The GOP Replacement for Obamacare, 2025*

You will recall that Der Furor and the Republican Party have for years been desperate to get rid of the imperfect, but reasonably successful and popular Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). Der Furor was famous during his first term for repeatedly saying that a better, cheaper alternative was just two weeks away, and during the last presidential campaign he memorably claimed not that he had a replacement plan, but rather "concepts of a plan."

Now, as you no doubt know, the GOP's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act**," signed into law by Der Furor on July 4, 2025, has eliminated the tax credits for health insurance premiums, meaning that in a matter of weeks, those premiums will go through the roof - anywhere from double their current cost to ... well ... you didn't need to eat and live indoors, anyhow. Congressional Republicans had carefully planned to let this bad news surface after they'd prevailed in next year's midterm elections, but they realized too late that voters were going to learn the unpleasant truth inconveniently early.

Oops. 

Well, as it turns out, Congressional Republicans have been feverishly working on something like a plan to replace Obamacare ... and thanks to a highly-placed source, I have obtained a copy! 

The new plan was drafted by a staff of noted medical experts under the direction of esteemed medical professional Not-a-Doctor Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, assisted by Doctors No, Who, Doolittle, Phibes, Kevorkian, Fu Manchu, Doom, Zhivago, Faust, and Demento; highlights include:

- Copies of the Bible (Trump edition only) will be used as guidance for proper nutrition, hygiene, and appropriate sexual behavior; each insured patient must purchase a separate copy when signing up for coverage.

- Abortions are strictly forbidden unless to protect the life and reputation of the father.

- The only approved form of birth control will consist of poster-sized photographs of angrily-frowning nuns prominently posted in each bedroom and classroom from kindergarten through university.

- Patients requiring anesthesia will be offered three choices: a shot of whiskey (bar brands only), a bullet to bite on (no larger than .22 caliber), or a Louisville Slugger to the head.

- Annual breast exams for women will be scheduled during non-peak hours at the nearest Hooters.

- Reconditioned dialysis machines previously used at Jiffy Lube are authorized for low-income patients.

- Second opinions on diagnoses will be reached by multiplying the initial treatment estimate by 0.50. Insurance reimbursements will be based on the lower number.

- All lower-cost alternative treatments must be exhausted before more expensive ones are considered.

- Annual vision exams will consist of counting the patient's number of eyes. If the number is two, the patient passes. If the number equals one, the patient's vision is considered adequate. If the number equals zero, it's a pre-existing condition not covered by insurance.

- Rectal thermometers may be reused if sanitized by wiping them with wadded newspaper.

- The standard initial treatment for all medical complaints is, "Take two leeches and call me in the morning."

- Generic drugs will be used to treat generic diseases.

- Voodoo practitioners may be licensed to provide injections approved as a course of treatment.

- Dentists will be required to fill cavities with spackling compound; dental x-rays will be replaced by charcoal sketches.

- Medical imaging consists of the doctor carefully photographing the patient with a Kodak Brownie; development of the prints is not covered by insurance. X-rays, when prescribed, will be performed by physician assistants using X-ray specs.

- Cat Scans will be conducted with real cats (feral alley cats for low-income patients).

- Tongue depressors are no longer required to be free of Fudgesicle traces before use.

- Well-baby care consists of a doctor conducting a visual examination and certifying that "well, it's a baby."

- Radiation treatment for cancer patients consists of one-way tickets (coach class) to Chernobyl or Fukushima (insurance company's option).

The plan also contains a detailed fee structure for calculating the cost of care:

Well, MAGA, you voted for it, you've got it - the Obamacare Replacement Plan! In summary, it says,

Don't get sick. If you do, die soon.

Good luck.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* This is an update of a post I wrote and published last year about this time ... which, in turn, was an update of a post I wrote and published in 2011, in case you'd forgotten how far back GOP opposition to quality, affordable health care - and inability to come up with something better than Obamacare - goes.

** Although the law is popularly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, this official short title was removed from the bill during the Senate amendment process. Therefore, the law officially has no short title.

Advertising Drugs on Television

There are almost no issues on which I agree with Der Furor and his shambolic administration*, but limiting drug advertisements on television is one of them.

