Facing $1 billion deficit, Arizona sharply limits welfare

seebell said:

In Alabama proof of citizenship for medicaid has been required since 2006.

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I agree with you Bamacon that these problems didn't happen overnight and that the ruling elites of both parties share the blame.

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Tidewater said:

Hmm. The Department of Destroying America, er, the Department of Justice must be asleep at the switch. Maybe the SPLC has not discovered this yet and filed suit to stop Alabama from spending American money on Americans.

Wow. That's the closest I have every heard you to criticizing the Democrats. Now, yer lernin' boyo.

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seebell said:

Hawaii is shutting down its state exchange and using the federal exchange. Make sense and saves them money.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/06/hawaii-health-insurance_n_7524426.html

Hawaii's health insurance exchange announced on Friday that it will be shutting down, and its nearly 40,000 enrollees will be transitioned to the federal Obamacare marketplace, Healthcare.gov.
The private, nonprofit Hawaii Health Connector, which has been embattled from its inception, has not generated “sufficient revenues to sustain operations,” according tothe office of Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D).
The state invested $130 million in the Connector, but the exchange has been plagued by low enrollment numbers and technological issues, making it noncompliant with the federal requirements outlined in the Affordable Care Act.
“It was a failed project," state Sen. Sam Slom (R) told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "It was a boondoggle from the very beginning, and our residents deserve better than that.”

Seebell says: Nitwit Republican state policies had a lot to do with it. They cut taxes to the bone, mainly on the wealthy, and expected to grow their way out of the hole. Didn't work and in fact became a disaster in several states.

As far as medicaid being by far the biggest expenditure in each state you might find the linked table informative. Seems like medicaid is the largest in only two states.

http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-of-general-fund-spending/

In Alabama proof of citizenship for medicaid has been required since 2006.

http://medicaid.alabama.gov/CONTENT/3.0_apply/3.1_General_Information.aspx

• Citizenship and Identity Information - Effective July 1, 2006, Public Law No. 109-171 Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 Section 6036 requires individuals to provide satisfactory documentary evidence of citizenship or nationality when initially applying for Medicaid or upon a recipient's first Medicaid re-determination.

I agree with you Bamacon that these problems didn't happen overnight and that the ruling elites of both parties share the blame.

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lazlohollyfeld said:

Just to be clear, are you referring to nitwit Republican state policies in Hawaii?

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selmaborntidefan said:

Yes, this can be traced back to Ronald Reagan, of course.

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Silverback said:

I live in Rural Alabama and I have noticed that I see a LOT of Alabama EBT cards being used and the people using them are the ones who spout "conservative values" and I cannot keep track of the "conservatives" who are "disabled" and collecting benefits. People in this state need to walk the walk as well as they talk the talk.

I would say the gambling bill would help but the only time anyone pays attention to positive income flow is on Sunday.

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Displaced Bama Fan said:

I'll bite. In fact, I agree with Silverback (yes, the world may be coming to an end.) Some relatives (by marriage) did something similar after Katrina. The government was giving away generators. Instead of doing the right thing and just buying one, they went and got a "free" one because "they were going to get theirs." I was disgusted to say the least.

When Katrina was coming, I went and bought a generator and a window AC unit. I don't want help unless I truly need it. They could have done without or certainly could have purchased their generator as they have plenty of money. The so called conservatives have blurred the line like Silverback mentioned with disability claims, etc. I'm not saying there aren't people who need it, but again, is it really the government's responsibility to provide that sort of "welfare" to begin with? NO! What happened to family taking care of family? Churches taking care of parishioners and neighbors taking care of neighbors?

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Bodhisattva said:

The government solution: no one gets a generator and no one gets a profit.

Sounds about par for the course.

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Bodhisattva said:

The government solution: no one gets a generator and no one gets a profit.

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Bodhisattva said:

Your post reminded me of another government policy which made things worse. An enterprising individual bought dozens of generators (his risk) and drove to the area hit by the hurricane and offered to sell his generators at a (gasp) profit. The government stepped in, conficasted the generators, and fined the guy for price gouging (whatever that means).

Had the government left things alone, many entrepreneurs would have followed this guy's lead. Many people who wanted generators (no one was forced to buy them) could have had them. Prices would have come down as more generators were supplied. Everyone wins. (Notice how quickly the entrepreneur supplies a need while the government has ice trucks driving all over the country.)

The government solution: no one gets a generator and no one gets a profit.

Sounds about par for the course.

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