Favre (& Others) Steal Millions Designated To Help The Poor

 

The following op-ed is by Ja'han Jones at MSNBC.com:

Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre’s reputation has already been tarnished by scandals involving text messages. In one, you may remember, Favre settled out of court with two massage therapists back in 2013, after they had accused him of sending inappropriate and unsolicited sexual text messages to them while he played for the New York Jets in 2008. (Favre’s lawyers denied the allegations throughout the ordeal.)

Favre also was investigated by the NFL over allegations that he had sent inappropriate photos to a Jets TV host. The league ultimately said it could not conclude that he had violated the NFL’s conduct policies, but fined him $50,000 for failing to cooperate with the investigation.

Now, it looks like Favre’s phone behavior has him at the center of a more far-reaching scandal. 

That’s because Mississippi Today this week published a batch of text messages from Favre and former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant that paint both as eager participants in a scheme prosecutors say was aimed at bilking millions of federal dollars from a state program meant for poor children and families.  

The texts were revealed after a nonprofit manager who also was accused of skimming from the fund, Nancy New, filed the messages as evidence in a state civil suit involving her, Favre, Bryant and a host of other well-connected Mississippi conservatives who are alleged to have received tens of millions of dollars in handouts with the help of the state welfare agency’s then-director, John Davis.  

New and her son have pleaded guilty to misusing public funds in exchange for their testimony. Davis has pleaded not guilty in the case and is awaiting trial.

As I wrote a couple of weeks back, this type of exploitative scandal involving white conservatives funneling funds from poor Mississippians, who are disproportionately Black, is a centuries-long problem that reared itself most recently in the failure of the crumbling water system in Jackson, Mississippi. 

But don’t let the normalcy of that tradition fool you: The details of Favre’s seeming corruption are grotesque. 

According to Mississippi Today, the text messages show that Favre sought at least $5 million from the welfare program to build a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport. Favre received most of the credit for raising the money, Mississippi Today reported.

In one text exchange, Favre specifically asks New whether payments to him could be kept secret. “If you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?” Favre asked. That’s particularly damning given that Favre has claimed he didn’t know the money he received had come from a fund meant for poor kids. 

New tells him — incorrectly — no. And after she told Favre that then-Gov. Bryant had signed off on the deal, Favre replied, “Awesome I needed to hear that for sure.”

Favre and Bryant have not been charged with a crime, though Favre has been questioned by the FBI. Favre has said that he believes he did nothing wrong, and his lawyer told NBC News that there is nothing remarkable about the newly released texts. In a statement, Bryant attorney Billy Quin said the former governor had agreed to produce the texts and said cases should be tried in court, not the press.

The newly released messages, however, seem to suggest a consciousness of guilt on Favre’s part, and they may add to Bryant’s potential criminal exposure as well, depending on what other facts come out. The former governor has denied that he was intimately involved in shunting the welfare money to his friends, but one message Favre allegedly received from New suggested that there was a plan introduced to name the volleyball facility after Bryant. Potentially, as a political favor. 

The revelations this week indicate the story around the alleged corruption is far from over. And Brett Favre’s descent in the eyes of the public seems all but certain to continue.

Biden Has A Great Night - Extends His Delegate Lead

Bernie Sanders needed a big night in the March 10th primaries. He didn't get it. The big night went to Joe Biden.

Biden started the night with wins in Mississippi, Missouri, and Michigan -- all by large margins. These states helped Biden to significantly increase his lead in delegates.

As I write this, Biden is also leading in Idaho, and trailing in North Dakota. In Washington, Biden and Sanders are nearly dead even. Regardless of who finally wins these three states, neither candidate will show a significant lead in delegates from them.

There are still about half of the states that have not yet held their primaries, but things are getting critical for Sanders. Another 500 or so delegates will be up for grabs on March 17th. If Sanders doesn't cut down Biden's delegate lead than, it will be hard to see a path for him to win the nomination.

Biden Has A Large Lead Among Mississippi Democrats

This chart reflects the results of a recent Millsaps College / Chism Strategies Survey. It was done on June 20th and 21st of a sample of 523 Mississippi Democratic voters, and has a margin of error of 4.27 points.

Joe Biden has a huge lead in Mississippi. He has solid support from 43.18% and another 6.83% are leaning toward him (for a total of 50.01%). No other candidate even has double figures.

Will this change after the debates? We shall see.

