Eating Your Obamacare Broccoli

More and more GOP-controlled states are quietly taking advantage of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion programs, and it's really pissing off the Wall Street Journal's editorial board.  Shocking, huh.  Even GOP Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona thinks it's a good idea, and she's singled out for particular scorn.

Providers are especially powerful at the state and local level, and the goal now is to rush the Brewer-Obama condominium through the Phoenix legislature with little debate. A particular offender is the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, a trade group whose 2012 agenda includes "Oppose Taxpayer Bill of Rights-style legislative referendums or bills that arbitrarily limit state spending."

Ms. Brewer's other rationale is that everybody else is doing it, and that if Arizona opts out of a larger Medicaid then "Arizona's tax dollars would simply be passed to another state." Well, no, Washington would simply spend less money that it doesn't have. In any event Arizona is already a net tax beneficiary—pulling down $1.19 from the feds for every dollar it sends to D.C., according to the Tax Foundation.

Ten other GOP Governors have rejected Mr. Obama's Medicaid bribe, with another 20, Democrats and Republicans, undecided. Twenty are expanding, including Republicans Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota and even, on Monday, Ohio's John Kasich. Thus does modern government create the carrots and sticks of ever-larger government.

Those ten other states will come around.   Why?  Because Medicare expansion is the most cost effective way to deal with a growing population that has health care needs to be met.  Government is going to and should grow as America's population grows...but don't try telling the WSJ that.