Good Job, Guv!

[Regular readers may wish to hold onto their socks, because Buster is going to say something nice about Ohio Governor John Kasich.  Don't get used to it.]
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He had to take the long route, and then there was a detour, but John Kasich finally got his way on Medicaid expansion for Ohio.  It means our state will get $13 billion in federal money, cover an additional 275,000 currently uninsured Ohioans, and will save $400 million is health costs, all starting next year.

This voluntary program is part of Obamacare.  Most states happily opted in, because, really, it's a no-brainer.  Even John-Boy the Wonder Guv could see that, so he put it in his state budget earlier this year.  But his Republican-controlled state legislature is clogged with too many gerrymandered Tea Baggers who don't want anything to do with Obamacare, even if it's good for us.  They stripped the Medicaid expansion from the budget.  Kasich signed the budget, but pushed for the program to be legislatively restored.  Again and again, his own party refused him.

So Kasich did an end-run around the legislature, massaged a small group of reps on the State Controlling Board (never heard of it before) and got them to vote to allow Ohio to accept the federal money.  Good job, Guv!  It's clearly the right thing to do.

But is it legal to use the Controlling Board for this purpose?  Kasich says yes, but he's never been big on small stuff like obedience to laws.  The wing-nut brigade in his own party say it's illegal, and they'll join with the ultra-conservative 1851 Center For Constitutional Law (whoever they are) in suing the state to overturn the Board's vote.  Really?

It's true -- no good deed goes unpunished.