Republican legislators and Medicaid

Linda’s Grandma Wingo used to say, “A Republican is someone who can’t enjoy a meal unless he knows someone else is going hungry.”

I thought about that when I read an article in the latest issue of Governing magazine about what has happened to Republican governors who tried to expand Medicaid.  A good example is Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee, who pushed Medicaid expansion as a biblical duty to care for the poor.  Haslam won all 95 Tennessee counties in last November’s election and was very popular.

Didn’t matter. “Americans for Prosperity,” the Koch Brothers-led group that also has a presence in our own Carbon County, sent a hundred angry people wearing identical T-shirts into the legislative chambers to agitate against the bill.  They also lobbied legislators at town halls.  The Tennessee legislature, run by right wing Republicans, didn’t even bring up Haslam’s bill for a vote.

I don’t know what kind of person would deny medical treatment to people just because they are poor, but I do remember what Linda’s grandmother said.