Earlier this month, the Houston Chronicle’s editorial staff
released an opinion article titled, “A
Texas Trail to Nowhere.” Though the author’s name is not mentioned in the
reading, he or she clearly wrote the article with a predominantly democratic
audience in mind. The author talks about how Governor Rick Perry hates
Obamacare so much that he had no problem turning down a federal subsidy that
would have provided Medicaid to almost 2 million Texans who need it the most.
They also go on to point out that “Republicans argue that
Medicaid is a broken system. But if Texas Medicaid is broken, it's because
Texas broke it. Our state, not the feds, controls matters such as the amount
doctors are paid, the complexity of the paperwork involved and efforts to crack
down on fraud. If Texas wanted to fix Medicaid, it could.”
I too have to agree with the author’s argument. This is an
issue which could be properly addressed if Texas really wanted to. But with
Perry turning down free money and denying assistance to his own people in need,
it becomes quite clear that there is no desire to improve the situation at that
level. And just as the author suggests, Perry’s arrogance leaves our “federal
tax dollars to subsidize Medicaid expansion in other states but not [even] our
own,” which just leaves us behind on a dead end road.
The author chooses to end the article on a hopeful note –
that maybe, just maybe, the reasoning behind all this is that Perry might have
some better ideas stashed away for providing Americans’ healthcare at the presidential
level. I seriously doubt it, but let’s hope he does have something good up his
sleeve to redeem himself.
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