| Is Rick Perry stupid or lazy? Both.
Perry's office has sent Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius a letter declaring the state will not set up its own health insurance exchange.
"This is a federally-mandated exchange with rules dictated by Washington," Perry's letter said. "It would not be fiscally responsible to put hard-working Texans on the financial hook for an unknown amount of money to operate a system under rules that have not even been written." Under the Affordable Care Act, that leaves two options: the federal government will partner with Texas to design the exchange or will design it for Texas.
What happened to being "Fed Up!," conservative? Now that Obamacare is here to stay (did you see what the American people said last Tuesday?), wouldn't you want Texas to design the exchange? Apparently Rick Perry is more dedicated to rhetorical opposition against the Affordable Care Act than executing his stupid opposition to the law. The complete negative tone of that letter suggests that Texas will also forgo a partnership with the federal government, instead opting to let them set up our insurance exchange.
Awesome. Our federal government will do a much better job of setting up an exchange that actually works for us. Rick Perry's never-ending administration, aided by the corporatist cretins running the Legislature, have been a complete disaster for Texans' health care. At 25 percent (6.2 million), our state is home to the highest proportion of uninsured Americans in the country.
If Perry thinks he's sticking it to the federal government by letting them set up the exchange, he's wrong. Our exchange will be much stronger for his decision, which will simultaneously show many Texans the benefits of a smart federal government and how stupid our state government was and is for opposing the Affordable Care Act. And what about when Perry and his ilk run for re-election in 2014 on an anti-Obamacare platform, just as the exchange is starting to take effect? There's a very good chance that'll increase voter turnout against the Republicans.
The glimmer of hope in a Republican state is Republicans' inevitable unraveling. They don't have a governing philosophy designed to improve the lives of all Texans. That's why they're on their way out. |
