Pocket Calculator Math
You’ve heard by now that Texas is going to deny health care to 1.5 million Texans. We are refusing to expand Medicaid using $100 billion in federal funds offered under President Obama’s health care law.
Contrary to popular belief that we are doing this because we would rather have people die on their feet to glorify Kim Il Perry, that is not the sole reason we turned down $100 billion. The fact is, Republicans can’t fully enjoy their health care unless some poor sucker somewhere is suffering without it. Allowing everyone to have health care sort of cheapens it.
I came across something the other day that bothers me: arithmetic. I’m not sure it’s popular any more.
Huffingpost Post headline.
The story says that 54% of the American people don’t like Obamacare and only 43% like it. So, the majority of Americans must agree with Rick Perry, right?
Go get a pencil.
Of those who oppose it, 16 percent say they disapprove of the law because it is not liberal enough.
Okay, that 16% is me. Had I been asked that question, I would have said no, too. I want Medicare for everyone. Socialize medicine.
So, if I subtract that 16% from the 54% who don’t like Obamacare, I get 38% of people who want government out of health care and 59% who think government should be involved in health care. (Things never add up to 100% in polls for some ungodly reason that only Copernicus understands.) Last I checked, 59% is a majority.
The bottom line is that Texans will pay for health care for North Dakotans but not for Texans. I don’t have a problem with that because I’ll chip in for anyone who needs it, but it does kinda seems like Texans can’t do arithmetic.
It’s the plantation mentality at work. “We (Perry and his amen corner) don’t want no federal guv’ment intrusion into how we take care of our less well-off (poor people) Texans.”
1Ya gotta quit reading HuffPo. (unless your looking for comedy material)
2Sorry to be pedantic, but you should subtract 9% instead of 16. The way that statement is phrased indicates that 16% of the 54% who oppose (so approx 9% of the total) want it to be more liberal.
But the point still stands. Not a majority oppose it for RW reasons as CNN seems to imply.
3And that is why polls never add up to 100% and don’t make any sense either. Statistics is *not* arithmetic, AND it’s an art NOT a science. A black art. And it smells sulfurous too!
4Thank you, Addicted. I’ll go get my second cup of coffee and my pocket calculator instead of a pencil.
5A few more stories about the insurance costs under the ACA state exchanges should make more people believers. See this article about the exchange insurance rates in California:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/05/24/unexpected-health-insurance-rate-shock-california-obamacare-insurance-exchange-announces-premium-rates/
There also was a story recently about how some of the rates proposed by insurers in the state of Washington were coming out lower and the insurers with high quotes were requesting an opportunity to review (meaning “lower”) their quotes.
Republican heads are spinning over this and will explode if more state exchanges have similar outcomes on insurance rates.
6I think that it is more due to the fact that so very few people understand what the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) is or the problem it addresses. For example — a recent Facebook post shared an image which declared that Federal employees are exempt from Obamacare and we should make them all comply. Dipsticks! I am exempt from Obamacare for the same reason that Federal employees are — I have an employer-sponsored healthcare policy. The ACA is intended to address people who do not have a group policy and cannot get a personal policy because either (a) they have a preexisting condition or (b) they can’t afford the cost.
But there’s a good chance that they’re against it because all they’ve heard is lies and distortions coming out of the Repugnicant Partay and the rest of the right-wing echo chamber.
7OMG. Does this actually mean that all the poor dying people in TX will be carried out of the village and left to die in the desert? Or by a bayou full of gators? Just askin’.
8@Don A, I think you are exactly correct. The ACA is going to help the economy thrive. A number of people would like to start their own business, but cannot because of the cost of medical insurance or not being able to get a policy because of pre-existing conditions in their families. If they can get an affordable policy through the exchanges, they will be able to quit a job they dislike and go on to a business of their own.
9Here’s a comment on Facebook from some guy from TX …
Matt Crawford: I’d rather be a conservative nut job than a liberal with not nuts and no job….and yes, I live in Texas, where we have lots of gun and lots of ammo, a financial surplus and drive the biggest SUVs anywhere, but we have no issues as a state….imagine that.
LOL … Matt Crawford must be living under a pile of longhorn steer poop!
10Ah, but not all Federal employees get to keep their existing benefit plan. Written specifically into the ACA, members of congress and their staff are required to choose their insurance from the health exchange. Sweet justice!
11Isn’t it shocking to reflect that Jan flippin Brewer is smarter and more with it than (P)Rick Perry? Even if by accident or cold calculation?
12The ACA also applies to those of us who have employer paid policies. This very morning, I spent some quality time with my MD for the annual, for which I only paid the cost of parking out of pocket. ‘Twas not the case two years ago.
As the employer paying for the employer paid policy (oh Lawdy, an actual job creator), I do also have to pay a lot more for this year’s premiums than last. Last year was less than the year before, and if the left coast is any indication, so will next year.
13It is only fair that Texas pay for the health care of other states. The Red States take much more in federal money than they contribute. Maybe when the people of Texas wake up to the fact that they are paying for health care they are not getting themselves they will vote the loons out of office.
14As John H. states, by refusing to accept the expansion of Medicaid, Perry is allowing the taxes that Texans paid to the federal government to be used to finance the Medicaid expansion in other states. He is refusing to let Texans federal taxes be used to help Texans.
15The future of Texas looks to be like the Europe of past.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p53kJX64ieQ
/bring out your dead
16I also agree with Don A. When people are polled on the particular parts of Obamacare, they pretty much favor what the bill does, they just have bought that they don’t like “Obamacare”. Here’s a dated link that shows that (couldn’t find a more recent one) http://tinyurl.com/cea6leh. I also found this that I thought was amusing. Apparently 42% of people think Obamacare isn’t law. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/04/obamacare-poll-finds-42-of-americans-unaware-its-law/
Perry’s decision makes it hard to know what’s going to happen in TX. I haven’t had insurance since my late husband got cancer & cirrhosis and lost his job. My current income is a little too high for any help. But, when I try to use one of those calculators, it tells me I’m eligible for the Medicaid expansion.
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