Sen. Lamar Alexander Calls Medicaid a "Medical Ghetto"
By Heather Sunday Nov 22, 2009 8:00am
As Jed noted "What would a health care debate be without some good ol' fashioned race-baiting from the G.O.P.?" Stay classy Alexander. So let me get this straight...the Democrats want to steal from grandma to give to the "ghetto"...or did I miss something here?
Alexander: Every other word we hear coming from the other side is that this vote tonight is historic. And I agree it’s historic, but I think my view of why it’s historic is a little different than their view. And I wonder if my colleagues would not agree with me that this bill is historic in its arrogance—in its arrogance that we in Congress are wise enough to take this entire complex health care system that serves 300 million Americans, that is 16% of our economy, and write a, and think that we could write a 2000 page bill and be wise enough to change it all—all at once.
Or arrogant in the, in its dumping of 15 million low income Americans into a Medical Ghetto called Medicaid that none of us, or any of our families would ever want to be a part of for our health care.
Or arrogant in then sending to the states, who are going broke a big chunk of the bill for what we’ve just done. Or arrogant enough to tell Americans that the bill cost $849 billion and think we’re not smart enough to read the print and figure out that it’s actually $2.5 trillion when it actually is implemented. Or to tell us that paying for reimbursement for physicians is not an important part of a health care bill, and so they run over here in the dead of night—run up the deficit another quarter of a trillion dollars.
I can make a long list of reasons this bill is arrogant—arrogant enough to cut and tax grandma’s Medicare that’s going broke according to the trustees in 2015-2017 and then spend it on somebody else other than grandma.
I mean the bill is arrogant in its telling us that it’s going to reduce premiums for most Americans when in fact it increases premiums for most Americans. So people say “Where is the Republican health care bill?’ and my answer to that Mr. President is don’t expect Sen. McConnell to come rollin’ in here with a wheelbarrow with a 2000 page budget busting, debt ridden, arrogant piece of legislation because that’s not what we believe in.
What we need to do as a Congress is re-earn the trust of the American people by setting a clear goal of reducing health care costs, showing some humility and start moving step by step in that direction and I hope during this hour that we have a chance to talk about the specifics steps to reduce health care costs that we Republicans have offered day after day after day to no avail.
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Hey Lamer, I'll take ghetto insurance over the no insurance I've got right now. Did that scenario ever enter your thick, racist skull?
and I'm one of the white grandmothers he's taking about.
And I happen to think EVERY child in the country, including the non-white, non-rich children, should be able to see a doctor regularly.
You know, everytime one of these unrepentent racists opens their mouths, they prove exactly WHY they should not be allowed to have anything to say about reforming health care.
They have proven themselves to be so craven and so corrupt that they are bordering on sheer evil - and some of them have crossed that border.
Evil, old, white racists, who give themselves what they deny to those in need have no place at this table.
I guess someone needs to "represent" those who sent him to the US Senate?
I agree with you that not only EVERY child deserves health care but so do the rest of the citizens. Senator Alexander and the other southern Republicans are continually running for reelection.
Obama sent 300 million stimulus dollares to Tenessee- and they greedily accepted them - because his state was about to cut payments to hospitals from its own state insurance, Tenn-Care. . They have 1.4Billion more stimulus dollars coming.
The federal government gives back to Tennesse, Georgia and other Red states a dollar for dollar match for every penny they spend on their own uninsured citizens.
My state of Arizona too is accepting it's stimulus dollars while blasting Obama's every move.
Those whining mouthy Red states may want to adopt a nicer atitude. Their revenues are down in part because NO ONE but another cheap Republican wants to travel there.
In republican world that lamar lives in if you don't make 250 thousand a year you are not an American and don't deserve anything!
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness that is killing America!
"Medical Ghetto called Medicaid"
For one thing - something is better than nothing which is what the status quo offers (the GOP plan)
Second, I'm disabled and I'm covered by Medicaid and it is not a Ghetto - you mindless drone of a GOPher.
Without Medicaid I would not be here.
I fear Lamar suffers from the ID-ten-T virus. It might not be covered under HIS insurance and no cure is available.
would have died a long time ago from my disability.
Lamar can kiss my big, fat, multiracial rear-end!
Anderson should know. It's fucktard plutocrats like him who created ghettos for his fellow citizens in the first place.
now might be a good time to review his record to see what he has done to improve the lives of his less than rich constituents.
I bet he voted against Medicaid, and every other plan nthat would help regular people - time to dig up his past votes.
he wants us to trust the gop?
i think not.
not when the gop's leader, limpballs has
already pushed the American citizens over
and forced them to grab their ankles while
his gop screws us continuously. then he
and the gop have the arrogance to blame
the dems for the screwing.
