Cross-posted at Immizen.com
On Monday, Rick Perry, governor of the state with the highest percentage of people without insurance, rejected an opportunity to extend Medicaid health insurance to as many as 2 million more Texans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as “Obamacare.” Perry is the sixth governor, all of them Republicans, to reject the Medicaid expansion.
The question is: Will it cost him?
After his disastrous performance in the primary debates, forgetting prepared lines and fumbling to explain his positions, there is evidence that he has lost the support and respect from the people of Texas. An April 26th 2012 poll shows that only 29 percent of Texas voters say he should run again for governor.
The sentiment of people everywhere is that the guy is a loser. The YouTube video posted here shows a compilation of his best and worst moments during the presidential campaign, well, mostly the bad ones because there were so few good ones.
The first comment under the video says it all: “I really feel sorry for Texas, and I'm from Mississippi.”
When stupid people make controversial decisions, those decisions are seen as equally stupid and that is a good thing in this health care related case, because it could influence how the implementation of Obamacare is viewed, not only in Texas but in other states.
Rejecting the Medicaid expansion is a bad decision by Perry, bad in the short term for the people of Texas, but one that could be good in the long run, when he finally gets booted out.