And so it begins......

[marmar]

by Michael Tomasky, from the Guardian UK:



Medicaid: the assault begins


The most important article I read over the weekend was this one, in Saturday's New York Times, about some new goings-on in Texas:

Some Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday's statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state's estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.

Far-right conservatives are offering that possibility in impassioned news conferences. Moderate Republicans are studying it behind closed doors. And the party's advisers on health care policy say it is being discussed more seriously than ever, though they admit it may be as much a huge in-your-face to Washington as anything else.

"With Obamacare mandates coming down, we have a situation where we cannot reduce benefits or change eligibility" to cut costs, said State Representative Warren Chisum, Republican of Pampa, the veteran conservative lawmaker who recently entered the race for speaker of the House. "This system is bankrupting our state," he said. "We need to get out of it. And with the budget shortfall we're anticipating, we may have to act this year."

So we are now talking about the dismantling of the welfare state in very specific and concrete ways. This is new, and it foretells a fundamental fight that's coming and perhaps soon. First, some background.

Medicaid provides basic healthcare to poor people. It was passed in 1965 along with Medicare, which provides healthcare to seniors. Medicare is a federal-only program. Medicaid is a joint federal-state effort, meaning states contribute a percentage (usually maybe 20 to 40% or so, varying from state to state) of the costs. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/nov/08/us-politics-texas-medicaid-dismantling

[saigon68]

1. Welcome to the third world

[cleanhippie]

2. I asked a friend what he thought about this, his answer flabberghasted me.

We had a facebook conversation regarding welfare (he is a teabagger type) and I sent him a link to this story, along with a link showing how many Texans (he is from Texas) are living in poverty...

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/16/2474711/more-texans-living-in-poverty.html#ixzz14ceOuFWq

I asked him, that if his State does this, what will happen to the 4 million Texans that live in poverty?

His response :"We'll come up with something. We don't Fail in God's country!"

I replied with "I wonder if "we'll come up with something" is very reassuring to those 4.26 million people. Somehow I doubt it."



Some people just have a willful disconnect from reality.

[BR_Parkway]

7. He doesn't see 4.26 million people living in poverty now as a failure?

Interesting

[txlibdem]

24. Not a failure of Capitalism

Never mind that Capitalism is built from the ground up on the idea that there will be a few wealthy at the top of the pyramid but also necessarily many millions of poor groveling at the bottom. This is how Capitalism is DESIGNED to work.

Any failures are due to poor choices on your part. :sarcasm:

Am I the only one who is tired of American Capitalism? Where in the constitution does it say that the top few percent get all the joys of living in America and the rest of us pay all the costs and endure all the pain?!?

[pattmarty]

23. I'm slightly less charitable than you. I say, "some people just don't.......

..........give a fuck". I met a couple in their late 50's a few years back that live in a suburb of Dallas and they make 500K per year strictly on investments and pensions and consider themselves "middle class". While all four of us were in Jamaica taking a cab "tour" of parts of the island, we drove through downtown (where the tourists DON'T go) and the man turned and said to me that "they choose to live this way". Now, I am 63 yo and not that naive anymore and finally figured out that a lot of these tea party types think this way. That is is YOUR fault if you are out of a job or are poor or disabled. I swear, this guy really felt this way. With a lot of these "conservatives" believing this way, I don't see where we can ever meet to solve the massive problems we face.

I read this particular piece yesterday and heard Lindsey Graham (in Nova Scotia) say we should "neuter" Iran. On Friday I heard about Tex "shitkicker" Perry say he wanted Tx to "opt out" of SS. Where in the hell is this country going? This is the worst it has been here in my lifetime and I thought I saw it all with Nixon (until Bush jr came along). It's fucking depressing and I am not being facetious.

[okieinpain]

28. actually I wish the repugs would do some of this stuff instead of

talking about doing it. I had someone on welfare tell me that I was the fool for wasting my time voting. according to them nothing ever changes, it's all a big stupid game and they are not going to waste their time standing in line to vote when nothing is going to change.

no joke straight up said it to my face.

[pattmarty]

29. You know from their point of view he/she is probably right. It has........

............been years now since the Dems have talked about or actually represented poor people (or working class for that matter). Myself, I am pissed off at the Dems and I'm lower middle class. I hope I don't get "banned", but I voted in Ar for the Green for Senator, Governor and my US Rep. You can argue if it makes a difference (it didn't), but if more and more people started voting for Greens it would at least pressure some Dems to get back to their FDR roots.

As far as the Republicans "doing" some of the crazy things they espouse, I believe they're dead fucking serious. The fucking teapartiers want to take us back to the horse and buggy days when everything was just shits and giggles and every child born grew up to be Rockefeller.

[mudplanet]

32. I had exactly the same experience with some wealthy Mexicans while

driving through an area of Mexico City in which people lived in small shacks.

[madmax]

3. And again I need to turn to

the UK Guardian for news. I started reading the UK Guardian in 2000 to find out what was really happening in the US. This was before DU, KO, Rachel or anything remotely resembling liberal points of view.

It's better now - there are more liberal view points available on the internet and media than there were then. I was ecstatic to find BuzzFlash at that time.

