» Conscience gets the best of some conservatives on Medicaid | ABQ Journal By Dana Milbank / Syndicated Columnist on Sun, Feb 24, 2013

In Florida, the dwindling band of tea-partyers was furious with Scott, calling him a “Benedict Arnold.” But the cause he supposedly betrayed has already lost. After following the tea-party agenda over the last two years, Scott has the support of just one in three Floridians.

Now he’s acting like a competent executive. He said he would evaluate the expansion over time and decide whether changes should be made. That’s a great idea. It’s too bad the law’s opponents wasted three years hollering about socialism and tyranny.

Scott argued that the Supreme Court and the 2012 election made Obamacare inescapable, but he also made a personal appeal for the expansion. The recent death of his mother gave him “a new perspective,” he said. “I thought about my mom’s struggles raising five children with very little money. I remember my mom’s heartbreak when she struggled to find health care for my brother … I don’t want any parent to worry like my mom did.”

“My top priority continues to be to make Florida the global leader for job creation,” the tea-party traitor said. “But we also have to be sensitive to the needs of the poorest and the weakest among us who struggle to access affordable, high-quality health care.”

Barack Obama couldn’t have said it better himself.

» Conscience gets the best of some conservatives on Medicaid | ABQ Journal