Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 08:22 AM Aug 2012

NYT: Romney's Hollow Plan: Dump It on the States

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/opinion/romneys-plan-dump-it-on-the-states.html?_r=1

Dump It on the States
Published: August 24, 2012 253 Comments


snip//

Mr. Romney has a long list of other core federal functions that he wants to dump onto the states. He has proposed offloading Medicaid and food stamps by writing a sharply reduced check to the states to take care of the health and nutrition needs of poor people. He wants to repeal health care reform and let the states design their own programs for the uninsured (or not).

He wants to turn over federal job-training programs to the states, let them design their own unemployment insurance programs and give them a bigger role in designing immigration controls. (Of course, he is strongly opposed to giving the states flexibility in their welfare programs, lest they give money to a low-income family that isn’t working up to Republican standards.)

Don’t be fooled by his claims that states can perform these vital functions “more efficiently” than Washington. They can’t. Battered by the downturn, states can barely perform the core functions they have. They have been laying off teachers and school personnel by the tens of thousands, cutting services to the poor past the bone and falling far behind on needed public works.

Mr. Romney is really saying that education and safety-net programs are so low on his priority list that he doesn’t care what states do with them. If a blue state wants to pay for an adequate Medicaid and food stamp program, it is free to do so. But many red states care more about low taxes, and will not pay a price, no matter how much residents suffer. Many states are likely to compete in a race to the bottom to drive the poor into other states with governments that have a more enlightened sense of their role.

snip//

Mr. Romney wants to put these programs on the backs of state governments he knows cannot handle the load, then reduce the resources they have now. That may thrill a few die-hard opponents of government, but it could have disastrous consequences.
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
NYT: Romney's Hollow Plan: Dump It on the States (Original Post) babylonsister Aug 2012 OP
This is not just evil, but short-sighted evil at that. Jackpine Radical Aug 2012 #1
It is a Republican mantra that the states know best... CBHagman Aug 2012 #2
why isn't this an unfunded mandate? central scrutinizer Aug 2012 #3
No, not "it could have disastrous consequences." Zoeisright Aug 2012 #4
That's just what he did in Massachusetts, dumping state functions on cities & towns. Fozzledick Aug 2012 #5
I bet this man Out sources his shitting time if he could Heather MC Aug 2012 #6

Jackpine Radical

(45,274 posts)
1. This is not just evil, but short-sighted evil at that.
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 08:36 AM
Aug 2012

It's often said among psychologists that the main difference between a Ken Lay/Bernie Madoff-style psychopath and the ordinary high PCL-R street criminal lies in their ability to delay gratification and not act on their immediate impulses.

But among .001%ers like Romney & the Koch Brothers, it's clear that the urge to grab everything is pretty overwhelming & they never read their Macchiavelli, who advised the Prince to leave the peasants enough so they wouldn't be driven to desperate acts like Jacqueries. The peasants were recognized as the goose, as it were, and the Prince was advised not to kill it in a quest for all the golden eggs at once.

These people we're dealing with are less enlightened than the evil men for whom ol' Niccolo was writing. They are smash & grab types, willing to bring the species to an end and ruin the biosphere if doing so somehow helps them pile up a little more lucre.

CBHagman

(16,968 posts)
2. It is a Republican mantra that the states know best...
Sun Aug 26, 2012, 08:57 AM
Aug 2012

...and so they propose capping and block granting funds for programs that serve the disadvantaged. If that worked so brilliantly, why do rates of insurance coverage vary across the states, to say nothing of infant mortality?

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»NYT: Romney's Hollow Pla...