In all corners of our country, Americans have been asking their governors and state legislatures to reject Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Sure, we all expect big-government Democrats to oppose their efforts to stop expansion. But the number of Republicans siding with the failed Obamacare program has been pretty demoralizing. You may have seen this – ironically — in the “Live Free or Die” state of New Hampshire. With a Democratic-controlled State House and liberal Governor Maggie Hassan, the only hope for fiscal sanity resides with the Republican-controlled state senate. Last legislative session, Republicans unanimously voted to stop Medicaid expansion. This session, inexplicably, they’re caving. With a vote expected next week, a handful of Republican state senators, specifically those in leadership positions, have signaled they will join with Democrats to pass SB 413, which would expand the state’s Medicaid program as instructed by the now failing Obamacare. What’s worse? These Granite State legislators know all too well of the failures of Obamacare. After all,twenty-two thousand of their residents have already lost their coverage. According to the Heritage Foundation, an additional $126 million is projected in spending and a 40% hike in emergency room expenses are expected. Republican leadership in New Hampshire’s State Senate hoped to push this massive expansion of government through before conservatives could rally. But liberty-loving New Hampshire residents won’t sit by idly as their rights are eaten away. With the help of groups like Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire — a conservative non-profit organization fighting for lower taxes, less spending, and smaller government — activists mobilized immediately. They launched grassroots phone banks, organized calls into the state senators’ offices, press conferences, radio shows, and bought online advertisements. Gradually, the Republican state senators who were torn between supporting their leadership and their constituents began to side with those who elected them. Even local Republican county and city committees began passing resolutions against SB 413 imploring their legislators to oppose it. It has been an uphill battle for conservatives in the Granite State, but the liberal Republican leadership’s failure to force their caucus to vote with them is a testament to the power of grassroots opposition. They may still lose, but the countless patriots are doing what’s right in New Hampshire by fighting Obamacare every step of the way. It’s hard to fight our friends. But it’s time to recognize that advocates of more federal incompetence, overreach, and waste are no friends of liberty — regardless of party affiliation. Live free or die? Maybe if the liberal Republicans get their way, they can go ahead and change their state motto to make it more accurate: “Live free… or not.” This article first appeared on Breitbart.
