Medicaid

The Arguments Against States Rights

Ronald 1 Comment

Conservatives and Republicans LOVE to promote states rights, and for good reason!

It allows many states to deny their citizens the same rights and privileges and benefits that other states provide!

Historically, it allowed states to have slaves, when others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to promote segregation of the races, when others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to promote capital punishment, when others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to show no concern for the poor, while others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to exploit labor through “right to work” laws, while others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to exploit the environment for industrial benefit, while others did not.

Historically, it allowed states to victimize women and children, while others did not.

And now, it allows states to deny basic health care expansion under Medicaid and ObamaCare, while others do not.

And the states that regularly have been denying their citizens equal treatment under the law are mostly in the South, but also in the Great Plains and some Mountain states.

In other words, the most backward and regressive states, almost all Republican states in 2013, are showing lack of concern for the health and welfare of their citizens.

So states rights is a good thing? Not when one looks at the facts!

The North Carolina Nightmare: Republican Dominance For First Time In A Century!

Ronald 17 Comments

North Carolina has long had the image of being a modern, forward looking state, one of the most advanced in the old Confederacy, despite the fact that Jesse Helms was one of its Senators for three decades.

It actually had signs of having escaped the Confederate mentality, and had pride for its Research Triangle—Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham, and its top rated universities, including, but not only the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University.

But now North Carolina has been hijacked by a right wing Republican Party, and is being systematically destroyed as a state of change and positive images, looking more like Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina, all of which it had far surpassed in every way possible, but now all lost by the lack of understanding of its voters as to what they were doing in electing a Republican legislature and Governor.

So just in the year 2014, eight months so far, the North Carolina Republican government has done the following:

Massive tax cuts and cuts in business regulations, which will make the state poorer and more subject to corruption
Stricter regulation of abortion clinics
The end of teacher tenure
Refusal to expand Medicaid
Dramatic cut in unemployment benefits
Making the death penalty easier to apply
Allowing concealed guns in bar and restaurants
Strict Voter ID requirements, including prohibition of same day registration and cutting early voting

These are the results of the Republican Party gaining control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time in a century, along with electing a Republican governor, Pat McCrory.

So North Carolina goes to the Right, and those who are not upper class will suffer in the process, and North Carolina moves backward to the 19th century mentality of the Confederacy!

Minimum Wage Must Be A Living Wage, And Corporations Must Treat Low Wage Workers With Dignity And Respect!

Ronald 2 Comments

The fight is on for a rise in the minimum wage, so that it is a living wage, and corporations that have low wage work forces must show evidence that they treat their workers with dignity and respect!

Applebee’s, Papa John’s, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steak House and other restaurants have all seen profits fall, and fewer patrons, after they threatened to cut workers down to part time, fewer than 30 hours, so they would not have to provide employer health care for their workers under ObamaCare!

At the same time, Walmart has continued to pay low wages, mistreat its women workers as compared to men, and force their workers onto Medicaid and Food Stamps, because they will not provide benefits to their workers, despite the fact that they are the largest retail corporation in the world, and their four owners of the Walmart dynasty have as much in assets as the bottom 40 percent of the nation’s population combined!

This is the new GILDED AGE all over again, with low wage workers, half of whom are over 25, and majorities being women and minorities, with many having families to support, not just young people who are single and hang out on the streets without responsibilities!

The minimum wage, set up in 1938 under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, at 25 cents per hour, would be today over $22.00 an hour if kept up to the cost of living! Instead it is $7.25 per hour, and the proposal being promoted is to raise it to about $10.00 an hour, which is far from adequate, but essential as a beginning of promoting the ability of workers to support themselves and other family members, and have a sense of dignity and respect from their employers!

And if prices need to go up, so be it, as no one should be exploiting others for the sake of another dollar or less for items, and if enough consumer protests occur, the management, already overpaid and over pricing, will be forced to accept somewhat less than the obscene profits they now earn, making them an elite Gilded Age aristocracy in a country that is supposed to be promoting equality and justice!

The Distortion Of Jesus Christ By Right Wing Republicans And Their Allies

Ronald 17 Comments

Jesus Christ, who was Jewish and never a Christian, preached love, tolerance, understanding, open mindedness, and other good thoughts, and offered himself as a way to unify mankind in the Middle East.