It takes a doctor years of training and experience to understand the human body and how specific drugs treat specific conditions and interact with each other. The knowledge your doctor accumulates through years of study and experience is not the same as a 60-second television spot which - accompanied by music and lighthearted choreography - tells you that a particular drug "may be right for you," along with a litany of unpleasant side effects and unhelpful directions like "Don't take Dumbasserin if you are allergic to it or its contents**." And on top of that, there are television and radio ads urging you to ask for drugs to address illnesses and conditions you never knew existed*** - greatly appealing to the hypochondriacs among us. 

The only ... only purpose for drug advertising is to make you fear that you have a particular illness or condition and manipulate you into asking your doctor to prescribe a new drug for it, thereby increasing sales for the manufacturer. If your doctor is current on medical issues (and most are), he or she already knows about the drug and whether they should be treating you with it. If you doubt me, read this OpEd from the Director of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr Marty Makary.

Perhaps rather than spending vast amounts of money on advertising, drug companies ought to use that money to subsidize the cost of their products for the people who need them.

Have a good day. Ask your Member of Congress if limiting drug advertising is right for you.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

P.S. I just thought I'd mention that this is post number 5555! Yowza!

B.

* There are two that I can think of: the other is the need to get a handle on illegal immigration, although I am horrified and disgusted by his approach.

** And oh, by the way, how would you know if you are allergic to it or its contents? Probably only if your doctor, who knew your medical history, was able to tell you. 

*** Really, did you ever hear of Dupuytren's Contracture before there was a drug advertised to cure it?

Thinking About the Cost of Health Care

One of the most maddening things about life in these United States is the way we provide and charge for health care. The cost of medicines and medical procedures is enormous, how they are calculated is completely opaque, and the cost of even the most basic health insurance is beyond the reach of many lower-income Americans, particularly as Congressional Republicans move to gut the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid programs which helps make care halfway affordable.

I got to thinking about this topic once again during the run-up to and post-mortems of the passage of Der Furor's "One Big Beautiful Bill," which pays part of its tax giveaways to the wealthy and big business by imposing new limits on Medicaid in the name of "preventing fraud, waste, and abuse." Depending on how you crunch the numbers, as many as 11 million Americans could lose what little health insurance they already have (but not, of course, until after the midterms and the 2028 general election, at which time the GOP will be able to pin the blame on the Democrats who will be in office trying to clean up the mess).

Now, I'm not on Medicaid, but I am covered by Medicare and Tricare (for military retirees) and I have a good Medicare Advantage plan (Medicare Part C), so at least for the moment, I'm more or less protected from the current mess ... but I'm sure it's coming. Here's a personal example of how I'm thinking about it.

Last month I had surgery to replace my right knee. The total cost of the surgery*, including six in-home visits by a physical therapist, was $28,233.00. My total "co-pays" came to $250.00.

Not bad, eh? But riddle me this, Batman: who paid the remaining $27,983.00?

The answer, of course, is that you and I did, through the taxes we paid that fund Social Security and Medicare, plus the health insurance premiums we pay for our private coverage. 

Could I have afforded to pay $28,233.00 out of pocket for my knee surgery? Hardly. But I'm very fortunate to have good health insurance. Many other, less fortunate, Americans would have been ruined by such a bill ... and are, every day.

Another way in which I am fortunate is that, as a military retiree, I am able to get my prescription medications at no cost from military pharmacies. At the moment, I am taking five different, relatively common medications for various ailments. It's all but impossible to calculate how much I would have to pay for these "on the outside," as the cost depends upon type of insurance, the pharmacy used, whether coupons are available, whether the brand-name or generic version is dispensed, the phase of the moon, or whether the manufacturer offers some type of discount for certain patients. As best I can estimate (thank you, Google), the cash cost for a three-month supply of my five meds - were I to have to pay it myself - is about $800, or $3,200 per year. If I needed more exotic medications for other conditions, the cash cost could easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars. 

This, if I may comment, is obscene.

