AS I WAS SAYING

(h/t Atrios)

Baggers have a remarkable ability to keep 2 contradictory actions apart, usually in relation to the safety net. They seem to believe that they are in the protected class of "the deserving poor" but almost no one else is, as Richard Mayhew of Balloon Juice observes:

Talking Points Memo is highlighting one of the Arkansas legislaturers who wants to defund Obamacare in Arkansas by turning down free money that allows Medicaid expansion eligible people to buy policies on the Exchanges.

More than a decade ago, Arkansas Rep. Josh Miller (R) was in a catastrophic car accident that broke his neck and left him paralyzed. Medicare and Medicaid paid the $1 million bill for his hospitalization and rehabilitation.

Okay, the safety net caught him.  It worked as intended and evidently, Mr. Miller has been able to do something with his life.  This sounds like a win.

[snip]

 In a pre-PPACA world, Mr. Miller is uninsurable on the private market.  If he was too poor to buy a plan on the Exchange, he would qualify for Medicaid in roughly half the country.  The other half are governed by sadists.

But this week, as the Arkansas legislature has debated continuing its privatized Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, Miller has remained steadfast in his opposition…

The difference, he said, is that some of the 100,000 people who have gained coverage through Arkansas’s Medicaid expansion don’t work hard enough or just want access to the program so they can purchase and abuse prescription drugs.

“My problem is two things,” Miller said. “One, we are giving it to able-bodied folks who can work … and two, how do we pay for it?”