There's a growing number of Republican-run states accepting Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, at least at the gubernatorial level, but South Carolina isn't one of them. Gov. Nikki Haley (R) ruled out the possibility months ago, despite the pleas of South Carolina hospital administrators and public-health officials.
In fact, physicians in South Carolina are still hoping to change the state's policy against Medicaid expansion, lobbying legislators this week on a White Coat Day organized by the South Carolina Hospital Association. Will it succeed? Consider the take of one insider.
Rep. Kris Crawford, a Republican from Florence and also an emergency room doctor, supports the expansion but expects the Republican caucus to vote as a block against the Medicaid expansion.
"The politics are going to overwhelm the policy. It is good politics to oppose the black guy in the White House right now, especially for the Republican Party," Crawford said.
As it turns out, "the politics" were so successful in "overwhelming the policy" that Crawford himself voted against the policy he said he supports.
Kris Crawford, a Florence emergency room doctor, says he thinks South Carolina should accept billions of federal dollars to help pay the health care costs for poor people -- also known as Obamacare.
There are only two problems: Crawford is a Republican, and he is a member of the state House of Representatives. So on Tuesday, when it was time to vote on whether to accept the money, Crawford voted not to accept it.
For what it's worth, Crawford still supports Medicaid expansion as part of "Obamacare," and regrets the way his party is concerned more about the "political argument" than the "policy discussion."
So why did he vote with his party? Crawford cited procedural concerns, and wants the issue to be considered outside the state budget process. He intends to propose separate legislation later this year.
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So he voted with the other idiots cause there's a black guy in the White ouse, and how is this helpful to his constituents again?! @sshole!
Sociopaths run deep in the GoTP don't they?
He should be prosecuted for sedition and hung for treason.
You get what you voted for... stuck on stupid!!!
OH... So this what an educated fool looks like.. I've heard of them, and now i've seen one.. and a doctor too.. wow
Well, FINALLY, one of them said it aloud. Not just "the guy" in the White House, not just "the Democrat" in the White House, no; it's "the BLACK GUY in the White House." Every GOTP'er that has been insisting for years that race has nothing to do with it just got shoved under a great, big, ugly, racist bus.
I hope this goes as viral as viral can possibly get.
Just surprised he did not use the n!gger word...
Democrats bad, women democrats worse, n!gger democrats worst. Too bad this will not get any coverage by the corporately owned media. This repuke just had his Mittens 47% moment and virtually nobody will ever know it.
@ Freddie
If a person makes a racist comment, address your comments to that person. They own that. Don't stereotype an entire group.
I am tired of the insinuation that if one disagrees with the political views of someone who happens to be black, then one must be motivated by racism...
We are a nation of many viewpoints... and politics is not for the faint at heart.
Nobody ever accused SC of turning out a lot of intelligent politicians, what with Lindsey Graham as their star, the bar is set for aggressive Limbo dancing.
lisafp1 - let's see how many of your hypothetical fine upstanding Republicans condemn his racist remark. Then, and only then, can we decide how close to the pip Freddie's dart was.
Do I wish every denigrating comment made by a politician was condemned? absolutely...but that would pertain to both parties...
lisafp1: It is not the comments of one person that leads people to believe Republicans are the Party of Racists it is the comments of many people that lead people to think that way.
Just a few examples: 1) Why than at the 2012 CPAC convention did they
have 2 members of 2 different white supremacist groups speak? 2) Why
have so many Elected Officials and prominent public figures use terms like
monkey, tar baby, "skinny ghetto crackhead", uppity and Montana's
U.S. District Chief Judge Richard Cebull admitted to sending a racially charged
e-mail. 3) Newt Gingrich told an audience that children in poor
neighborhoods have "no habits of working" nor getting paid for their
endeavors "unless it's illegal." "Really poor children in really
poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who
works," 4) Koran-Hating Pastor Hangs Barack Obama In Effigy In
Florida Church's Front Yard (pastor is white) 5) Rep. Steve King (R.,
Iowa) Compares Immigrants To Dogs 6) Bullet-Riddled 'Obama Outhouse'
Containing Fake Birth Certificate Displayed at Montana GOP Convention 7) White Supremacist With Ties To Neo-Nazi Groups Elected To Pennsylvania County GOP Committee 8) Tony Perkins head of the Family Research Council
a speaker at this summit, has ties to David Duke (affiliated with the KKK) both
personally and politically. 9) RNC Delegate Offended By Presence of ‘Mexican’ At Disney’s Epcot Center. 10) Race baiting comments and ads during Republican Primary and the 2012 Presidential Campaign.
During this time no Republican Elected Official denounced any of this behavior they remained silent. On the blogs no Republican posted comments denouncing this behavior. This is why the party is seen as racist it is not just one person it is many people.