It doesn't have to be this way, but it's the way we've allowed it to develop. Medicine has become a commercial commodity in modern America, subject to economic pressures of profit and loss rather than the Hippocratic Oath. Instead of the admonition to "first, do no harm," it is now "first, make a profit."

My personal opinion is that a single-payer national insurance system, augmented by private insurance as desired, would be preferable to the mess we have now. I understand that there are arguments for and against such a system, but the most common one - I don't want faceless government bureaucrats making decisions about my health care, doesn't make a great deal of sense when you consider that under the current system, faceless insurance company bureaucrats actually are making decisions about your health care.

And so are the Republicans who voted for the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Have a good day. Stay healthy - you can't afford not to. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

*Source: Historical summary of claims provided by my healthcare provider.

The GOP Replacement for Obamacare*

You will recall that Der Furor and the Republican Party have for years been desperate to get rid of the successful and popular Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). Der Furor was famous during his first term for repeatedly saying that a better, cheaper alternative was just two weeks away, and during the recent presidential campaign he memorably claimed not that he had a replacement plan, but rather "the concepts of a plan."

Well, as it turns out, I have learned that the GOP's Obamacare replacement plan actually exists, and I have obtained a copy! 

The new plan was drafted by a staff of noted medical experts under the direction of esteemed medical professional Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, assisted by Doctors Oz, Who, Kevorkian, Fu Manchu, Doom, and Demento; highlights include:

- Copies of the Bible (Trump edition only) will be used as guidance for proper nutrition, hygiene, and appropriate sexual behavior; each insured patient must purchase a separate copy when signing up for coverage.

- Abortions are strictly forbidden unless to protect the life and reputation of the father.

- The only approved form of birth control will consist of poster-sized photographs of angrily-frowning nuns prominently posted in each bedroom and (in Red states) classroom from kindergarten through university.

- Patients requiring anesthesia will be offered three choices: a shot of whiskey (bar brands only), a bullet to bite on (no larger than .22 caliber), or a Louisville Slugger to the head.

- Annual breast exams for women will be scheduled during non-peak hours at the nearest Hooters.

- Reconditioned dialysis machines previously used at Jiffy Lube are authorized for low-income patients.

- Second opinions on diagnoses will be reached by multiplying the the initial treatment estimate by 0.50. Insurance payments will be based on the lower number.

- Lower-cost alternative treatments must be exhausted before more expensive ones are considered.

- Annual vision exams consist of counting the patient's number of eyes. If the number is two, the patient passes. If the number equals one, the patient's vision is considered adequate. If the number equals zero, it's a pre-existing condition not covered by insurance.

- Rectal thermometers may be reused if sanitized by wiping them with wadded newspaper.

- The standard initial treatment for all medical complaints is, "Take two leeches and call me in the morning."

- Generic drugs will be used to treat generic diseases.

- Voodoo practitioners may be licensed to provide injections approved as a course of treatment.

- Dentists will be required to fill cavities with spackling compound; dental x-rays will be replaced by charcoal sketches.

- Medical imaging consists of the doctor carefully photographing the patient with a Kodak Brownie. X-rays, when prescribed, will be performed by physician assistants using X-ray specs.

- Cat Scans will be conducted with real cats (feral alley cats for low-income patients).

- Tongue depressors are no longer required to be free of Fudgesicle traces before use.

- Well-baby care consists of a doctor conducting a visual examination and certifying that "well, it's a baby."

- Radiation treatment for cancer patients consists of one-way tickets (coach class) to Chernobyl or Fukushima (insurance company's option).

The plan also contains a detailed fee structure for calculating the cost of care:

You voted for it, you've got it - the Obamacare Replacement Plan! In summary, it says,

Don't get sick. If you do, die soon.

Good luck.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* This is an update of a post I wrote and published in 2011, in case you'd forgotten how far back GOP opposition to quality, affordable health care goes.

P.S. - We began the annual Ass Clown of the Year voting on Tuesday, and the results are coming in. So far, this is how it looks: 

The American Electorate is in the lead, with 1150 votes;

Elon Musk is in second place, with 700 votes; and,

Stephen Cheung is in third place, with 150 votes.

Let's keep it up, folks! Your vote counts, so vote early, vote often, and let your favorite Ass Clowns know what you think! Voting ends at midnight on December 31st.

