GOV'NAH, II

It's too bad there can't be a rule that governors can't run for president. I've noticed the recent trend is for governors to throw their own state under the bus in the name of "fiscal responsibility", a la Walker/Christie/Perry et al, hoping to use their "tough love!" to impress the rest of the country for their eventual presidential run. Otherwise, if there's so much work to be done in New Jersey, why is Rex Ryan  Chris Christie on Morning Joe every ten minutes screaming about how "tough and serious!" he is?  Why would the rest of the country give a shit?  Why is he making his "case" on national tv?

Of course these governors are hoping to cash out their own states' electoral votes for many more across the country. They know that come campaign season, voters will hear how "kick ass!" these governors are, will be impressed with their bluster in front of the cameras, and won't really bother to look any further and see the things they brag about were in fact crushing their own state's economy and people. With 10 seconds of homework, someone could see that [Scott] Walker's little aria could be avoided with slight changes that make things better for everybody, but he's chosen to do the OPPOSITE, a la Koch-fueled tax cuts for the wealthy etc. He's actually making things worse, but is creating a very impressive national narrative by being on the news 24/7, which is more important if one has presidential hopes. Likewise, people will be impressed with Christie pounding the podium about refusing federal money in the name of "fiscal responsibility"; pretty much nobody will notice that doing so loses thousands of potential jobs, crumbles infrastructure even more and sets the state back another decade or so, all of which will of course end up COSTING New Jersey billions of dollars. But that doesn't matter, since being a shithead YouTube sensation fuels a hopeful presidential run better than thoughtful, competent governing does. - XMASTIME

Via Sully, we see a distillation of this vis-a-vis Barrycare:

[M]any of the states with high-profile conservative governors vowing to stand athwart the ACA’s progress, by refusing to expand their Medicaid programs and erecting hurdles to establishing insurance marketplaces, would stand to gain the most from successful implementation of the law.

Of course, these idiots keep voting for these people, so. Fuck 'em.