I was listening to Thom Hartmann on Sirius XM Progess last night and was outraged in hearing the story of Charlene Dill, a Florida woman who would have qualified for medicaid if it had been expanded, but made too much to qualify for the existing program. Hartmann rips into Governor Rick Scott hard with a palpable sense of righteous indignation:
Florida Governor Rick Scott is now officially a killer, and Charlene Dill is one of his victims. Charlene Dill was a hardworking Florida woman, who moved down to Florida when she was just 18 years old. To help make ends meet, Charlene worked at various fast food restaurants, at Disney World, and even cleaned houses and babysat. As the years went by, Charlene found herself, as a single mother, struggling to raise 3 children.
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Then Charlene discovered she had a severe heart problems that needed to be managed. And she couldn't afford to get it treated right, because Charlene didn't have health insurance. Charlene fell into what's called the "Red State Doughnut Hole," created by Republican lawmakers like Rick Scott.
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In 2012, Charlene went to the emergency room because of a flare-up with her heart. Doctors there told her to start taking medicine, and to be routinely monitored. But she couldn't afford it, because she only made $11,000 a year and had to feed three kids, and Rick Scott wouldn't let her have the free health insurance that working poor people in every Democratically-controlled state in America have.
Rick Scott was willing to let her to die so he could score political points against President Obama.
An article at truth-out.org has the body of his on-air comments. This story has me about as worked up as any I can think of in my relatively short life of political consciousness. The disgusting and inhumane decision of Republican state legislatures and governorships to refuse the expansion of medicaid needs a face like Charlene Dill. Her blood is on their hands, and the hands of voters who put them in office. Everywhere they go they should have to face her memory, and answer the question of why they're willing to let the children of working poor live without their parents, just to take a stand against Obama.
Hartmann ended the segment with harsh words for those who consider themselves morally superior:
Republicans say that they're pro-life, but that's a bald-faced lie, because they refuse to let low-wage working Americans have access to life-saving Medicaid. If Rick Scott and his Republican buddies in the Florida legislature are really the Christians they claim they are, then they're going to burn in hell. Deservedly.
In my opinion, burning in hell is a slap on the wrist compared to the punishment they really deserve.
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