Does racism exist in America? yes
And unfortunately in every group, there will always be those who are an embarrassment.
But to condemn an entire group is prejudicial in and of itself.
I think that we all know that there are fundamental differences between the two parties that have everything to do with politics and nothing to do with the color of our president's skin. Do you forget the vitriol lobbed at Bush?
The day after Obama was inaugurated, I got a picture sent to me via email. It was a witch doctor with Obama's face and a bone through the nose. By way of contrast, Bush had a 91 approval rating early in that total catastrophic debacle.
Comparing the public opposition to Bush, versus the panicked frenzy attacking Obama - that's like comparing sparklers to nuclear missiles.
@lisafp1 the "vitriol lobbed at Bush" was political - it had nothing to do with race. Lorr's comments point that out. A huge # of ignorant people (which is what racism is - ignorance) have leveled their criticism at Prez Obama with racial slurs, racial code words, etc. THAT is not "political!" THAT is racism. And maybe they're not all republicans - some of them are just plain ignorant racists - but they're speaking for the GOP. If the GOP doesn't agree why don't they speak up? Why do they invite racists to CPAC? Why don't they condemn racist remarks by people in their party?
When the person is attacked, it's not politics. lisapf1, name the other presidents that have went through the birther crap.
I would just like to see more TPubs call it out as "wrong" and stop using other peoples' racism as a tool to stoke the fire against an election. Stop defending those doing it.
People saying talk to that person, not me. I didn't do it. It's just wrong, say so. Defending free speech instead of saying, that's not what I want to hear. I have free speech to tell you it's an ugly tactic and defending that is ugly.
I am not giving advice for TPubs to win over minorities by speaking nicer. I am telling those apologists they are not doing anything about it but saying I am not the racist, it's them.
As a left leaning person, I would not hesitate to tell a person: It's not at all helpful to any cause to bomb something or drive spikes into trees.
Maybe there's a better way. It's really ugly to watch. I hate seeing it after all this time.
Freddie is right. We must help make this go viral. To call this behavior shameful isn't even strong enough to properly condemn such stupidity and hatred. Which often seem to go together as hateful people do so many stupid things.
"For what it's worth, Crawford still supports Medicaid expansion as part of "Obamacare," and regrets the way his party is concerned..."
this clearly shows the difference between leaders and negotiators - between courage and cowardice....
the repubers are such cowards that what they dont realize is that the politics of embracing President Obama would actually show better polling for them if they did so with leadership and courage.
and thus the repuber cowards come to believe that their form of losing is winning. bashar al-assad, mubarek and momare all said the same thing. look at'm now.
It goes beyond sad, doesn't it?
It really does and not only the racist remarks. Failure to help the needy in the state. Failure to help the health care providers in the state. It really does go beyond sad.
Another Conservative with deep, personal
hypocrisyconvictions.And a Doctor, you say? What a schmuck.
Having the necessary degrees and stuff doesn't necessarily make somebody a good person. I encountered plenty of doctors and dentists in the military who seemed to be more interesting in being military officers than in being doctors and dentists. Put a military uniform on somebody who already has an "M-Deity" complex and the result ain't pretty.
In all honesty, the hypocrisy exhibited here is more palatable to me. This doctor pointed out his own future hypocrisy in order to lessen any criticism of his later proposal. He acknowledged that the bill will not likely clear the House and by not voting for it he helped end the debate on that bill. This way when he introduces a similar bill, which he says he will do, using wording that do not immediately sound like "Obamacare" even when the net result is the same, it might not meet with the same resistance as this current bill. He realizes that Republican strategy is to refuse to be compromising. It seems that he intends to take the compromise and sell it as a responsible, conservative idea when the stink settles.
I tend to agree. This is politics; repackaging something in a way you can sell it to your constituents or opponents. You can agree with a policy, understand it will fail in its current form, and figure out how to get both the credit with its detractors at the same time you get that issue furthered by rephrasing (with a helping of 'getting the credit' on the side). He's appeasing and manipulating the extremists in his party.
The mistake he made was admitting upfront that he planned to play the game, and with a health care policy to boot. He would have had supporters amongst those who'd supported this first bill. Now, that's not so sure a thing. His party might have gone along with him. Now, they might oppose him out of spite.
'First rule of fight club...' and such.
So basiclly he wants to denied obamacare, so that he can later rename the bill to pass... THAT F---ing BS..
Profile in Courage. I'm gonna hold my breath waiting for that "separate legislation later this year."
RM, You are correct Ms Maddow. Regardless of which side of which piece of Obamacare/ACA you stand, or sit, or lie on.... it has nearly everyone's tempature rising.
