–Are poor people really as stupid as they vote? PART II

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Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor, which leads to civil disorder.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The penalty for ignorance is slavery.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive.
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In PART I, we mentioned many of the benefits poor people lose in Republican-dominated states. And we wondered why people so resolutely would vote against their own best interests.

In today’s post, we’ll focus on Medicaid, and quote a few passages from an article in the New York Times:

States’ Policies on Health Care Exclude Some of the Poorest
By ROBERT PEAR, Published: May 24, 2013

WASHINGTON — The refusal by about half the states to expand Medicaid will leave millions of poor people ineligible for government-subsidized health insurance under President Obama’s health care law even as many others with higher incomes receive federal subsidies to buy insurance.

But those options will be unavailable to some of the neediest people in states like Texas, Florida, Kansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia, which are refusing to expand Medicaid.

Not only are these Republican-dominated states exhibiting a cruelty beyond anything I would have thought possible, but they actually are cutting their own noses to do it.

You see, the refusal to expand Medicaid has nothing to do with cost. The Federal government will pay the entire cost for three years, and after the first three years, the government’s contribution toward states’ Medicaid costs will gradually decrease to 90 percent in 2020.

Even after 2020, the federal government’s 90% payments will continue to enrich each state, making Medicaid expansion a financial gold mine for those states accepting it.

Refusal to expand Medicaid is 100% mean-spirited politics, by a party that has grown so callous and uncaring for its own constituents, it is willing to sacrifice the health of millions in a futile effort to “defeat” Obama.

So the question becomes: Who voted for these cold-hearted people? The answer: The middle class and the poor have by far, the most votes, and without their votes, no politician could win. By voting as the 1% tell them, the 99% commit economic and physical suicide.

Here are the 10 most impoverished states, according to the Huff Post.

1. Mississippi, Median income: $36,850, Poverty rate: 21.3% (the highest), Without health insurance: 18.7% (8th highest), Unemployment rate: 10.4% (7th highest)

2. Arkansas, Median income: $38,600, Poverty rate: 16.5% (8th highest), Without health insurance: 18.5% (9th highest), Unemployment rate: 8.2% (25th highest)

3. Tennessee, Median income: $40,026, Poverty rate: 16.1% (11th highest),
Without health insurance: 14.7% (20th highest), Unemployment rate: 9.8% (11th highest)

4. West Virginia, Median income: $40,824, Poverty rate: 15.7% (12th highest), Without health insurance: 13.9% (25th highest), Unemployment rate: 8.1% (tied for 24th lowest)

5. Louisiana, Median income: $41,896 , Poverty rate: 18% (4th highest), Without health insurance: 18% (11th highest), Unemployment rate: 7.6% (17th lowest)

6. Montana, Median income: $42,005, Poverty rate: 13.4% (24th highest), Without health insurance: 16.3% (16th highest), Unemployment rate: 7.7% (18th lowest)

7. South Carolina, Median income: $42,059, Poverty rate: 14.9% (16th highest), Without health insurance: 17.6% (12th highest), Unemployment rate: 10.9% (4th highest)

8. Kentucky, Median income: $42,091, Poverty rate: 17.3% (6th highest), Without health insurance: 15.5% (18th highest), Unemployment rate: 9.5% (13th highest),

9. Alabama, Median income: $42,218, Poverty rate: 16.1% (tied for 9th highest), Without health insurance: 14.4% (21st highest), Unemployment rate: 10.0% (10th highest)

10. North Carolina, Median income: $43,275, Poverty rate: 16.1% (tied for 9th highest), Without health insurance: 16.7% (13th highest), Unemployment: 10.1% (9th highest)

Every one of these states is Republican dominated. Why? Because the 99% put Republicans into office.

And then there’s Texas, with its huge, impoverished population. It too is Republican-dominated, also because its middle and poor voted Republican.

The National Memo

Unfortunately, millions of uninsured and under-insured Americans live in places like Florida and Texas, where there is far less sympathy—and a great deal more hostility—to the idea of Obamacare.

Yes, Texas, the biggest of the conservative states, follows the usual, right-wing, cold-hearted pattern of rejecting Medicaid expansion, even though it would benefit the financial and physical health of the entire state:

Despite its growth and diversified economy (and oil income), Texas has had the less fortunate history since 1980 of having a larger percent of its population living in poverty than the overall US average. Texas has the highest poverty rate of any large industrial state.

African-Americans and Hispanics will within the next few years together constitute a majority of the of the state’s population.

But Texas poverty is not just a minority thing:

23.8% of all poor Texans are Anglo, and 15.8% are African-American, but well over half (53%) are Hispanic.

In summary, the right wing does everything possible to punish the middle and lower income classes — including attempts to deny poor people the vote — but Republicans still manage to win many states and achieve close to half the national vote.

I believe there are two explanations:

1. The 99% is content to remain ignorant of the real issues, and ignorance compounded by right wing lies.
2. Bigotry, in which hatred of blacks, Latinos, immigrants and gays takes voting precedence over self-interest. Clearly, hatred of the 1/2 blackness of our President has an important effect.

Poor and middle-class people may not be stupid, but they vote stupidly.

Ignorance and bigotry are self-punishing.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY