NC Health Insurance And Medicaid

Information is accumulating that the McRory Administration war on Medicaid and the General Assembly's refusal to expand Medicaid is fraudulent from beginning to end. And North Carolinians are suffering as a result.

Here is what NC Health News has uncovered. The bottom line is that NC Medicaid has one of the nation's lowest administrative costs instead of being 30% higher than similar states. But the incoming administration suppressed that information. They wanted an excuse to reject Medicaid expansion, which is a central element in keeping overall health care costs down.

Then the General Assembly prohibited the Insurance Commissioner from providing any assistance to Insurance companies interested in taking part in an insurance exchange. The News and Observer explains.

For ideological and partisan reasons, the Republicans in charge of North Carolina have intentionally sabotaged the Affordable Health Care Act and increased profits for Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Expanding Medicaid would reduce costs and increase competition.

Lincoln On Political Extortion

“A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, ‘Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!’ ”

Abraham Lincoln, 1860

Tea Party Radicalism: Just A Bit More Extreme?

Much current commentary tends to describe the Tea Party phenomenon as just a bit more extreme than mainstream Republicanism, but within the American tradition. Francis Fukuyama recently tied the Tea Party efforts to the parts of the US Constitution that make it hard for anything to get done.

Michael Lind thinks it is more than that. It may have roots going back to Jefferson and Jackson (and to the Anti-Federalists, but Lind doesn't bring that up), but it represents a fundamentally anti-democratic undertaking. Think Downton Abbey.

Here is Lind's article. It is the best analysis I have read lately, putting it in the context of the American Civil War, the failure of reconstruction, and the reaction to the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act.

There are a lot of different ways to look at current American politics. The different angles overlap, and they all seem to involve race to some degree.

I strongly recommend reading Lind's article.

On Rigging Elections In The West

How often would you vote if you had to drive 157 miles round trip to exercise the franchise? Not to mention being faced with racist harassment at the county seat?

Tomorrow at the ninth circuit court of appeals in Montana, the great-grandson of a Cheyenne who fought against and defeated George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn appears against the wife of one of Custer's descendants in a case over Native American voting rights.

The Guardian provides an account of what is at stake here.

It appears pretty clear that the dominant white residents of Montana (and South Dakota) have rigged the electoral system to make it virtually impossible for Native Americans to vote.

The plaintiff is a Northern Cheyenne and Vietnam veteran, wounded in defense of his country.

Personal note: my grandsons are Native Americans, and my wife and I have attended many Pow-Wows across the land. The opening ceremonies always accord special honor to both veterans and those currently serving in the US armed forces. In fact, I know no more patriotic Americans than those of Native ancestry.

Another personal note: in 1876, my great grandfather served in the U.S. 4th Cavalry Regiment in Texas. After Little Big Horn, the regiment was sent north to "round up" a band of Cheyenne and return them to their reservation. He subsequently rode with Billy the Kid in the Lincoln County Wars and is said to have served in the Indian Scout Service. I don't know the truth of that.

But I do know that across the West, Native Americans have been systematically impeded in exercising their right to vote.

The doctrine of White Supremacy is not confined to the states of the former Confederacy.

The Tipping Syndrome

One of the pleasures from browsing through blog sites on the web is the occasional discovery of a new and unexpected insight. The insight that "Republicans are the dissatisfied and angry diners at the table of life." is something that never occurred to me. I keep puzzling over the irrationality of their economic ideas, their rejection of science and facts, and their evident disdain for people who actually work for a living, but I never thought about their general dissatisfaction with the world as it is.

The blog post by Aimai goes on: "We've seen a lot of weird reactions on the right wing to the Government Shut down. These range from "it doesn't matter" to "its terrible" but one thing that really strikes me is the rage and antipathy that has been displayed towards Federal Workers themselves.  It doesn't strike me as unusual, but it does strike me as significant.  Yesterday's on air rant by Stuart Varney makes it pretty explicit: Federal Workers and, indeed, the entire Government are failing Stuart Varney. They cost too much and they do too little.  In fact: they are so awful they don't even deserve to be paid for the work they have already done. Contracts, agreements, and labor be damned. If Stuart Varney isn't happy then they deserve to be fired."

And it all relates to tipping. You have to read the post to uncover the connection, but it calls to mind North Carolina Governor Pat McRory's announcement that he wants the state bureaucracy to adopt a "customer service" mentality. I never knew what he meant. Now I understand. He wants the bureaucracy to act like "wait staff" in a restaurant angling for a tip.

If they can't take bribes, they can at least take orders, and "the customer is always right" - if, that is, he has enough wealth, power or other high status.

Seventy Years Ago On The Eastern Front: The Holocaust Is Discovered

Soviet forces advancing against the German Army enter the region of Khazary, a Jewish region, and find all the inhabitants dead.

The eyewitness account here paints a vivid picture of just what that means.

The horror.

Water For Wal Mart

At last week's Town Board meeting, Oriental Town Manager Wyatt Cutler claimed that selling Town water to customers outside the Town (i.e. Wal-Mart) is good, because we make money for the Town. Reference was also made to the fact that the Town agreed to provide water to the Dollar General store, which is also out of Town. Commissioner Venturi pushed the same line.

It is true that the Town has been providing water to Dollar General since they opened.

It is not true that the Town made money from providing water.

It's like the old joke: "we lose money on every sale, but make up for it in volume."

In fact, during the decade from 2001 to 2011, the General Fund (Oriental taxpayers) was subsidizing the Water Fund (water users, including Dollar General) an average of from $35,000 to $50,000 a year.

It could happen again if the Town isn't careful to keep rates high enough to cover ALL of the expenses of operating the water plant, including depreciation.

Town Of Oriental Municipal Elections Begin In Thirteen Days

Early one-stop voting for Oriental municipal offices begins at the County Board of Elections in Bayboro in thirteen days.