Medicaid expansion

Governor Haley made the commitment to reject the Obamacare offer of “free money” (for Medicaid expansion )from Washington in her State of the State address on January 16, 2013. I agree with her view on this. Here are some reasons why:
Debt – The current Federal debt is approaching $117 trillion. Also, the Federal Government has accrued an unfunded liability of over $116 trillion. This unsustainable debt will be heaped upon the future generations of America. I cannot, in good conscience, participate in the reckless financial practices of Congress. Unless we change this course, a financial collapse is imminent. The less South Carolina is dependent on all of this “free money” from Washington, the less of an impact this collapse will have on us. Click here to see a pictorial illustration of how much money we’re talking about.
Freedom vs. dependency – One of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, said “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.” Barry Goldwater wrote in 1960 “Indeed, this is one of the great evils of welfarism – that it transforms the individual from a dignified, industrious, self-reliant spiritual being into a dependent without his knowing it…” and “I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom.” These principles are more important today than ever. Socialism & wealth redistribution have failed consistently, and will fail us again.
Healthcare – Let’s start out by not quibbling with America’s socialists’ false claim health-care service is a human right regardless of ability to pay and that it should be free. Before we buy into this socialist agenda, we might check out just what happens when health-care services are “free.” Let’s look at our neighbor to the north — Canada.
The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver, B.C.-based think tank, has done yeoman work keeping track of Canada’s socialized health-care system. It has just come out with its 13th annual waiting-list survey. It shows the average time a patient waited between referral from a general practitioner to treatment rose from 16.5 weeks in 2001-02 to 17.7 weeks in 2003. Saskatchewan had the longest average waiting time of nearly 30 weeks, while Ontario had the shortest, 14 weeks. (Walter Williams, Cato Institute)
As you can see, the simple notion that the “free money” from Washington will shore up our state’s Medicaid needs is much more complicated. I will not support the expansion of Medicaid in South Carolina.