Friday, June 5, 2015

Smoking Gun Memo Shows TDEC "Upper Management" Ordered Staff to Give Special Treatment to GOP Rep...Crockett Buzz

screen_shot_2015-05-28_at_1.53.00_pmStudy: Medicaid expansion would have saved $190M, 220 lives

Medicaid expansion would have brought an additional $1.77 billion in federal spending and a $190 million reduction in uncompensated care, according to a new federal study.
The report, released Thursday by the White House Council of Economic Advisers examines the health and economic impact on the 22 states that did not expand Medicaid programs, including Tennessee.
Gov. Bill Haslam proposed Insure Tennessee, a plan to use Medicaid expansion funding to help provide insurance to 288,000 low-income Tennesseans. The plan, which Haslam didn't consider traditional Medicaid expansion, was twice defeated in state Senate committees.
The study used economic and health policy analyses from more than four dozen reports and papers to look at impacts on health, consumers and economies. Oregon's Medicaid lottery system, which limits the number of people who can enroll, is also evaluated.
"That evidence, which is based primarily on careful analysis of the effects of past policy decisions, is necessarily an imperfect guide to the future, and the actual effects of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act could be larger or smaller," according to the report. "But this evidence leaves no doubt that the consequences of States' decisions are far-reaching, with major implications for the health of their citizens and their economies."
It touches on the health impact of expanded coverage, estimating an additional 26,100 people would get cholesterol screenings in 2016, with an additional 40,000 undergoing a mammogram.
Regular contact with a health care provider is the best way to change behaviors that lead to chronic disease, noted Ralph Schulz, president and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber Commerce, which released a pilot study this week about workforce health in greater Nashville. LINK

Study shows lives and money saved if Insure Tennessee passed

Insure Tennessee could have saved 220 lives a year and $190 million.
That's according to a study from the White House on states that did not expand Medicaid.
"The health aspect was really our responsibility."
Republican Senator Becky Duncan Massey voted twice to keep Insure Tennessee alive.
"I felt the testimony was really indisputable that it would be better for the health of the citizens," said Massey.
But the proposal never made it out of committee. A new study by the White House Council of Economic Advisers shows what could've been:

  • 220 deaths prevented by more people seeking healthcare
  • 26,000 people getting cholesterol screenings
  • 40,000 having a mammogram. LINK

Republicans and Democrats divided on important issues for a presidential nominee

In these hyper-polarized times, it is no longer surprising when political partisans disagree vehemently about public policy issues. But in the early weeks of the race for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, another dimension of polarization is coming into view: the parties don’t even agree about which issues matter most.
Consider the findings of a recent Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll exploring the policy stances of Republican and Democratic Iowans who are registered voters and likely to attend their party’s caucuses early next year. “For each of the following issues,” a key question reads, “please tell me whether this is something you want candidates to spend a lot of time talking about or not.” Of the 20 issues on the survey list, seven received an affirmative answer from at least four out of five Republicans. Democrats also endorsed seven issues by this margin. LINK

Early voting sites axed unless more funding approved

The Davidson County Election Commission is prepared to cut the number of early voting sites in Metro's general election from 11 to one unless more funding is inserted into Mayor Karl Dean's proposed operating budget.
The election commission voted 3-2 on Wednesday to operate only one early voting site ahead of Nashville's August election — the number required by state law — if the Metro Council approves the mayor's recommended budget without changes. The budget that Dean has introduced falls $868,000 short of the funding level the commission has sought.
"In order to fill the gap, the only place we could fund what was cut was early voting," said Joan Nixon, the commission's deputy director.
But Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling, a top Dean aide, slammed the election commission, accusing it of punishing voters to enlarge its funding.
"Does the election commission have enough money to run the elections this summer?" Riebeling said. "Yes, they do. But they've chosen to punish the voters of Davidson County in order to enhance their budget. They need to reverse their position and remember that their job is to make elections accessible to the voters. To threaten early voting sites is outrageous." LINK



EPA INVESTIGATES TN REPUBLICAN REP. ANDY HOLT

Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) doesn’t care about following the rules, he doesn’t care about the safety of his neighbors, and he certainly doesn’t care about the health of the Tennessee water supply.
What does he care about? Getting special treatment and not having to play by the rules.
And now, after a long investigation, the Environment Protection Agency is holding Rep. Holt accountable. From Chris Davis writing for the Memphis Flyer:
“Well, as it turns out Holt, a former pig farmer, has been full of s**t. Pig s**t, to be precise. In fact, he’s been so full of pig s**t, when his pig s**t lagoons threatened to overflow a few years back, Holt unburdened them, allegedly releasing up to 800,000 gallons of fetid, porcine feces into nearby fields and streams. 
That’s right, nearly a million gallons of excrement dumped along the roadsides like it was a throwaway bottle or a pop top can… 
Following a lengthy investigation, the Environmental Protection Agency has finally presented Holt a “show cause” letter requesting that the Tennessee Rep., “show cause why the EPA should not take formal civil enforcement action.”…[Holt] thinks that investigations, like the one he’s been facing should be conducted at the state level where no elected official would ever be given any kind of preferential treatment… Oh… oh, wait a minute..”
Screen Shot from WTVF Investigation into Andy Holt’s pig farm (Via Memphis Flyer) showing that an investigator at Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation was told to give Andy Holt special treatment despite “several serious violations.”
Nashville’s WTVF NewsChannel 5 asked Haslam-appointed TDEC Commissioner, Robert Martineau, if Holt was getting preferential treatment. Martineau said, “No,” although, as we’ve already pointed out…[see screen shot above]
Martineau told WTVF he didn’t know who discouraged further action against Holt, or why the memo was in the file, and there is no reason in the world not to believe him.
Because everybody knows that’s the kind of memo you’re supposed to shred, am I right?”
Ladies and gentlemen, Andy Holt is the Tennessee Republican Party:
1) They expect special treatment.
2) They believe they don’t have to play by the rules.
3) They don’t care about your health and safety. LINK



Crockett Policy Institute
http://www.crockettpolicy.org/

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