Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Romney puts foot in mouth again: "I'm not concerned about the very poor"

According to Romney, the safety net is adequate, therefore he is only concerned about the middle class.

Except that is not true.  Medicaid is inadequate, as a state-operated / joint federally- and state-funded program, which does not fully protect all people who live under poverty.  There are limits to the number of people who are allowed to enroll each year, because of funding limits.  There are time limits, too.

And the biggest barrier is that you need to find participating providers who accept Medicaid recipients.  For instance, few dentists actually accept Medicaid, leaving children out in the cold, so to speak.

But to witness the obvious shortfalls of the American safety net for the poor, all you need to do is read story after story after story about free medical treatment programs, just right here in Portland Oregon.  And they're very popular, with hundreds of people lined up waiting to get access to doctors and dentists.

CNN Money covers the shortfalls of the safety net that Romney does not seem to understand.

And WaPo's Erik Wemple covers the lacking response to Romney's disconnect.

Romney reminds me of Ronald Reagan who infamously said, "People who are sleeping on the grates... are homeless by choice."

It may be time for a remake of Soylent Green.

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