New Parody Exposes Kasich’s Absurdity

Christian Charity Is Voluntary; Medicaid Expansion Is Government Force

Is Kasich Aware “How Lousy Medicaid Is”?

Washington, DC – “If John Kasich actually thinks people will suffer eternal damnation for not supporting ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion, then he’s not fit to be dog catcher, let alone Governor of Ohio,” says Dr. David Hogberg, senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research.

Prompted by Governor Kasich’s recent remarks that Medicaid expansion is in keeping with the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 25, Dr. Hogberg has written, “Parody: Why All Good Christians Must Support ObamaCare’s Medicaid Expansion.”

“Normally I would write a straight-up research article,” Dr. Hogberg says. “But Kasich’s thinking, such as it is, was so silly that a parody was the better way to go.”

Dr. Hogberg notes that Matthew, Chapter 25, urges Christians to help the poor, hungry and sick. “It doesn’t say, use government to force people to help the poor, hungry and sick.”

Christian charity is voluntary. By contrast, the government forces people, via taxation, to support Medicaid expansion. That Governor Kasich doesn’t seem to know the difference doesn’t speak well of either his supposed conservatism or his understanding of Christianity.

In 2013, Kasich told a state legislator who opposed Medicaid expansion, “Now, when you die and get to the… meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not gonna ask you much about what you did about keeping government small, but he’s going to ask you what you did for the poor. Better have a good answer.”

“King Solomon, in all of his wisdom, could not have been more eloquent,” laughs Dr. Hogberg. “In all seriousness, I won’t be so presumptuous as Kasich to tell people what will get them into Heaven, but I think it’s debatable as to whether forcing people to support Medicaid will score many points with St. Peter.”

“I’d also like to ask Kasich if he is aware of how lousy a program Medicaid is,” Dr. Hogberg continued. “The evidence shows that it has no noticeable effect on patient health. Furthermore, Medicaid patients have a lot of trouble getting access to a physician and often have worse health outcomes than people with private insurance. There are many ways to describe condemning poor people to such a program, but I don’t think ‘Christian’ is one of them.”

The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations, and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 96,000 active recent contributors.

Contributions to the National Center are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.