Six Corporations Supporting The GOP War On Women

Six states have now passed bills that would outlaw all abortions. All those states are GOP-controlled, and the laws were passed by Republicans. Those Republicans know that the laws they passed were unconstitutional, but hope that the Supreme Court (buoyed by Trump new right-wing extremist justices) will overturn Roe vs. Wade (which has been the law for nearly 5 decades now).

Most Americans don't agree with these new laws. A significant majority of Americans support Roe vs. Wade, and want to see it remain the law of this land. The Republicans don't care what most Americans want. They represent only a tiny minority hiding behind religion, and wanting to force their own religious beliefs on everyone else. These laws would once again make women second-class citizens who cannot even make decisions to control their own bodies. It is nothing less than a war on women.

What can decent Americans do? All of the normal things -- write to government officials and newspapers, demonstrate for women's rights, and vote the Republicans out of office. And maybe their is something else. There are six corporations who have donated money to the anti-woman Republican legislators. Make those companies know they should not be a part of the war on women -- and if they don't listen, boycott their products.

Here, from popular.info, are those six corporations:

AT&T: $196,600 across six states

Walmart: $57,700 across six states

Pfizer: $53,650 across six states

Eli Lilly: $66,250 across five states

Coca-Cola: $40,800 across five states

Aetna: $26,600 across four states

Mississippi Whites Shame Their State And This Country

(Photo of Cindy Hyde-Smith is from 12up.com.)

Cindy Hyde-Smith is a racist, and that was obvious to Mississippi voters (and the nation).

Her remark about happily sitting on the front row of a public hanging made that clear (in a state with a long and sick history of lynching Blacks). She did later say she was sorry that people were offended by her remark, but never apologized for making the remark -- a dog whistle to racist voters that she was one of them.

She also had her picture taken wearing a Confederate cap, and called the Confederacy the brightest period in Mississippi's history.

And she attended a segregated private school, and sent her child to a segregated private school.

There is no doubt of her racist leanings. On Tuesday, a significant majority of whites in Mississippi elected her to represent them in the U.S. Senate.

I'm sure many of those who voted for her will deny they are racists. They are wrong. Actions speak louder that weak protestations. And anyone who votes for a candidate that is racist, is a racist.

The white voters in Mississippi made it clear that racism is alive and well in the United States. They should be ashamed of themselves.

New Presidential Polls For Michigan And Mississippi

Donald Trump had hoped to take the state of Michigan with the help of white blue-collar workers, but it doesn't look like that will happen. He trails Clinton in Michigan by 10 points. He does still have a large 13 point lead in the very red state of Mississippi though.

The Fox 2 Detroit / Mitchell Poll was done on August 9th and 10th of a sample of 1,314 likely Michigan voters, and has a margin of error of 2.7 points.

The Y'all Politics / Magellan Strategies Poll was done on August 11th of a random sample of 1,084 likely Mississippi voters, with a margin of error of 2.9 points.

Ellen DeGeneres Reacts To Mississippi's Anti-Equality Law

As you may know, the politicians (mostly Republican) have passed a new law that would allow businesses, government, and other groups to discriminate against the LGBT community (and possibly even others). The law is not only odious and anti-American, but most likely unconstitutional. It certainly violates the basics of common decency. The photo of Ellen above is from homorazzi.com.

Here is Ellen Degeneres' start-witted, humorous, and right-on-target reaction to the Mississippi law:

"I thought a lot about what I wanted to say today. And there's something I want to get off my chest. It's a mole that looks like it's changed shape. But I'm gonna talk to my doctor about that. 

What I really want to talk about today is what happened this week in Mississippi. I don't know what Mrs. Sippy is doing, but I'm very worried about Mr. Sippy.

So, if you don't know, the Governor of the state signed a religious freedom bill, which might sound good because the word freedom is in it. But here's what it means.

Under the law, if you say for religious reasons you can ‘deny gay people marriage, adoption and foster care services; fire or refuse to employ them; and decline to rent or sell them property.'

Now, I'm not a political person, I'm really not. But this is not politics this is human rights. And I mean, when I see something wrong, I have to talk about it. It's the same thing that I do when I see men wearing Spandex in line at Starbucks. It's wrong and I need to discuss it.

So, this issue is very personal to me, obviously. I'm disappointed for several reasons. First of all, Mississippi is the only state I know how to spell. Second of all, that is the definition of discrimination. 

