February 2013 might — might — signal a real watershed in NC history. The legislature and governor seem to be willing to face the fact that many government programs are based on delusions.
As noted in the Civitas Review post below, the governor came out today in favor of halting Medicaid expansion as long as the program is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars each year. And the legislature seems willing to move on reining in unemployment spending.
Thom Tillis addressed the Medicaid problems in his news conference today. (Medicaid discussion begins at about 2:40.) He noted that the State Auditor, a Democrat, had found that those hundreds of millions had been churned through a wasteful and inefficient program.
He added that current efforts to stop the expansion Medicaid are more about setting a tone, about setting expectations, at this stage. So it’s a start. But the problem is obvious: If there’s a hole in the bottom of your fishing boat, you don’t dump more buckets of water into it, till you’ve fixed the hole.
And the sudden move to hyperinflate Medicaid has other ill consequences. Look at California, a state that did take the bait and plans to fully implement Obamacare. It will be facing a severe shortage of doctors, the Daily Caller reports.
The Los Angeles Times reports that only 16 of the state’s 58 counties meet the federal government’s recommended standard of primary care physicians, and almost 30 percent of California’s doctors are close to the retirement age — the highest percentage nationwide.
According to the Caller, even one Democrat legislator realized belatedly “What good is it if they are going to have a health
insurance card, but no access to doctors?”
Let’s hope our leaders keep their resolve to fend off this disastrous plan.
The Obamacare implementation will be a nightmare. NC is well advised to stay out.
Much the same goes for the federal unemployment boondoggle.
Tim Phillips, national president of Americans for Prosperity, spoke today at the John Locke Foundation. He noted that the state can’t count on the feds keeping their promises. After all, they’ve promised over and over to rein in spending.
As he and we have noted, there’s no free money from Washington. In fact, there’s no money at all. Washington has to borrow 40 cents of every dollar it doles out.
Washington isn’t giving out real money — it’s giving out wheelbarrows of $13 bills, all with Joe Biden’s picture on them. The Old North State should refuse to be taken in by this con game.
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