Today, Governor Jan Brewer will unveil the draft language of her Medicaid expansion plan. Brewer’s spokesman said legislators been anxious to see the specific language. So, they’ll get a chance to look at this now and we’ll go from here.”
This weekend the New York Times wrote an overview of the challenges Brewer faces concluding that on her “push to win over Republicans, the governor’s advisers have found that they have no single persuasive argument, and at times, no chance at all for persuasion.”
NYTs quoted Brewer’s staffer Matthew Benson, “One of the things she has demonstrated is that she generally gets what she wants. People who follow politics in this state know that when she makes a decision, she digs in her heels.”
According to Benson, while the details of the plan will be available for review, the details of Brewer’s strategy for getting what she wants is still being worked out. Benson said the governor has not yet decided whether to push the expansion plan as part of the budget or as a stand-alone bill, “We’re still working on the specifics of the way in which it will be tackled.” Benson said that some of the “mechanics need to be worked out with legislative leadership.”
Yesterday, Brewer lost more grassroots support when leaders in Legislative District 11, passed a unanimous opposing the Governor’s expansion effort.
The LD11 group joined other Republican groups around the state in their opposition. They released a statement saying that the Governor “demanded the Republican Party leadership from across Arizona, including County and LD Chairmen, support her expansion of Medicaid. She said that if she did not accept the Medicaid funds for Arizona, other states could claim those federal dollars and create jobs that otherwise would be created in Arizona. Therefore, Medicaid expansion is a necessity.
Necessity is not a fact but an interpretation. Brewer’s false assumption that necessity equates to socially accepted norms leads to “an ends justifies the means” reasoning. But even actual necessity does not justify violating ethical values. Governor Brewer’s demand is nothing less than a violation of Republican values, and a blatant endorsement of Obamacare in exchange for a blundering acceptance of short-term federal dollars.”