Texas -- a failed state

[Satchel 6982]

If as Jamie Dimon suggests that Texas is no longer a business friendly state, then what the hell is it, since it has a well earned reputation of being anti consumer?

[YGIFS 19458]

5 minutes ago, elfenix said:

press the escape key and find out.

Dude, what are you doing?  Percentages hurt MAGA's brains.  California is a blue state and has the third highest number of, meaning the Republicans were trying to help but were thwarted by Gavin!  Actually, by far the worst on that list is Arkansas in terms of proportion.  And it's gonna hurt MAGA base most of all considering how white, unhealthy, and uneducated that state is.  Roughly a half million taken off in a state with only 3mm people?  That's fucking cold even for that tub of shit governor.  Gotta give DeSantis credit, he hates Medicaid, but he knows how his bread gets buttered.  Abbott just absolutely clamoring to fuck over his base, not realizing he doesn't have the charming allure that Trump does to convince them that the he's doing it for all the wrong reasons.  You gotta be a pretty fat, gun-toting diabetic to limp away from Medicaid happy because at least for every one of you in the trailer park, 2 brown kids lost coverage as well.  

[Anastasis 23717]

2 minutes ago, elfenix said:

press the escape key and find out.

ESC doesn't do that for me, but following up to the KFF site indicates that the differences are related to the implementation of the PHE drawdown. 

[atomheartbevo 90638]

Was jogging/walking along Shoal Creek this morning, and under one of the bridges, there was a huge "TEXAS NATIONALIST NETWORK" spray painted in black and red with the aid of a stencil, along a retaining wall.

Only whoever did that completely fucked it up, because it looked like this:

"TEXASNATIONALIST NETWORK"

Yeah, rather than alternate black and red, they just did the first two in black (maybe they ran out of paint).  And they ran the Texas and Nationalist part together. 

And because of where it was spray painted, there was mold and dirt along the bottom, so the "L" looked more like an "I" because the bottom was lost in the dirt/mold, so it came out like this:

"TEXASNATIONAIIST NETWORK"

Okay, fine, whatever, these people are not that bright to begin with - none of them have even pondered a new nation of 30 million people with less than 20,000 weekend soldiers (and it would be far less, many National Guard members would stay in the US, as would the equipment), where whites are outnumbered by minorities, where Catholicism is the biggest religious group.  Oh, and all of that is sitting next to a 1,254 mile-long border shared with a Hispanic, very Catholic nation of 127 million people, that does not have control of the border cities, where there's over 175,000 members of the various cartels sprinkled throughout, especially near the border areas, many of whom have heavy military hardware.  And those cartels would quickly move through El Paso and Brownsville and various other areas and straight up towards San Antonio and Houston and other points north and east.

But they also painted this out-of-the-way somewhat (couldn't see it from the street), so they are cowards as well (there is an abandoned Randalls and Burger King not that far away in plain sight), and they painted it in an area where the people who would actually see it would not give a shit about them at all, both because they aren't members of any such network and because anybody who wants to be a Texas secessionist has already looked into, and a shitty spray paint job won't convince non-believers.  Oh, and it's an area that sees so much graffiti that most people don't pay attention to any of it to begin with (too busy keeping an eye out on homeless people camped along the creek).

At least if they are going to do this shit, grow a spine and do it out in the open, or at least get it right and paint it so that it looks like this:

"TEXAS   NATIONALIST   NETWORK"

and tag a .com or whatever their website is on the end.  Fucking amateurs.

[CTC2 2865]

1 hour ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Thank you for diversion from the actual recent subject of this thread:

1. Are people really leaving Texas in droves?

2. Is it bad that the pandemic era rules are returning to the pre-pandemic rules after the pandemic is over?

1.  I don’t know but me and my friends openly discuss doing it and ways to make it happen. 
2. No, but that’s not really what is happening. First, it’s a solution looking for a problem and second, it’s really about killing local governments ability to deal with issues in their communities as they see fit. 

[TwiceHorn 32073]

2 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Thanks.  So it is an unspeakable tragedy when an emergency pandemic era policy ends (only after the pandemic is over) and the pre-pandemic policies are re-instituted? 

"Emergency" measures forever!  Never let a good crisis go to waste -- amirite?