Thinking About the Health Care System, Part 3

This is the third in a series of posts about the state of health care in the United States.  You can read the first two posts of the series here and here; the series will culminate with my plan for rebuilding and improving the country's health care system, which will appear in a few days.

The premise of my series and my eventual recommendation is that there are several underlying causes for the dysfunction and outrageous cost of our health care system. The first was

We are conditioned by our history to stress individual responsibility and self-reliance. A real American takes care of himself and does not expect others to carry his weight.

The second was

Americans believe that the free market will always deliver a better, cheaper product or service than any government-run alternative.

Today, I present what I believe is the third fundamental cause -

The fragmented design of our insurance-based health care system imposes enormous administrative costs on providers, which are passed on to the patient.

When payment for health care is dependent upon the provisions of policies issued by insurance companies (which, by the way, are profit-motivated), a doctor or other provider must maintain a business staff whose sole purpose is to interact with dozens of policies issued by myriad insurance companies to figure out what the policies will pay for, which, in turn, drives the doctor's decisions on how to treat the patient.

If you are one of those people who howled about the horror of the "death panels" which supposedly would make treatment decisions under Obamacare, you may want to consider that the actual equivalent of death panels are the insurance agency actuaries who decide on what their specific policies will cover, cover in part, or not cover. And because every insurance company designs its own policies and writes them based on its own assessment of the risks posed by each patient, it's impossible for a doctor to know what he or she can do - and be paid for - to treat each patient. This means that

1. The insurance company actuaries are the people actually driving decisions about the patient's health care.

2. Because each company's policies are constructed differently, and are different for each patient, each doctor or medical group must maintain a staff dedicated to communicating with all the different insurance sources represented by their patients. This represents a sizeable cost that is passed on to the patients, and does not contribute materially to their care.

3. A tangential issue is that the average medical insurance policy doesn't cover all the health problems you might have - most policies do not cover vision care or dental care, both of which can be extremely expensive and require their own insurance policies ... which suffer from the same issues we've discussed already.

So, Dear Readers, part 3 of our look at the health care mess deals with the fragmented nature of the health insurance system.

We'll wrap up this discussion in a few days, when I discuss my proposal for revising the current system. Until then, stay healthy ... you probably can't afford to get very sick.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Thinking About the Health Care System, Part 2

Last week, I posted the first of a series of articles on the topic of our health care system in America. My intent is to focus first on how it became the contorted mess it is today, and finish with my proposal for how to fix it.

In the first article, I proposed that one contributing factor to the situation was the traditional American focus on self-reliance and individual responsibility. Today, I'll float what I believe is the second major reason for our health care mess:

Americans believe that the free market will always deliver a better, cheaper product or service than any government-run alternative.

Well, maybe.

There's certainly no argument that a capitalist, profit-driven free market system has worked well for the United States. We have, on average, a high level of prosperity and quality of life, and access to a range of goods and services most other nations might envy. But is a profit-driven free-market system the best approach to the delivery of medical care if the people who need it can't afford it?

Those who advocate the free-market approach to health care claim that providers who charge too much ("more than the market will bear") will be driven out of business by their cheaper competitors. This sounds pretty good in theory, but if it were true, we wouldn't have the problem of unaffordable health care we have now, would we?

Consider that it's economically advantageous for a profit-driven system to keep the prices for services as high as the market will bear*. Consider also that manufacturers of drugs do not have an economic interest in developing medications to address rare illnesses and conditions. These do not speak highly of the capitalist free market as a particularly good approach to moderating the cost of health care.

Most developed countries have a government run national health insurance program, sometimes with optional insurance plans available for those who can afford them. In general, these programs work well, although - as with any system - there are apocryphal horror stories. Americans, though, are conditioned to assume the superiority of the free market and to believe the relentless drumbeat from the right that anything run by the Big Bad Government™ is by definition doomed to failure because of gross government ineptitude.

So, my proposed second major reason for the health care mess is a belief embedded in the American DNA that only a capitalist, free-market approach to health care is acceptable.

We'll look at my proposed third reason in the next installment of this series, coming in a few days.

