I wonder if John Roberts is happy with himself for creating all this chaos within our health system and within the Republican Party. In ruling in favor of ObamaCare but against the uniform standards for Medicaid, he basically created a headache for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and a giant wedge issue within the GOP. Ultimately, Medicaid will be expanded everywhere because it’s insane to turn down all that federal money. If Republican legislatures and governors keep doing that, there will eventually be Democratic legislatures and governors in those states who will take the money. In fact, it may not even take that. Republicans who favor taking the money will begin to beat Republicans who oppose taking it. This should be obvious by looking at the situation in Arizona where Governor Jan Brewer is vetoing every bill her Republican legislature sends to her desk until the House consents to the Medicaid expansion. In Florida, the world’s biggest Medicare fraudster, Governor Rick Scott, tried unsuccessfully to expand Medicaid. The same fight is going on in Michigan and Ohio.
All Chief Justice Roberts did was weaponize the stupid.
Brewer may win, despite the opposition. Her measure has passed the Republican-controlled state Senate. There is stronger opposition in the House, which has a larger and more conservative Republican majority. State Rep. John Kavanagh (R), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said the committee plans to strip the Medicaid expansion from the budget.
He acknowledged that his members are feeling the heat after Brewer’s vetoes. Still, he added, conservative lawmakers would be hard-pressed to vote yes on the Medicaid expansion after years of railing against the health-care law and federal spending.
“For the last five years, almost every one of us Republicans have been bashing Obamacare and vilifying the federal government for irresponsible government spending,” Kavanagh said. “I have never seen a more toxic vote for Republicans than to vote yes on this expansion.”
For the last five years, Republicans have been spewing absolute bullshit about a bill that was modeled on their 2012 nominee’s health care plan. They made themselves stupid, and Roberts could have put an end to it, but didn’t. So, now, the Republicans are clawing each other apart for no discernible advantage.
