I'm surprised no one has pointed out the obvious flaw in the GOP talking point "let the states decide" on health care.
Since the SCOTUS health care decision, lots of talking heads have pointed out that the Romney Massachusetts mandate is no different from the Obamacare mandate. The GOP talking point response is that Romneycare applied only to one state. Romney himself says on his first day in office he'll issue an executive order exempting every state from the Obamacare mandate and allow each state to devise its own approach to health care.
More below the little curly thing.
So -- you ask -- what's wrong with each state establishing health care policies that recognize each state's unique conditions? Here's what's wrong with that approach.
Do you really want the Mississippi legislature setting health care policy for poor black single mothers in the Delta?
Do you really want the Russell Pearce's of Arizona setting health care policy for poor brown-skinned mothers in Pima County?
Here in Virginia the GOP-dominated state government recently set health care policy that included:
-- the requirement that any woman undergoing an abortion first undergo an ultrasound that, in most cases, she'll have to pay for;
-- establishing requirements for clinics providing abortions that are so stringent many clinics are simply closing their doors.
And how about Mississippi where the state legislature established policies so strict that the only clinic in the state providing abortions will soon close.
That, folks, is what happens when you leave it to the states.
After all, we see every day the results of leaving voter eligibility policy to the states.