More compassionate conservatism in action

[cornermouse]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/editorialcommentary/story/563116E67CECE0E38625706A00324A64?OpenDocument

MISSOURI'S MEDICAID SHAME: Waging war on the working poor Hard times in Theodosia

PEGGY BISHOP was raised among the hills and hollows of Ozark County, hard by the Arkansas line. It's never been an easy life. It's about to get harder.

On Thursday, Mrs. Bishop will lose Medicaid. She faces a choice: Find a way to do without bottled oxygen, which she gulps through a small hole in her throat just above her collarbone, or find $326 in a monthly budget already stretched beyond the breaking point.

Tens of thousands of poor Missourians will lose access this week to what Gov. Matt Blunt calls our "generous social welfare programs." Most are no better off than Mrs. Bishop, 57, and her 68-year-old husband, Ken. Some have it worse.

Like an old fir that's seen too many storms, Mrs. Bishop's back is bowed and her shoulders hunched. But her pride is made of iron..

The story continues, but the fact is that she is far from being alone. There are a lot of other people in her situation. I don't know how Matt Blunt and the republican party expect people to survive without things like oxygen, but apparently they do. Then again, maybe they don't.

[fasttense]

1. Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses?

Oh wait, she would need oxygen there too. Never mind.

[Waya]

2. Ah, the Compassion....

...of these people just warms my heart. They've taken our Jobs, affordable healthcare, etc - now they take the air we need to breathe, literally. And the people that steal medical essentials from the poor, are the ones the poor pay for to have a doctor at their side every time they have indigestion, or fall off their mountain bike - for life.
Parasites, the whole lot of them. How long are we're gonna let the 'Elite' terrorize us?

[cornermouse]

6. Not only are they taking away batteries for electric wheelchairs

they're also taking away walkers. Does any of this reflect christianity?

By the way, what if any, church does Blunt grace with his presence? Enquiring minds want to know which church to avoid.

[Waya]

7. Well,....

...the li'l prick is a Southern Baptist - surprise, surprise - and attends a Baptist Chruch 'near their home' with his wife.

[Waya]

8. Bass Chapel Baptist Church, Missouri

:evilgrin:

[greekspeak]

9. I know where that church is...it is just east of Springfield

I am sure that most people in that church are so conservative it would make your head spin

[cornermouse]

10. Southern Baptist?

Figures.

[emanymton]

3. Republican Answer: Why Does She Hate America?

We can't make money off her, we don't need her anymore.



Bush Lied. People Died. Media Cheered

[Waya]

4. So, naturally,....

...we take her oxygen away. That'll learn her........ I get it now - makes sense.:sarcasm:

[RazzleCat]

5. Everyone Should be Watching Missouri

We have the most Draconian cuts in our social welfare. Just about every one has lost their government medical. We are becoming the "test state" of what happens when you remove all of the safety net. I shudder to think where I would be right now if I had not found a job. My state sucks.
"This year, about 90,000 residents who rely on the state-federal health insurance program are expected to lose their benefits. The first 65,000 cases saw a partial or complete loss of coverage July 1." link

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050828/NEWS01/508280382

[Desert Liberal]

11. Having a job is not always the panacea the Rethugs would have

us believe. I have a job (40 hrs a week) and I cannot even begin to afford the insurance. It's something like $65 a week (just for me, family coverage is about $88). I barely make ends meet now and am going back to school. Why couldn't asshole Blunt at least try to enforce those child support orders I have before he took my medical care? Now if I get ill, my family is in serious trouble. I am the sole earner and provider. Blunt has never had to live hand-to-mouth like most of us do.
I hope Missouri is waking up to what these people really are.

[bigfootme]

12. Well unfortunately

The scenario that you just described has just happened to me. I am a single working mother who gets no aid but works two jobs to keep the bills paid and a roof over our heads, neither of which has insurance.

I became ill over this past year and couldn't even get a doctor to look at me because I didn't have the money as I am spending like an extra $100 a month now in gas to get to and from work. I coughed up last month's utility money to get the doctor at the University Hospital clinic in Columbia where I live to see and test me.

After the tests other than telling me that I needed surgery and had a disease along with a thyroid condition that might be contributing to the fatigue that has me in the bed about every minute that I am not working, he wouldnt talk to me without me seeing a counselor. As it turned out it was a financial counselor who wanted to know how I was going to pay. They suggested that I go to the Medicaid people but that was a no go because anyone in Missouri with one child who makes over $134 per month is not eligible for any assistance at all. In fact the only way I can get any help is to quit my job and then of course they won't help you if you quit your job either.

I have figured out though that BabyBlunt has not cut the services off to the blind so if I gouge my own eyes out they may well help me. All I can do for now is keep on working as long as I can and I don't know what will happen once I get to the point that I am not able to anymore.

[xmas74]

13. Same here.

I need to have a few things checked out. A friend is a nurse and she suspects that I might have endometriosis and also wants me to have a small lump on my left breast checked(I've been diagnosed w/ fibrocystic breasts in the past but it's still something that should be checked again). And I have a lump on the bottom of my foot that should be checked by a podiatrist. I have no insurance. I'm a single parent. My child currently qualifies for MC+ but I'm afraid that she won't for much longer. I can't afford to go to the doctor so I'm sitting here wondering if the lump will go away on its own or not right now. And, since I work, I don't qualify for any kind of assistance.

[Cassandra]

14. Here's another link.

http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2005/10/nightmare-in-missouri.html

"Mark,

Are you in touch with journalists looking for an issue to research and write about?

The new prominence of Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO) suggests to me that some coverage of his son, Matt, the first term Gov of Missouri. might be of national interest.

Young Blunt has waged a terrorist campaign here in terms of governmental services. "You got State support for a wheelchair because you have last stage MS? Tough! Give it back. Crawl on the floor."

The wreckage is almost impossible to describe.

I am in touch with people here who could provide a first-hand glimpse of "conservatism" at its godawful worst."

What the hell is going on in Missouri?