Nixon and Medicaid expansion

The hot topic of the hour is Gov. Nixon's support for the expansion of Medicaid as outlined in President Obama's "Affordable" Care Act. I put "affordable" in quotation marks to emphasize there is nothing about this legislation that could be misconstrued as affordable. As all other entitlement programs have done over the years, the costs always are much greater than originally estimated, and the problems these programs promise to fix continue to plague society.

I believe the governor thinks the expansion of Medicaid is the right thing to do, and I admire his desire to assist the approximately 161,000 Missourians who would be added to the Medicaid roles if this expansion were to occur. The problem is Gov. Nixon has governed in a fairly fiscally conservative manner since becoming governor. The expansion of Medicaid is not fiscally conservative and not why he was re-elected.

What we need is leadership willing to make tough decisions and promote solutions to societal problems that have a solid foundation rooted in the principles of life, liberty, freedom, personal responsibility and charity. We need a pro-economic growth agenda in order to create the jobs necessary for people to pick themselves up out of poverty and provide for themselves; not more entitlements.

Sincerely,

HOLLY M. LINTNER, Jackson