Friday, February 3, 2012
Arkansas Politics Republican Burris doubles down — put poor kids to work!
Posted by Max Brantley on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 1:04 PM
It's all about Medicaid with Burris. Too bad he doesn't understand much about the program for the very poorest Arkansans. Said he to Roby Brock:
We’ve got to change the way we do business in Arkansas. The real problem, the real solution to get people off Medicaid rolls is to give them a job, make them able to self-sustain themselves without government assistance.
Only a small percentage of Medicaid recipients are able-bodied people — about 5 percent, the Democratic Party says. The rest are nursing home residents, the disabled and children.
Newt Gingrich, you've met your soulmate. John Burris appears to say:
Kids, grab a mop. There are school toilets to be swabbed.Disabled folks, mount your wheelchairs. Rep. Burris has work for you to do.
Granny and gramps, get somebody to lift you out of that nursing home bed and into a geri-chair. Maybe you can scrape plates in the cafeteria or something worthwhile.
Oh, and the rest of you in the 5 percent: I know, I know. Many of you actually ARE working. But your income is so low that you still qualify for Medicaid? How much sleep are you getting? Sleep less. Get another job, you sorry sonofabitchin' welfare fraud.
(LATE CLARIFICATION: Some people appear to have missed that I tried to signal that the passage immediately above was satirical exaggeration for effect. No, John Burris didn't utter those words, though those he did utter about curing Medicaid finances by putting those people to work were all too real.)
No kidding, Rep. Burris. Do you really have a clue about who gets government assistance and how much and in what form they receive it? And what their condition would be without the mite we supply them? This is the future of Arkansas and America if Burris becomes majority leader. Mark it down.
PS — How about John Burris get a job — besides sucking off the taxpayer teat at the Capitol?
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Comments (41)
Showing 1-41 of 41
Don't confuse 'em with the facts Max. They've always known they were right and now's there chance to show the world. Their staff think they're brilliant.
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To my earlier post I must add: totally dumb, useless and, probably, soon to rise to the top as the major turd in the thug punchbowl--a perfect example of the let them "self-sustain themselves" idiocy so prevalent in certain aspects of our modern "society". His synapse would short out if an original thought got near it.
I think he's questioning the "disabled" part of the group. Look at your own blog. There's a story on there right now about just such a thing where insurance companies are using Facebook photos to disprove someone's disability claim. Why isn't the government doing the same thing? Not to the point of denying those that rightfully need the assistance - just exposing the abusers.
Appears to say....? This article is garbage hyperbole spewwed by a partisan journalist
I believe that one can drink and party and still be in excruciating pain. I've seen it done. OOps, wrong thread. I'll go post it there too.
Small percentage of the numbers, RYOB. That's called anecdotal evidence. Not something you want to hang reality on.
Yes, Mr. Burris, we should change the way we do business in Arkansas. We should raise the minimum wage, that way many of the people who are working minimum wage jobs will have more opportunity to get out of poverty and will be less dependent on Medicaid. I'll be looking forward to you introducing such a bill in the upcoming legislative session. Let's raise the minimum wage in Arkansas by $4.00 over a four year period, sounds good to me.
>>make them able to self-sustain themselves without government assistance."
--Burris
Ut Oh. Does this mean Burris will cut off the hundreds of thousands going to
Republican Justin Harris out in West Fork? The hundreds of thousands in state money
going to Republican Key in Mt Home?
We need for "ReadYourOwnBlog" or ctk11 to explain just WHO is to get in on the
state treasury and who is to be refused.
You know whose side eLwood came down on. If you don't then follow the link...
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…
We can bring Commie China's top-down economy to the U.S. and prosper!
Wait a minute! Did anyone read anything other than the headline 'put poor kids to work'? I read the guys quote and it said 'people' not 'kids' working. Where do you see anything that refers specifically to 'kids'? Does anyone really think that he is advocating putting anyone other than 'able bodied' to work? You think that a politican is going to advocate making bed ridden seniors in nursing homes go to work? Come on! No one is that stupid. I realize Brantley knows how to throw the 'red meat' to his followers but this is too much. I have NEVER heard any conservative or Republican advocate making anyone but able bodied people who are on welfare work. Good grief!
