What passes for Virginia government will gather later this week, all sweaty with self-righteousness, to debate a Medicaid expansion.
My sad guess is absolutely nothing will come of it because the GOP isn’t just blinded by its hate if the President, although that is demonstrably true.
It’s stupid.
This morning’s papers report that the Tea Party’s love affair with Rick Scott is waning, suggesting the Flordians are smarter, or at least greedier, than the Virginia Teapot contingent. They have a sweet deal: something for nothing, and see no reason to start paying their fair share at this late date.
Full disclosure: I share some characteristics with the Tea Party crowd. I am retired. My Medicare card arrived two weeks ago. But unlike them, I’m neither selfish nor greedy. I’m just old.
On some level I am surprised that the Teapot love affair with Rick Scott has waned. Maybe the money men in the business community are starting to be afraid, but the average Teapot supporting moocher Floridian has a sweet deal.
Floridians can afford to support the Tea Party, because among other things they receive state services without the burden of paying state income taxes. In fairness, they do pay the highest property taxes in the union, although there are several exemptions for old people, and they are charged a minimum of 6% on sales tax.
Scott’s budget cutting has forced Florida to cut services to Floridians, particularly education, but the selfish, greedy geezers don’t give a damn about that. They likely justify themselves by saying they don’t want to pay for people with brown skins to get an education.
The fact that these children with brown skins–many of them born here– will grow up to become employees responsible for changing their dirty diapers doesn’t make a dent.
They have long mooched off the rest of us, and are conveniently blind to that fact. The wrap themselves in the Gadsen flag, or worse, hide their faces behind a Klan robe, and triumphally open carry their rifles into Starbucks to intimidate the rest of us into silence.
It wouldn’t be so bad if they were honest but they are not.
If they do agree to Medicaid expansion, with 90 percent of the early year costs guaranteed by the federal government, it means MY tax dollars will go to support them. Why? Because the GOTP in Virginia so hates the president that it will let Virginians die in a parking lot, and let hospitals close, and generally bite off its own leg just to spite him.
To put it bluntly: the Virginian Teapots are both greedy and stupid.
Florida is the biggest moocher state in the Union. More Floridians (population about 20 million) get Social Security benefits, which they earned, than any other state save California (population 38 million plus). Without doing a lot of research, I’d guess that what most of them “paid in” was exhausted decades ago. They are blind to that as well.
In terms of dollars received compared to dollars paid out on the federal level, Florida is the biggest “receiving” state in the country. In terms of ranking by percentages, it’s the fifth biggest moocher state in the country. They don’t talk about that, either.
Is it any wonder they support the liars in the Tea Party? Birds of a feather flock together.
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