Because we have just sharply criticized the Democrats’ grotesque End of discussion tactics, we will strive for impartiality while chastising the Republican for his own contribution to this scourge. Enter Ohio Governor and presidential candidate John Kasich. He was a staunch defender of his decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, calling often religious values as a justification for their position on public policy. The left has he applaudedincidentally, because quoting the Bible in a political context is perfectly acceptable if it serves specific ideological interests; otherwise it is a unsafe harbinger of the beginnings of theocracy. At today’s forum, Kasich – who is seeking the Republican nomination again, which requires winning the support of conservatives whose disdain for Obamacare is virtually universal – dropped four times in his obscene line:
.@JohnKasich he just offered to buy Bibles for him #Obamacare critics of expansion today at @USHCC. I’m not making this up. @KurtSchlichter @TheRickWilson
— Jason Hart (@jasonahart) October 6, 2015
Could this have been taken out of context and resulted in: a jarring, unpleasant, unfair exaggeration? NO:
Kasich begins by complaining that people are “screaming” at him because of his controversial decision on Medicaid. Civil discourse is of course a laudable goal, but Kasich’s tone brings to mind the cynical attitude of Democrats reaching for smelling salts after citizens dared to raise their voices at Obamacare town hall meetings in 2009. Politics stirs emotions and sometimes inspires heated debates. You are a powerful elected leader, Governor. Deal with it. He then climbs on his high horse to repeat his discussion-ending point, clearly arguing that the Bible teaches us to care for the poor, so his political decision is actually blessed by God himself. Questions: Will Governor Kasich, who is campaigning for the White House as: budget-balancing fiscal conservativeWould you accept exactly the same framework if it were used to promote the expansion of all elements of the welfare state? Does implementing compassionate policies in the pursuit of godliness generally require ever-increasing government spending? If not, where does he draw the line on this “logic”?
Then there is the tiny matter of pre-Obamacare Medicaid Already burdening state budgets, Already struggling with access problems, and Already it fails the truly poor on an empirical level. Obamacare took a wheezy, bloated program fraught with systemic challenges and expanded it to millions of additional Americans. The results were predictable and tragic. In addition to the above-mentioned shortcomings, reality has also overturned one of the main strengths of his supporters. Massive modern burdens on Medicaid make the program even less effective and accessible to those who need it most: the very poor. How would God respond to such an outcome, Governor? By the way, several of the statements you made about Medicaid in your state were right disputed by fact checkers. Since we seem to question our opponents’ motives in the most blatant of ways, one may wonder if the Bible has anything to say about lying. Someone buy this man a copy statistics. I’ll leave you with a few points from Gabriel Malor:
It goes further. It tends to irritate the believer who disagrees. https://t.co/gTNLWuSjPl
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) October 6, 2015
“God wants X” is not an invitation to discussion. It’s an edict. It continues: “Oh, you dare to disagree with God!”
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) October 6, 2015
