Gov. Brewer’s top adviser slams CAP mailers

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

HighGround, of course, is the political consulting firm run by Chuck Coughlin, who is widely known as Governor Jan Brewer’s top adviser. Here is HighGround’s blog engaging in some rather scathing criticism of the Center for Arizona Policy and their legislative endorsements.

When it comes to CAP however, if you are in the womb, you are truly blessed with their favor and support. However, once you are born – particularly if you are from a low income demographic or don’t happen to attend the right church – you are most definitely on your own.

One only needs to look back to Medicaid Restoration to see how much CAP really cares about the “most vulnerable.” During the debate, Center for Arizona Policy did not support restoration. When Governor Brewer, the most pro-life governor ever in the history of Arizona, claimed that being “pro-life” meant taking care of all of the most vulnerable in our society, CAP balked.

Additionally, in an even more ironic twist of fate, CAP also ignored the “will of the voters” argument for restoration (Prop. 204 in 2000), only to roll it out when it more suited their ideological leanings during the recent court decisions about gay marriage.

At the end of the day, CAP was more than willing to allow 63,000 Arizonans, including 5,000 cancer patients in the middle of treatment, to be removed from AHCCCS when the federal authority was set to expire. They were also willing to cut off healthcare for over 10,000 of our veterans who had returned from war and were not yet receiving their VA benefits. We would argue, along with Governor Brewer, that these Arizonan’s certainly were some of the “most vulnerable members of our society.”

The anonymous author, who employs the royal “we” and is probably Mr. Coughlin, took issue with a mailer (pictured above) that he got supporting Shawnna Bolick for LD28 House and paid for by CAP. His pique is no surprise considering how Bolick defeated primary opponent Mary Hamway, who was supported by Brewer’s PAC, along with the GOP incumbents (including Rep. Kate Brophy-McGee in LD28) who broke with the caucus to support the restoration of Medicaid to Arizonans through the Affordable Care Act.

I appreciate HighGround going after CAP, and particularly after Shawnna Bolick (who really, really needs to lose on Tuesday, serious business you guys). I will, however, point out that radical right wingers like Bolick in the Legislature don’t pose the only threat to keeping the Medicaid coverage of all adults in poverty in place. There is also the prospect of a Governor Ducey, who took a hard line against the expansion before soft-pedaling that in time for the general election. Once elected, he will surely be open to at least cutting if not dismantling poor people’s health coverage. Ducey is also even more anti-choice than Governor Brewer was, meaning that he would attack women’s reproductive rights savagely if elected, while “going line by line through the budget” (his campaign catchphrase) to gut safety net programs that would help the babies he wants to bring into the world by force in the name of passing the savings on to taxpayers and “promoting economic growth and opportunity”.

There is also the matter of Doug Ducey wanting to appeal the education funding decision, wasting millions of dollars in court while Arizona ranks at the bottom of the nation in school funding. It’s worth noting that Ducey’s position on that is also in direct contravention to the will of the voters.

AZ Blue Meanie at Blog for Arizona calls Ducey “Cathi’s Clown”, which is a reference to his close relationship to and perfect alignment on culture war issues with CAP President Cathi Herrod. If you thought Herrod had the run of the 9th floor when Brewer was in office, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet if Ducey is elected.