It's also something that the Supreme Court already ruled on when they made marriage a right for everyone, everyone. And they're Supreme. I mean, that's the best you can get. Like the Nacho Supreme from Taco Bell. 

The Supreme Court said the same thing that Diana Ross and the Supremes said a long time ago: ‘Stop! In the Name of Love.' And now, yes, and now Mississippi is saying, ‘I Don't Second That Emotion.' 

Sometimes I think it's easier to explain things if you break it down. So imagine this. Two cupcakes walk into a flower shop and they want to buy a dozen roses. But the florist doesn't believe in selling flowers to cupcakes because they don't have any money. But gay people do so sell them the damn flowers.

I grew up in the South right next door, in Louisiana. I used to go to Mississippi as a kid all the time. My Aunt Helen lived there. So if you're in Mississippi or North Carolina or anywhere and you're saddened by the fact that people are judging you based on who you love, don't lose hope. I was fired for being gay and I know what it feels like. I lost everything. But look at me now. I could buy that Governor's mansion, flip it and make a $7 Million dollar profit. 

I mean look, there's already so much inequality in the world. Women's rights, gender pay gap, racism. I think we need to remember that we are more similar than we are different. And we all want the same things. Love, acceptance, kindness. And I want one of those new Teslas.

So I advocate for less hate and more love. Less tearing apart and more coming together. Less sitting and more dancing."

(The photo of Ellen above is from homorazzi.com.)

Michigan / Mississippi Dems Cast Their Votes For President

Democratic voters in Mississippi and Michigan went to the polls on Tuesday to choose whether they want Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders to be their party's nominee in the November general election.

Mississippi was no surprise. Hillary Clinton won big there as expected, and will walk away with most of that state's delegates.

The surprise of the night was in Michigan. Most polls had Hillary Clinton winning that state, but Bernie Sanders did very well there -- and thanks to proportional allocation of delegates, Sanders and Clinton will pretty much split the delegates in Michigan. Sanders did win the state, but by only a 2 point margin.

Sanders and his supporters can justifiably be proud of their strong showing in Michigan. But like last weekend, this is more of a moral victory than a real one -- because Clinton's strong showing in Mississippi will insure she wins the majority of the delegates decided on Tuesday.

Here are the results for Tuesday night:

MISSISSIPPI

Clinton...............181,978 (82.6%)
Sanders...............36,249 (16.5%)

MICHIGAN

Clinton...............549,922 (48.0%)
Sanders...............573,337 (50.1%)

And here is the latest delegate count:

Clinton...............1220
Sanders...............571

Clinton Should Do Very Well In March 8th Primaries

Democrats in two states will make their presidential choice know tomorrow (March 8th). Michigan has 147 delegates, and 130 of them are up for grabs Tuesday. Mississippi has 41 delegates, and 36 of them will be decided by voters on Tuesday.

This should be a day when Hillary Clinton adds to her already substantial delegate lead -- since she is leading by large margins in both states (and they are primaries -- not caucuses).

Three recent polls are out for Michigan. They are:

American Research Group Poll (March 4-5) 400 likely voters (5.0 point moe).

NBC News / WSJ / Marist Poll (March 1-3) 546 likely voters (4.2 point moe).

CBS News / YouGov Poll (March 2-4) 597 likely voters (7.7 point moe).

They show Clinton with between a lead of between 11 and 24 points.

The chart below shows the results of the last known Mississippi poll. It shows Clinton with a 41 point lead.

Magellan Strategies Poll (February 29) 471 likely voters (4.5 point moe).

New Dem Polls For Louisiana, Michigan, And Mississippi

It looks like Hillary Clinton is in pretty good shape in these three state, who will all be voting in the next few days.

Louisiana - Magellan Strategies (March 1) 865 likely voters (3.3 point moe).

Michigan - Fox 2 Detroit / Mitchell (March 1) 427 likely voters (4.7 point moe).

Mississippi - Magellan Strategies (February 29) 471 likely voters (4.5 point moe).

Christie Will Have A Tough Time In The South

Chris Christie went back to Iowa this last week. Seems like in spite of his scandal troubles in New Jersey, he's still got a desire to run for president in 2016. But if those scandals don't kill his chances, then the South probably will. As these two new polls show, Christie is not well-liked in the South and is having trouble getting out of single digits in any Southern States poll. The Southern States are teabagger states, and they still haven't forgiven Christie for having the audacity to shake hands with President Obama after the hurricane struck the Northeast.

