August 16, 2011 7:31 AM

Texas: Where "Social Contract" is a few short steps removed from "Socialism"

If I owned Hell and Texas, I’d live in Hell and rent Texas.

  • Gen. Phil Sheridan

You can all go to Hell. I’m going to Texas.

  • David Crockett

It turns that the Lone Star State is a bellwether for political trends in this country. Once Republicans figured out that they could pretty much remake the social landscape of Texas with little if any recourse, the changes have been coming fast and furious, and the ideas are percolating out to the rest of the Tea Party Nation country. It wasn’t enough that one of every four Texans lacks health insurance. It wasn’t enough that Gov. Rick Perry screwed the pooch so badly that he had to turn control of state government over to God (‘Course, God IS a Republican, so it’s all good.). And it wasn’t even enough that the only thing “miraculous” about “The Texas Miracle” was the degree to which the Right-wing media has swallowed (and propagated) the propaganda.

No, you may believe a lot of things about Texas, but if you’ve heard those things in the Mainstream Media (particularly Fox Noise Channel), the odds are pretty good that they’re nowhere close to being anything remotely resembling the truth. EVERYTHING’S bigger in Texas…even the lies and the propaganda.

To help outsiders understand just how thoroughly Texas Republicans (and their under-achieving, uber-Jesus-y Governor) have bollixed things up in the Lone Star State, the fine folks at the Texas Tribune (or, as those in the Texas Republican Party like to call it, “Pravda on the Prairie”) have offered up a handy guide. Their 31 Days, 31 Ways series chronicles the myriad ways in which the Texas Legislature has seen fit to make Texas a safer place for good, God-fearing, patriotic, Conservative White Christians. A lot of the changes might, at first glance, at least, provide something resembling a short-term solution, but if there’s one thing the Lege is famous for, it’s applying simplistic, knee-jerk solutions to complex problems. It leaves people feeling good about themselves in the here and now, but all it really does it kick the can down the road to a time when a solution will no doubt be far more difficult, complex, and- worst of all- expensive.

Por ejemplo, here’s what the Tribune’s Day 15 has to offer:

Day 15: Lawmakers slashed family planning funding by two-thirds. The Department of State Health Services expects about 180,000 Texas women will lose access to birth control and cancer screenings.

Hey, if you’re one of those die-hard Fox Noise Channel devotees who happen to believe (‘cuz Jon Kyl said so…and so it MUST be true) that 97% of what Planned Parenthood does is abortion services (OK, so it wasn’t intended to be a factual statement, just taken as one), this is probably WONDERFUL news. You’re probably celebrating all those babies who will no longer die at the hands of some evil butcher wearing a lab coat in an abortion mill. Except that really isn’t what this is about; not even close- and your ignorance (as well as that of those you elected to the Lege) may be sentencing poor and lower middle class women to death. (YAY!! Save the babies!!…it’s just too bad you can’t see your way clear to being OK with saving the boobies.)

The Department of State Health Services confirmed that the Legislature reduced its overall funding for family planning programs by $73.6 million, from $111.5 million in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to $37.9 million in the next biennium. The funds are distributed by DSHS….

In all, DSHS reports 220,000 people receive family planning services. The reduction will affect about 180,000 people every year. The Legislative Budget Board has estimated the cuts could lead to 20,500 additional births….

Another program in Texas that provides nearly identical family planning services to low-income Texans is Medicaid’s Women’s Health Program, though the Health and Human Services Commission is preparing to enforce a rule “later this year or early next year” that would exclude abortion affiliates like Planned Parenthood’s health clinics from receiving reimbursements, according to HHSC spokesperson Stephanie Goodman.

Texas Republicans may well be leaping for joy, secure in the knowledge the the Lege has just made it harder for a woman to kill her baby. While that may well be one (very small) consequence of the cut in funding, what this really represents is the reality that the good, God-fearing White Patriots in the Texas Republican party have just declared war on women. Those who understand little, know nothing, and care even less will see this as a righteous victory against the evil abortion-on-demand market. What it really does is cut funding for programs that address the health and well-being of poor and uninsured women in Texas. Abortion services represent only a very small part of the overall picture, and even operations like Planned Parenthood separate their abortion services from the other services they provide to women. So, say goodbye to the remote possibility of abortions paid for by Texas tax dollars…but you’re also saying good by to prenatal care, well-baby care, cancer screenings, and numerous other health care services.

Then again, if you think women are property, you’re probably not going to see anything wrong with any of this, are you?

Here’s the problem with drastically reducing funding for women’s health care: taking money away will not make the problem go away. All it will do is move the problem into different, and significantly more expensive) venues like emergency rooms. Texans will still ultimately pay for these services, but they’ll be more expensive and quite often far more serious. The cuts in funding will force women to put off basic preventative care that can and often does detect problems and allow them to be treated and resolved before it becomes serious and expensive. It’s a typical penny-wise and pound-foolish approach so popular among Conservatives. Saving money in the short term is not a recipe for long-term fiscal responsibility. Sometimes spending money in the present is the wisest use of scarce resources, because it can prevent a significant (and preventable) outlay of even larger sums down the road.

I would agree that there are probably savings to be had in all areas of government- local, state, and federal- but when the dominant narrative is the Tea Party squawking about debt and austerity, there’s little hope of having an adult conversation about the best and wisest ways to allocate resources. Spending money is not the problem; the problem is that we often spend money without thinking about anything but the present moment. Policy needs to be analyzed in terms of long-term cost/benefit analysis, not demagogued by those who refuse to raise taxes under any circumstance whatsoever and never met a social program (that they didn’t benefit from) that they couldn’t eliminate or cut to the bone.

Sure, Texas will save money in the short term…but Texans (especially Texas women) will suffer the consequences and costs down the road. And as Texas goes, so eventually goes the rest of the country.

Social Contract? What Social Contract??

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on August 16, 2011 7:31 AM.

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