It’s really hard to take Pat McCrory seriously. In his interview with the Heritage Foundation, he says he accomplished more in his first nine months than any governor in 20 years. He also claimed that the federal government might force North Carolina to expand Medicaid. Neither statement is true.
The North Carolina legislature did more damage than any government in more than twenty years but Pat McCrory did very little except follow along like an annoying little brother. He got rolled, over and over, by Thom Tillis and Phil Berger. When he had opportunities to distinguish himself, he took a pass.
This is the guy who campaigned on ending cronyism and implementing transparency. Instead, he’s expanded patronage, filled the Department of Health and Human Services with campaign cronies at inflated salaries and sticks by an incompetent cabinet secretary who says that transparency hurts government.
After a tumultuous legislative session, he has no signature accomplishment. He just signed the bills that were thrust upon him. After implying he wanted to expand Medicaid, he signed the bill that rejected it. After saying that he wouldn’t further restrict access to abortion, he did just that. He signed the most restrictive voter suppression law in the country and he signed the budget that underfunded our schools, community colleges and universities. He proposed none of this legislation but signed all of it.
If Pat McCrory and the legislature expand Medicaid, it’s because they should have done it in the first place. Their failure to do so is going to cost North Carolina citizens higher insurance premiums and leave more than 318,000 uncovered. No rules from the federal government are going to force their hand. The governor is, once again, just making stuff up.
His tired claim about offending Democrats and Republicans may have some truth to it but it’s true because of his weaknesses, not his strengths. He offended Democrats who thought that he would govern as a moderate and instead watched him morph into a bumbling, right-wing shill. He offended Republicans because after nine months of missteps, misstatements and outright incompetence he looks more like a lame duck than a leader.
And on top of it all, he has serious credibility problems. He seems to say whatever comes to mind whether it’s true or not. He says he went to the Moral Monday protests but he really didn’t. He blamed all his woes on a budget from Perdue when in reality that budget came from Tillis and Berger. And there are numerous other claims that have been debunked in the press.
McCrory is only going to restore his credibility with actions. He’s already proven that we can’t believe what he says. So making frivolous claims and thumping his chest about imagined accomplishments may impress the right-wing cheering section in Washington, DC, but they ring hollow here in North Carolina.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
I’ve responded to the Observer’s false editorial at http://www.camharris.us/2013/10/observer-incorrect-in-attacking-mccrory-medicaid-statement/
The new presumptive eligibility regulations apply to hospitals whether their state has expanded Medicaid or not. It is not the federal government that will be forcing the state to expand Medicaid, but it is the fact that many more North Carolinians will be eligible for presumptive eligibility, opening the state up to increased Medicaid fraud or payments made in error. It might be a more economically beneficial decision to expand Medicaid and take the federal funding that goes along with it.