I mean the problem is that the lege and governor are perfectly content that nearly a million children in this state can't afford healthcare unless there's a federal emergency that mandates and pays for it.

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I mean the problem is that the lege and governor are perfectly content that nearly a million children in this state can't afford healthcare unless there's a federal emergency that mandates and pays for it.

Really?  All those folks can't afford healthcare without Big Daddy?

[Biff Tannen 46152]

5 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I mean the problem is that the lege and governor are perfectly content that nearly a million children in this state can't afford healthcare unless there's a federal emergency that mandates and pays for it.

As are millions of voters, apparently. 

[Brisketexan 106876]

If as Jamie Dimon suggests that Texas is no longer a business friendly state, then what the hell is it, since it has a well earned reputation of being anti consumer?

What is it? Utopia, by the only measure that matters: you show how awesome you are by how many people you can hurt/how cruel you are.
The suffering tells you it’s working! “The sound of children screaming has been removed.”

[Zepol87 9340]

7 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Yep.  If you value nature, specifically mountains and cool temperatures, Texas is just not for you.

Yea I enjoyed seeing the family a bit over thanksgiving week but I am happy to be back in SoCal 

[Brisketexan 106876]

Really?  All those folks can't afford healthcare without Big Daddy?

Healthcare…you mean that element of our economy that was 5% of GDP and is now pushing 20%? Yeah, hard to believe.

[Chewbacca 7829]

Really?  All those folks can't afford healthcare without Big Daddy?

Compassion, thy name is GOP. You're very Christ-like. He was also known to mock the poor.

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Healthcare…you mean that element of our economy that was 5% of GDP and is now pushing 20%? Yeah, hard to believe.

Obamacare, much?

[TwiceHorn 32073]

16 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Really?  All those folks can't afford healthcare without Big Daddy?

The qualifications for Medicaid in Texas are abysmally low.  If you have a pot to piss in, you are disqualified.  Good luck trading that pot for an Obamacare plan. 

Family Members (Adults plus children)	Monthly Family Income
1*	$1,616
2	$2,186
3	$2,756
4	$3,325
5	$3,895
6	$4,465
7	$5,035
8	$5,604
For each additional person, add:	$570

Now, if you mean going to the local ER and making us pay for it for emergent situations, then yeah, they have some access to healthcare.

Also note that that is in pretax dollars and the average rent in the state of Texas for a 1BR apartment, which includes a lot of places no one would or could raise children, is $670/month.

Edited November 28, 2023 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 32073]

12 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Obamacare, much?

You do realize that chart ends 10 years before Obamacare started?

Edited November 28, 2023 by TwiceHorn

[bolverk 30318]

6 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Really?  All those folks can't afford healthcare without Big Daddy?

Hold up.

Are you seriously questioning whether uninsured children whose parents aren't on Medicaid don't have access to affordable healthcare? And you're going to mock kids for having to rely on "Big Daddy" government without reflecting on the overall cost to the country over the long term if they don't get that early preventative care?

Are you insane? Or do you just like seeing poorly cared for children grow up into becoming sickly adults who'll eventually be an even greater drain on funding? Fuck, dude, it's an investment in all of our futures.

Talk about penny wise, pound foolish.

[Biff Tannen 46152]

1 minute ago, bolverk said:

Hold up.

Are you seriously questioning whether uninsured children whose parents aren't on Medicaid don't have access to affordable healthcare? And you're going to mock kids for having to rely on "Big Daddy" government without reflecting on the overall cost to the country over the long term if they don't get that early preventative care?

Are you insane? Or do you just like seeing poorly cared for children grow up into becoming sickly adults who'll eventually be an even greater drain on funding? Fuck, dude, it's an investment in all of our futures.

Talk about penny wise, pound foolish.

Something something bootstraps something. 

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

2 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

You do realize that chart ends 10 years before Obamacare started?

Not following your argument.  I see 2010.

[TwiceHorn 32073]

18 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Not following your argument.  I see 2010.

Well right when Obamacare started, then.  In other words, it reflects no effect of Obamacare.

The point still stands.  

Texas refuses to adopt the Medicaid expansion provided by Obamacare, even though it costs Texas 10 cents on the healthcare dollar, because a bunch of fucktards in Austin are too stupid to accept free money because sOcIALisM.

