Sent to Gov. Scott Walker on Nov. 15, 2014
Gov. Scott Walker: You talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
Scott Walker, Gov. of Wisconsin: Defending his fellow Republican governors’ decision to block Medicaid expansion in their states, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Friday suggested that denying health coverage to additional low-income Americans helps more people “live the American Dream” because they won’t be “dependent on the American government.”
“Beyond that, I just ask the basic question: Why is more people on Medicaid a good thing?” he said. “I’d rather find a way, particularly for able-bodied adults without children, I’d like to find a way to get them into the workforce. [...]
I think ideologically, that’s a better approach, not just as a conservative, but as an American. Have more people live the American dream if they’re not dependent on the American government.” [Daily Kos, 11/15/2004]
My Response: Nobody disagrees with your principles, Scott. But every rational person in the country disagrees with you in how to put those principles into practice. Here is a little help in how to act on your principles: Call every Republican in Congress and ask them to stop obstructing jobs programs, but to vote for them. That will help to create jobs. Call every bank CEO in the US (there’s only 7,000 of them) and ask them to stop directing newly printed money from the Fed into the stock market and direct it instead into loans to individuals, to home buyers, and to small businesses. That will create a lot more jobs. In combination, these two changes will bring about full employment, higher incomes, and more wealth while reducing the need for government programs across the board, not just with health care. More jobs are also the solution to lower crime rates, lower drug dependencies, lower suicides, lower imprisonment rates, lower teen pregnancies, higher literacy rates, higher self-esteem, more tax payers, lower budget deficits, and lower debt. Jobs are a win/win/win/win outcome for everyone. They are not the entire American Dream, but they are a big chunk of it.
Of course, you can’t call all 313 Republican members of Congress and all 7,000 CEO bankers, but your staff can. And your colleagues can. But the beauty of this solution is this: You don’t need to convince all of them about how to implement their own principles. You only need to convince only about 10 percent of them. That’s because all the Democrats are already on board with these simple but effective steps to job creation and greater prosperity.
Life is about choices, Scott. But it’s also about being consistent between your principles and your choices. When you favor jobs but work to prevent them, you are a hypocrite. When you favor jobs and act to create them, you are more than a hero—you are a shining example of the American Dream.
Forget about your past. Which choice is in your future?
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What he did to the teachers was reprehensible. I wonder how many moved out of the state. The media is afraid to research something lie that because they'll lose conservative readers.
Thanks,
Dave
Private health care is expensive. I recently had a emergency episode and went to the emergency room. My blood pressure and temperature dropped, and I was sidelined in the waiting room for four hours. I eventually felt better, and left because I did receive the tests of blood in urine they took. There was a plaque on the wall saying that the emergency room took all comers. The room was filled with a lot of people who should've gone to a primary care physician for treatment rather than be an emergency room. There were a few real emergencies and they were taken in along with all the people that came in by ambulance while we waited. While I was untreated, my bill came to $24,000 for the emergency room, physicians, and tests. Of course, being a Republican I can pay my own bills, so I paid it--not! What I did do is called my insurance and they told me that they paid $105, a fair price for the four-hour ordeal with no treatment that I received. That is the difference between "free enterprise" and having a healthcare advocate, like insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.
Rich people don't get it that the people they cheat out of a living wage can't pay, "what the market will bear" like they can. Call it socialism if you like, but I call it democracy to have government projects for "all of the people" instead of space exploration for rich tourists and a reasonable living lifestyle for everyone, whether they have work or not.
Ron
ChipB.