Tag: HB4714 (page 3)

The decision you make has the potential to change forever, the relationship between our state citizens and their governments.  It will grow the number of those who will become dependent on a system that has never kept a promise, met efficiency targets, or solved the problems that it was designed to do.  It will bind us contractually to a leviathan federal bureaucracy that has inserted itself as not only our caretakers, but now as our keepers; and our masters.

Yet this decision is difficult for some of you?

Some on the fence claim that "other states will get our cut", as if that makes it right to ink a deal with the devil.  Some say "this helps our books out", ignoring the fact that its all borrowed money or time.  We WILL be paying for it after only a couple years, and given the gimmicks the feds are using to find financing to pay for this temporary buy-off, we see that money source might not be so reliable.  Some say that "the hospitals build in the costs of indigent care to paying patients". yet forget to remind us that hospitals have advantages granted by local governments to offset those costs.

Gains from agreeing to this might be a temporarily solvent budget, a few legislative measures considered as part-of-the-deal, or even a bunch of happy big-hospital lobbyists. In the 1800s, FRÉDÉRIC BASTIAT book "the law", described the latter:

"The Fatal Idea of Legal Plunder
But on the other hand, imagine that this fatal principle has been introduced: Under the pretense of organization, regulation, protection, or encouragement, the law takes property from one person and gives it to another; the law takes the wealth of all and gives it to a few--whether farmers, manufacturers, shipowners, artists, or comedians. Under these circumstances, then certainly every class will aspire to grasp the law, and logically so."

Providing for unlimited new expansions in safety nets only creates new dependencies. In turn building new provisions for new needs.  It demonstrates a distrust in one's fellow man to provide for him or herself.  It shows a fear of the unknown result of true independence, like the type exhibited who once upon a time fought against such mechanisms.  Indeed, it is growth of government, regular and expected, that now happens nearly without counter action. It grows and consumes like a beast.  Anyone can step aside and watch that beast maul its victims without stepping in to distract, scare, or engage.

Yet as long as the beast is loose, it simply becomes more emboldened and finds more victims.

 " How blind is a 'blind trust'?"

Or perhaps should we ask instead, how is that "blind trust" in the calculations provided working for ya'll.

I apologize in advance for the length of this piece, but this is a big and complex issue.  I find it somewhat amusing that some of the people who were worried that I would vote in lockstep with the Governor, now want me to rubberstamp his Medicaid Expansion plan.  I cannot and here's why:

First, this subsidized health coverage (benefit) is going to include a very large portion of our population - some say as many as 600,000.  I believe it may be more.  The benefit will go to those over 133% of the Federal Poverty Line.  But that is based on adjusted gross income which takes 5% off the bottom and adjusts.  So the 133% could be 140% of actual earnings - or more.  When you consider that ObamaCare is forcing many in the service and retail industry to cut employee hours to under 29 - this has the potential of including far more than 600,000 people.

With regard to HB4717 that passed out of committee 9-5 a little while ago:

"I would like to address those who have decided to support Governor Snyder wish to pass HB 4714. I would also like to acknowledge those who took the time to respond to my initial email both pro and con. I have been following Lansing for 31 years only to be frequently disappointed in the representation. I am aware that sometimes your job is difficult. I am also aware that you are sent to Lansing to represent your constituents. It seems that too frequently, government is at odds with that representation and the costs, as a result, are detrimental to good government and harmful to the taxpayer.

While you may choose to support the governor over the citizens of this state, you must also accept the fact that you may be the focus of those who oppose and elect you. Should any of the groups who oppose your decision start to feel the negative effects of that decision, you can rest assured that they may seek other groups to come to their assistance. The legislature recently passed a law to make it more difficult to remove officials through recall. Once again, not serving those who elected you but your own interest. I suggest that before you decide such a life changing decision for Michiganders that you could become the object of their frustration. I am not proposing this, but wish you to be aware. In http://home.comcast.net/~bogaert/Opinion.pdf you will see that the groups can work together to remove the legislator who most egregiously has worked against them.

Obamacare is not a small issue. You must realizes anything you can do to hinder its implementation will help save us from a disaster waiting to happen. For those who say "it is the law of the land" remember Rep. Nancy Polosi's comment that "we must pass it to know what is in it". If that is how you think laws should be passed, you represent no one not even yourself.

Respectfully,
Rose Bogaert, Chair
Wayne County Taxpayers Association, Inc.

By golly, you don't take marching orders from that extremist old tea party right? No worries buster.  Never were any "marching orders".  Only a little faith in a conservative whom it was thought could recognize right from wrong. I hope the soul of the party finds its new home bright and lively.

Snyder will not win in 2014.

According to this source:

"On reliable information from inside the GOP caucus the plan is to vote out of committee Tuesday for passage on the floor Wednesday or Thursday Michigan HB4714, medicaid expansion. The bill seems to be changing by the hour but not necessarily for the better. The current version does set up an exchange and REQUIRES enrollment in a plan whether a person is eligible or not: "Sec. 105c. The department shall provide a process by which individuals may apply for or renew medical assistance eligibility through a website from which the department shall enroll individuals in the appropriate health care program without regard to the specific program for which the individual applies." This provision and others are dependent upon waivers from the Obama Administration, or requires the state to SEEK such waivers, but does defeat the proposal if they do not succeed. THIS BILL LOOKS LIKE IT HAS BEEN DRAFTED BY HEALTH INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS WHO WILL SELL SOVEREIGNTY FOR SHORT TERM INCOME."

You know the drill.

In the next two weeks there will be incredible pressure by lobbyists who fail to understand their industry has an end in sight if they are successful in convincing Michigan legislators to expand government for their own particular purpose.  Our legislators who remain outnumbered also are being led by the corruptive influence of a governor who has his own agenda.