The Art of the Deal
The Art of the Deal
By Joe Maynard
April 10, 2016
It has been argued that our state leaders are so skilled as negotiators that we are able to recoup millions of our federal tax dollars by implementing Medicaid expansion. These are purportedly dollars that would otherwise be directed to other states and that we use these dollars to balance our state budget.
This would indicate that our goal as a state is to get more of our federal tax money back from the federal government and if so, the OC, PO, AW supporters may be right. But the casualty here is conservative values and free market principles. Increased dependency on government, an incremental increase in national debt, and a step closer to single payer health care are also collateral damage.
The current federal administration and many before it back to the Wilson administration has had little regard for the consequence of debt. If the goal is social change and authoritarianism, what does it matter that we borrow, create out of thin air, or devalue our monetary foundation to the point of failure. This only helps the ultimate goal of transforming America into a single party rule governed by liberalism.
What our state leaders fail to recognize, (I hope this is the reason) is the feds do not care what it costs. They ultimately win if we take as much debt sourced money as we want in order for 1/3 of Arkansans to become dependent on taxes of others and future debt obligation.
Our leadership seems to think it out negotiated the federal government; however it seems clear that by expanding the welfare state, we are the ones that lost. Asa, Collins, and Hendren just got taken to the cleaners for their arrogance and inexperience.