All this talk about socialized healthcare! Michael Steele says it's socialism, although he admits he doesn't know a thing about the actual policy.
And as Rachel Maddow points out, have you ever noticed that the more beautiful a politican's hair, the more likely he is to be completely full of crap? Case in point: Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Maddow really lets him have it because Perry is talking about "seceding" from any national healthcare plan, reminding him (and us) that he's been governor for nine years. As she points out, one in four Texans lack health insurance, giving Texas the title for highest number of uninsured citizens in the entire country.
As Washington Spectator editor and political author Lou Dubose pointed out to Maddow, the Texas governorship is "a ribbon-cutting position." Good thing, because he's not too bright, is he?
Foist.
"If the US government enforced its banking laws like it did its park regulations, we wouldn't be
in this damn park in the first place." OCCUPY.!!
I thought that's what we don't want?
You need to pay a Kings Ransom for life saving treatment.
WHY?
Because you have no choice but to pay if you want to live?
mostly powerless? For show? I thought someone else actually runs things.
In all fairness, the higher percentage of undocumented workers in the border states might have something to do with the higher rates of uninsured, so it might be a little overblown to criticize Texas that much. But on the other hand, Texas also touts itself as one of the few states in the union that's still a good place to set up business, so ou'd think that people wouldn't be quite so poor off down there.
I doubt those workers are counted as part of the population of Texas.
I hear this a lot where people say that a large part of the uninsured is because of undocumented workers. I know that the US Census counts undocumented workers as part of its study, but I admit I don't know just how much of that "50 million without uninsured" number comes from those undocumented, if any at all. So it'd be fair to say that it might not be that way, but there might still be some truth to it even if it isn't as much to blame as people want it to be.
I work with a guy who wants to blame everything on illegal immigrants. He keeps on throwing out the latest Michael Weiner or Lou Dobbs numbers on "illegal immigrants" and the costs of "providing social programs" for them. It bugs the crap out of me. The way I see it, it's a good thing for people to come here. If we want to stop an influx of poor people from another country, we can do things to improve life in that country. We give enough aid to Mexico, why don't we make sure it gets spent well.
Anyway, the thing that really bugs me is that only the people with an axe to grind are providing any numbers. So, you've got Weiner going nuts about the 40 million "illegals" and the "trillions" it's costing the American taxpayer, but it's hard to come back with actual numbers. Is anybody generating any actual data about this?
But how does he compare to his predecessor?
In his defense, he doesn't know a thing about Socialism, either.
Michael Steele doesn't know a thing about anything.
Massa said it's bad, so he says it's bad, too.
Perry:
Apparently "Governor Good Hair" has never heard of the VA. I wonder how many he'll shut down on the same grounds he's using to try and keep the Public Option out of Texas?
(Note to editor: It's "Good Hair", not "Great Hair". grin)
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
he hasn't heard of Medicare and Medicaid administered by the government either.
Who pays for Perry's health care?
Miss Molly would correct you on that.
And I don't hear Gov. Perry giving back all those nice Federal transportation dollars he was going to use for his Trans-Texas Corridor debacle...but, I guess that that kind of "socialism" and "big government" that benefits his "base" of Birther/Confederate nuts is perfectly OK by him.
Between this and the Taliban coup he's attempting at his Department of Education, he should be dead armadillo meat. If Kay Bailey Hutchinson doesn't knock him off, then Bill White probably will.
No wonder he wants to secede...only way he can maintain power.
Anthony
I know Kay Bailey is a Republican, but I wonder if she wouldn't be a more reasonable governor that Rick Perry.
I hope that asshole Kinky Friedman doesn't run again and spoil the race.
I voted for Chris Bell last time (the Democrat). Who is Bill White?
I can't get the video to work, but I would like to concur with the general sentiment that Rick Perry is a douche-bag.
I agree with you on both counts.....
1. I can't get the video to work.
2. Rick Perry is a douche-bag.
I can't get it to work either, but when I went to MSNBC to see if I could find it, none of their videos would load for me. So the problem is probably there, not at C&L.
My parents live in Texas, and they tell me most people they speak with are furious at Perry because he refused to accept money to help pay unemployment benefits. The state's budget deficit is as large as it has ever been, and the judicial system has been corrupted by right wing ideologues.
My Governor is an Idiot! As is my junior Senator! (I told y'all, all y'all, that there's no shortage of these typical Texas politicians down here!!)
I want to fuckin' secede from Texas!!!
Oh, I can't get the video to play either. :(
Let's not make the same mistake twice. Let them secede. In fact, we should pay them to do it. Over time it would cost us a lot less, both in terms of money and lost opportunities to improve our citizens' lives, than keeping them in the Union and having to deal with their obstructionism and constant trips to the public trough. Keith Olbermann laid it our awhile ago (transcript at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826495) </snark>. I'm well aware, of course, that Perry doesn't speak for all Texans, or maybe even most. There's a very good chance that guys like him on both sides of the aisle are going the way of the dodo in the next few years. Americans are increasingly not so interested in leadership they can have a beer with as leadership they can entrust with their kids lives.
Texas shouldn't secede. Their congress dufuses should just have their government healthcare repealed so they can buy their own private plans.
Their congress would just vote themselves a raise to cover the cost of their health plan because, you know, all workers can do that.
We need to repeal the health care coverage of ONLY those congress people who vote against the plan. Those who voted for it would not likely pass legislation to reimburse them for their health coverage when they could choose the public option.
Texas is one of the few (only?) Red States that pays more to the Federal Government than it gets back.
Which makes Perry's rejection of stimulus money all the more stupid.
