"We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose"
Pope Francis
There comes a time to put aside the roller coaster of politics and look at the tracks. We've been through the arguments and analysis of the Affordable Health Care bill and law for years now. Is there anything left to be said, demonstrated, or understood? It is the last few minutes of the final quarter of the game and the ACA is winning over the GOP with a double digit lead. The game is lost. Like it or not, the Affordable Health Care bill is now a law. It will not be repealed.
So, what would a good sportsman do? Accept the loss, let the clock run out, and shower up. But not the red state governors. Not Wisconsin's Walker. The choice is to bring shame and embarrassment to the spectators of both sides by blaming the refs by throwing a political temper tantrum in the final seconds of the game.
The problem is, of course, that healthcare is not a game. It is a life and death service. Denial of healthcare results in pain and suffering. What is worse, the pain and suffering is totally unnecessary - except to prove a point. The refs made a bad call. The federal government is wrong. Obama and the Democrats are wrong. The GOP is allowing thousands of people in Wisconsin and other states to suffer and die to prove the point.
Walker's Healthcare shuffle nothing short of cruel
The last ditch, cruel and political decision from Walker is to allow some people to be covered while denying coverage for the poorest and most needy. Remember this is all to prove a point. This is all to delay establishing healthcare exchanges in the state. If he did so, all of the populations could be covered and the federal government would foot the bill. It is that simple.
Instead Walker's choice is to feed upon the powerless and use the most vulnerable people as pawns in a game of political monopoly. His own stance in the base of the Republican party as a strong opponent of Obama, holds more value to his heart strings than the health and welfare of the people of Wisconsin.
It is that cruel.
The Bill
Thursday, December 5, 2013 Beloit Daily News
The bill would delay for three months removing an estimated 72,000 people above the poverty level from the state’s BadgerCare Plus Medicaid program.
The Catch
But to pay for the extension, 83,000 childless adults below poverty won’t get Medicaid until April.
The Reason
“We’re living in the world that was created by the federal government.”
All for a chance to blame Obama
Walker would not miss a chance to play out his power and prove how Obama administration’s health care failures now forced him to take quick action the "healthcare shuffle" bill, and called the Legislature into special session.
The Assembly passed the bill on Wednesday December 4. The Senate will vote on the measure on December 19 - just about a week before Christmas. Happy Holidays for 83,000 Wisconsinites who live below the federal poverty line in the land of Walker's impersonal economy.