(Video above: “Paul Ryan” pushes Granny over a cliff)
During the 2012 presidential election, a liberal group called “The Agenda Project” released an ad with a Paul Ryan lookalike dumping an elderly woman out of her wheelchair and over a cliff to illustrate what they believed Ryan’s Medicare reforms would do to senior citizens. The ad was widely criticized by political observers on both sides of the aisle for being tasteless demagoguery.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley must have enjoyed it, though, because he’s now employing similar tactics in a shameless attempt to get lawmakers to funnel more money to the state’s Medicaid program.
The anti-tax governor who proposed $700 million in tax hikes after being re-elected is now trying to guilt trip anti-gambling lawmakers — which he himself used to be — into supporting his latest lottery proposal to increase funding for Medicaid.
Last week, Gov. Bentley said religious leaders and lawmakers who oppose the lottery should get down off of their “high horse” and do something to save children.
“Which is the most immoral: Buying five lottery tickets with money you earned or allowing a child to die?” He actually asked during a press conference.
On Monday, the governor tweeted out pictures and video of the children the heartless anti-lottery lawmakers would presumably kill with their bare hands, if only they had the opportunity.
The Bentley administration was furious when Yellowhammer published an April Fools article in 2015 with the headline, “BREAKING: Bentley makes it official, switches to Democratic Party.”
The article wasn’t the issue. The fact that it was believable was — and remains — the real problem.
Robert Bentley has been pushing liberal Democratic policies for years. And at times he’s made even Hillary Clinton look honest by comparison. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that he’s now using Democrats’ shameful communications tactics, too.
In truth, Gov. Bentley’s lottery proposal is a sham, and his repeated contention that it is the “last” or “only” option left is just not true.
The State Medicaid Agency responded to budget cuts earlier this year by reducing reimbursements to doctors back to 2013 levels, which was before ObamaCare implemented an increase in fees commonly known as the “doctor bump.” That decision saved the state roughly $15 million per year, meaning the shortfall in Medicaid is about $70 million.
With that in mind, here is how the State of Alabama can fully fund Medicaid, meet its obligations, and put itself in a better financial position going forward — all without the lottery Hail Mary that is currently being proposed.
The next step after the elimination of the aforementioned “doctor bump” would be monetizing the BP Oil Spill settlement money by issuing a bond, which would make about $630 million available.
Those funds could be immediately used to pay down debt owed to the state’s Rainy Day Fund ($161 million) and the People’s Trust Fund ($422 million). By doing that, the state would save $15 million that was budgeted to make debt payments in Fiscal Year 2016, which ends in two months, and another $20 million debt payment that was scheduled for Fiscal Year 2017. In addition to that, by paying off the debt, the state would begin to draw interest on the Rainy Day account, which would mean an additional $15 million in revenue for FY17 (which would increase to $35 million in FY18 and $50 million in FY19).
On top of all of that, the state will begin FY17 in two months with approximately $10 to $15 million in the General Fund account because tax revenue was higher than expected this year. Plus, Governor Bentley is currently sitting on $35 million from BP’s FY16 payment of $50 million, of which the state only budgeted $15 million.
So, in summary:
$35 million in saved debt payments;
$15 million in interest if the state pays back the debt;
$10 million in previously unanticipated revenue in FY16;
$35 million left over from the FY16 BP payment.
That totals $95 million, which is actually $25 million more than the $70 million needed since the “doctor bump” was already eliminated.
Gov. Bentley says he believes his opponents want children to die. Well, at this point his opponents believe he’s a morally bankrupt politician who’s forgotten how to tell the truth and doesn’t have the leadership ability or courage to reform state government.
So maybe that makes us even.