And that notion of ebil socialism is so important to these fucks that they would rather let the most vulnerable 1/30th of the population suffer.  And disregard the fact that that 1/30th is behind the eight-ball in the most fundamental way, and virtually assured to continue to burden the state in manifold ways as they age.  Equality of opportunity, my ass.

I'll tell you what's evil, and it's not socialism, even if that was socialism.

Edited November 28, 2023 by TwiceHorn

[Brisketexan 106876]

Obamacare, much?

Not following your argument.  I see 2010.

And you also see the massive increase to close to the current percentage of GDP happened….well before the ACA.
Dude.
Seriously.
This is not a new fact or topic. Health care costs have exploded over the past 40 years. The ACA wasn’t passed until the last year on that chart.

[YGIFS 19458]

I think I depart from a lot of CR posters on health care/health insurance.  It's a fucked up system put into place under FDR (employer-based coverage), Medicaid and Medicare have fumbled around in the dark, ACA just reshuffled the deck chairs in the forms of lower premiums but we all got proper fucked with much higher deductibles and out-of-pocket maxes.  We're an overall unhealthy country as a result.  Every single President has fucked this up twelve ways from Tuesday.  As have hundreds and hundreds of Governors at the state level, where Medicaid is ostensibly deployed and implemented.  Never mind inept legislatures from the states to DC.  

But you gotta draw a line somewhere.  And for me, it's with children.  Vote how you want, don't vote, eat what you want, don't take your pills, be a fat fucking drain on society, get a different job with better coverage, go on medical tourism trips, blame Biden, blame Trump, whatever the fuck you want to do as a grown-ass adult with a pill problem choosing socialist medicine or cash payments to the hospital directly.  But children with shitty to no coverage, living in a food-rich country with little access to good nutrition, going hungry, born with illnesses and genetic precursors to sicknesses I wouldn't wish on Trump himself...they can't switch employers, re-enroll in November to a different plan, get a better paying job, move closer to better care providers.  For millions of ''em, all they have is Medicaid and those plans suck to begin with but at least it's a start.  And spoiler alert-they're not all kids of color looking to mooch off the system.  Many of them  are fat elementary school kids born to stupid white parents in ex-urban/suburban non-college parents with grim outlooks for proactive care and diet.  

I really don't care what happens to most adults in Texas anymore.  They made their choices for the most part and have to live with it.  A 9 year old shouldn't have to wonder each morning if the pain in her lungs is ever gonna go away because the money for medicine is all gone to build a wall that we all know, across all party lines, will never get done.  Ever.  The war in Eastasia has always been going on.  And it always will be.

[CTC2 2865]

24 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Well right when Obamacare started, then.  In other words, it reflects no effect of Obamacare.

The point still stands.  

Texas refuses to adopt the Medicaid expansion provided by Obamacare, even though it costs Texas 10 cents on the healthcare dollar, because a bunch of fucktards in Austin are too stupid to accept free money because sOcIALisM.

And that notion of ebil socialism is so important to these fucks that they would rather let the most vulnerable 1/30th of the population suffer.  And disregard the fact that that 1/30th is behind the eight-ball in the most fundamental way, and virtually assured to continue to burden the state in manifold ways as they age.  Equality of opportunity, my ass.

I'll tell you what's evil, and it's not socialism, even if that was socialism.

How they convinced people to vote against their self interest in such fervent masses I will never understand. 

[bolverk 30318]

2 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

I think I depart from a lot of CR posters on health care/health insurance.  It's a fucked up system put into place under FDR (employer-based coverage), Medicaid and Medicare have fumbled around in the dark, ACA just reshuffled the deck chairs in the forms of lower premiums but we all got proper fucked with much higher deductibles and out-of-pocket maxes.  We're an overall unhealthy country as a result.  Every single President has fucked this up twelve ways from Tuesday.  As have hundreds and hundreds of Governors at the state level, where Medicaid is ostensibly deployed and implemented.  Never mind inept legislatures from the states to DC.  

