Medicaid and vetoes

One of the big uproars of the day is how Governor Dunleavy's cuts to Medicaid are going to stop the world from spinning.  To many liberals, that may be the case case, but did anyone really stop to look at how we got to this place?

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

When Obamacare came into effect, the option was there for the states to expand Medicaid.  This seemed like a good idea to oh so many people all over the country.  Let the Federal Government take care of our problems so we can focus on other problems.  It sounds wonderful, on the outside.  However, some Governors actually read the conditions of this free money and decided it was not for their state.  One of the conditions was that the money would only be available for so long, and then it will be up to each State to fund this program themselves.  Our Governor at the time, Sean Parnell, decided not to enroll in this program and decided against accepting the funds.  In fact, he was one of many Governors who had their State bring charges against the Federal Government.  People complained back then, however he explained that this program was not a fix to the health care problem.  It only made the problem worse down the line.  He had Alaskan's best interests in mind when he refused this money.

Then, along came Governor Bill Walker.  One of the first things Governor Walker did was reverse Governor Parnell's decision about accepting the funds for Medicaid expansion.  All of a sudden, the State had this extra money, or so we were led to believe.  Our money that had been going to pay for Medicaid services in the budget was then rerouted somewhere else.  Yay!  Governor Walker fixed the health care crisis in Alaska.  More Federal dollars, blah, blah, blah.  What folks immediately forgot was the fact that this was short term money.

Now we have Governor Dunleavy.  He is doing his best to bring State spending in line with our coffers.  Our savings is gone (thank you Governor Walker).  The Medicaid money from the Feds is now gone, so in order to continue at the level we were, we need to pony up.  The problem is, we don't have the funds to do that.  Tough decisions need to be made.  Governor Dunleavy is making tough decisions.  Do we like all of them?  No, we don't.  Is the world going to end because of these decisions?  No it won't.  The world will still go on, however, our lives are going to change.  We simply cannot keep spending at the level we have been.

Here's another way to look at things.  You had a second job.  You paid off all of your debt, and then you started spending the funds from your second job instead of saving them for a rainy day.  Now your second job is gone, but you still have bills to pay, and they are relying on the funds from the non existent second job.  So, you start running up your credit cards.  Okay, your bank account doesn't see the hurt yet, because you are making minimum payments.  Now your credit cards are maxed out.  You still have these bills, but no second job, and now no emergency buffer.  What do you do?  You start cutting out expenditures.  Guess what folks, this is where we are at.  Our savings is gone, our credit cards are maxed out, and something needs to happen.  Do we like the choices being made?  No, we don't.  However, we are going to have to cut something.  So, if we spread the cuts around to everyone, no one group gets hurt more than the other.

One other thing to think about.  Does anyone remember which US Senator is responsible for Obamacare passing?  I'll give you a clue.  He used to be Mayor of Anchorage.