Maybe he should walk through the Wal-Mart and ask his neighbors if they're on Medicaid or not and how it's working out for them. It shouldn't take him long.
In Boone County: 1,552 kids are on ARKIDS B.
9,800 out of 37,000 (26%) are on Medicaid. We're talking around 1 out of 4 on Medicaid up there.
31% of the population in Boone County are on a Medicaid program.
see page 40: http://humanservices.arkansas.gov/reportDo…
If he could get two thirds of the Medicaid beneficiaries and enrollees off of Medicaid in Boone County, he'd have his $27 million he was wanting to shave off the budget.
You would be surprised Max, I think 5% is way to low. I work with medicaid recipients and though a large precentage is truly disabled and unable to work. There are many who take advantage of the system, in my humble opinion I belive that the primary care physicians need to be held more accountable. You would not believe the number of doctors I deal with that just sign off on services without reading it.
I don't know anyone named Burris that isn't getting paid by the government. Just saying.
Socialist, we should be lowering the minimum wage according to the Rethugs, haven't you heard higher wages mean less employment? I say we let wages slide back to what they were in 1956 with a minimum wage of $1.00 an hour! Surely you've heard how great things were back then and we had full employment, haven't you?
Prices of goods and services and the 90% taxes on the rich would have to be reset to 1956 levels or my plan just won't work.
The Burrises are deadset against gubmint regulation and are strangling state and federal government budgets to prevent oversight and investigations .... unless the people to be regulated/investigated are not wealthy, white, (w)right-wing.
Pity the maligned job creationists; allow them to rape, pillage and burn this country to pursue their god-given destiny to own everything. Whatever they do is Good and, therefore, they should not have to trifle with regulation (unless they interfere with YOUR profit).
But a disabled vet, a bed-ridden old person, a hungry child, a woman, a minority voter? Pour in the money and regulate, investigate to the fullest extent of the law and (way) beyond! Turn off the spigots, government and private (e.g., ACORN, VA, PP) that help them to survive! Because if they were real Americans, they would be healthy and wealthy ... and owning the Burrises.
If Burris wants to save some state money, then file suit against his own Arkansas government for paying milage, per diem, and home office reimbursements. It isn't in the Arkansas Constitution and I am sure an upright (uptight?) ReTHUGlican like him would certainly want the Constitution to be the law of the state and prevent greedy people (like him)grabbng state benefits against the laws of the state.
While I am not sitting on a pile of money, would a lawyer take the case as a "whistle-blower" case against the state for a major percentage of the money the state has spent in the past 3 years on these "illegal extractions"?
"You would not believe the number of doctors I deal with that just sign off on services without reading it." anonforthis
I would argue that at least the same amount of doctors don't sign off on services because they believe like Burris. Additionally is the above statement based on medical exams or bureaucratic rule? Also the comment about "you wouldn't believe" rings the bell in my question the authority storage locker. How many times have I heard that one when trying to obtain a service.
Yep, good ol' Burris rakin' in all that gummint money and moanin' 'bout "them people on Medicaid" needin' to work. Did he say those 5% able-bodied and point out how 95% really need it? Nah! He ain't intelligent enough to clarify anything with facts; he lets his toadies cover his sorry butt with their pot full of anemic excuses.
Want to find Burris in the dictionary? Just look up hypocrite.
As long as agencies like DHS can sign folks up for a variety of "Assistance" using "PSEUDO" social security numbers for those who don't have one....who if you don't have one obviously you have never worked OR "LEGALLY" worked there is going to be abuse of the system....and lets face it when using "PSEUDO" social security numbers and common names from south of the border you can have the same person collecting numerous benefits...I know ya'll are going to "dog pile" on me for saying this and NO, it's not only folks from south of the border doing this BUT it does account for the sharp increase over the last couple of years...bury your head if you want BUT it is true.