[AnArmyVeteran]

5. It's sad how the Guardian is better than the entire MSM.

I've been reading from it's sites for at least a dozen years. To get news on stories in the US you have to go oversees most of the time. I never heard of Olbermann or Maddow until January 2009. I had to endure the entire Bush disaster thinking no one in the media was covering the most important stories.

[loudsue]

11. I remember those times only too well. Remember Media Whores Online?

There were some liberal journalists who had been fired to make way for the single-message-media that we have today.

[txlibdem]

25. Precisely. When my daughter was looking at colleges she asked me if she should go into journalism

I told her (in no uncertain terms) ABSOLUTELY NOT. Journalism is finished in America. If you are not a whore or a corporate shill you will not be welcome. My daughter is idealistic and I knew their poison would have soured her outlook on life. Hell no to American "journalism."

[TwilightGardener]

4. They're going to do away with Medicaid, while blaming HCR, because

even though the federal gov will subsidize the increase in enrollees for the foreseeable future...someday it MIGHT eat up more of the budget? What bullshit. They're just looking for an excuse to put all the hurt on poor people--that's why Republicans exist.

[patrice]

9. Bingo.

[gratuitous]

12. That's part of the reasoning

The other part of the reasoning is that with adequate medical care and aging services, it will just encourage people to get older and seek out medical treatment. You know, like teaching sex ed does nothing more than give kids permission to go out and have sex.

[pinboy3niner]

14. Grayson was right

The GOP health care plan is 'Die Quickly.'

They're against fictitious 'Death Panels,' but their plan to deny health care assures that the poor and the elderly (just for starters) will die more quickly--and needlessly.

[patrice]

6. Right on, marmar. Boomers especially will soon become intimately acquainted with the level of

non-Care that is perfectly legal, and, btw, oh-so-higher-than-a-holy-kite sanctified by ChurchCo, when everyone is relieved of their nasty worldly burdens as those who become disposable go tripping off (and I DO mean trippin') into the hereafter.

Invest in pharma and hospices.

[AnArmyVeteran]

8. Thanks Marmar, according to the newly reelected Rick Perry Texas is doing great!

[PearliePoo2]

10. Mom and Dad becoming a burden for you?

Just drop them off near a dumpster somewhere......it's the RePuke way!
:cry:

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Medicaid it touted as a way for low income seniors to get help with Medicare costs.

Which was presented as a 'solution" during the Health Care debate.

Medicaid will pay for the monthly Medicare insurance premium IF you are low income enough.

Drop Medicaid, the cost of Medicare will go up as people opt out of the premium.

[undergroundpanther]

15. ArrghFUCK The rich !

Why the rich because they NEVER have enough,war power to abuse& money.


I am broke the last two weeks a month.SSI does not even pay enough for me to survive where I live.Medicaid makes it so I am not in terrible pain, because my spine is a mess.And I get therapy for my ptsd & meds that without I'd be cutting my arms up everyday,and suicidal all the time,not able to cope with much at all..If these republican greed bots cut medicaid,I will have nothing to lose,nothing to help and no more reasons to go along with this shit without making it known to the fuckers that cut SSI/Medicare exactly what I feel about them in a visceral way..I know these poison people want me dead,and that is mutual,I'm sure.

[PA Democrat]

16. We have to retain tax breaks for the ultra wealthy.

Let those poor and disabled people DIE. That is the essence of their message.

I have an adult child with autism and she will probably be dependent upon Medicaid once she ages out of private insurance. Nice to see that these people who will thump their bibles at every opportunity can turn their backs on the very least fortunate among us.

:mad:

[PA Democrat]

17. PA's new Repub governor Tom Corbett plans to cut the state's Medicaid rolls by 14%

So who should be the first victims of republican callousness? The poor? The disabled?

[and-justice-for-all]

18. Uh I am pretty sure that military spending is more then Medicare/caid...

by about a fuckload. "This system is bankrupting our state," what a line of horseshit.

[Ilsa]

19. School nurses and schools will bear the painful brunt of kids

not having easy access to healthcare. I've already seen it as a school nurse: parents knowingly bring their sick kids to school to be "diagnosed" even though the nurses can't treat them.

[Joe Fields]

20. Texas: "it's like a whole 'nother (3rd world) country"

[Enthusiast]

21. Die quickly?

Just as Grayson said.

[givemebackmycountry]

33. Agree...

The whole Republican plan for America is simply this...

"If you can't pay for it then FUCK YOU! There are no free lunches in THIS country. There MUST be something wrong with YOU"

[Solly Mack]

22. k/r

[Spacemom]

26. Our ER system is already at the breaking point

Where do they think all these sick people without access to health care are going to end up?

[The Backlash Cometh]

27. If they were to do this, woudn't people in their own state suffer the consequences?

[pattmarty]

31. Yep, but does it look like shitkicker Perry gives a shit? I swear that............

.......today's "conservatives" have to get six bodies together just so they can get one brain. these people are stoooooooooopid.

[Skittles]

36. they don't give a rat's ass about the people

[w8liftinglady]

30. 6 million in Texas with NO insurance. 3 Million on Medicaid. 3 Million on medicare

that will leave about 50% of the state uninsured.
Let's eat the poor....

[TexasObserver]

34. The GOP in Texas is batshit crazy.

[Name removed]

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