The Denver Post's Daily Dose and Colorado Public Radio's "Check and Balance" blogs reported Friday that no one testified against Colorado's proposed expansion of Medicaid, a key step in the implementation of Obamacare that would provide 100,000 to 150,000 uninsured people in Colorado with health insurance.
CPR Health Reporter Erick Whitney reported on the hearing:
[Republicans] fought Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act in Congress in 2009. When it passed, the state’s Republican Attorney General joined the lawsuit against it at the U-S Supreme Court. When the court upheld the law, but made it’s mandate to expand Medicaid optional for states, Republicans tried to win enough votes in the statehouse to say no to President Obama’s plan.
And that led to this small but significant moment yesterday, when Linda Newell, vice chair of the Senate Health and Human Services committee asked:
[State Sen. Linda] Newell: Is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to testify? Seeing none, testimony phase is over….
Whitney: That was the sound of no one stepping up to testify against the Democrats’ bill, a quiet admission that President Obama’s party stands united behind Medicaid expansion in Colorado, and the bill is all but guaranteed to be signed by Governor John Hickenlooper.
Whitney should have phoned up some of the Obamacare opponents outside the state Capitol–from Attorney General John Suthers to Rep. Mike Coffman to find out what happened.
These guys have been on the war path against Obamacare ever since it changed its name from Romneycare. Is their absence really a "quite admission" of defeat? That hasn't stopped them before. What gives?
As I blogged last year, Coffman specifically singled out Medicaid expansion as a "radical" part of Obama's health plan.
Coffman said that “there are some very radical elements to [Obamacare] such as the expansion of Medicaid, a government run health care program.”
What's Coffman thinking nowadays? What about Suthers?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: notaskinnycook
IN: DNC Grand Finale Promises Something Special
BY: notaskinnycook
IN: Here’s a Smart Idea for Avoiding Another Round of Dumb Hostage-Taking on Policy Issues
BY: Duke Cox
IN: Here’s a Smart Idea for Avoiding Another Round of Dumb Hostage-Taking on Policy Issues
BY: JeffcoBlue
IN: DNC Grand Finale Promises Something Special
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Russia Ready To Process Your MAGAsylum Claims, Says Alex Jones
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: DNC Grand Finale Promises Something Special
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: DNC Grand Finale Promises Something Special
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Rep. Brandi Bradley Desperate To Start Her Very Own Culture War
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Here’s a Smart Idea for Avoiding Another Round of Dumb Hostage-Taking on Policy Issues
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Thursday Open Thread
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
Can't say about Suthers, but it seems pretty clear that Mike "2%" Coffman can count votes. It is quite likely that there are thousands of voters in CD6 that will need that expansion of coverage to avoid getting their kid's annual checkups in the ER.
Not only can 2% Mike count, he has no crediblity since he's had gov't paid health care all of his adult life.
And for someo fthat he had the dread gov't ingle payer healthcare. About which hs has no complaints. So his pooint all along was it's good for him- it's not for the rest of the team USA.
Yeah, but that doesn't mean he has to like receiving socialized medicine! But he's smart enough to keep quiet on the subject.
As the old saw (sort of) goes, "Better to remain silent and be thought a Tea Party Fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"