Winners For Walker

The Post-Crescent Labels Medicaid Expansion "a Winner for Wisconsin"

An editorial in the Post-Crescent’s on June 2, 2013 entitled “A Winner for Wisconsin” pointed out that expanding Medicaid to cover more people as provided under Obamacare would be a winner for Wisconsin from nearly every possible point of view. The state would save money.  Consumers would save money. Health care providers would save money, and people without health insurance would obtain it.

Why Has Mr. Walker Refused a “Winner for Wisconsin?”

If expanding Medicaid would be so great for all of us, why has Governor Walker, who is not a stupid man, decided to reject the expansion?  A part of the answer is that, like his fellow radical rightists in the legislature, Mr. Walker believes in minimizing the size of government in order to reduce taxes on the rich, and that consideration outweighs every other goal except that of building political support.  In Mr. Walker’s view, it doesn’t matter whether expanding Medicaid would be good for Wisconsin or not. What matters is that expanding Medicaid would expand the roles of the state and federal governments in providing health insurance, and in his doctrinaire view, that is always bad.

Mr. Walker Plays Politics With Medicaid

The other part of the answer is that the special interests who support Mr. Walker love what he is doing, and Mr. Walker works hard to satisfy the special interests who support him.  In fact, he is so anxious to do so, that in order to please those special interests, he is willing to make one big exception to the principle that the role of government should be minimized.  He doesn’t mind expanding the role of government in order to give large amounts of the taxpayers’ money to businesses.  He says that the purpose of giving money to businesses is to create jobs in Wisconsin, but we know that isn’t true because he has never bothered to track the use of the money to see how many jobs were really being created.  In fact, giving the taxpayers’ money to businesses has not created many jobs, but it has been very successful in building political support for Mr. Walker.

Refusing to Expand Medicaid Uses the Taxpayers’ Money to Further Mr. Walker’s Political Career

The refusal to expand Medicaid also uses the taxpayers’ money to build political support, although in a less direct way.  According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau as quoted in the Post-Crescent’s editorial, the state would save $119 million by accepting the Medicaid expansion. So, by refusing the expansion, Mr. Walker is giving up those savings.  In effect, he is using $119 million of our money to build political support for his career by pleasing the special interests who support him.  Refusing to expand Medicaid and giving money to business may not be winners for Wisconsin, but they are winners for Mr. Walker, and that is what counts for him.