Talk about shooting from the hip, before brain transplant has been secured, man, I tell you!! Poor little boy hasn't a clue. Now, if he'd made statements about all the fraud in those two programs and getting on top of that, but republicans are capitalists right? They want you to make as much money as possible, even if you screw the government and it's people. Listening Justin?
Ah, a new twist by 'tired of working'
IT'S THE MESSICUNS! and their "PSEUDO" numbers.
p.s. to 'tired of working'...we ain't religious. Simply saying something is true without one iota of back-up means you would believe snakes talk and bushes talk.
As I have said before, I moved to the Ozarks for the geography, not the conversation.
OK, we need some transparency in this like/dislike thing.
As with the ballot, we need an IQ test for the button.
(I will write the test.)
>>I realize Brantley knows how to throw the 'red meat' to his followers but this is too much.<<
Brantley throwing 'red meat' !
What do you think Burris is doing? Playing devil's advocate? It's election time and Repubs have one goal: say anything to win.
Hello! He is a politican. Brantley is a 'journalist'. Need I say more?
To quote the good Reverend Johnson -- Son, you're on your own.
If you could draw disability for being plumb eat up with the dumbass, he'd have gotten a nice check a couple of days ago.
noshit: "Need I say more?". Well, since you asked, NO! Rest your synapse for a year or two. Read Langston Hughes.
>>Brantley is a 'journalist'. Need I say more?<<
Yes. You do need to say more--
Say Paul Greenberg at ADG
Say Bradley Gitz at ADG
Say Mike Masterson at ADG
Say Kraut Hammer in ADG
I'll be interested in hearing more details about Rep. Burris's jobs plan for Medicaid recipients.
What kind of job would Rep. Burris recommend for, say, an 83-year old Alzheimer's patient in a nursing home? And who would provide the job?
Elwood, please, you give journalists everywhere a bad name by spouting all them names in the same post.
Dunno about 5 or 6 year old kiddies working, but iffen Burris can get some of the older deadbeats -- say 10 or 11 year olds -- a minimum wage job somewhere, I believe they WILL be off the Medicaid roles. Making waaay too much money, right? Why, if they're healthy enough, they might even be able to take care of an occasional health care bill themselves. (Hope so, 'cause they damn well can't afford health insurance and minimum wage and part-time jobs generally don't come with that perk.)
It's apparently gotten to the point where the more sensible members of the Arkansas Republican Party need to stage an intervention on Rep. Burris, and explain to him the political realities of his off-message remarks over the past couple of days. The key to reducing the Medicaid roles is to encourage savings by able-bodied workers, not to require nursing home patients to get jobs. And workers need a better way to increase their earnings and savings, despite the wide range of opinions about how to achieve that. Why do I have to think of everything?
plainjim, if he is 27, why does he spout off such stupid comments like he has just reached 7. Most people who are stupid, at least have enough brain cells to know when to keep their mouths shut. Maybe, I miscounted his!
There are times cbb that the urge to open one's mouth far exceed what comes out as a coherent thought. Then again, the wife is right, you can't fix stupid.
doigotta, the "penny" entry is spam. The AT blog is hit by spammers regularly. If an entry is suspicious, copy a 5 or 6 word section of the message and plug it into a search. You'll see multiple hits.
Hit the word "report" beneath the message icon to report the spammer and usually it gets Maxxed out ... not always.
Notice the clever, astute questions Roby Brock asks. Critical but fair! Notice how he never lets the politician get away with misleading or inaccurate statements. Notice how he is not afraid to hold the politician to account and how courageously he speaks truth to power. This is a news program that will never be abused for political propaganda!
(Also see http://arkansasmediawatch.wordpress.com/20…)
"No work, no eat" applies to EVERYONE.
I have NEVER seen a greater example of GOVERNMENT CODDLING than school lunches. If they do not have food, it will make them WORK HARDER to get the money.
It is NOT our responsibility to REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH to children.
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