"And I wonder if my colleagues would not agree with me that this bill is historic in its arrogance"
Arrogance is defined by this insurance industry shill wanting to deceive and deny Americans.
I don't see him giving up his Federal Guvmint Health Insurance.
What a lowlife scumbag.
If Medicaid is a "Medical Ghetto", that would make the Republicans in all the states that underfund it, "Medical Slum Lords".
.
would be a better description.
Alexander did have one thing to say that made sense BUT he needed to change a couple of words around to get the facts straight.
He originally said "Or arrogant in the, in its dumping of 15 million low income Americans into a Medical Ghetto called Medicaid that none of us, or any of our families would ever want to be a part of for our health care."....SHOULD READ "Or arrogant in the, in its dumping of 15 million low income Americans into a Medical Ghetto called Tennessee that none of us, or any of our families would ever want to be a part of for our health care."
Ever spent any time in that rat hole??? I was born there so the facts I got.....
the Dems will take a hit in 2010 - but every one of these arrogant GOP assholes is handing the Democrats sound bite after sound bite after sound bit.
A nice compendium of their self-serving heartlessness should be aired non-stop in their states between now and then. They're showing their true colors now, it's time to put it out there for everyone to see who they are.
No one should be dumped into the Medicaid pool. It is a pool of last resort and to be eligible you have to have used up all your money and assets to cover basic and catastrophic health related expenses. No American should have to go broke in order to get healthy, and no American should die broke because they spent a life-times worth of savings on end-of-life care.
You want to do away with Medicaid? Good – we should. We should cover everyone so that the program is no longer needed – so that qualification for medical treatment is no longer destitution. Is this arrogant? Maybe, to those who don’t need the program. But the program shouldn’t be needed in the first place – by anybody.
Touché, a single payer system, what we should have, would eliminate medicaid.
This travesty of a health reform bill will expand the rolls of medicaid recipients considerably but not the rolls of providers who will accept it.
Also with Medicare, the restraints will be so severe as reduce the number of providers who will take it.
This will be a disaster by design. All to guarantee that the for-profit health insurance Mafia stays very well indeed.
As I noted in the Sunday thread, Lamar! repeated his "ghetto" remark this morning.
Spending money on underprivileged people by providing medical coverage, or making Bush's tax cuts permanent, which benefits wealthier Americans (like yourself) and corporations? Giving yourself a pay raise every year is pretty arrogant, too. Telling your constituents what is good and not good for them instead of listening to them? Arrogant. 849 billion? 2.5 trillion? Who cares? That money can be recouped. How about the 600+ billion a year the Pentagon gets? Why isn't that too much money? Why wasn't war funding too costly?
It seems any money spent on something good and useful: health care, education, infrastructure, etc. is too costly. But funding war, corporate welfare/bailouts and huge tax cuts for the already wealthy...no problem.
This is for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKKMdmPBWRk
Who do you suppose pays for Mr. Alexander and his family's insurance?
it just like . . it's just there!
This is why I respond only to the deniers and justifiers to ignorant, destructive, racist statements. This Nation is saturated with bigotry.
Actually, I was thinking something similar reading another thread.
Only I was thinking of our current system as a form of medical apartheid, if not genocide
Against those who cannot afford health care.
Think of it this way, if only the wealthier can afford health care,then we'll have more of the wealthier surviving at the expense of the not so wealthy sickening and dying due to lack of attention.
What they fail to realize, of course, it is the not so wealthy, who by breaking their backs in labor in the employ of the wealthy, insure their wealth.
they profit off of it
Of course maybe they do understand it
That's why they make sure every sperm is sacred
So they have plenty of future workers and cannon fodder
It's called the Primacy of Fodderhood.
in its arrogance that we in Congress are wise enough to take this entire complex health care system that serves 300 million Americans, that is 16% of our economy, and write a, and think that we could write a 2000 page bill and be wise enough to change it all—all at once
hm, maybe lamar and his knukledragging peers should step down and let smarter, wiser people take their seat if they are not up to the challenge.
lamar, if you can't stand the heat have your man servant wheel you out of the kitchen
He has an excellent full coverage health insurance plan paid for by the tax payers.
...to see Lamar roll-out the Repukes' health insurance reform plan.
Just like I'm waiting to see Boner's economic reform plan...
and Cheney's WMD in Iraq....
and McCain's map to bin Laden's hiding place.....
Talk about Dithering???!!!
Proves that the longer Reslugs live the more stupid, intolerant, uncaring, selfish and racist they get.
