GentDirkly: MindStalker: qorkfiend: MindStalker: qorkfiend: I find it fascinating that the US taxpayer is subsidizing healthcare for the residents of Massachusetts.

The federal government pays all states for Medicare. Massachusetts actually receives one of the lowest federal match rates (50% in Mass, average state receives about 60% many poor states like Arkansas receive over 70% match), though it does spend more per person, it receives about the same amount as other states with equal populations.

Other states' programs aren't being lauded as the alternative to putting federal taxpayers on the hook for the uninsured, while deriving half of their funding from federal taxpayers.

They figured out how to use the same fed money to provide more services than any other state, and its a bad thing. Efficiency sucks when its socialism!

Matching funds, how the f#$% do they work?
The Federal Government could give 2 shiats how efficient or comprehensive state medicaid is. However much or however little a state is willing to spend to provide healthcare to the poor, the Federal government will match it 1:1. The Federal government figures that if the elected representatives of a state are willing to put their butts and tax dollars on the line for a certain amount and quality of coverage, it must be OK. In certain cases they will match more. MA is not one of them.

That's not very holistic of you.

Splinshints: I don't think it's really fair to continue this characterization of Romney as a robot or some sort of rigidly designed computer encased in humanoid features. Computers do what they're told. They accept input and create valid output assuming proper initial design.

This guy is exactly the opposite. He just bounces from one random line of thought to another without any apparent consideration for how any of what he says fits in with anything else he's ever said or done. He's much less like a computer and much more like an unpredictable, drunken lemur.

If this guy's a computer, he's got one hell of a random number generator.

Not really, it's more of a random walk program. They are pretty cool for finding unknown constants in polynomial equations given a set of data.

if( say(*nextstatement) + current_stand > current_stand)
{ say(*nextstatement);}
else
{ retract(*nextstatement);
blame(pObama);
nextstatement += strlen(*nextstatement)
}

/C's a little rusty.

GentDirkly: The Federal Government could give 2 shiats how efficient or comprehensive state medicaid is. However much or however little a state is willing to spend to provide healthcare to the poor, the Federal government will match it 1:1.

Until the state Medicaid program is a bloatfest like New York's. Then even the feds start asking questions like WTF are you doing spending $4500 per patient per day at those centers for the developmentally disabled when there's no other state spending a quarter as much.

That's when the gravy train hits the brick wall.