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a modest proposal
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 5:19 am
by earendel
(With apologies to Jonathan Swift)
Here's an idea - let's take all those able-bodied people that have to find work in order to keep their Medicaid and put them to work to replace the undocumented workers that do construction jobs and pick fruits and vegetables.
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 5:29 am
by earendel
earendel wrote: ↑Thu Jul 03, 2025 5:19 am
(With apologies to Jonathan Swift)
Here's an idea - let's take all those able-bodied people that have to find work in order to keep their Medicaid and put them to work to replace the undocumented workers that do construction jobs and pick fruits and vegetables.
I thought this was a satirical statement, but evidently Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, seriously put forth a similar proposal. On July 8 she was quoted as saying:
“There will be no amnesty,” Rollins said Tuesday during an event at USDA headquarters highlighting the administration’s efforts to strengthen farm and national security policy. “The mass deportations continue, but in a strategic way, and we move the workforce towards automation and 100 percent American participation. With 34 million people, able-bodied adults on Medicaid, we should be able to do that fairly quickly.”
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:45 pm
by flockofseagulls104
We required able-bodied welfare recipients to work during the Clinton Years. Why do you think this is satirical?
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2025 5:22 am
by earendel
flockofseagulls104 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:45 pm
We required able-bodied welfare recipients to work during the Clinton Years. Why do you think this is satirical?
In a nutshell, the problem is that most of those Medicaid recipients live in urban areas, while the farms are not. I doubt that many of those recipients don't have the money to move across country from New York to California.
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 5:12 pm
by Beebs52
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2025 11:06 am
by Weyoun
It's head scratching to think that people don't work so they can get health care - many people, especially, the poor, don't go to doctors, especially when they are younger.
What's the idea of having people pick tomatoes to get health care? The youngest and most abled bodied won't see the need. Some of the young with children would have difficulty picking tomatoes and raising kids.
The older, and those with more significant health problems, won't have the health to do so.
It's the usual punish the poor and assume they are all lazy. But when they don't have health care, they will wind up getting more sick, and since it's not paid for, they'll just raise the prices of YOUR insurance, and take up more beds in YOUR neighborhood hospital.
It's cutting off your nose to spite the poor, and it's very on brand for Trump.
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2025 8:09 am
by earendel
That's percentages, not actual numbers. 34% of 1000, for example, is much smaller than 10% of 1,000,000. The states with high percentages are not the populous states.
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2025 12:18 pm
by BackInTex
Weyoun wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 11:06 am
It's head scratching to think that people don't work so they can get health care - many people, especially, the poor, don't go to doctors, especially when they are younger.
What's the idea of having people pick tomatoes to get health care? The youngest and most abled bodied won't see the need. Some of the young with children would have difficulty picking tomatoes and raising kids.
The older, and those with more significant health problems, won't have the health to do so.
It's the usual punish the poor and assume they are all lazy. But when they don't have health care, they will wind up getting more sick, and since it's not paid for, they'll just raise the prices of YOUR insurance, and take up more beds in YOUR neighborhood hospital.
It's cutting off your nose to spite the poor, and it's very on brand for Trump.
Everything should be free, right? Or just for those who don't work, which means those working pay for everyone, plus themselves (which is the same if it is "free" for everyone). We'll see how that works out. Or we can look to history for examples.
Re: a modest proposal
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2025 8:01 am
by Weyoun
BackInTex wrote: ↑Mon Jul 14, 2025 12:18 pm
Weyoun wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 11:06 am
It's head scratching to think that people don't work so they can get health care - many people, especially, the poor, don't go to doctors, especially when they are younger.
What's the idea of having people pick tomatoes to get health care? The youngest and most abled bodied won't see the need. Some of the young with children would have difficulty picking tomatoes and raising kids.
The older, and those with more significant health problems, won't have the health to do so.
It's the usual punish the poor and assume they are all lazy. But when they don't have health care, they will wind up getting more sick, and since it's not paid for, they'll just raise the prices of YOUR insurance, and take up more beds in YOUR neighborhood hospital.
It's cutting off your nose to spite the poor, and it's very on brand for Trump.
Everything should be free, right? Or just for those who don't work, which means those working pay for everyone, plus themselves (which is the same if it is "free" for everyone). We'll see how that works out. Or we can look to history for examples.
About 2/3 of the people on Medicaid already work.
Summer too sick to work or have other things going on like caring for other people.
The idea that folks would just be bums for free healthcare is a little curious. Maybe if a paycheck every month, I could understand your argument, but free healthcare? Not really. And if you’re conflating all that, you don’t understand the problem you’ve created for those who get sick, or our healthcare system.