Have a good day, if you can afford it. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* I'm reminded of the famous comment by French economist Jean-Baptiste Colbert about taxation, that "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to procure the largest quantity of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing." In the case of health care, we all know who's getting plucked.

Thinking About the Health Care System, Part 1

According to my records, I have written about the general topic of health care in this blog 30 times in the past 12 years. It's a topic I care a lot about, for a lot of reasons: for one, I have a large family with a lot of children and grandchildren, some of whom need various types of special care; for another, I'm getting old ... and we all know that as we get older, things start to go expensively wrong, no matter how well we've tried to take care of ourselves along the way.

Most people would agree that America's health care system is a mess. We have some of the best doctors in the world, supported by fantastic equipment, state-of-the-art facilities, and safe and powerful drugs. Unfortunately, too many ... if not most ... of us can't afford the the level of care that's available. Why is that?

I believe there are several major reasons why our health care system is such a dumpster fire. In this post, I'm going to talk about one of them; in a subsequent series of occasional posts I'll discuss the others, and then culminate with my proposal for a total reform of the American health care system. Stick around for the whole discussion before you tell me how little I understand about the real world and how stupid and un-American I am.

Here's the first of my theories about why our health care system is messed up:

We are conditioned by our history to stress individual responsibility and self-reliance. A real American takes care of himself and does not expect others to carry his weight.

This is essentially the same argument used to justify unrestricted gun ownership and open carry/concealed carry laws - you can't count on the police (or anyone else) to protect you, so you have to be prepared to protect yourself at all times. In the health care context, it means that if you get sick, it's your own fault because you didn't take care of yourself. Nobody else is responsible for taking care of you ... you need to plan to pay for whatever treatment you need to recover from the results of your failure to maintain your health.

This emerges from the doctrine of rugged individualism, defined* as

"The practice or advocacy of individualism in social and economic relations emphasizing personal liberty and independence, self-reliance, resourcefulness, self-direction of the individual, and free competition in enterprise."

This is the quintessential American approach, in which the individual is of primary importance and the country was always meant to be a land of rugged individualists - people descended from the tough men and women who conquered an untamed wilderness armed only with grit, guns, and self-reliance.

Thus, focus on individual responsibility is the first of the key elements that has shaped the American approach to health care.

That's Theory #1. Number two will follow in a few days.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* In my trusty Merriam-Webster dictionary.

The Next Sound You Hear ...

One of the things I've noticed as I've grown older is the ever-growing number of odd noises my body makes, usually at inopportune times. These are not necessarily dangerous, but can range from the inconvenient to the downright embarrassing. They can also be interesting from a linguistic standpoint.

I recently ran across this article by Akira Okrent: 21 Fancy Medical Terms for Mundane Problems, and found it fascinating. I'll not bore you with all 21 of the fancy terms your doctor uses to make you feel like you're getting your money's worth out of your health insurance (if you're lucky enough to have it), but I really related to this one: crepitus.

Derived from the Latin word for "rattle" or "crack," crepitus is the popping, creaking, or crackling sounds your joints make when you get out of bed in the morning, usually caused by cartilage wear in the joint space or, in soft tissues, by the release of trapped gas*.

I was interested to note that one of my favorite words - decrepit - comes from the same Latin root. And a little more reading led me to a Wikipedia article about Crepitus, supposedly the Roman god of flatulence. Unfortunately, Crepitus may not have been an actual god, but a satirical figure invented over time, although he may have given his name to the act of crepitation and thus to the amazing, one-of-a-kind Crepitation Contest ...

Feeling decrepit? Join the club.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* This is what happens when you crack your knuckles.

Health Care Terms, Defined

Back in June of 2010 I wrote a tongue-in-cheek, satirical post* in which I provided snarky answers to questions about the American system of health care. It's been seven years since then, and so I figured it's time to revisit the topic and help provide clarity to a complex topic. Here are explanations of some of the terms which are often tossed around in the heated debate** over various health care options ...

