Vermont makes History

[Landslide Lyndon]

Good job, you slimey bunch of atheist gay communists!

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/26/vermont-governor-single-payer/

Last month, the Vermont Senate passed legislation, approved earlier by the House, that would establish a single payer health care system in the state. The legislation would make Vermont the first state in the nation to, as Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) said, make health care “a right and not a privilege.”

The governor’s office just confirmed for ThinkProgress that Shumlin signed the legislation into law this morning, making the state the first in American history to pass legislation that will establish a single payer health care system to provide care to all citizens. Now that the law is signed, Vermont will spend the next four years setting up the system and preparing it for implementation.

In order to actually enact the system, the state needs a waiver from the Affordable Care Act health reform law. Currently, the federal government will start handing out state waivers in 2017 — three years after Vermont wants to implement its system. Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) has introduced an amendment that would move the waiver date up to 2014, an idea that President Obama has endorsed.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Vermont didn't get to become the second-poorest state in the Northeast for nothing.

I bet it's the fault of those damn illegal immigrants sneaking through the Canadian border and getting free education and health care.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Mississippi isn't poor by any reasonable or objective definition.  Vermont, however, is in fact the second-poorest state in the Northeast.

Goldmined.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Mississippi isn't poor by any reasonable or objective definition.  Vermont, however, is in fact the second-poorest state in the Northeast.

Goldmined.

I'm glad you admire my comic skills, and Mississippi is still richer than Greece.

No it isn't.

And we don't marry our cousins.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Mississippi isn't poor by any reasonable or objective definition.  Vermont, however, is in fact the second-poorest state in the Northeast.

Goldmined.

I'm glad you admire my comic skills, and Mississippi is still richer than Greece.

No it isn't.

And we don't marry our cousins.

2010 GDP per capita, Greece: $28,100
2010 GDP per capita, Mississippi: $33,000

And wrong stereotype (that's Appalachia)..

Trust me dude. We're much better off than the sh**thole under the name "State of Mississippi".
Sometimes instead of looking numbers on your laptop screen, you must get out and experience the real world.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Mississippi isn't poor by any reasonable or objective definition.  Vermont, however, is in fact the second-poorest state in the Northeast.

Goldmined.

I'm glad you admire my comic skills, and Mississippi is still richer than Greece.

No it isn't.

And we don't marry our cousins.

2010 GDP per capita, Greece: $28,100
2010 GDP per capita, Mississippi: $33,000

And wrong stereotype (that's Appalachia)..

Trust me dude. We're much better off than the sh**thole under the name "State of Mississippi".
Sometimes instead of looking numbers on your laptop screen, you must get out and experience the real world.

Mississippi is the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway, also known as the "Father of Capitalism". What is your state known for?

We are the birthplace of lesbianism and the guy who invented the Pap smear.

You should know, you're a professor.

[Landslide Lyndon]

And despite one of the highest rates of smoking in the world and a large number of overweight people... has one of hte longest life expectancies in the world.  Probably because of all the wine, olive oil, and disgusting ocean creatures you people eat.

Don't forget our wonderful climate and our laid-back lifestyle.

[Landslide Lyndon]

He certainly wins the award for making an ass of himself.  I've heard of mucking up potentially interesting threads created by others, but to take a big dump on a thread of your own creation--multiple times, and at every possible opportunity--must be worth of some dubious distinction. 

So when wormy comes here and spouts nonsense about how Vermont is really, REALLY poor and overall a worse place to live than Mississippi, am I supposed to take him seriously and have a respectful, policy-oriented dialog?

And since when is having fun a crime around here? If I want to get depressed I can just watch the news.

[Landslide Lyndon]

But, as poor as Mississippi is, Greece is even more poor.  It's an objective, demonstrable fact that wormy guy pointed out.  You needn't be so defensive about it.  

If we're going by GDP per capita, it may be an objective fact.....but what about general quality of life? I don't know any numbers by heart....but I don't think GDP per capita is an extremely accurate way of really measuring wealth or poverty.

Indeed. When Barbour was preparing to run for President, somebody here in the forum said that he's never going to be elected because he is from Mississippi and for most Americans that state has ugly connotations. I doubt that when they hear about someone being from Greece they have the same reaction.
We aren't racists, we aren't obese, we have produced many more notable scientists and artists and I bet that we have better infrastructure than Mississippi (not to mention our tourist attractions). And there aren't any pockets of overwhelming poverty like the Delta.