For several reasons, it is an appalling statistic; the government of about half of the states, by blocking the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion, are denying insurance to 3.7 million people with mental illness and substance abuse conditions. It is estimated that about 50% of uninsured people could benefit from health coverage. These frivolous figures, they come from a reliable source: the #American Health Counselors Association. The fact that people with mental health problems is so prevalent in society is shocking. Think of the public outrage if disease of some other organ, such as the liver, was involved in this proportion of the population. Perhaps that is an unfair comparison because we include both organic disease and bad behavior, which is something we do not do with the “liver health” but still shocking.
Another reason the mental numbers are appalling is that a large number of politicians in the states that oppose the expansion of Obamacare call for the government to increased resource for mental health. To me this represents a blatant conflict of logic commonly encountered in politics. However, if is you step back and analyze what is happening, you will see that it is the magic two-step so often encountered in Republican circles. This is the kind of sin twisting #Joe Scarborough loves to do on his show, Morning Joe (MSNBC).
This morning the subject taken up Joe and his sycophants was that Republican candidates should be more “discipline” in their campaign rhetoric; “They should recognize that rhetoric matters”. Parse that statement. What they are saying is that you should not say what you really truly believe but say only what the people want to hear. This brings to mind a revealing discovery concerning how the brain works (Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman). If I prime you with information about a how healthy it would be if you ate a certain vegetable that you truly did not like. Then give you the same lecture about a vegetable you truly did like, followed by asking you to say “good” or “bad “ as quickly as you can when I show you a picture of each of the vegetable in question. You may well respond to the questions by saying good for both; however, the discovery was that it takes you longer to respond if you are lying.
I feel that if I asked the governors of those states if they wanted to block Medicare expansion Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion and then ask them if they wanted the government to increased resource for mental health, I could get at the truth by measuring their delay in answering. I surmise that it would take considerable longer for them to say yes to favor increase spending for mental health care then agreeing with the idea of blocking Obamacare. Rhetoric matters and they know it. To take the vote getting position of saying they want to take care of the mentally ill is against their nature; it is altruism; therefore, they lie if they agree but have to take the time to figure out that it might be best not to tell what they really feel. Blocking Obamacare is consistent with their nature; it is greed or conservatism; therefore, they are telling the truth.
All of this might be a little easier understand if you consider the question, “do you like to pay taxes” after giving them a long lectures on civic duty. I would love to see the result of asking Republicans, after properly framing the question; who should be the leader in the family, the husband, or wife; inquire about race in terms of “separate but equal” verses segregation; solicit a response to who should be able to vote; question if Muslims should be allowed to live in the United States; and should they build a mosque near the World Trade Center site. I would really like to know what they truly believe because, as Joe guardedly said this morning, republicans should not tell the truth if their true beliefs cost them votes; after all, winning is everything. Once elected, they can do what they truly believe because the people cannot take back their votes: look at Govs. #Chris Christie, #Pat McCrory and #Scott Walker.
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Another reason the mental numbers are appalling is that a large number of politicians in the states that oppose the expansion of Obamacare call for the government to increased resource for mental health. To me this represents a blatant conflict of logic commonly encountered in politics. However, if is you step back and analyze what is happening, you will see that it is the magic two-step so often encountered in Republican circles. This is the kind of sin twisting #Joe Scarborough loves to do on his show, Morning Joe (MSNBC).
This morning the subject taken up Joe and his sycophants was that Republican candidates should be more “discipline” in their campaign rhetoric; “They should recognize that rhetoric matters”. Parse that statement. What they are saying is that you should not say what you really truly believe but say only what the people want to hear. This brings to mind a revealing discovery concerning how the brain works (Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman). If I prime you with information about a how healthy it would be if you ate a certain vegetable that you truly did not like. Then give you the same lecture about a vegetable you truly did like, followed by asking you to say “good” or “bad “ as quickly as you can when I show you a picture of each of the vegetable in question. You may well respond to the questions by saying good for both; however, the discovery was that it takes you longer to respond if you are lying.
I feel that if I asked the governors of those states if they wanted to block Medicare expansion Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion and then ask them if they wanted the government to increased resource for mental health, I could get at the truth by measuring their delay in answering. I surmise that it would take considerable longer for them to say yes to favor increase spending for mental health care then agreeing with the idea of blocking Obamacare. Rhetoric matters and they know it. To take the vote getting position of saying they want to take care of the mentally ill is against their nature; it is altruism; therefore, they lie if they agree but have to take the time to figure out that it might be best not to tell what they really feel. Blocking Obamacare is consistent with their nature; it is greed or conservatism; therefore, they are telling the truth.
All of this might be a little easier understand if you consider the question, “do you like to pay taxes” after giving them a long lectures on civic duty. I would love to see the result of asking Republicans, after properly framing the question; who should be the leader in the family, the husband, or wife; inquire about race in terms of “separate but equal” verses segregation; solicit a response to who should be able to vote; question if Muslims should be allowed to live in the United States; and should they build a mosque near the World Trade Center site. I would really like to know what they truly believe because, as Joe guardedly said this morning, republicans should not tell the truth if their true beliefs cost them votes; after all, winning is everything. Once elected, they can do what they truly believe because the people cannot take back their votes: look at Govs. #Chris Christie, #Pat McCrory and #Scott Walker.
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