Tag Archives: 2016

Hey, Jindal, Brown Called and They Want Their Diploma Back

GOP Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of the 2016 hopefuls, has a degree in biology from Brown University and was a Rhodes Scholar.

Yet, even with his Ivy League education and Oxford experience, he signed the Orwellian “Louisiana Science Education Act,” which in fact has nothing whatever to do with science, but brought creationism to the state’s biology classes.

He also lets state vouchers be used for tuition at bible-based private schools, where kids are taught that The Flintstones is history, not a cartoon.

Um, Bobby, you’re looking kind of cartoonish yourself.

Y’All Can Die, Cause Perry’s Running for Prez in 2016

About 25% of Texans don’t have health insurance,  the highest rate in the country.  This is one area where Texas shouldn’t want to be bigger than everybody else.  This high number of uninsured is because states set eligibility based on the poverty line, and Texas sets theirs really low — at only 27% of that line.

By contrast, the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare would cover people up to 133% of the poverty line, which in states like Texas would make an enormous difference.  The cost to Texas for such an expansion?  Zero for the first three years, and then ten percent thereafter.

Sounds like a good deal, right?  Except that Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he won’t participate.  He’s going to hold his breath until all the uninsured turn blue.

Besides refusing to participate in the Medicaid expansion, Perry says he won’t set up an insurance exchange to help people buy coverage from competing private insurers.

This is all about Perry setting himself up to run again for president in 2016, this time without the back surgery, pain pills, and “oops.”  Of course, if he does need more back surgery and pain pills, no problem.  He has health insurance.

But ultimately I believe Perry, and other refusenik governors like Rick Scott of Florida, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, will cave.  They will be under too much pressure from their hospitals and their citizens will not be pleased to watch so much federal money flowing to other states.

 

Mitt Accuses Santorum of “2016 Game”

One of Mitt’s finance co-chairman, Wayne Berman emails an anti-Santorum diatribe:

“There is a keen awareness in the party, particularly among fund raisers and elected officials, that Santorum is playing to hurt Romney so that Romney loses.  Santorum sees himself as the nominee in 2016, and he’s playing a 2016 game. You wouldn’t continue to rip at Romney and tear at Romney and try to damage Romney if you were playing the normal, second-place game. The normal second-place approach is to rally around the nominee and become part of the leadership of the party.

“If Republicans lose…you are the leading contender the next time. … You have a legitimate contender who lost and who is staying in to try to engineer a general election loss for the nominee for their [sic] own personal agenda. And that narrative is being broadly discussed in the party. It’s helping Governor Romney with electeds, with party people, with donors and with voters.”  Emphasis added.

Very tough talk.  Berman didn’t do this on his own without permission from the tippy-top.