When it comes to access to affordable health care, Mississippi is home to one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation, making the Affordable Care Act, especially it's Medicaid-expansion provisions, exactly what the state desperately needs. Even Mississippi's insurance commissioner, a conservative Republican, has urged Gov. Phil Bryant (R) to put aside ideology and embrace the provisions of "Obamacare" for the good of the state.
But Bryant doesn't want to. Indeed, even as the number of Republican governors accepting Medicaid expansion grows quickly, the Mississippi Republican, who has a strong incentive to say "yes," insists on saying "no." In a video released yesterday, Bryant tried to explain why.
For those who can't watch clips online, there is, alas, no published transcript of the governor's remarks, which appear to have been delivered extemporaneously. That said, it's clear watching the four-minute video that Bryant may not understand the issues as well as he should.
The governor, for example, is confused about the difference between the federal budget deficit and the federal debt. He also misunderstood the conclusions of a new GAO report, getting the truth backwards. Bryant went on to make a variety of claims that aren't true -- he's under the impression that China is financing our debt -- and doesn't seem to understand just how good a deal the Medicaid-expansion policy really is.
But there was one line in particular that struck me as especially odd: "Don't let anyone tell you Obamacare is the law of the land."
I hate to be picky, but when Congress passes legislation, the president signs it into law, and a Supreme Court majority says the law is constitutional, it is, in reality, the law of the land. Even House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently called the Affordable Care Act "the law of the land."
This is, incidentally, the same Republican governor who recently said health care reform is unnecessary since uninsured Americans can, in a pinch, always go to an emergency room.
I'm not surprised Bryant is turning down Medicaid expansion, and I'm not surprised he'd put out a video to explain why. But shouldn't he come up with something a little more persuasive?
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The South shall rise again.
Seriously, angry, ignorant old white man talking to other angry, ignorant old white men, all of whom have insurance and in the governors case state provided insurance, none of them giving a fig for the majority of people in their state.
John Edwards told us that there are "two Americas".
Apparently, there are also two Misssisisispppisisis- those than contribute to teh gov'ner, and those who do not.
Ignorance is an equal opportunity employer!
it's been said before but it's worth repeating
Ya can't fix Stupid!
what he meant was that, 'it ain't the law of peckerwood land!'
“Evil isn’t the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it’s a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference.”
Yes!
Amen.
Does he feel that it's not the law of the land because an African American President signed it into law?
Translation: "We Southern ol' boys are really sorry we lost the Civil War, but since we had to give up slavery and rejoin the Union, the next best thing we can do is play pretend that we can nullify Federal laws and grind the faces of the poor as much as possible. That'll teach those former slaves gratitude for all the favors we've done them since we kidnapped them and made them our property.
One extra bonus -- a dozen times every day we'll tell ourselves that we are the holiest, most devout Christians in the other country."
Remember, Obamacare is not the law of the land...neither is the federal income tax, federal kidnapping laws, the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights. The law is whatever repubs say it is, right? That's the kind of leadership Bob Woodward can get behind!
Well, those are all just pieces of paper, right?
Right. The Constitution is the Law of the Land.
Right up until the point where Obama and his legion of mindless cronies and puppets decide that First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments are really icky and get in the way of important issues, like censoring those who would dare criticize Obama, pushing authoritarian taxpenaltypenaltytaxes, and droning whosoever they choose without accountability.
Right, the Constitution is the Law of the Land.
Right up until Obama and his army of goosestepping morons decided that the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments are really icky and get in the way of important things like censoring those who would dare criticize Dear Leader, insituting flagrantly unlawful taxpenaltypenaltytaxes, and droning anyone they see fit with unquestionable authority.
But hey, "The Law" is decided for us by our benevolently authoritarian Democrat Overlords . . . oh, I mean "The People", of course.
I fail to see how his proposed tax incentives will persuade impoverished people to purchase health insurance. If they don't have the money to begin with, offering them a tax deduction doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot. Even if it were to work as the EITC where you could receive a refund in greater amount than what you pay in, it doesn't make fiscal sense. Whether you give the poor a refund in excess of what they pay in, or give them access to medicaid it is the same amount of money either way, and Medicaid is provides a whole lot more coverage for a lot less money than what private insurance does.
'Publicans are like a box of chocolates, some is nuttier than others.
Remember, Obamacare is not the law of the land...neither is the federal income tax, federal kidnapping laws, the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights. The law is whatever repubs say it is, right? That's the kind of leadership Bob Woodward can get behind!
"The governor, for example, is confused about the difference between the federal budget deficit and the federal debt."
The governor is not alone. Far more rethugniCons haven't a clue about what the budget deficit is or what the federal debt is, nor how "government is supposed to function". The fact is they believe in their far out there ideology over "functional government", they have bought into government of, by, and for the rich & corporate (that's FASCISM by the way) with their party "in charge". They hate democracy and "the peasants" and if only we'd let them do it their way - all would be wonderful - at least for them!
Yet Americans bare some of the blame for putting these traitorous know nothings into office. Frankly Mississippi ranks in the bottom 48 states for education, health-care, quality of life - and that's why they keep screwing themselves because they're ignorant and fall for the okey-doke every time.
As the Romney campaign proved, conservatives rely on their own sources for their "facts". I once believed (not long ago) that most of them were aware of the actual facts and chose to distort/lie to keep the base frothing at the mouth. After Romney's performances in the debates and while campaigning, it's obvious, these fools get their info from their distorted sources. They don't just parrot that info, apparently they take a lot of it as credible, please proceed governor! There are degrees of belief per esempio, Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Gov. Bryant. These ignoramuses wallow in the pool of conspiracy therories, others like Haley Barbour and Jeb Bush do know better, I believe so they walk a careful line not to offend the base, don't hear too much from them do we? This is a sorry state of affairs that the media does not expose, why just the other day I heard McCain say Obama did not call the events in Benghazi a terrorist attack for a month.
Bryant needs to answer two questions: (1) Does the law allow Mississippi to expand its Medicaid program for three years, when the feds will pay 100%, and then retrench to the current program after expiration of the initial three years? (2) If so, how much benefit will Mississippi receive during those three years, and how much cost will Mississippi incur during those three years? Bryan always confuses the issue by citing the cost for a long period of time. Even Gov. Rick Scott (FL) recognized that there was no reason to opt out during the first three years.
Has anybody seen the survive obamacare book? What's that all about?
Before anyone says anything about Obama Care or Medicare or Medicaid, he/she should read the article in this week's Time about how health care in this country is making a lot of people rich at the expense of the ill. The real problem lies with the way health care is billed. We got all worked up a few years ago about an expensive toilet seat for the Pentagon. Now it is time to talk about expensive hospital gowns, etc.
There are a lot of things in Obama Care that prevent efficient and economical billing because the health care industry has a better lobby than sick people. The market simply cannot work when someone is dying.