NC Policy Watch likens lack of Medicaid expansion to Jim Crow segregation era

RALEIGH – The issue of Medicaid expansion, which Democrats are for and (most) Republicans are against, has been a source of political tension on Jones Street for years now. Having tried all the weak arguments about federal funding and compassion with other people’s money, the Left has now taken the predictable turn of equating the opposition to Medicaid expansion to Jim Crow era segregationists. That’s right; being against Medicaid expansion is racist, plain and simple, according to Rob Schofield at NC Policy Watch.

Luckily there are reasonable minds on the Right side of media available to break down Schofield’s irresponsible smear. Ray Nothstine of the Civitas Institute is one of those imminently reasonable minds that reveals Schofield’s haughty relation of Medicaid squabbles to Jim Crow era Mississippi for the drivel it really is.

Writes Nothstine:

Over at NC Policy Watch, Rob Schofield makes an interesting pitch in an attempt to connect the lack of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina to Jim Crow segregation in the Deep South. He starts off by citing a new book titled “Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White” penned by UNC-Chapel Hill professor William Sturkey. Having lived in Mississippi for a long time and studied the civil rights movement there, I’m very familiar with Hattiesburg and that topic. Indeed, the past racial violence and turmoil that occurred around Hattiesburg and the surrounding counties were at times ugly and fierce. Sturkey’s book looks to be a worthwhile contribution to the civil rights genre, but I was perplexed by Schofield’s leaps to tie Hattiesburg’s violent and racist past to the lack of Medicaid expansion. […]

Obviously, the reasons to not expand Medicaid are much more complex than this simplistic assessment. One of my main concerns is our $22 + trillion dollar debt and spending binge that is making an absolute mockery of our Republic. States that eschew tying themselves to a broken federal government are going to be much better positioned to provide mandatory services and be better stewards of tax dollars. Injecting race into this discussion, while predictable, attempts to bypass the legitimate arguments being put forward that offer up responsible and compassionate alternatives. “

See what motivations Schofield attached to Republican NC Senate Leader Phil Berger, and how Nothstine dresses him down, here.

Have a hot tip for First In Freedom Daily?

Got a hot news tip for us? Photos or video of a breaking story? Send your tips, photos and videos to tips@firstinfreedomdaily.com. All hot tips are immediately forwarded to FIFD Staff.

Have something to say? Send your own guest column or original reporting to submissions@firstinfreedomdaily.com.