Contradicting your own political beliefs for personal gain must be exhausting. Pat Powers got so worn out this week advocating government intrusion in health care that we heard nothing from him between Friday afternoon and this Sunday morning, when he has so far only posted his usual commentless Dear Leader press releases.
Pat’s last poor-wonderful-me post talked about how exhausted he was from lobbying for Senate Bill 190. The official title of SB 190 declares the bill’s intent to “clarify health coverage for applied behavior analysis, and to establish the Applied Behavior Analysis Provider Workgroup.” Permit me to channel the conservative South Dakota blogosphere to explain what that means:
- SB 190 forces private insurers to cover health services that free market forces have thus far said they should not.
- SB 190 fixes minimum amounts that insurers must pay to their policyholders instead of allowing customers to choose amounts of coverage that suit their medical and financial needs.
Now don’t get me wrong: Senate Bill 190 is a fine idea. While its sponsors were exclusively Republican, it represents a principle that I have advocated in my Democratic blogging for a decade: we have the right and obligation to check the free market with wise government intervention to help our neighbors.
However, if we were talking about any product other than health insurance, or any disease other than autism—or, heaven forbid, if we were talking about the Affordable Care Act, which has imposed a variety of mandates on private insurance for the general welfare—Pat Powers would would churning out press releases accusing legislators of Communism, un-Americanism, vegetarianism, and any other –ism he could nefarize into an attack on humane, community-minded policymakers.
But, just like last year, since we’re talking about a disease Pat cares about, policy, principle, and past blog performance go out the window, and politics becomes all about just getting what Pat wants.
Demonize opponents for proposing X, then do X to help yourself—I think Pat just epitomized the entire South Dakota Republican approach to politics. Well done, Pat. Well done.
Pat Powers advocating selective socialism? That just can’t be.
Pat is actually being very consistent in his promotion of this.
The South Dakota GOP uses the Free Market as a beard for their selective socialism. Take a look at all of the crony contracts that tap the populace for the benefit of the few, the proud, the moneyed.
In their eyes the many should underwrite the few.
Now, Pat Powers, tell us why we shouldn’t expand medicaid to help so many who have medical needs, much like your daughter’s autism. Please continue.
Mastering hypocrisy must be an official plank in the GOP platform.
I think if one traces this bill back to its real roots, you will find Democrats advocating it first. The R’s jumped on it after they realized it may be a good idea….
Curious that while one of us is working feverishly to kill SDWC, Cory links to it as if to breathe life into a corpse.
cory has to stay in business and kudos for him. he defends dicta yet bitches out coyote. his interests differ from each of ours but we can all swim in the same dem sea, as long as he does not go back to being a republican for utilitarian purposes.
no offense intended cory. this is a big job you have undertaken. just this session’s coverage has been unprecedented, from my limited perspective, and just wait; next time SDGOP will have a major adversarial presence.
….. Old Major leading the SOW’s (selfish overprivileged whites) on a medical issue close to himself? Mr. Powers, you’re exposed sir by the Geo. Orwell of Aberdeen. :0)
A hearty congratulations Porter, that self-righteous mouth of South Dakota Sibson has called you out on his blog.
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For Kathy Tyler-
Mr. kurtz, I think that Mr. H links to the Dakota War college to mock at PP futilely. But it is good to hear you admit you dream of Mr. PP and you spend all your waking hours trying to undermine his good fortune and name. Rest assured, you sir remain better looking even in your khaki shorts and leather jesus sandals.
George Orwell of Aberdeen? I’m honored, Porter.
I wonder which I should aspire to: Orwell or Father Robert Haire?
The only true consistency of the GOP mindset is their endless commitment to the “Holy Dollar” and profit, the potential saving of tax dollars, and the further limiting of any enhanced forms of taxation, which is the true mantra of the affluent and those who dream of becoming a member of such.
In this context, this position is not a contradiction to them. They will say or do anything to protect the affluent. Even if elements of their class are negatively affected by particular legislation in order to benefit the overall whole of the affluent class by keeping taxes down as an example.
A classic example is the Medicare part D position of the GOP some ten years ago. It was an example of socialism with a blank check which guaranteed the drug industry’s future coffers with the help of a monetary capability (deficit spending and no new taxes needed) which state governments do not have, which afforded the national GOP a continual economic consistency in their mindset of pro-profit and a collateral political gain with the masses who are less affluent; then the ACA claim along and only the political voice of the then minority GOP party was heard in an attempt to hopefully regain power once again, but if in power, the economic wing of their mindset once again comes into play to protect the overall interests of the affluent with “trickle-down” benefits at best to the masses regardless of the philosophical inconsistencies of the GOPs apparent economic/political acts.
The Right is always for socialism if they can profit from it. Watch their eventual acts not their initial talk…..
Pat Powers a hypocrite? Say it ain’t so!
Nobody could think higher of Pat Powers than I do and I think he is a troublemaker, a rumor monger and an all-around pretty poor excuse for a man. He often acts like and angry, spoiled boy.
But I do R-E-S-P-E-C-T how that man can put away the food at the little Brookings Chinese buffet! That is something to behold.