And now that we are in the midst of a major event.....new Pope, nope.....CPAC, no the deficit, not.....EU mess, reaaally not...... We're talkin' really major...IT'S SPRING BREAK! And...breaker, breaker.....it's John Boehner time again. Red sun, red sand, red heat, man is he an angry bird. And he is still furious over Obamacare. After all, he has said that he is a man of modest means, and every dollar counts.
So, while joining the spring breakers, to relax prior to CPAC crazies, he went for a tanning salon session... to get the perfect, even degree of orange/red complexion. On his way out, as he looked at his bill, he was shocked to see a 10% excise tax for the tan! Outrageous!! Questioning the additional tax...he was reminded that this year, 2013, the Obamacare/ACA "tan tax" kicks in.. for real....ooops. Say no ,more. More to come.. All above fictional. Any similarity to real person(s), event(s), and/or place(s) are coincidental. Not responsible for errors. Are you seeing red too?
what a spineless hypocrite!
what scumbags. Doing what's best for their voters my behind.
Tell me there is audio.
You, Kris Crawford, and those like you are what give the Repugnants a baaad name!
SHAME on you for your comments AND it sounds like you are talking out of both sides of your mouth!!
coward
How dare ANYONE in this age deny the common good of his/her constituents for the race or color of ANYONE, let alone the President of the United States. This man works for the PEOPLE, not for his prejudice.
I emailed Kris Crawford's office last night when I heard about it, easy to do. Don't expect a reply, but it made me feel better.
"Why is it that you Liberals ALWAYS play the race card?" -every Republican ever
you know you jackasses see what this fool said and you yell you Liberals always want to play the race card what the @!$%# is it if its not about race the fool said that we are not going to work with this black guy who's in the whitehouse because its not good Politics. now @!$%# who is playing the race card.you stupid jackass.
Then we've got old Allen West, with his remarks about black conservatives being what liberal progressives fear MOST and his plantations. There's nothing racially charged there.
They are very proud of their new found tolerance. Rubio was trying to win over some of those that were said to be "dependent upon government" and "believe that they are victims". Well, that makes it so much better.
When is it over?
DUH!!! Republicans so hate our President because he is black that they oppose ANYTHING they see as coming from him, even when it would benefit them personally. Republican legislators and voters will cut off their noses to spite their faces; if President Obama is for it, they are against it--whatever "it" is. I have seen this attitude in my neighbors, and I have seen it in Congress. Until democrats are willing to end the 60%=a majority and to end the filibuster, we will continue to be ruled by a racist, hard-hearted, hypocritical party.
What's telling about this comment is that it's said matter a factly. It's not even racist, it's cowardly. I know people want to focus on the 'black guy' comment but that's the least of the worry. It's the fact that the GOP are still just running the platform of 'not Obama' regardless of whether or not they agree with the position. Which tells me they really have no position other than what their moneyed contributors want.
so very true they hate Obama no too ways about it and we all know why.and they think we are so stupid that we don't see this.
So opposing "the black guy in the White House" is more important to this doctor than providing for the sick and poor people in his state. Someone should remind him of the Hippocratic Oath he took and then pull his license. What a sleazy excuse for a human being, let alone a doctor. Have these people no ethics whatsoever? -- Mark
How do these people get elected. This racist coward also didn't file tax returns from 2004 - 2007...
Florence Rep. Crawford found guilty in tax trial
http://www.scnow.com/news/politics/article_6ff4af36-300b-11e2-a880-0019bb30f31a.html
Can we make the vote in 2014 a message to these idiots. Canwe show them that we mean to take their careers away from them if they don't stop voting against us because they are biggots. The people of this country and of SOUTH CAROLINA NEED TO STAND UP AGAINST THESE DESPOTS AND VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE.
Sadly, there are enough citizens out there who also hate President Obama because he is black that these people will continue to be elected. Some of these racists are my neighbors; their thinking is controlled by their racism.
It just makes me sad to see such ignorance and hypocrisy from a "supposed" highly educated doctor. What became of his Hippocratic Oath to "first do no harm"? It really doesn't matter why he said it, it only matters that he finally "came out" as the absolute racist he is. That "black man in the White House" is truly one of the best things that has happened to the White House and our country ever! He cares about what happens to those of us not wealthy enough afford proper medical care. There are many out here struggling, even those of us who do have the wherewithal to pay. I wonder what will ultimately become of America as we have known it all our lives... Makes one wonder why they try so hard to turn our democracy into the same monarchy from which the first Americans fled...
this is what Ive known for many years. we are a long way from burying the last racist. they have the right to vote, but their numbers have dwindled, as 2008 and 2012 has shown
Kick em, beat em, starve em, then send them packing sick!
And the Right calls the left "sheeple". This man knows in his heart how he should have voted, and yet didn't have the guts to do the right thing. This is why I like government less and less every day.