Gov. Jindals health care hostages: Robert Mann Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal addresses the media at the Republican Leadership Conference held in New Orleans on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola | The Times-Picayune) (CHRIS GRANGER) By Robert Mann Follow on Twitter on June 07, 2014 at 11:05 AM, updated June 07, 2014 at 9:36 PM Senate Bill 469 could cement Gov. Jindals legacy: Letter Bill Gates helped fund Common Core across the country, The Washington Post reports Fiscal hawks silent in Louisiana budget debate: Analysis Gov. Jindals health care hostages: Robert Mann What do you think of Bobby Jindals decision to sign the controverisal levee board lawsuit legislation? All Stories | All Photos | All Videos Gov. Bobby Jindal has deplored the controversial prisoner exchange that President Barack Obama recently made to secure the release of an American soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for almost five years. Refusing to negotiate with terrorists makes our people safer, Jindal wrote in an op-ed on the Fox News website. Terrorists all over the world need to know that our interaction with them will be limited solely to our effort to destroy them. Who doesnt hate the idea of an organization that would take hostages to achieve its political goals, right? Come to think of it, perhaps Jindal would know something about that because, in pursuit of the presidency, hes essentially holding hostage about 240,000 Louisianians -- that is, his states working poor who have no health insurance. Under the terms of the Affordable Care Act, the federal government is eager to fund 100 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid to Louisianas working poor for the first three years and then 90 percent thereafter. As everyone surely knows by now, Jindal refuses the deal, saying it would cost the state too much. Not content with that specious argument, he has also disparaged these hard-working hostages, suggesting they are shiftless moochers looking for a government handout. Soon there will be more people riding in the cart than people pulling the cart, Jindal wrote last year about these working poor citizens who, before Jindal suggested otherwise, probably assumed their governor believed they possessed some dignity. Actually, when describing Jindals appalling and callous disregard of Louisianas working poor, hostage taker isnt the correct phrase. That implies that Jindal might actually be willing to negotiate for something in return for the release of his health care captives. In this case, it doesnt appear that Jindal wants anything other than the White House, which the Democrats certainly wont give him if he relents and expands Medicaid. Indeed, Jindal is unwilling to do anything to effect the release of the citizens hes holding in his special health care purgatory. He and his allies resisted all efforts to help them in the recent legislative session. Thats because these citizens are far more useful to him as prisoners in his quest for higher office, abundant proof that he hates Obamacare so much that hes willing to punish 240,000 of his states citizens in order to make the point. And when I say that Jindals purgatory is special, I mean that hes among a contingent of especially cold-hearted governors who wont help their constituents get health care. Jindal says the programs state match would bankrupt Louisiana. Never mind that he asked Washington to approve a less-advantageous deal to expand Medicaid back in 2008 (he was then willing to pay 30 percent). It turns out that Jindal has already made a hash of the states budget. Indeed, his reckless fiscal policies (an anticipated billion dollar deficit next year) will probably force his successor to accept the Medicaid money. In any event, what Jindal claims as potential fiscal ruin is actually a good financial deal that other fiscally conservative Republican governors examined and, despite their opposition to Obamacare, have embraced. That list includes John Kasich of Ohio, Jan Brewer of Arizona, Terry Branstad of Iowa, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota and Chris Christie of New Jersey. Three other Republican governors -- in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Utah -- also say they want to expand Medicaid. Its quite apparent that Jindals opposition to Medicaid expansion isnt about money. Its very much, instead, about casting himself in the role of Americas most militant opponent of Obamacare. Should he accept the Medicaid funds, his presidential campaign would bear the taint of Obamacare. In his estimation, I suppose, that would mean political ruin. Of course, this is based upon the assumption that Jindal has a shot at the White House, a questionable proposition. Running a successful presidential campaign requires political skills and instincts that Jindal lacks. However, the day that cruelty in the pursuit of higher political office becomes a requirement for president, Jindal may jump to the front of the pack. What word better than cruelty to describe a politician willing to sacrifice, on the altar of his national political ambitions, the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of his states citizens? How better to describe a person so devoid of compassion that he would sully his constituents ill-paid, hard labor by painting them as mere moochers demanding a handout? What else to say about a governor eager to abide a permanent caste system in his state, all in the name of winning the White House? Cruelty is the right word. A hostage taker would at least have the decency to give us a ransom note. Robert Mann, an author and former U.S. Senate and gubernatorial staffer, holds the Manship Chair in Journalism at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. Read more from him at his blog, Something Like the Truth. Follow him on Twitter @RTMannJr or email him at bob.mann@outlook. Real Estate FOR SALE Milan, LA FOR SALE Harahan, LA Related Stories Senate Bill 469 could cement Gov. Jindals legacy: Letter Bill Gates helped fund Common Core across the country, The Washington Post reports videophotos Young Louisiana Entrepreneurs 5:45 PM Uploaded by Renita D. 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Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:54:28 +0000
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