Republicans Give Governor a Huge Victory! Time To Hold Them Accountable!
Over the past five years, we have been working to maintain a fiscally responsible state budget by pushing back on the democrats attempt to expand Obamacare in Virginia. I don’t have to tell you that every state which has expanded Medicaid has blown through their forecasted budgets. Many of these states have been trying to reverse their decision to expand because they realized the federal government’s promises were false promises.
This year alone, we arranged conference calls for Virginia legislators with White House advisors to the President, Health and Human Services representatives and a message supporting our position from the President’s Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney. All of these communications emphasized expanding Medicaid is not in line with the President’s plan for Medicaid reform.
Just yesterday, our coalition arranged to have former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), a leader in the health care reform movement, address the Senate and House members explaining there is a strong chance Congress will address healthcare reform before the November elections. If this package of reforms passes and Virginia expands Medicaid, Virginia will lose billions in federal funding!
In spite of this information, yesterday, Virginia joined Maryland, New Jersey, California, and New York in an ever-increasing fiscal death spiral. At approximately 6:00 PM, the Virginia Senate voted to include Medicaid Expansion in our biennial budget. Four Republicans voted with 19 Democrats to massively expand Virginia’s welfare state.
Immediately following, the House voted to pass the Senate budget with 19 Republicans voting alongside 49 Democrats. Below is a list of Republicans who voted to saddle your children with an enormous financial burden:
Senate
Emmett Hanger – [email protected]
Jill Vogel – [email protected]
Ben Chafin – [email protected]
Frank Wagner – [email protected]
House of Delegates
Speaker Kirk Cox – [email protected]
Gordon Helsel – [email protected]
Todd Pillion – [email protected]
Chris Peace – [email protected]
Riley Ingram – [email protected]
Chris Stolle – [email protected]
Terry Kilgore – [email protected]
James Edmunds – [email protected]
Robert Bloxom – [email protected]
Barry Knight – [email protected]
Scott Garrett – [email protected]
Terry Austin – [email protected]
Bob Thomas – [email protected]
Danny Marshall – [email protected]
Keith Hodges – [email protected]
Glenn Davis – [email protected]
Will Morefield – [email protected]
David Yancey – [email protected]
Chris Jones – [email protected]
I can’t tell you how personally disappointed I am with the Republicans we have supported and helped elect over the years. However, this is not about me or even about you. It is about the severely disabled and extremely poor people in Virginia who need medical assistance.
This new budget (which by the way, we need to pass to see what’s in it) raises taxes on your hospital visits to pay for Medicaid expansion to the tune of 600 million dollars over the next two years, repurposes healthcare dollars from DC to fund pay raises for state and local employees who do not work in healthcare, and funds many of the legislators’ pet projects.
This is primarily a money grab! If it were about helping the disabled, then we would have made sure everyone on the Medicaid waiting list would have Medicaid health insurance. Instead, we will be providing health insurance to people who are able-bodied working adults because they are the population reimbursed by the federal government. It is a perverse incentive, which will not help those truly in need.
The Middle Resolution team focuses on improving the lives of every Virginian through elections and public policy. Be assured that we will stand by our principles every day and when politicians decide to violate the promises they made during campaigns, we are there to hold them accountable!
One way you can hold them accountable is if your legislator voted “yes” on Medicaid expansion (see above), let them know you will not be supporting them in the future.
Another and very effective way to hold them accountable is to remove them from office.The Middle Resolution has challenged even the most entrenched Republicans for violating their promises to their constituents. The 2019 elections will be no different. Primaries and conventions are powerful tools to help maintain freedom!
We will be carefully analyzing all of the Senate and House races in 2019 and will decide how we can effectively clear the ranks of wayward lawmakers, whether they are democrat or republican.
However, elections are not cheap. It requires tremendous resources to win elections.
We ask that you please consider contributing $25, $50, $100 or even more today so we can continue to fight. The Middle Resolution is only as strong as the support we receive from you!
As always, thanks for your support!
Craig DiSesa
President
The Middle Resolution