But you gotta draw a line somewhere.  And for me, it's with children.  Vote how you want, don't vote, eat what you want, don't take your pills, be a fat fucking drain on society, get a different job with better coverage, go on medical tourism trips, blame Biden, blame Trump, whatever the fuck you want to do as a grown-ass adult with a pill problem choosing socialist medicine or cash payments to the hospital directly.  But children with shitty to no coverage, living in a food-rich country with little access to good nutrition, going hungry, born with illnesses and genetic precursors to sicknesses I wouldn't wish on Trump himself...they can't switch employers, re-enroll in November to a different plan, get a better paying job, move closer to better care providers.  For millions of ''em, all they have is Medicaid and those plans suck to begin with but at least it's a start.  And spoiler alert-they're not all kids of color looking to mooch off the system.  Many of them  are fat elementary school kids born to stupid white parents in ex-urban/suburban non-college parents with grim outlooks for proactive care and diet.  

I really don't care what happens to most adults in Texas anymore.  They made their choices for the most part and have to live with it.  A 9 year old shouldn't have to wonder each morning if the pain in her lungs is ever gonna go away because the money for medicine is all gone to build a wall that we all know, across all party lines, will never get done.  Ever.  The war in Eastasia has always been going on.  And it always will be.

I remember making this argument with an old Republican boss about 15 years ago (small collegial consulting firm where we spoke our minds freely about all subject matter and kept shit civil) when Obama was first running for office with universal healthcare coverage as being part of his platform. Children have no say in the matter, and the elderly are no longer on the payroll. If we've got to compromise in this country about what we can afford, then take care of those two groups first.

Taking care of seniors is humane; taking care of children is both human and an investment.

[CTC2 2865]

49 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Really?  All those folks can't afford healthcare without Big Daddy?

Didn’t your co-pilot Jesus feed the poor fish or something?

[TwiceHorn 32073]

1 minute ago, CTC2 said:

Didn’t your co-pilot Jesus feed the poor fish or something?

FIsh and manna don't cost Jesus or anyone else money.

[Anastasis 23717]

If you want to fix the healthcare finance system in this country (or this state), you have to tackle the cost drivers of healthcare spending. Hospital systems and pharma. That’s where the profit margins are. Physician services makes up another big chunk of the spending, but the margins there don’t have much fat once you parse out the imaging and diagnostics. 

[Willfully Horn 8259]

2 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Are you having a series of mini-strokes. 

It is not the ability, but the inability, to draw comparisons between two events that is cognitively significant.

[fattyflattie 4640]

4 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

Once again, fuck you Republicans. Fuck you @fattyflattie. Fuck you @Incredulity. Fuck you @DalTxHornFan.  (Oh, and congratulations on standing out as Surly Republicans, too, in an era where aligning with Republican is akin to aligning with fascists. Fuck you).

Lol.  

[Chewbacca 7829]

Lol.  

Still proud of being a shitty human, I see.

[fattyflattie 4640]

Just now, Chewbacca said:

4 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Lol.  

Still proud of being a shitty human, I see.

I’m embarrassed to share a state with motherfuckers like that.  But, having winners requires having a loser.  Makes me fucking hard thinking how bad they must hate living here, yet, it’s their home. Welcome home, Willful. Hope you are enjoying your stay. 

[Willfully Horn 8259]

3 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

I’m embarrassed to share a state with motherfuckers like that.  But, having winners requires having a loser.  Makes me fucking hard thinking how bad they must hate living here, yet, it’s their home. Welcome home, Willful. Hope you are enjoying your stay. 

Born here. Married a woman whose family is among those who founded Bexar County. My own lineage in the New World arrived in 1715, Texas is my home. Yes, I love this land, and I have fed this state’s future; I have given back in gratitude. I expect you believe you have done the same, though I expect you are an easy sale.

[Chewbacca 7829]

I’m embarrassed to share a state with motherfuckers like that.  But, having winners requires having a loser.  Makes me fucking hard thinking how bad they must hate living here, yet, it’s their home. Welcome home, Willful. Hope you are enjoying your stay. 

Lulz. You think you're the winner?

[Willfully Horn 8259]

1 minute ago, Chewbacca said:

21 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

I’m embarrassed to share a state with motherfuckers like that.  But, having winners requires having a loser.  Makes me fucking hard thinking how bad they must hate living here, yet, it’s their home. Welcome home, Willful. Hope you are enjoying your stay. 

Lulz. You think you're the winner?