"Socialized Medicine"

There are several definitions of this controversial term. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as "medical and hospital services for the members of a class or population administered by an organized group (such as a state agency) and paid for from funds obtained usually by assessments, philanthropy, or taxation." The GOP defines it as "a callous and unjustified giveaway by a satanic system that forces rich, healthy people to pay for the care of losers who shouldn't have gotten sick in the first place."

"Prescription Drug Coverage"

There are two definitions of this term. The first is "health insurance or a related plan that helps pay for prescription drugs and medications." The second is "the dense blanket of laws, tax code provisions, confusing legal wording, and conflicting statistics that prevents patients from understanding the cost of prescription drugs and making informed decisions."

"Single-Payer System"

As the name implies, this is a system in which there is only one entity, typically a government agency or private system operating under a government charter, which pays for health care for citizens. Most of the developed world uses this system, which has the advantage of reducing costs by reducing administrative overhead for health care providers. From a conservative or libertarian perspective, it's the equivalent of socialized medicine and must be avoided at all costs because everyone knows that government utterly ruins everything it touches***.

"Death Panel"


--> According to a claim originally made by Sarah Palin and continuing to be believed by the credulous, it's group of faceless government bureaucrats that decides whether specific persons are worthy of receiving health care. A death panel differs from the current health care system only insofar as government bureaucrats, rather than insurance company analysts, make decisions on the provision of health care.
"Obamacare"

A derogatory term applied by conservatives to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health care reform program enacted during the presidency of Barack Obama. The GOP is totally and completely opposed to the ACA and is intent on replacing it with something. Anything. Some day. 

"Co-Pay"

The extra money you pay to your doctor or pharmacist for service after you've already paid your insurance premiums.

"Deductable"

The amount of money you have to pay before your insurance company begins to pay the benefits you're already paying premiums for them to provide.

I hope this helps you understand some of the confusing terminology of health care. My best advice: don't get sick. You can't understand it, and you probably can't afford it.

Have a good day. Eat lots of apples to keep expensive doctors away. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Hard to believe, isn't it?

** "Debate" is defined here as "wild and uninformed shouting and the use of out-of-context anecdotes and statistics to bolster one's position."

*** No wonder it's only lasted 200-plus years.

Old McConnell's Plan

Yes, I know you were expecting to see another segment of Great Moments in Editing and Signage. Unfortunately, in an effort to be timely, I've decided to replace that post (which I'd already written, by the way), with this one. Great Moments in Editing and Signage will return two weeks from today.

Okay ...

As you no doubt know, the GOP has been working, frantically and in great secrecy, on its long-promised plan to "remove and replace" the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). Republicans hate that law for many reasons, not all of them (in my opinion) rational, but it is what it is. They've promised the minority of the voting public that elected them that they'll get rid of the "failed law" and replace it with ... something. Better or worse, we're not sure, although the House version was so spectacularly bad that embarrassed House Republicans punted to the Senate, which yesterday published a "discussion draft" of the bill* that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a few friends have drafted in great secrecy and intend to put to a vote next week after minimum review and discussion.

This is, of course, a complete travesty of the democratic process, but allowable levels of hypocrisy being what they are today, Senator McConnell and his cabal are moving shamelessly forward with this clandestinely-crafted pile of doo-doo, and will probably get away with it.

Which has inspired me to write a song about the whole sorry mess ...

Old McConnell's Plan

(sung to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm")

Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare -
He wrote it in a secret room
And just his friends were there.
Just his banking friends
And insurance friends
     GOP
     Can’t agree
     Gotta write in secrecy
Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare

Old McConnell has a plan,
To kill Obamacare.
And he says his plan will help,
But who it help’s not clear.
With a tax cut here
And a credit there,
     Here a cut,
     There a break,
     Everywhere a head fake –
Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare.

Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare.
And if you read his plan, you’ll see
There’s nothing really there.
There’s naught for you,
And there’s naught for me,
     Nothing to protect us,
     Single guy
     Or family -
Old McConnell has a plan
To kill Obamacare.

Feel free to add your own verses. And if you're one of the 23 million people expected to lose your health insurance** if the GOP rams this through ... good luck.

Have a good day. See you tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday ... God knows we need it.

Bilbo

* Good luck understanding it.

** According to the CBO analysis.