Yes, in Kentucky we actually NEED your government hands on our Medicaire. If not, many Kentuckians would not be able to see a doctor:
For all the sentiment against creating a government health plan during the recent health care reform debate, close to 800,000 Kentuckians already use Medicaid, with its public funding and price controls. Several thousand more enroll monthly.
"There is a world of people out here who wouldn't have any access to health care at all if they didn't have Medicaid coverage. They literally wouldn't get to see a doctor, and they would just have to pray they didn't get sick," said Nelda Barnett, Kentucky president of AARP, a seniors' advocacy group.
http://www.kentucky.com/2010/0...
Yes, despite all the misguided anger here in the Bluegrass state, it appears as if Kentucky profits handsomely from the federal government. In fact, folks in Kentucky should be very happy on the return that they recieve on their investment of taxes to the government:
For every dollar Kentucky sends to Washington in federal taxes, it gets back between $1.51 and $1.82 in federal spending, depending on which study is consulted. Other states - mostly in the Northeast and Midwest - subsidize Kentucky by paying more in taxes than they get in return.
In fact, this "starving of the beast" would lead to a mass "starving of Kentuckians" as hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians depend on "the beast" for their own sustanance and welfare:
"There is a world of people out here who wouldn't have any access to health care at all if they didn't have Medicaid coverage. They literally wouldn't get to see a doctor, and they would just have to pray they didn't get sick," said Nelda Barnett, Kentucky president of AARP, a seniors' advocacy group.
Monthly entitlement checks go directly to Kentuckians, including $5 billion a year for Social Security retirement benefits, $2.5 billion a year for Social Security worker-disability benefits and $1 billion a year for Supplemental Security Income, which is disability aid for people with no work history.
The federal government also helps Kentuckians with flood insurance (to the tune of $2.1 billion a year), mortgage insurance ($877 million), crop insurance ($667 million), food stamps ($674 million), veterans disability benefits ($478 million), Pell Grants for college students ($182 million) and welfare for families ($181 million), to name some of the costliest assistance programs tracked by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Which begs the question with a "tea-bag" Republican poised to take the Republican nomination tommorrow, What would happen if the "tea-bag" vision actually came to fruition in Kentucky?? We all know that would culminate in lower taxes for the wealthy and a wet dream come true for the Chamber of Commerce but what would happen to the average citizen of Kentucky, many of whom participated in "tea parties"??
Well, as shown by the numbers above, hundreds of thousands of them would not be able to see a doctor. Our economy would crash and poverty would be even more rampant as the Social Security checks quit arriving. The disabled would starve and be left to live under bridges. A flood could wipe out the livelihoods of millions of Kentuckians with no recourse. Kentuckians would be foreclosed upon with no recourse. Kentucky farmers who lost their crops would have to wait until next year to see their livelihoods restored. Thousands of Kentuckians would starve. Our veterans would not have access to medical care. Poor families across the commonwealth would see their aid dried up, and it would result in more poverty and child hunger.
Which really begs the question of what are Kentuckians so mad at?? Do they really consider the money invested by our government in them and our state a "waste"?? Do they really know the consequences of the far-right ideology if it was actually enacted?? It would be a disaster for our state and indeed many places in the country.
So, as tea-baggers go to the polls to nominate Rand Paul tommorrow I really have one question for them. Will they put their money where their mouths are?? Since all this government waste is so vile and evil will they lead by example and stand up and give their Social Security checks back to the federal government?? Will they give up their Medicaire and Medicaid?? Will they give the Pell Grant they used to go to college back to the taxpayers in full?? Will they give back the foodstamps they used to buy that T-bone steak while some working folks like me are living off rice, beans and bologna??
We all know the Republican politicians in this state are insufferable hypocrites. However, Kentucky needs to realize that far from being an evil entity that steals your freedoms the federal government is greatly needed here in Kentucky for the citizens of this commonwealth so ripped up by the outsourcing of our jobs to just have the basics of survival. Food, healthcare, and education in Kentucky are all dependant on that ultimate evil that is the federal government.
All I can say to my fellow Kentuckians is that when they complain about a bloated beuracracy and "wasteful spending" that in many cases instead of preaching at us they should just look in the mirror. When one really looks at the federal government and who profits from it, be careful what you wish for Kentucky, it might come true.
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