Unusual Weather

It is raining today in the Salt Lake Valley; this is unusual because, in March, we usually have snow, not rain.

But the unusual weather today in Utah is not as bad as the weather inside Congress in Washington. Today, the representatives in “the people’s house” will vote on the American Health Care Act, a bill that is publicized as the beginning of the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act; the same Affordable Care Act that then-presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would repeal on Day 1 of his term in office. Well, he didn’t get to repeal the ACA on Day 1, and right now (8:11 AM MDT), it looks like he won’t get the AHCA passed by Congress today, either.

For this piece of legislation to pass in the House, the Republican party can afford only 21 no votes from its members. As of Wednesday night, 24 Republicans have publicly stated they will vote no. No Democrats have indicated they will vote yes. Right now, there is strong opposition to this bill from the health care sector and insurance companies, both groups that are normally strong supporters of, and donors to, republican politicians and the republican party.

It is also opposed by the AARP and the March of Dimes, because it would raise insurance rates on older Americans and drastically cut funding for Medicaid and health insurance subsidies, subsidies that have allowed millions of Americans to afford health insurance. CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, is also a part of Medicaid. What about the children? Oh, yes, they don’t vote. But, their parents and grandparents do.

Those states that accepted ACA money to expand Medicaid to previously uninsured residents would see that money disappear, which would put state governments in a lose-lose scenario. The states would either raise taxes, to replace the lost federal money, or cut recipients off the Medicaid roles. Neither of these choices would be good in the next election for the existing state politicians. To understand the value of federal funding for Medicaid, consider this fact:

Fourteen states receive the minimum of federal Medicaid money ($1 from the Federal government for every $1 of state money; while the remaining 37 (including DC) receive 50.1% to 73.1% of their Medicaid moneys from the federal government. Eleven states (ID, UT, AZ, NM, AR, MS, AL, SC, KY, WV, DC), all of which are nominally “red” states, receive between 67% and 73% of their Medicaid money from the federal government. (source: The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured)

Can the Republican members of Congress from those states vote yes on this bill, and then look their constitutes in the eyes in the 

next election cycle?

There is a tsunami approaching Washington DC right now.

Your comments, as always, are welcome.

RMH

http://kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-financing-how-does-it-work-and-what-are-the-implications/  retrieved March 23, 2017 at 9:05 AM MDT

Spring, hopefully.

The sun has risen, shining through the light broken clouds surrounding the mountain tops that make up my beloved Wasatch Front. Birds are singing outside my window, and I have a cup of hot coffee and a pipe. Everything is well in my world. Spring, I believe, is finally trying to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley.

It seems to have been a long time arriving, this spring. The winter, while not rough in the valley, has been good to the mountains; we experienced a very good snowfall, with lots of moisture content. Given the past several years of below-average moisture, this is a good sign of things to come!


It has also been a long time since I have felt the desire to write here. The whirlwind that pretended to be the election cycle has severely shaken my faith in our electoral process with the constant tweets, interruptions and unfounded allegations rapidly, and repeatedly, overtaking substance and fact. The rude, crude, obnoxious, and insulting behavior of the field of candidates left me with the feeling of being in a bad dream. Unlike a dream, however, it continued past dawn, and even continues to this day.


Not since the days of “yellow journalism” (mid to late 1800’s) have the people of our country been exposed to such inane behavior and rude attacks by the candidates on each other. But this was not a matter of difference in policies, or a debate of the kind that causes serious reflection on the part of the electorate; rather this was nothing more than a cheap, shoddy effort to rally the base (whatever that may be) while demonizing the opponent.


Personally, I was ashamed of the behavior and demeanor of our candidates. “The whole dern lot of them”, as grandmother would have said.  No one seemed willing, even for a moment, to step above the fray.


Was this what the American public wanted, or more to the point, was it what we needed? Was it what the American voters deserved? Sadly, we have become a nation that is fixated on 30 second sound bites, 24 hour or less news cycles, and reality TV. (Which, frankly, is not reality.) You can pick any discussion point, pick a side, and find a talk radio or a TV commentator willing to bolster your opinion. Easy, isn’t it? No thinking required.


No thinking required. The same held true of the rallies each candidate held. There was little or no discussion about “this is what I want to do, and this is how I will achieve it.” Rather, we sat through month after tedious month of “the other side said this” “the other side wants to take your _________ away.” Scare tactics, creating fear of the boogieman, seemed to be the best the politicians could achieve. If fear was what the politicians wanted to achieve, they succeeded, all too well. Fear of the angry, disenchanted white males; of the liberal eastern elitists, the mainstream (or lamestream) media, the tree-huggers, big business, real or imaginary terrorists, people of other races or origins, other faiths. Plenty of fear to go around. And little or no uplifting messages, no spirit of “can do”, the type of spirit that propelled us to victory in WWII, and put an American on the moon in a decade.


But, who is to blame for this? Certainly, blame can be laid on the politicians and pollsters, the pundits, the media. But more to the fact, I am afraid, the blame is on us. You and me. The voting (I hope) public. We allowed the powers behind the politicians to tell us what they wanted us to hear. In the main, we refused to exercise our duty to say, “hold on, this is not what we signed up for.” We-you and I-refused to hold our politicians accountable to us, the American people.


Fortunately, we are allowed a do-over. Elections for the House are held every two years, and the Senate and President, every four. We can, and should, start now to hold our elected officials responsible for their behavior and actions. We have voices; we have email, petitions, and letters to our officials, as well as potential, untried politicians waiting to enter public service and help us overcome the morass we have created. We do not have to settle for the status quo, we do not have to re-elect the incumbents.


Read, follow, and study your elected officials. Let them know what you think, and don’t be shy about it. Support those who are working to make America a better place, a more civilized society, and work to replace those who spread hate and fear.


I am remembering the words attributed to Colin Powell: “You break it, you own it.” Well, in my opinion, we broke it, now let’s fix it. We, the United States of America, are better than this.


As always, your comments of agreement or opposition are appreciated.


Thanks for reading,

RMH