So if it were to actually leave the union, maybe it would be a slight drain on the finances of the Fed.
yeilded about 500 pro-Obama demonstrators... and about 200 Republicans across the street yelling back at us. It was pretty gratifying to see so many people come out to "be present" to support health care reform. The event had been "billed" as an effort to "get more people on the street than the other guys..." by both sides. The LIBRULS" won handily by a large margin... all carrying hand-lettered plackards, while the better-funded Republicans carried commercially printed signs and banners.
We need to help the people of Texas any way we can.
Not the politicians who keep saying they'll "secede" from things every time they don't get their way: "I get it my way, or I take my state and go home."
As in all states, I'm sure there are people in Texas I wouldn't agree with about much. But Texas is also home to millions of hard-working, honest people--people who need services, who want health care, who want to simply do the best they can for their families. And many of their leaders, including their governor (and their senators), don't appear to want this for them.
How can we help Texans get the representation they deserve? How can Texans help themselves? Suggestions?
Nothing legal comes to mind, but there are solutions.
Our Governor is a tool, just like the last one. Immigrants are a ready scapegoat for many, but to the people that own Texas, they are a valuable check on labor costs; doing the jobs that Americans won't do (for substandard wages or without health and safety standards.) Gov. Good Hair brags on Texas being great for business. The only welfare he believes in is corporate welfare. We lead all states in some measures but in matters of public health, education, or justice we come in 49th, and the word here is "thank God for Mississippi."
1 in 4!!! As a former Texan and person that has 2 relatives that are doctors I'll tell you Perry DON'T care. I've lived abroad I still can't understand why some people in the USA are so dumb as to let themselves be brainwashed into thinking national healthcare is BAD! Not if run properly. In many countries it works and they ain't all broke. I lived in Japan and have friends in Sweden and Italy (Americans) and they love it. I could always choose any doctor or hospital in Japan. The amount of people that get screwed because of pre-exsisting conditions, go bankrupt and are just plain fed up is sick! Ask how many seniors want medicare to vanish. Greed. Look it up. That is the definition of our healthcare system. The industry will use any tactic to be sure they make all the money and you get Fu---d It's just sad. Heard of Wall Street? When will people use their heads, how many elected officals (Perry) have good care and also benefit somehow because we do not.
A tongue-in-cheek letter to Obama about why there should be no changes in American healthcare, starting with this about a third of the way down the page:
If we can only get what Sen. John (Hagee-is-my-spiritual-advisor) Cornyn identifies as 33% of the Texas electorate out to vote next time we choose a governor, The Hair will be toast. With the anti-Sotomayor campaign by Cornyn and other Repubs still bristling Hispanics, any good Dem candidate MIGHT beat Perry, especially now that Kay Bailey Hutchison has expressed doubts she will run against him in the GOP primary. Obviously, no Dem would have declined the stimulus monies as Perry did, hurting not only Hispanics but us po' white trash as well, and the same could be said of the healthcare package.
My feeling is, Perry is living in a twilight zone. His only constituency is wealthy suburban Anglos and those po' whites who still swallow the Repub talking points hook, line, and sinker, the mostly-racist folks who still go to the Tea Parties and think Obama is not actually president because he doesn't have a valid birth certificate. Those people constitute two distinct "minorities," but Perry was swept in on Dubya's coattails and he has done nothing good for Texas since his first election to the office.
Unfortunately, the two minorities mentioned above have overlaps in a third: the religious right, which is big in Texas (make that HUGE). I cannot forget the photo of John McCain standing on a dais next to Rev. John Hagee, the man who actually believes Katrina was "God's punishment" on New Orleans for that city's hosting a gay pride event prior to the hurricane's arrival. (Talk about post hoc, ergo propter hoc!) Cornyn was elected to the Texas Supreme Court (the "Nine Nutty Professors") on insurance company money. CBS even did a "60 Minutes" program on it called "The Best Justice Money Can Buy." Perry is on the same gravy train. These people do not care a whit about the poor, the uninsured, the hungry. They only care about their bank balance...and their coiffures.
"Respect for the rights of others is peace." --Benito Juarez
If Perry doesn't want us Texans to have 'Obama Care', then we need some 'Perry Care'... STAT!
Um... he does have an alternate proposal... right? Right...?
she can take time to report the real details of the JFK assassination along with Dick Cheney's role in the events of 911.
,,,
Jim Hightower has already suggested a name for the new country: Absurdistan.
The Right has this great term "socialized medicine," which they use to scare everyone about changing the status quo. We need a similar term to describe the health insurance system now, and what things will continue to be like if we do not change it. I suggest "sodomized medicine," since that's the way many people are treated by their insurance companies.
Please Texas secede from the union-and take Alaska with you. You could start your own country called Alaxes. When can we progress as a country and move to improve the lives of the working class? Instead we keep voting in people who continue to vote against our interests.
Help, I'm standing in between all these trees and I don't see an fn forest anywhere.
Mitch McConnell on Meet the Press bragged about our health care system because he and McCain visited a hospital in Texas that is so great people come from all over the world to receive care. Before I read this article I knew the reason the foreign people come here. If the hospital waited for American patients it would go broke. Many Americans have no insurance. Insured Americans cannot afford health care anyway; high deductables, beyond usual (reasonable) and customary price that is allowed, procedure not recognized, and pre-existing conditions. Foreigners can take their national health insurance anywhere. Americans have a choice; go to the hospital or keep a roof over your head and buy groceries. Still in all you think it must be better here or they would stay home for health care? A European doctor will tell you when it's useless to continue treatment. He will not refuse treatment, only tell the truth. Most people are afraid of death. So they come here with their portable insurance or tons of cash. Many of them go home to die after being tortured by our system because the doctor in Europe was right.
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