If he were here in the world today, and in America, he would be shocked at what many Republicans, conservatives, and right wing religious leaders have done to distort his loving message of unity.

We could call what has happened as making Jesus a Republican with all of the views that party now has in 2013!

These include the following, in the view of Right Wing Republicans and their allies, but NOT, of course, the truth, but rather propaganda!

Jesus is white and is certainly not color blind.

Jesus is a big supporter of the Confederacy, and can justify the past existence of slavery and racial segregation as factors which had a purpose to “organize” society.

Jesus loves guns, and they are to be owned to protect against evil forces out to undermine the faith.

Jesus loves the rich, the wealthy, and the top two percent, who are “achievers”.

Jesus hates poor people, who deserve what they get, the denial of food stamps, a safety net, and Medicaid.

Jesus hates gay people, and therefore created AIDS and STDs to punish those sinners.

Jesus believes that women are to be controlled by men, and denied control over their own destiny, and treated as subservient to the demands of men.

Jesus hates Muslims, who are all “evil”, and deserve to be killed in mass numbers as “nonbelievers”.

Jesus hates liberals and progressives, who are connected to the devil, and there is to be no compromise with them, and that also includes conservatives who say they are “moderates’.

Jesus hates science, because it challenges the beliefs of religion.

This is the mindset of right wing Republicans, and a danger to the future of America if it ever gained control of all branches of government. NONE of the above is the truth about Jesus!

As it is, the control of the House of Representatives, and many state governments and Governors, has led to the greatest division since the Civil War!

There is a need for devout Christians who understand the loving message of their savior to reclaim him from the hate mongers!

The author wishes to thank the website ADDICTINGINFO.ORG and Sherri Yarbrough for the ideas that led to this blog entry!

Sad Independence Day: Reality Of Assault On Rights Of Women, Gays, Immigrants, African Americans, And Those Less Fortunate

Ronald 5 Comments

As we celebrate the 237th Independence Day, and appreciate what ir represents, there is an unprecedented attack going on in many states and among Republican members of Congress to take away the hard earned rights of various groups of vulnerable Americans, and to deny the freedom and liberty that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights represents!

Women’s right to their reproductive lives and their fundamental health are being assaulted by Republican state legislatures and Governors in a rapid, non transparent way, and shutting off opposition in states including Texas, Ohio, North Carolina at present, and in other states in the recent past, including Virginia, North Dakota, Arkansas and Kansas!

The attempt to deny equality of rights and privileges to gay Americans is in full swing in many of the “Red” or Republican states, and the level of hate against these groups by political and religious spokesmen is unprecedented!

The fight against dealing with the presence of immigrants who would have to meet strict standards to move toward citizenship, and with increased border security and building of a wall between Mexico and the United States, is in full swing, including assault on the courageous Republicans trying to resolve this issue in a fair and just manner, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has been subjected to extremist Tea Party types who have declared war on him.

The move of many Southern states toward creating new barriers for people to vote, with the aim to cut the vote of minorities, the elderly, the disabled and college students, is in full swing forward since the Supreme Court ruled that there was no more racism or discrimination in voting in those states, when it is clear what the motivation of those states really is! The states of Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas are already, rapidly, working toward new restrictions, free to do so, in their minds, because of what the Republican Supreme Court majority did last week!

And, of course, 23 states, at least, are refusing to expand Medicaid for those less fortunate, who have no health care coverage as things stand, except in emergency situations in emergency rooms, at a much more costly fee, and not necessarily available to all!

So the battle for freedom, human and civil rights, justice, and equality continues, even as we can celebrate the great experiment of the United States, seen as a paragon around the world, but still needing a lot of work to bring about the “more perfect Union”!

21 States Are Refusing Federal Funding To Expand Medicaid Coverage To The Needy In 2014!

Ronald 2 Comments

21 states, all “red” Republican states, and governed by Republican Governors and legislatures, are refusing to expand Medicaid coverage for the the needy in their states for 2014, even though the federal government is covering the cost 100 percent for the first three years, starting next year, and 90 percent after that until 2020!