That isn’t it. It’s a kink thing spawned from the fetid fields of pschopathy.

Similar to those who get off being humiliated.

[safe sex 11988]

1 hour ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Really?  All those folks can't afford healthcare without Big Daddy?

Guys, don't just neg. Please debate. You gotta debate, guys. You can't just neg. This is good faith policy discussion right here, and to think there are people who just neg and move on smh..

 

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

Thanks.  That might have been a bit bit harsh on my part!

I still have a hard time with having the government playing such a big role in basic healthcare.  Do you really need to file an insurance claim for every oil change and tire rotation on your car?  

Edited November 28, 2023 by DalTxHornFan

[elfenix 34746]

38 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

But, having winners requires having a loser. 

for every rich man there must be 500 poor.

[bolverk 30318]

6 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Thanks.  That might have been a bit bit harsh on my part!

Remember your humanity and forget the rest.

[StassneyHorn 6767]

4 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Paywall, so tweet is basically worthless, but was there a reason other than the PHE expiration given in the article?

Yet you were able to read it. The next time some dickless, pro life Gen X ask for the 263784615 time to get past a paywall, bookmark the solution or just type the same headline into the machine you are on to read a similar story. It’s reporting, not an opinion column.
 

If you’re pro life and think the most at-risk children should have coverage there is zero reason to be a gutless pussy right now.

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

3 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Remember your humanity and forget the rest.

Negs alone do little to advance any discussion.

[safe sex 11988]

16 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Thanks.  That might have been a bit bit harsh on my part!

I still have a hard time with having the government playing such a big role in basic healthcare.  Do you really need to file an insurance claim for every oil change and tire rotation on your car?  

jfc people are not cars

[bolverk 30318]

1 minute ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Negs alone do little to advance any discussion.

I don't believe I've ever negged you, and that statement wasn't a commentary about the online "debate" in this thread.

It was more about the fundamental issue of how we humans should consider living together.

Go watch a nature show. Do the chimps take care of their young and infirm? Yes. Yes, they do.

Should we? 

[CTC2 2865]

24 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Thanks.  That might have been a bit bit harsh on my part!

I still have a hard time with having the government playing such a big role in basic healthcare.  Do you really need to file an insurance claim for every oil change and tire rotation on your car?  

So I guess you are going to turn down Medicare when you turn 65?

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

7 minutes ago, CTC2 said:

So I guess you are going to turn down Medicare when you turn 65?

Good point.  I'm sure that I'll do the highest deductible plan that I am allowed to!

And don't forget the fact that there has been a shit ton of money paid into that plan by my employers (mostly me since I turned 40 or so and always ran my own shit) paid in to support this scheme.

Edited November 28, 2023 by DalTxHornFan

[fattyflattie 4640]

47 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

I’m embarrassed to share a state with motherfuckers like that.  But, having winners requires having a loser.  Makes me fucking hard thinking how bad they must hate living here, yet, it’s their home. Welcome home, Willful. Hope you are enjoying your stay. 

Lulz. You think you're the winner?

I’m not the one dying to leave my home.  So, yeah, winning. 

[fattyflattie 4640]

31 minutes ago, elfenix said:

for every rich man there must be 500 poor.

At least.  And remember, it’s not enough that you succeed, others must also fail. 

[CTC2 2865]

4 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Good point.  I'm sure that I'll do the highest deductible plan that I am allowed to!

My God, you must be a real peach. 

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

1 minute ago, CTC2 said:

My God, you must be a real peach. 

See above.  My work funded this stuff.  Santa Claus is a myth.

[CTC2 2865]

1 minute ago, DalTxHornFan said:

See above.  My work funded this stuff.  Santa Claus is a myth.

You do you. 

[StassneyHorn 6767]

Ignore it, respond with a meme, Linkbate to a study nobody reads, lie and say you talked with your wife and kids about raising the bastard child of the rapist who got them pregnant, you aren’t going to fool this board.
 

If you’re against the most at-risk children having Medicaid coverage, you are not pro life. Denying Trump vaccines to children is a part of that also.

[bolverk 30318]

Galaxy brain proof:

If X + 0 = X

Then X + Y (too hard to figure out because fuck those kids and who cares what it costs society anyway?)

∴ X+Y = X