S.C. POLITICAL, MEDIA ESTABLISHMENT KICK OFF CAMPAIGN FOR SOCIALIZED MEDICINE EXPANSION
Special interests in Columbia, S.C. (and the liberal mainstream media) are pushing a massive expansion of South Carolina’s already ginormous government-funded health care system – claiming that this explosion of taxpayer spending will create $3.3 billion in economic activity, $1.5 billion in new income and 44,000 new jobs.
And it will cost taxpayers “just” $11.2 billion over the coming half-decade …
Those pie-in-the-sky projections from the S.C. Hospital Association were reported last weekend by The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper – a tireless advocate for government expansion and the preservation of South Carolina’s existing government monopolies.
Why “pie-in-the-sky?” Because the last time we checked the Medicaid-fueled expansion of state spending was a recipe for disaster. Not to mention a recipe for multiple taxpayer-funded bailouts.
Not surprisingly, the study touting this new government spending was conducted by The University of South Carolina – which has never met a government boondoggle it didn’t like. Seriously … if government spending actually created all of the jobs USC predicted it would, then this state’s unemployment rate would be zero.
The goal of USC’s latest fiction? To induce an estimated 15-20 “Republican” members of the S.C. House of Representatives to join Democrats in voting for the expansion.
That shouldn’t be too difficult …
As FITS reported exclusively three months ago, S.C. Speaker Bobby Harrell (RINO-Charleston) has been working behind the scenes in an effort to secure these votes – and may even have doled out certain committee assignments in an effort to make sure they were lined up.
Gotta love “Republican” leadership, right?
Why are we even having this debate? It all traces back to the disastrous U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare – U.S. President Barack Obama’s socialized medicine law. The one silver lining of the court’s ruling preserved the right of states to reject the Medicaid expansions associated with Obamacare – which would basically block half of the new entitlement spending associated with the law.
Obviously S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley hasn’t worked to contain Medicaid expansion – in fact she’s spent millions of dollars inflating our state’s Medicaid rolls since taking office.
To Haley’s credit, though, she is on the record opposing this expansion – and her top Medicaid official Tony Keck has been aggressively pushing back against the fiction being spouted from the left.
Good for them …
Stay tuned for much, much more on this issue in the months to come … as the fight over this Medicaid expansion is likely to get every bit as testy as the 2009 fight between S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford and the “Republican-controlled” S.C. General Assembly over federal “stimulus” funds.
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11 comments
And so it begins. All those states holding out desperately for a GOP win in the White House have come to the realization that no, ACA isn’t going anywhere, which means there’s a huge amount of federal money that they now have to either reject or accept. This Medicaid expansion will be fully funded by the feds for some time, after which states will be required to pay just 10% of the cost of the expansion.
Unlike health care exchanges, this is a heck of a deal for the states, a deal that probably won’t be turned down by very many state governments (except for ones run by GOP governors hoping for higher office, who may get overruled anyways).
Don’t worry, FITS. Haley will reject it in order to make herself look good in the eyes of the Republican party, which is hilarious given that this is one person that I think most people can agree shouldn’t be proceeding through the ranks.
The one silver lining of the court’s ruling preserved the right of states to reject the Medicaid expansions associated with Obamacare – which would basically block half of the new entitlement spending associated with the law.
From my understanding, if states refuse, the government still expands Medicaid, just to a smaller degree. Sure, the state doesn’t have to pay for 10% of the full expansion, but it’s still going to happen in some form.
So where does all this federal (and, later, state) money come front? It comes from debt. Old debt, new debt, red debt, & blue debt. Since we cannot raise that money through taxes or reallocate it through spending cuts, we have to borrow it. And that leads to the question, who do we borrow it from? The Federal Reserve–primarily. And, secondarily, from “investors” from all around the world (Americans included, of course).
The system won’t collapse until we’ve had too much inflation. Your dollar is devalued because, without your consent, new dollars are being printed and circulated.
Medicaid should not be expanded as the FEDS only fund it for a FEW years and then the State is responsible for all INCREASES. Medicaid should be REDUCED in participation with harder requirements. This is just more Liberal Progressive bullshit by the democrats and the Failed President. Americans deserve less government NOT more, and ALL Entitlement programs should be revised downward as America is BROKE my folks. Truth is MOST Americans, NOT Takers (Obama Voters) are paying 60% in taxes when all are included on everything and Fees.
I’m starting to doubt the financial system will hold together long enough for us to substantially see much of the planned activity.
Medicaid should not be expanded as the FEDS only fund it for a FEW years and then the State is responsible for all INCREASES.
Uh, no.
There is a relatively low cost to the state because the federal government will pay 100 percent of the costs of the expansion for the first three years, starting in 2014.
States then would pay 5 percent of the costs in 2017, 6 percent in 2018, 7 percent in 2019 and 10 percent in 2020 and beyond.
wyomingnews.com/articles/2012/12/08/news/20local_12-08-12.txt
Truth is MOST Americans, NOT Takers (Obama Voters) are paying 60% in taxes when all are included on everything and Fees.
So 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax and are therefore takers, moochers, etc., but most (i.e. 51% or more) of Americans pay 60% in taxes?
lol…
Biggest benefactors of Obamacare:
Blue Cross/Blue Shield(and a few other big, politically connected insurance companies) & Big Pharma
Mark it down.
PLEASE – if you are a True American- Support anti-ObamaCare elected officials…w/ Every Fiber of your being….
ObamaCare is just like forcing Public Trasnportation on EVERYBODY…
I already PAY for Healthcare for myself AND those who won’t or can’t buy it themselves…
Obama wants you to suffer the same, failed inefficient system, the indigent choose for themselves…
Would you give up your persnal vehicle that you woked for and bought, and pay taxes on, to be FORCED onto a City Bus…just because Obama wants to Punish you for NOT beign a Failure…
Thank you Nikki Haley…RESIST…We Did not Vote for ObamaCARE..and we have the RIGHT to Reject it…
I’ll pay Billions more in Taxes (and March in the Streets) to Thwart Bad Government (Obama)…
Well, those damn liberal doctors are behind it too. For some reason they either want to keep the hospitals they work at open or value the fact they get paid. Selfish liberal bastards, who needs them.
Nikki must just be so confident that she is so great at recruiting jobs that there will be no lag in putting all of the people who used to work at rural hospitals back to work. Cheraw and Kingstree are just busting with available jobs.
From what I’ve seen about the salaries of the jobs announced under Haley, it looks like about half to 2/3 of the workers would qualify for some type of the revised medicaid assistance if they are supporting a family.
While Haley is so proud to tout her resistance to the Feds on Medicaid, ultimately this stance is going to start cutting into job creation.
Face it, there are only so many high-paying jobs to go around and with our education system, this state is going to continue to be eyed as a cheap labor pool. If I’m CEO of company and need low-tech labor to assemble widgets, the chances becomes higher that I’m going to locate the company in Arkansas or some other cheap pool state because they are going to have better medical care with the Medicaid expansion. Better medical care for my low-paid workers translates to higher worker productivity due to preventive medicine care= higher company profits. So to compete, SC is going to have to offer even higher incentives to companies to get to locate here.
Like Schools, the medical profession provides many well-paying jobs in most counties…Some places, hospitals are the No. 1 job provider…
When Obama controls all those jobs…he controls the way people Vote…
Unions are being Rejected left and right…But leftists will not need Unions, if they can take-over the HealthCare industry….
Do you want your healthcare delivered like the Government delivers Education???
The gummint education system obviously failed with you teapot. Or did you go to the JeffersonLeeManigaultChristianBibleThumpin Segregation Academy? In that case, I’d say you’re an honor graduate….