So millions of needy people will have no ability to have health care coverage under ObamaCare, as the Supreme Court gave the states the authority to decide if they wished to accept the Medicaid coverage expansion from the federal government.

Republicans, who claim to be “pro life” are willing to risk the lives of those less fortunate, including children, the elderly, and the poor, and yet they all claim to be “religious”, but are not acting with the compassion of Jesus Christ, particularly when the states have no cost for three years, and very little cost after!

So the following states have rejected this coverage:

Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
Oklahoma
Kansas
Nebraska
South Dakota
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Utah
Missouri
Wisconsin
Maine
Alaska

These states are governed by such “Bully” Governors as Bob McDonnell of Virginia; Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and Paul LePage of Maine–all totally despicable in their lack of concern for their less fortunate constituents!

Additionally, six other states are still debating whether to accept Medicaid expansion paid by the federal government, including the following:

New Hampshire
Ohio
Indiana
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Tennessee

This means Republican Governors, including John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, are actively working to deny coverage to their poorer populations!

Only 23 states, including Republican Governors Chris Christie in New Jersey, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, and Jan Brewer or Arizona are following through on commitment to the needs of their less fortunate, and those four Governors are to be commended, particularly Brewer in Arizona, who had a complete reversal in her view!

What a terrible state of affairs when conservatives and Republicans have no concern about those who are living but deprived, while at the same time, fighting to prevent abortions and force women to undergo ultrasound testing if they wish to end an abortion in the 24 weeks period allowed in the Roe V. Wade case. Additionally, North Dakota, Arkansas, Ohio and Texas, among other states, are trying to cut back, or have already done so, the amount of weeks of pregnancy in which a woman can have an abortion, and doing so in legislative sessions that are more run like a dictatorship, than a democratic means of passing legislation!

Texas Governor Rick Perry: The “Pro Life” Governor? NO, A Tragedy For Texas!

Ronald 8 Comments

Texas Governor Rick Perry was a massive embarrassment when he ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2012.

He is the longest serving Governor in America, having succeeded George W. Bush as the executive leader of the Lone Star State at the end of 2000.

He has become infamous for ridiculous, insensitive, and moronic statements, and outrageous actions in office, including suggesting that Texas secede from the Union, as it did in the Civil War.

He has a reputation as a “Pro Life” Governor, but that appellation is a mockery of reality!

This is a man who refuses to accept Medicaid expansion that is fully covered by ObamaCare, and therefore, denies millions of poor Texans, many of them Latinos, any access to health care, and this is out of spite, not wanting to accept federal aid that would cost the state of Texas NOTHING!

Here is a man who has the record for the most death warrants and executions occurring under his regime, and brags about the massive use of the death penalty, setting a record for executions in American history, and having no doubts as to the innocence of any of the people on Death Row, who face death, with the state government resistant to reconsideration of cases, even with new evidence!

Here is a state where any suggestion of background checks or other protections against gun violence are ignored and ridiculed, with any Texan able to carry firearms into public places, including schools, bars, and restaurants, and the gun violence level is one of the worst in the nation!

Here is a man who vetoes a bill passed overwhelmingly by a GOP legislature, mandating equal pay for women, many of whom are single mothers who need to support their children!

And here is a man who wants, with his party, to destroy Planned Parenthood in Texas, and shut down nearly all abortion clinics in a state with 26 million people, and the largest state in area, with the exception of sparsely populated Alaska!

And here is a man who forces State Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, opposed to this legislation, to conduct a filibuster under inhumane conditions, with no food, water, bathroom break, or ability to lean against or sit down over nearly a dozen hours, and her filibuster ended early, but opposition of supporters in the Texas State Senate galleries and halls of the legislature the only way to stop this massive assault on women’s rights, including control of their bodies! And now, Perry is forcing another confrontation, determined to ram through this despicable legislation, and in so doing, lecturing Wendy Davis and showing total disdain and lack of respect for her and Texas women!

This man is an excuse for a human being, and will go down over history as a true tragedy for the Lone Star State, and Wendy Davis or Julian Castro (Mayor of San Antonio), or some other Democrat needs to run against him in 2014, and end the Reign of Rick Perry over the destiny of Texas!

