The tea party wins – a good thing for the wrong reasons
The Michigan Senate adjourned today for their 2013 spring break without acting on the state-run health insurance exchange allowed under the Affordable Care Act. Governor Rick Snyder said today was the last day to pass the needed legislation so the result is that the federal government will run the exchange on our behalf.
By doing so, Michigan will now have to cough up $8 million taxpayer dollars to link to the federal exchange. Somehow I guess this is considered “fiscally responsible” in the down-is-up world of Republicans.
I had once thought a state-run exchange would be to Michigan’s advantage. However, having pondered it more and having watched the tea party-led ideologues in the Michigan legislature act in countless ways that harm so many of my fellow Michiganders, I now see this as a good thing. Additionally, many argue that a national network of such exchanges is an important first step toward a national single-payer health care system.
For those reasons, I applaud my tea party friends for their tenacity in this matter. They don’t realize it but they just gave progressives (and Michigan citizens) a gift. And for all of the wrong reasons.
UDPATE: Here’s the obligatory “dancing in the endzone” email from the Tea Party of West Michigan:
**** GREAT NEWS ****
****Very Very Important****The Michigan Senate just adjourned until April 9th without passing HB 4111 which would have ushered in ObamaCare by setting up an exchange in Michigan. This now forces the Feds to set it up but they did not fund themselves to do so. The State Exchange is now dead in Michigan!!!
WE WON!!!
The only thing that will save it is for Obama to come back with another bribe and another extension on the deadline, which has happened before but as of right now, the tea party and others have stopped this thing dead dog dead in Michigan!!! The deadline for passage is April 1 and they are adjourned until April 9th so they won’t have an opportunity to vote on it until after the deadline which will be too late.
Medicaid expansion looks just as dead as that money was not appropriated in the House Budget!!!
This is a great day for Michigan. Now if we can keep the US House from funding the Federal Exchange we have a chance to starve ObamaCare!
Thank you again for all your calls to your Michigan House and Senate members. It couldn’t have happened without you. I’ll keep you posted if I get wind of anything swirling in the water. For now, it’s time to take a deep breath.
These maroons don’t even realize they have shot themselves in the foot with both barrels.
(Oh, and “swirling in the water”??? Eeeew.)
[Photo by Chris Savage | Eclectablog]
