March 27, 2015 4:34 PM

Smith: There Are Consequences

From the Left: Quorum Report’s liberal columnist Glenn W. Smith argues that it's hard to take the promises of voucher backers seriously when they are willing to condemn these children to unnecessary sickness and death by refusing Medicaid expansion.

How is it that the GOP, the party of so-called personal responsibility, can so completely ignore the moral, economic and environmental consequences of its policies? Hidebound ideology is the answer, of course. When you believe in a righteous path, the belief sticks even as it leads you to the cliff’s edge. “That’s not a cliff. It’s the border of the Promised Land.” Right.

The GOP’s denial of consequences is so profound that South Florida is talking about seceding from Florida because Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s administration refuses to acknowledge global warming and rising seawaters that are already threatening Miami and environs. Scott’s administration even prohibited use of the terms “global warming” and “climate crisis” by anyone at any level in his administration.

Or take Medicaid expansion. As millions go uninsured, sicken and die unnecessarily, the GOP conveniently avoids talk of these consequences. Instead we hear a lot of ideological baloney about how everything will be peaches and cream once we eliminate government at all levels and leave the future to Tim Dunn, Michael Quinn Sullivan and the Koch Brothers, who of course only have our best interests at heart.

The complete column from Glenn W. Smith can be found in the R&D Department.

By Glenn W. Smith