The Ultimate Price For Being Poor: Exposure To Dangerous Chemicals And Other Life Threatening Industrial Pollution

Ronald 4 Comments

Only if someone has struggled in life can one fully realize what it means to be poor, but once a person is fortunate enough to escape poverty, often they do not wish to remind themselves of the tough times.

But there are nearly 50 million people–men women, children, the elderly–who live in poverty, and besides lack of adequate housing, medical care, food supply, and lack of hope—also end up living in dangerous areas near chemical and other industrial plants, spewing forth poison in the air, soil and water supply, even with so called regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency, which faces constant attacks by Republicans and conservatives, who do not care about the life threatening effects of such industrial pollution on the poor who live nearby!

The story of the explosion at West, Texas is a good example of this, with a Governor, Rick Perry, who is against federal regulation and controls, and has advocated secession, showing no concern about the need for greater regulation and greater oversight, as Texas is a prime example of a state which every day shows its contempt for its poor, including refusing to expand Medicaid!

It is unconscionable for a state and a Governor to take such an immoral stand, and yet constantly invoke Jesus Christ in their utterances!

This is the ultimate indignity for the poor, to hear the pontificating of the politicians about Jesus Christ, and yet recognize they do not care one whit about the lives of 50 million people in any way, including the reality and the dangers of industrial pollution!

States Refusing To Expand Medicaid Are Victimizing The Poorest, Saying Their Lives Do Not Matter, Only That They Are Born!

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It is amazing how states that are anti abortion are also, in many cases, very willing to victimize the poor, once they are born, by refusal to expand Medicaid for the most needy!

So the idea seems to be to make sure everyone is born, and then you are on your own, as far as health care, if you are unfortunate enough to be the poorest in our society in those states, all of which are “red” or Republican states!

Among the states that will punish people who are poor, include:

Texas
Florida
Georgia
Alabama
Louisiana
Mississippi
Kansas

Altogether, about half the states will resist Medicaid expansion, and therefore determine that the lives of the poor who have no medical coverage do not matter!

And IF these people go to emergency rooms, they will get minimal care, and it will cost more than covering them under Medicaid!

So people who believe in the “right to life” are willing to see lives shortened, as long as they are born! After that, you are on your own, including children and the elderly!

What hypocrisy on the part of these state governors and legislatures, and the Republican Party, and yet the people in those states vote Republican out of ignorance and promotion of racism and nativism!

Absolutely unbelievable! Is this the kind of country we want to live in and promote for the future? The concept is maddening!

The Advancement Of The Progressive Agenda In 2013

Ronald 9 Comments

With the renewal and expansion of the coverage of the Violence Against Women Act, other important ideas are coming to the forefront of the progressive agenda:

Raising of the minimum wage, which 71 percent of the American people endorse, with a minimum of $9 an hour, although bills to raise it to $10 an hour have been introduced by some members of Congress. Realize that if one was to keep up with the cost of living since 1938, when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed with a 25 cents an hour wage, the minimum wage would have to be at $13 an hour now to be the equivalent of 75 years ago.

Universal Background Checks for all gun purchases, which 88 percent of those polled want, including 85 percent of gun owning households.

More tax increases to reduce the deficit, a balanced approach with spending cuts that are fair and just, and do not hurt those on the bottom more than those on the top of the economic scale, with 76 percent agreeing with this.

Infrastructure Investments to repair and replace our deteriorating physical plant, and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. This is the best job creation policy, and is important for the nation’s economic growth and national security.

A pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, particularly for children brought to America and knowing nowhere else, and 70 percent agreeing with this in polls, and 60 percent of Republicans. This is the right thing to do, and is a way for Republicans to improve their image electorally.

Expansion of the Medicaid program, so that all Americans will be able to have accessible health care, a basic goal of human decency and compassion for those less fortunate.

Marriage equality, so that gay Americans no longer face discrimination legally in any aspect of their lives, including the right to have their marriages seen as legitimate.

Providing of Early Childhood Education, including universal Pre Kindergarten coverage, as a way to assist in the goal of early educational intervention, which will reap benefits in the future.

If all eight of these goals can be achieved, we will have major progressive victories in 2013!