Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a potential GOP presidential candidate, went out and committed political hari-kari this week when he argued that ObamaCare would not and even should not be repealed, a stance that he later refined by saying that he was referring only to the expansion of Medicaid under ObamaCare.
Keep that part of the law and repeal everything else, he said. Because as he explained it, “The opposition to (Medicaid expansion) was really either political or ideological. I don’t think that holds water against real flesh and blood, and real improvements in people’s lives.”
Well, I know a lot of Republicans here in Georgia who would very much disagree with this Ohio governor who calls himself "Republican". They believe that the purity of their political and ideological opposition to all aspects of ObamaCare helps to define them as conservative, and thus far outweighs any benefit that Medicaid expansion might bring to the "real flesh and blood" of hundreds of thousands of their fellow Georgians.
Would Medicaid expansion also save rural hospitals in Georgia from financial collapse, preserving the basic infrastructure that those struggling communities need to even have a hope of attracting industry? Yes, but maintaining the purity of the GOP's political and ideological opposition is more important.
Would it inject billions of dollars in federal spending, creating lots of jobs in a state economy with the highest unemployment rate in the country? Yes, but maintaining the purity of their political and ideological opposition is more important.
Would it save lives, reduce personal bankruptcies and foreclosures and protect the families of hard-working Georgians who -- because they have jobs -- make too much money to be eligible for standard Medicaid yet have no chance of acquiring coverage through their jobs? Yes, but maintaining the purity of the GOP's political and ideological opposition is more important.
It's a matter of priorities, you see. Some things are simply more important than other things. And if Kasich -- who currently holds a 22-point lead in his re-election bid in a swing state that Republicans absolutely need to elect a president -- should decide that he wants to run for the White House, I am quite sure that come primary time, the GOP base will remind him of that fact.
"Real flesh and blood"? Phssht.
About the Author
