and China are "still a threat."

"This bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians," said Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican who represents a coastal district in Southern California. "Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against."

Read More . . . .

COMMUNISM - Insurance Companies Banned in California

Socialized Medicine

Communist Horror on the Left Coast

California Democrats act to ban private insurance companies and give free medical care to illegal aliens.

The State Senate Health Committee approved the measure on a 5-2 vote.

(KPPC)  -  California lawmakers are considering an audacious proposal that would substantially remake the state's health care system by eliminating insurance companies and guaranteeing coverage for everyone.

The idea known as single-payer health care has long been popular on the left. It's gaining traction with liberals as President Donald Trump struggles with his efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The proposal, promoted by the state's powerful nursing union and two Democratic senators, is a longshot. But the supporters hope the time is right to persuade lawmakers in California, where Democrats have long been willing to push the boundaries of liberal public policy and are now particularly eager to stand up to the Republican president.

"We have the chance to make universal health care a reality now," Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, said last month. "It's time to talk about how we get to health care for all that covers more and costs less."

The measure would guarantee health coverage with no out-of-pocket costs for all residents of California, including people living in the country illegally. Private insurers would be barred from covering the same services, essentially eliminating them from the marketplace. Instead, a new state agency would contract with health care providers such as doctors and hospitals and pay the bills for everyone.

However, an essential question is still unanswered: Where will the money come from? California health care expenditures last year totaled more than $367 billion, according to the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research.

The bill envisions using all the money now spent on health care — from Medicare, Medicaid, federal public health funds, and Affordable Care Act subsidies. But it would also require tax increases on businesses, individuals or both.

Employers, business groups and health plans have mobilized in opposition to the proposal, warning that it would require massive tax increases while forcing patients to wait a long time to see a doctor. They say the state should stay focused on implementing President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, which is credited with significantly reducing the ranks of the uninsured in California.

"A single-payer system would make the quality of our health care worse, not better," California Association of Health Plans President and CEO Charles Bacchi said in a statement when details of the bill were announced. "We've made substantial progress in expanding and increasing access to and quality of care - this step backwards would be particularly devastating for Californians."

Read More . . . .