Rick Perry In Negotiations To Accept Medicaid expansion - Turning Texas Blue

Ain't nothin' funnier than a 'murican politician goin' bang at a public event.

***

Alan: Looks like the only way to save the GOP is to imitate Democrats. 

Get ready for a rout next November!

***

Governor Rick Perry forced to the negotiating table on December 12th

Great article out of Dallas concerning Medicaid expansion, Turn Texas Blue, and the general sense of panic in the Republican Party. Which has forced Governor Rick Perry to the negotiating table on December 12th – with Republicans – to accept Obamacare provisions concerning Medicaid expansion.

Dallas Times Ledger
Tuesday, December 3 2013
By staff writer Molly Davis

This morning it is being reported that Texas Governor Rick Perry has agreed to enter into negotiations with the majority Republican legislature concerning ACA Medicaid expansion. Previously Perry had publicly turned down any thought of accepting any provisions in the ACA which has become better known as Obamacare.
 But many Republican State legislators in Texas are receiving requests from constituents wanting to take advantage of this opportunity. One Republican  legislator who would not go on the record told me there is a lot of anxiety in the chamber as members watch other states taking advantage of the ACA Medicaid expansion.
He went on to say, “ What are we going to do come 2014, what am I going to tell my constituents, that you can’t have insurance because I am a principled man, that is BS, and I’ll tell you I am not the only Republican in this chamber who feels this way.
 We can’t ride on coattails no more, and this Abbot a lot of us are not fans of his, and Wendy Davis has lit a fire in the suburbs with women voters. We are in for a hell of a fight in this state. The Republicans in Washington might not see it, but hell, every time I walk out my office door I have to pass by these Turning Texas Blue volunteers registering folks and selling them on the idea of Medicaid expansion.”

The article goes on to talk about the sense of panic stalking the Republicans in the Texas legislature.

There does seem to be a general feeling in the chamber that something is bubbling up below the surface. As I went to Republican members offices and behind closed doors there is almost a sense of foreboding on the Republican side that is palpable – and it's  not just in Austin. Another member I met with in the conservative district of Sherman which borders Oklahoma said, “ Look I’m as conservative as they come, but I’m not going out to dinner with Ted Cruz in DC, I’m not a celebrity. I got neighbors to take care of. Republicans I have known for years are signing up for Obamacare on the federal website. What in God’s name am I going to tell them come 2014, that I am going to kick them off their insurance. These same people are being asked to go to the Turn Texas Blue meetings.”
 He walked over to his large office window and pulled the curtains back and pointed,  "Look at that. Those god dammed people set up right outside my office. They are registering hundreds of people a week for the Democratic party, and now they have another office on the outside of town near the damned pig farm.”
 He shook his head and walked back to his desk and sat down with an air of resignation. “Ya know, I got caught up in the Teaparty and the Perry presidential run and then the Cruz crusade, but ya know, I got people to help, who have kids to feed and grandparents to take care of, and I’m not going to let them down. I went to the local Teaparty meeting last week and ya know how many people were there ? Take a guess – there were six people there. Two years ago ya couldn’t fit them in the building there were so many of them. Hell yesterday I talked to the spokesman and he just signed up for Obamacare. I asked him what the hell are ya doing John, and he just shrugged his shoulders and said  “I’m doing what I got to do, you got your insurance, just what the hell you expect me to do ?” “And he just walked away from me.  
Well why wouldn’t he, I mean they are not going to stick with us and Rick just so he can make a second run for the White House.
Perry can’t change his mind now, so we are just going to have to change it for him. Otherwise you mark my word, we are going to get beat down the road and we are going to get beat bad, and it’s gonna happen sooner rather than later.
This Turning Texas Blue outfit means business, they are everywhere.  You won’t read about it in the national papers, but I’m telling you in our Republican caucus meetings at the State House there is a sense of panic so thick you could cut it with a knife !”

And the Kicker

As I traveled around the state the same stories from Republicans were repeated over and over. They seem to sense they are being abandoned by the very people who put them in office.
 This coupled with the omnipresent Turning Texas Blue operation seems to be fraying Republican nerves, they dread their base constituency signing up for Obamacare.

 One Republican legislator from Marshall did make an admission with a laugh, "I'll tell ya honestly, I ran against Obama and Obamacare. But my brother who is in construction signed up yesterday after they fixed the site, said it took him all of 20 minutes to get an insurance plan. He now has cheaper and better insurance. He looked at me last night and shook his head and laughed, "You guys are going to be in for a hell of a hot summer next year !"

 The legislature is set to start negotiations on December 12 before going home for Christmas.  Rick Perry was adamant that he would never do so – but as one
Turning Texas Blue volunteer told me out side of the Sherman legislators office,
“Perry ain’t got no say in the matter. We rule the streets and we are moving into the chamber via the kitchen tables over the Holidays.”  

Couldn't have hoped for a better holiday in Texas !