Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Forget speculation over a new SB1062, what about repeal of Medicaid Restoration?

As Simon Sinek regularly propounds, start with WHY!

With this being election season and all, how many people have told you how annoying they find the incessant attack ads on television to be?

How many of those people just tune out and surrender to the GOP's decades long voter suppression strategies?

Well, with those marginal voters, ones who don't see why they should bother, you can help them. Why?

Because you can show them how voting will empower them. Words are the most powerful things we have. You can show people WHY they should vote and you can show them WHY they should vote for Democratic candidates and issues.

Last week we explored WHY Arizona Public Service wants to capture the office of the Attorney General to go along with a legislature that already does its bidding and Corporation Commission that functions as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ALEC. We don't have to let them get away with it.

The week before that, because the Supreme Court (of the US) declined to hear several cases related to marriage equality, Arizona's ban on same-sex marriage was declared unconstitutional and overturned.

Christian Dominionists grieved for a couple of days then came up with new strategies and tactics for resisting the US Constitution's equal protection provisions. That brought renewed chatter GOP state lawmakers for again introducing SB1062 type bills. Expect that to happen. Because they can.

BUT if Scrooge McDucey, known to some activists as "Cathi's Clown" is elected governor, expect such bills to find their way to the 9th floor of the Capitol where McDucey will sign them into law.

Then today Donna Gratehouse, who writes for Democratic Diva, articulated the question, "If the lege wanted to and had a governor willing, could Arizona pull out of the Medicaid [Restoration]?"

How many of you need me to make a case to say that they most certainly will try? Of course, with a Gov. Fred DuVal there's no way it would fly. Because the GOP will (almost certainly) not have a veto-proof supermajority, they'd be fools to waste any time on such an effort.

BUT if Scrooge McDucey wins, all bets are off.

We already know that the legislature has filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the program that narrowly passed in the waning hours of the 2013 (special) legislative session.

We already know that Scrooge McDucey has announced his intention to do whatever the hell he pleases as governor, if he's elected, voters be damned.

We already know that McDucey will emulate Sam Brownback and Scott Walker. We already know that there will be major pressure to cut something big from the next state budget. By the way, expect Arizona to turn into the next Brownbackistan if McDucey succeeds next week.

On the question of repealing the Medicaid restoration, THAT is what the Arizona Democratic Party and the DuVal campaign need to drive home for voters. Because THAT will help voters understand WHY it matters that they vote.

You can bet that if McDucey tries it, there will be plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth. This is clearly foreseeable. At this point, it IS preventable. How?

We MUST elect Fred DuVal and send McDucey packing.

No comments:

Post a Comment