So sayeth conservative blogger James Wigderson in his Waukesha Freeman column of last week hilariously titled, ” Free federal money not affordable, Walker health plan right choice. Wigderson argues that Walker’s refusal to accept federal dollars to expand Badgercare is good policy because federal dollars aren’t really free. He then endorses Walker’s plan to shift almost 90,000 Wisconsinites from Badgercare to federally subsidized private health insurance plans available through the exchange to be created under the Affordable Care Act. His “terrific moment of irony” as he characterizes it, is that Democrats are suddenly afraid to use a provision of Obamacare, i.e. the exchanges. A terrific moment of irony, indeed.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that it costs the federal government $3,000.00 more per recipient to subsidize a private plan than have someone on a public plan like Badgercare, $9,000.00 versus $6,000.00. Walker’s plan costs taxpayers 50% more federal tax dollars per person.
Wigderson supports the refusal of federal money so that more federal money can be spent. Gotcha, James! Free federal money not affordable. A terrific moment of irony.
You just can’t make this stuff up.
Apparently Mr. Wigderson is also willing to ignore that those free federal tax dollars are actually tax dollars provided by Wisconsin taxpayers for exactly this type of program…and that I’d rather see my dollars used to help my neighbors in the most efficient means possible rather than frittered away over raw ideology.
Of course, “we” (i.e. Gov. Walker, Rep. Vos, Mr. Wigderson) can’t guarantee that the free federal money will always be there, so we should opt out…yet taking free federal money for highways is just fine to take despite there is no way to insure it will always be there either.
Tally HO!
Save your cash. Be careful who you do spend your money with and be prepared to GTFO. Wisconsin is full of troglodytes and will never change for the better. The GOP has so much control there isn’t even 1 viable democrat to run for Governor in this state. I will not invest any time or money to make this community better. It’s over. When the time is right, I’m getting out.
Very inspiring, Mikey. Thanks for the uplifting comment.
I have great affection and respect for my old friend James, but on the issue of Health Care both he, and his bosom buddies over at the McNutty Institute could not be more wrong if they tried . If you truly believe that the free market should be the defining factor in access to health care, that is a perfectly legitimate point of view, but be honest about it and call it what it is. Economic Darwinism, Survival of the Richest. Conservatives are quick to forget the two main driving forces in any free market system; Supply and Demand, when one goes up, the other goes down. (Econ 101 for all my fellow UWM Grads) Yet in the case of health care the Demand will ALWAYS vastly exceed the supply. So there is no way the market alone can lower costs. A single payer system like they have to the north in Canada may not be the answer, but the facts are, according to the 2013 CIA Fact book, Canada ranks 13th in overall live expectancy and the USA is 51st. As cathartic as the wildly inaccurate “Obamacare.. BAD!!” talking points may be to folks on the right, facts, math and reality (pesky things that they are…) have yet to agree with them.