OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE

by Paul Gibbs

One thing I have never found myself thinking during our extended campaign for Medicaid expansion/ Healthy Utah/Whatever the next solution is called is "You know what Utah really needs? Another right-wing foundation that cares more about ideology than facts getting involved in this." But we keep getting them anyway. The latest is a new chapter of Americans For Prosperity, a the principal political advocacy group established by the billionaire Koch brothers, two of the more controversial figures in American politics. The the group is just barely getting started, they've already listed Medicaid expansion as one of the issues they plan to target.

What's so troublesome about this development is that it means yet another non-Utah run, ideologically based group getting into this fight to serve a political agenda rather than to do what's best for the people of Utah. We've already seen the Florida based Foundation For Government Accountability run a campaign here which was based on stock photos and stock arguments. About the only thing the seemed to bother to learn uniquely about Utah was the name of the Governor they were picking a fight with. It's one thing to have Utah legislators whose idea of how to solve this problem differs drastically from the majority of Utah's citizens. It's another to have outsiders who have no stake in Utah try to mess up healthcare for tens of thousands of people as part of an agenda to mess with Obamacare, regardless of the cost.

Can anybody reasonably doubt that the conservative voice is being heard?  Sure, opponents such as Rep. Jake Anderegg (R-Lehi) love to act as if their voice isn't getting a chance to be heard on this, but if the voice in favor of Healthy Utah is louder, it's only because there are so many of us, from such a wide variety of of political, religious, medical and business backgrounds, speaking as part of a true grassroots effort and echoing the voice of the majority of Utahns. No matter what groups like the FGA or Americans For Prosperity want us to believe, this isn't grass roots activism, and it isn't the voice of the people of Utah.  The Koch brothers modus operandi is to spend so much money that the voices of two people with an ideological axe to grind are louder than the united, informed and educated voices of concerned citizens. We can't allow that to happen in Utah. Our voices have to be louder, and we can't stop talking.