Income Inequality Can Only be Solved With Something Like ObamaCare

I see this morning that the Republicans are finally going to start discussing what their replacement for  Heritage Foundation/RomneyCare/ObamaCare might look like.  It looks like it will try to deal with everything (including some things that ObamaCare did not fix like Malpractice Awards) while not having an individual or employer mandate nor separating access to health insurance from employment.  They do want to have a high risk pool which would have government assistance, which  should in turn help keep individual policies (for those without access to employer sponsored group insurance) more affordable.  That is what matters to me personally as a full cost payer.

What is interesting about the GOP proposals is that they are so scared of embracing the concept of universal access to health insurance, they cannot begin to derive a real set of policies to deal with income inequality and the decline in social mobility.  One of my papers this morning had a story about Texas where low wage people were not signing up for health insurance because (i) it cost it cost too much relative to their wages (thanks to Texas not expanding Medicaid) and (ii) they go to the hospital when they need to and show how poor they are forcing the hospital to write the service off as an expense.

These low wage people said I need to buy diapers and food for my children.  Conservatives would say, "Well why did you have the children?"  They in turn could say, I was in love with a bum and I don't believe in abortion.  And the pro-life Conservatives would say, "We can't support you with food or health insurance because then you would not have an incentive to work."  And the low wage person would say, "I am working.  I have a GED and I earn minimum wage.  And when I get sick, I don't earn anything."  And the children who are now in diapers will most likely be in a similar place in 18 years.

Without foods, health care and education. it is unlikely the poor will move out of their circumstances and remain poor.

WonkBlog, the Washington Post daily email provided the following data, which my GOP readers should contemplate when pondering policies that would do the country some positive good (as oppose to their current polices of simply saying nyet).

65% of Americans think Income inequality has gotten worse since the country adopted Reaganomics.

45% of America's children live in poverty.

6% was the cumulative growth rate in the median wage between 1979 and 2011.  The 95 percentile saw a 37% cumulative growth rate, while the top 1% grew by 113%. (That is an indictment of something and I am a capitalist.)

4.4% is the probability of a child in the bottom 20% making to the top 20% in Charlotte, NC.  San Jose, CA has the highest probability with 12.9%.  It would be interesting to see where NYC ranks with its support of CUNY, generally supportive safety net and the success of the GOP Mayors in reducing crime.

58% of American Adults support raising the minimum wage.

4,791,000 long term unemployed heading to or already in the ranks of the poor.  These people were productive taxpayers and self supporting economic beings before the Great Recession.  They are not dogs deserving to be put to sleep.

Income inequality is an issue Democrats need to run on and hit hard.  Health Insurance, education and food are critical to escaping being dependent on the government.