In a letter explaining how he would fill a budget gap left by Texas’ decision to defund Planned Parenthood, Perry’s office uses the money the federal government will pay states that make Medicaid available to individuals up to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Line in its budgetary assumptions
In a statement published Monday morning, Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) “proudly” declared that he will decline to implement key tenets of the Affordable Care Act — a move that will see his state forgo an estimated $164 billion dollars in federal aid and leave over 1.2 million low-income Texans, who would have finally been eligible for health care, helpless and uninsured.
“This is a fiscally stupid decision on the part of Rick Perry,” Texas Democratic Party spokesperson Rebecca Acuña told Raw Story. “Texas would be one of the states that gets the most money from the federal government and the Medicaid expansion would have provided health care to more than a million Texans. It’s… It’s very sad that Rick Perry is willing to play politics with the health of Texans, and that’s exactly what this decision is.”
With his announcement, Perry becomes the sixth governor to refuse implementing a key aspect of the Affordable Care Act: the Medicaid expansion and the state-based health care exchanges. Republican governors in Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Wisconsin have made similar decisions, but Texas is by far the biggest.
Perry would seem to be inviting a political free-for-all thanks to the relative size and power of the Texas hospital industry, which absorbed more than $4.6 billion in unpaid emergency medical costs in 2010. While not seeing it as a cure-all, Texas hospitals largely praised the Affordable Care Act for dramatically expanding health care options for poor people, who are ultimately paid for by others who carry their own insurance. Nearly 25 percent of Texans — 6.5 million people — do not have health insurance, including more than 1.2 million children, and the state’s health care system ranks last in the nation overall.
WATCH: Perry says Medicaid expansion like ‘adding 1,000 people to the Titanic’
Funny how the places with the worst healthcare coverage among residents are the same places where the political leadership refuses to implement the affordable care act.
Rick Perry is Out.
The Caucus, a New York Times politics blog is reporting,
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is poised to end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, according to two Republicans close to Mr. Perry, a decision that comes two days before the South Carolina primary.
Good riddance to bad rubbish, I’m still shocked this knuckle dragger had supporters.
Rick Perry didn’t meet the required 10,000 votes for Virginia’s primary ballot. His next step… sue the Commonwealth of Virginia
by Greg Webb | Injuryboard Blog Network
Presidential candidate Rick Perry of Texas, who continually touts his record in Texas for taking away his citizens’ rights to sue for harms done to them (“tort reform” measures like capping awards for medical malpractice and other personal injuries), seems to think it is OK to sue the Commonwealth of Virginia . Mr. Perry found Virginia’s requirement that a Presidential candidate obtain 10,000 signatures before being placed on a primary ballot to be too “onerous” and “problematic”
14-Year-Old Girl Calls Out Rick Perry in Iowa on Gays in the Military: “Why do you want to deny them their freedom when they’re fighting for your rights?”
Perry’s Day Ends in Confrontation Over Fracking, Gays in the Military
By Rebecca Kaplan | NationalJournal
DECORAH, Iowa—What had been a calm day for Rick Perry filled with church services and friendly audiences ended on a sour note as the governor found himself in two confrontations in his last town hall of the day over controversial natural gas extraction techniques and gays serving openly in the military.
In the first exchange, Perry found himself debating with a college student whether hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”—a method for natural gas extraction—pollutes the area groundwater. After the event ended, Perry found himself explaining to a 14-year-old girl—who later told reporters she was openly bisexual—why he opposed gays serving openly in the military.
1/3 of Texans Believe Humans and Dinosaurs Co-Existed
If God existed, I’d wish he would help his ignorant followers in Texas:
Nearly a third of Texans believe humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time, and more than half disagree with the theory that humans developed from earlier species of animals, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.
38 percent said human beings developed over millions of years with God guiding the process and another 12 percent said that development happened without God having any part of the process. Another 38 percent agreed with the statement “God created human beings pretty much in their present form about 10,000 years ago.”
Did humans live at the same time as the dinosaurs? Three in ten Texas voters agree with that statement; 41 percent disagree, and 30 percent don’t know.
Also here’s some evidence that Texas Democrats are smarter than Republicans:
Democrats (28 percent) are less likely than Republicans (47 percent) to think that humans have always existed in their present form and more likely (21 percent to 7 percent) to think humans have developed over millions of years without God’s guidance. Republicans are less likely to believe that humans developed from earlier species of animals; 26 percent agree, while 60 percent disagree. Among Democrats in the survey, 46 percent agree that humans evolved from earlier species; 42 percent disagree. Perry’s voters were most hostile to this premise — 67 percent disagree.
Looks like there’s a good part of Texas that needs to be told about the last couple centuries of scientific enlightenment.
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Oh my stars, you can’t make this stuff up. I have friends and followers from TX who I’m proud to say are not amongst the ignorant. Unfortunately they have to live, work, and vote with them. {{hugs}} All emphasis mine. ~ Kim
(Source: patheos.com, via nonplussedbyreligion-deactivate)
Oh no!!! Rick Perry is trying to take christ out of Christmas!!!
Ha
FUCKING HA
Rick the dick.
You fucking hypocrite.
Pretty much what he means.
