Gov. Bush heads to DC to get support for Medicaid overhaul

[ryban]

TALLAHASEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush met Wednesday with White House officials and three key Senators to outline a Medicaid overhaul he hopes will bring the growing costs of the program under control.

"There's a lot of questions, but people are very receptive," Bush said after the meetings. "There's an interest in trying to reduce the growth in Medicaid from the budget perspective. It means there's a better opportunity for reform probably now than before."

Bush wants to make the state/federal program that helps the poor more like private managed care by taking the Medicaid money the state typically gives doctors and hospitals and paying it as a premium to a managed care network to take on the patients.

Florida's Medicaid costs have grown by 88 percent since 1998 while tax dollars collected by the state have gone up only 24 percent. This year, the state is spending about $15 billion on Medicaid, or about a quarter of the total budget.

<snip>

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/030205/D88J5C900.shtml

[mattclearing]

1. Just another excuse to show Jeb in and around the White House.

eom

[whistle]

2. Bush broke it by lying about the cost , now he's going to overhaul it

...it by cutting the elderly's medicaid benefits and making taxpayers in each state carry the burden. Where is the press on this story????

[Donailin]

8. I know seriously

what an embarassment this guy is. It has gotten to the point when I can't even listen to him speak. I have to change the channel, leave the room etc. Worst president ever, worst administration ever, and the story i read this morning pretty much sums up all of them.

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/03/int05011.html

Stephen J. Ducat Dissects "Anxious Masculinity," Making Sense of America's Strutting, in a Psychoanalytic Kind of Way

A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW

I saw the Republican National Convention as essentially a hyper-masculine strut-fest. The real point of the convention was to make John Kerry their woman.... They had already done that with John Edwards by dubbing him the “Breck girl.” And Arnold Schwarzenegger went on to proclaim that any men who were anxious about the loss of jobs under the reign of George W. Bush were, as he put it, “economic girlie-men.” The inference was that Democratic candidates who were always whining about pink slips may as well be wearing pink slips.

* * *

Like a jilted lover out to prove his masculinity with a series of new conquests, our Bush regime today seem always out to prove something. They will fight any war (with or without allies). They will ram through legislation (with or without the democrats on board). They will eliminate supportive social programs (since only wimps need "safety nets"). In other words, their America is a John Wayne/Rambo/Terminator figure. But why? Recently Stephen J. Ducat, author of The Wimp Factor, talked with BuzzFlash about where this delusional and destructive mindset comes from, and how it manifests itself in our country's domestic and foreign policies. When you think about it, the right wingers have played our fears and fantasies darned well, exploiting fear on the one hand and our hopes and dreams on the other. Perhaps "anxious masculinity" played out on the world stage does help explain the right wing's virulent attitude towards Hillary Clinton, and their determination to slur Vietnam war hero John Kerry as "French." As George Lakoff has commented, "It is crucial to notice and understand the central role of a certain version of masculinity in American politics. Ducat's book helps enormously."

[Mnemosyne]

3. And who owns these managed care "networks" the $ goes to? nt

[creeksneakers2]

4. Private insurers haven't been able to

successfully compete with Medicare. Now the Bush cabal wants them to take over Medicaid?

[scarletlib]

5. Jeb in Florida + Privatization =

scew the poor.

[diamond14]

6. is jeb bringing his wife? or is jeb just 'coming' to play 'gannon' ?

I suppose jeb is staying in OUR White House, with all OUR servants catering to him.....is the Lincoln Bedroom being used by jeb/jeff?

[ryban]

7. Reason Why Jeb! Didn't Go to DC to Talk Medicaid with Other Gov's

It's funny Gov. Bush couldn't make it to DC earlier this week to talk Medicaid with the NGA.

This is from the Tuesday, March 01, 2005 edition of the Palm Beach Post.
+++++++++++++++

<snip>

In Tallahassee, Gov. Jeb Bush said he didn't attend the Washington conference because he didn't want to add to speculation about whether he planned to run for president in 2008.

<snip>

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/03/01/a2a_bushgovs_0301.html

[whistle]

9. Well fu*k Jeb Bush