Bentley And Sparks On ObamaCare

I don't know if you care or not about ObamaCare, but the two candidates for Governor have massively different views on the law. Bentley is against it and believes that the State of Alabama should not "opt-in" to any programs or accept any money to do things. Where given the option, he'll make the federal government do it.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20101025/NEWS02/10250302/1009/rss04

Bentley, a retired Tuscaloosa physician, predicts President Obama's federal plan will cause more expenses and paperwork for businesses and will reduce compensation to primary care physicians, which will lead to fewer people entering the field.

"Obamacare will drive good doctors away from the practice of medicine," he said. "Not only will we not have people to do primary care, we will have rationing of care like England and Canada."

Sparks, on the other hand, believes we should jump into it with both feet.

Sparks said Alabama's next governor needs to get busy on passing legislation to implement the federal plan, which would provide health care coverage for a half-million Alabama residents, or risk having the federal government take over the state's program.

"I don't want the federal government running our health care program, but if you do what Dr. Bentley says, they will run our health care program," Sparks said.

Mr. Sparks, this IS a federal takeover of our health care system, and we taxpayers are on the hook for it. It doesn't really matter if the default fed programs kick in or if Alabama passes its own. We will pay for it, and we don't want the stupid thing!

Bentley says that ObamaCare only provides funding through 2018, and after that Alabama would be stuck with the bill, and we can't afford it.

The state Medicaid Agency estimates the federal health care plan will add about 500,000 people to its rolls in 2014 -- Alabama residents who don't have health coverage now and don't qualify for Medicaid. It would double the size of the program, but Bentley said the state will get federal funding for the extra people only until 2018, then it becomes the state's financial problem.
"That will cost Alabama an extra $100 million a year," he said. "The plan we have right now we are never going to be able to afford."

Sparks, on the other hand, doesn't worry so much about that, because he has a plan. Sparks would pay for our extended financial obligations by legalizing gambling and taxing the ever-loving bejeezus out of it.

Sparks, a two-term agriculture commissioner, said the state can afford it if voters embrace his plan to tax, expand and regulate gambling, which he estimates will generate as much as $400 million annually for schools and Medicaid.

"I'm the only guy in the race who has laid a plan on the table to generate more money," he said.

What Sparks fails to realize is that we don't WANT higher taxes and massive new spending programs, we want to CUT government budgets!

And when it comes to challenging the new law in court, as Alabama's AG is currently doing, they are again split.

Sparks hates the idea, and would likely quash Alabama's participation in the legal challenge if he is elected.

"I'm not going to spend money litigating the health care bill when there are people in Alabama that we can work with to pass the best law in the country," Sparks said.

Bentley is on the other side of the issue.

But Bentley likes the legal challenge and said that if Alabama's next attorney general doesn't want to pursue it, he probably would.

So there you go. If the new ObamaCare law is something you care deeply about, that is where the two candidates stand. Make your decisions next week accordingly.