Yup! you definitely know whose zipper this clown has a double lip lock on.
This piece of SH*T, says nothing about the RACIST NAZI SOCIALIST CORPORATE CORRUPTION Of the ANTI AMERICAN Party and its support for the Bankrupting of America, but this MORON wants to now attack the elderly and those receiving aid.
I do believe it has now come time to RE EVALUATE the purpose of Corporations and their Socialist Anti American agenda.
Nothing scares these KKK, Nazi, Socialist like going after their pocket books.
Stop calling everyone who disagrees with you a Nazi. Or a socialist. Or a member of the KKK.
It's annoying, and makes it seem like the people on this side of the debate have run out of pertinent things to say.
Senator Alexander is wrong. Simply wrong. He, like many others, believe that government is an obstruction to personal life rather than a benefactor to society as a whole. But that doesn't make him a Nazi, or even a Nazi sympathizer.
This bill is a freaking trainwreck anyways -- I would have rather seen real reform go through (HR676, anyone?). As it stands now, I'm going to assume a miserable defeat for the Democratic party in the next election for failing to get a simple mandate passed. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Where's this guy when we need him?
...in fact, we should take back the word socialism, as well. Like liberal, it's bee made into a dirty sword that almost no one who uses it in America understands...
“Yo, everybody gonna get sick someday / But nobody knows how they gonna pay / Health care, managed care, HMOs / Ain’t gonna work, no sir, not those / ‘Cause the thing that’s the same in every one of these / Is these motherfuckers there, the insurance companies! / You can call it single-payer or Canadian way / Only socialized medicine will ever save the day! Come on now, lemme hear that dirty word – socialism!” – Senator Jay Billington Bulworth (Bulworth (1998))
He's right, we don't want to be part of medicaid, we want something better. The voters in his district need to wake up and realize that he is against anything that makes their lives better.
If we give all of those poor people a tax break, AND make it so they can't sue their docotr or insurance company, it will get them into the private market, somehow!
“Just remember… GOP policy can be summarized as: 1. Cut taxes 2. Fuck you.” – aslan from crooksandliars
he was referring to the Warsaw ghetto...
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=...
Not able to get medical care working out for ya. There is a serious disconnect between ass-hats like Lamar Alexander and the People he supposedly represents. Maybe he thinks he only represents the corporates that bribe him. Maybe he is the slum landlord.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ox1Tore9nw
Lamar is no different than any other Republican. A fucking coward loser.
Very hot tar (+ feathers) for that esteemed and comopletely un-American douchebag.
I too, am disabled & have a number of chronic, very likely potentially FATAL ailments & if it weren't for Medicare/Medicaid, I'd be taking a dirt nap right now. In fact,I take a viability study in the morning to see if there is enough good muscle to make a heart bypass of any use. There is NO WAY in the world I'd be able to get all of the treatments over the years without those two programs.
His brain is an intellectual ghetto.
Mitch McConnel don't need no stinking wheelbarrow to deliver a Republican health care bill: he can fit it in his pocket. It's only 2 letters: NO
If the health care plan is so great, why isn't Medicaid going away? That's what he's saying. All of you people are illiterate.
If you're poor, die already.
bills in your hand and a Medicare Card in your wallet will usually get you care - but without the Benjamin Franklins - well, not so much. Doctors restrict their Medicare patients to usually at the 15% mark - with 85% on private insurance policies. 'Taint easy to find a doctor that willingly takes Medicare, no matter what health condition you're in (mine is good, thank God.)
We can always sneak into Canada and pretend we are Canadian.
Makes you wonder if there is a black market in the US for Canadian Passport?
1. Its not so much race baiting as it is class war. They know damn well that's its about economics. Poor people are filthy, dirty and nasty and deserve to be poor. {No, I don't believe that, but I'm poor so I know what I've been told} The absolute core American fear behind burning in hell is having to live with, talk to, be associated with or be a poor person.
2. I'd rather be in the ghetto of Medicaid than the wilderness of no coverage at all.
3. Lamar Alexander is a poverty pimp who made his entrance into presidential politics in the campaign of '94 - '95 on the backs of poor women by pushing Newt's welfare reform on a level of hyper-racism/classist fear outdone only by Pete Wilson.
noted, but I still do have to point out that the word ghetto adds some racialization to the language along with the class implications. The myth of the "welfare queens" of color still persist today.
Yawn. Same old boilerplate crap from another mealy-mouthed Southern GOP/Confederacy senator. Nothing to see here folks, move along, just another sideshow. Keep in mind some of the most crooked insurance companies in the country are in his home state.
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