The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something

Posted on | November 23, 2013 | 42 Comments

This is just downright bizarre:

[T]he South is once again committed to taking a backward path. By refusing to expand health care for the working poor through Medicaid, which is paid for by the federal government under Obamacare, most of the old Confederacy is committed to keeping millions of its own fellow citizens in poverty and poor health. They are dooming themselves, further, as the Left-Behind States.

What? Let’s read that again:

“Medicaid . . . is paid for by the federal government under Obamacare.”

What does this mean?

Elsewhere, the expansion of Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, has been one of the few success stories of Obamacare. . . .
In Kentucky, which has bravely tried to buck the retrograde tide, Medicaid expansion is projected to create 17,000 jobs. In Washington, the state predicts 10,000 new jobs and savings of $300 million in the first 18 months of expansion.

Do you believe this? “Free” money from the federal government? Medicaid as a job-creation dynamo? While I have not bothered to dig down on the data here, the basic economics of it is like saying that if you take $5 out of your pants pocket and put it in your coat pocket, you will then have $10. Government has no money of its own to spend. Every cent expended by government must come either from tax revenue or from borrowing, and borrowing — i.e., deficit spending — is ultimately a drag on economic growth, because capital invested in government bonds (which is how deficit spending is financed) is capital not invested in private-sector businesses.

The liberal belief in “free government money” is like one of those quasi-religious magical thinking exercises that Ace discusses here.

To cite X-number of people signing up for “expanded Medicaid” as “success” is simply to say that if you’re giving away the taxpayers’ money, moochers will gladly take their share of the loot.

Is the South doomed to be the “Left-Behind States”? Next time you hear of someone moving from Texas to Detroit, let me know.

 

Category: Health Care, New York Times

Comments

42 Responses to “Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something”

  1. RS
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 7:12 pm

    Actually, states bear the burden of about one-third, give or take, of Medicaid spending. That’s why SCOTUS held the feds couldn’t force states to expand. Taking more federal money mandates more state spending which many states cannot afford without busting their budgets.

  2. CHideout
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:21 pm

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/GyjoTeezfj

  3. Quartermaster
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:22 pm

    TANSTAAFL. FedGov gets its cash only by raping the country. And Medicaid is just one form of the financial rape that occurs.

    I will also say that I’m proud the South is resisting the rape known as Zer0care.

  4. Lockestep1776
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:22 pm

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/CdWfN4zj10

  5. Resista38176897
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:22 pm

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/2GN0f5cr5x

  6. Citzcom
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:22 pm

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/U0Sqg1WhqL

  7. jwbrown1969
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:22 pm

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/qnrX5tSGEz

  8. rsmccain
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:23 pm

    RT @commonpatriot: via @rsmccain: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/jAGYHAac4z #tcot

  9. dave_mears
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:25 pm

    Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/XQGg2DopPp @rsmccain Left-behind is a good description of policy’s effects.

  10. BobBelvedere
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:29 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/OpKYSa229k

  11. rsmccain
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:31 pm

    RT @Citzcom: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/…

  12. LibertyUnyieldi
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:31 pm

    RT @Citzcom: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/…

  13. Weird NYT column: Not supporting Obamacare Is slavery or something | Liberty Unyielding
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:33 pm

    […] Continue reading ? […]

  14. FirebaughNorman
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:46 pm

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/k5EYw07zkP

  15. PensativeGuy
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:51 pm

    RT @Citzcom: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something: This is just downright bizarre: [T]he… http://t.co/…

  16. PensativeGuy
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 6:56 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/viVXPMsU1p cc @instapundit @texasbryanp

  17. instapundit
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 7:10 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/viVXPMsU1p cc @instapundit @texasbryanp

  18. Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something | Dead Citizen's Rights Society
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 7:23 pm

    […] Read the rest … […]

  19. TxTea
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 7:34 pm

    Yes, of course… Freedom Is Slavery, right?

  20. Charles
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 7:44 pm

    It’s the old reverse Rush Limbaugh move at the NYT, with the South being cast as hell on earth.

  21. ggg217
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 7:52 pm

    Bizarre NYT: Not Supporting #Obamacare is slavery . . .or something http://t.co/9te1V1FFC0 #FullRepeal #Benghazi #IRS #NSA #tcot #tgdn

  22. Jerry Stratton
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 7:54 pm

    the basic economics of it is like saying that if you take $5 out of your pants pocket and put it in your coat pocket, you will then have $10

    No, what you do is have your coat borrow $5 from your pants. Then your pants have a $5 asset (loan to coat) and your coat has $5. So you have $10 to spend.

    Change you to federal government, and pants/coat to departments, and you have a real house of cards.

  23. Dianna Deeley
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 8:10 pm

    I’m sorry, they missed the fact that no state can afford this mad expansion? Why is that?

  24. Il_Pagliaccio
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 8:36 pm

    “The South is doomed to be left behind!” screeches a newspaper based in a city that just elected a full-fledged Communist as mayor.

  25. JeffS
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 8:40 pm

    Sounds like yet another variation on the “RAAAAACIST!!!!!” card.

  26. Christy Waters
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 8:40 pm

    So, when will Bashir suggest that someone defecate in Egan’s mouth?

  27. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 9:17 pm

    The New York Times: All the lies that it can fit…

    http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/2013/11/james-mcauley-is-lying-asshole.html

  28. JoyKeller1
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 9:17 pm

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/qRdpVeQ5pt

  29. MrPaulRevere
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 9:32 pm

    The stone cold hatred these whacked out weirdo’s have for the South knows no bounds. I truly don’t know what to make of it.

  30. Bob Belvedere
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 10:49 pm

    It is, ultimately, deep-down, Envy – the root of much of the Left’s feelings/beliefs.

  31. gmardre
    November 23rd, 2013 @ 11:09 pm

    “Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something” good read http://t.co/Wk2N1PucVK

  32. therightplanet1
    November 24th, 2013 @ 12:52 am

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something – http://t.co/5Z4H4vj1XT @ObamacareFAIL

  33. Patriotress
    November 24th, 2013 @ 12:59 am

    RT @therightplanet1: Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something – http://t.co/5Z4H4vj1XT @ObamacareFAIL

  34. Stacy McCain, AKA Gramps: You do not have to be a buffoon to write for the NY Times, but it helps | The Daley Gator
    November 24th, 2013 @ 1:02 am

    […] Do Liberals ever tire of bashing the South? Of course not, after all, the South IS the most Conservative part of the country, and the most patriotic. And the Left will never forgive the South for taking a stand against a power hungry federal government. McCain has the scoop […]

  35. WTF? NYT Compares Not Expanding Medicaid To Slavery | The Lonely Conservative
    November 24th, 2013 @ 1:28 am

    […] spiteful not to force one group of people to pay for the needs of another group of people. As Stacy McCain pointed out, the “free” health insurance offered by Medicaid isn’t free at […]

  36. Adjoran
    November 24th, 2013 @ 2:07 am

    It’s a trap, of course, the federal government will cover 90% of the increased costs for the first three years. That makes it attractive to the states – which naturally was the only purpose of paying it. But after that, it’s back to the regular breakdown.

    One Medicaid reform that is desperately needed is copays. Currently they pay nothing, and treat the services as entitlements. Ask anyone in health care how well Medicaid patients keep appointments.

    Make them pay a minimum charge for every service. Not much, but something.

  37. SDN
    November 24th, 2013 @ 3:17 am

    Yeah, and that “boob” Rick Perry was one of the first to fight it….

  38. Adjoran
    November 24th, 2013 @ 4:46 am

    To his great credit, yes.

    We now know Perry was on pain medication during several of his “boob” moments, so it would have been more accurate to say he was a “dope” instead.

    I’d happily support him if I could be sure he’ll stay off the pills.

  39. NeoWayland
    November 24th, 2013 @ 7:31 am

    Then there is the job multiplier from moving the money from one pocket to another and the projection of future income and borrowing against all that.

    That five bucks can look like $17.50 on paper.

  40. Brother_Bob
    November 24th, 2013 @ 8:17 am

    Weird NY Times Column: Not Supporting ObamaCare Is Slavery or Something http://t.co/TJv42e5HnL

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