By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Conservatives all over the nation were bitterly disappointed when a majority of voters in the swing states of Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, and Michigan chose to give liberal President Barack H. Obama (D) four more years as President of the United States. Obama’s reelection means that is highly unlikely that Congress can repeal the unpopular Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or Obamacare).
The state of Alabama and 25 other conservative states have already unsuccessfully sued to block the legislation from being implemented. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R) and the other conservative governors have not given up, however.
Saturday, Gov. Bentley’s new Legislative Director Blaine Galliher (R) posted on Facebook that Governor, “Bentley believes that the Affordable Health Care Act is the single worst piece of legislation to be passed in our lifetimes.”
Galliher said that Bentley believes that the PPACA is neither affordable nor about health care and that the Governor, “is exploring all possible avenues through which he can stop this law from ever being implemented in Alabama. This includes all legal and political options and he is reaching out to all conservative governors to get as many as possible to join him in his fight against this unjustified and unwise federal intrusion.”
Galliher said, “As a part of this effort, Governor Bentley has appointed a tribunal of lawyers with expertise in constitutional law and this health care bill to advise him on the options our state has as it relates to this legislation. Furthermore, Governor Bentley participated in a conference call with 20+ other governors from across the nation on this very issue on Friday morning and will attend a meeting with those governors next week.”
Legislative Director Galliher said that Governor Bentley and Governor Rick Perry (R) of Texas had a long telephone conversation on Saturday and that Governor Perry has agreed with Governor Bentley’s thoughts on fighting the Obamacare legislation and on opposing its implementation in conservative states.
Galliher said that, “Governor Bentley feels that the best course of action would be for as many conservative governors as possible to work together to determine the best course of action as it relates to this issue. Again, Governor Bentley is leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to build a coalition of conservative governors to devise a legal strategy that would give our state, and all conservative states, the best defense.”
The Obama administration has ordered the state of Alabama to submit a satisfactory plan to the President to implement a healthcare insurance exchange in the state of Alabama or be prepared for the President to implement his own plan on the people of Alabama and the other conservative states who refuse to collaborate with President Obama’s takeover of the American healthcare industry.
The President is also demanding that the states expand their state’s Medicaid programs. The original 2010 Obamacare bill ordered the states to participate in the Medicaid expansion; but in June the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government does not have that authority so the states actually get to choose whether or not to participate in the President’s plan.
As of press time, Governor Bentley still has not said whether or not he will create a state healthcare exchange that complies with the President’s orders. Neither has he said whether or not he intends to expand Alabama Medicaid to cover another 400,00-500,000 Alabamians.
The state has recently raided the Alabama Trustfund to prop up the existing Lyndon Baines Johnson era Medicaid program for the next three years and has no dedicated funding for Obama’s massive expansion of the program and it is unlikely that Alabama voters will vote to raise their taxes to pay for Obamacare.