The Public Policy Polling survey in Mississippi questioned 434 GOP primary voters between July 10th and 13th, and has a margin of error of about 4.7 points.

The Public Policy Polling survey in Louisiana questioned 308 GOP primary voters between June 26th and 29th, and has a margin of error of about 5.6 points.

Senate Races - Colorado, Michigan, And Mississippi

It's starting to look like the Democrats will probably hang on to the senate seats in Colorado and Michigan. The latest polls show Mark Udall with a 7 point lead in Colorado and Gary peters with a 6 point lead in Michigan. Those aren't huge leads, but they are significant (exceeding the margin of error) -- and they show the Republicans still have a lot of work to do in those states.

Mississippi is another matter. While the Republican incumbent Thad Cochran holds a significant lead over his Democratic opponent (and will most likely win), there is an abnormally large number of undecideds in that race (about 31%). That's probably because Cochran's primary opponent (teabagger Chris McDaniel) has still not conceded defeat, and is fighting the primary result. If the teabaggers stay mad at Cochran (and either stay home or vote 3rd party in November), and Childers is able to whittle away a little at Cochran's lead, then this race could be a real mess by election day. This will be an interesting race to watch for the next few months.

The NBC News / Marist Poll in Colorado surveyed 914 registered voters, and has a 3.2 point margin of error.

The NBC News / Marist Poll in Michigan surveyed 870 registered voters, and has a margin of error of 3.3 points.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 691 Mississippi voters, and has a 3.7 point margin of error.

Teabaggers Still Driving Republicans Out Of Their Party

The photo above (from The Clarion-Ledger) is of Evan Alvarez. Mr. Alvarez was not only a member of the college Republicans at Mississippi State, but was the state chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans. I say was, because Mr. Alvarez has resigned that post and left the party. He says he will join the Democratic Party in Mississippi now. Why has he done this? Basically because he can no longer stomach the hatred and bigotry of the teabaggers that control the Republican Party right now. Here is the letter he left explaining his action:

I over the last 48 hours or so, I have been in deep thought about the future of MFCR and of the Republican Party. I have come to the conclusion that I no longer want to be the leader of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans. I refuse to simply let people break the rules and think they don't have to answer for their actions, admit they were wrong, or even apologize. When I ran for Chairman in the spring, I ran to be Chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College REPUBLICANS, not the Mississippi Federation of College "Tea Partiers". Also, I believe that the Republican Party has allowed these groups of extremist to have too much of a voice and because of that, the platform of the Republican Party has shifted too far to the right in my opinion. For example, the drastic cuts on needed federal funding that these groups of Republican extremists support would leave society weak and crippled. Secondly, their far right stance on immigration is not only ignorant, but it is cruel. After all our country is a nation of immigrants and should welcome immigrants from every country. My father was an immigrant from Cuba and came to America in 1959 because of the freedom that this nation offers. This freedom should be available to each and every individual that wants to come work hard and pursue his or her goals in America. Finally, I believe the Republican Party has not done enough to put a stop to the hatred and cruel words and actions of the far right extremist in the party. The Republican Party consistently says they are trying to appeal to minorities, but this will never happen when we allow members of party to say cruel and ignorant things about Women, African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities in our country. I simply cannot be apart of organization that have members who support these far right extremist views, much less be the Chairman of the organization. So in conclusion, I, Evan Alvarez, am hereby resigning my position as Chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans, as well as my membership at the Mississippi State Chapter of MFCR. This change is effective immediately!

Senate Races (New Jersey, Mississippi, And Louisiana)

The charts above reflect the current voter preferences for the senate races in New Jersey, Mississippi, and Louisiana. They show the Democrat is favored in one race, the Republican in another, and the third race could be very competitive.

The race favoring a Democrat is in New Jersey, where the incumbent (Cory Booker) has a 20 point lead over his Republican opponent. It is going to be very difficult for the Republican to even be competitive in this race -- let alone win it.

In Mississippi, the incumbent Republican (Thad Cochran) looks to be in pretty good shape -- leading his Democratic opponent by 12 points. The only real hope is that the teabaggers in that state stay mad at Cochran for appealing to Blacks to beat their favorite candidate -- and either vote for a third party or stay at home on election day. If they come home to the GOP (as expected), then Cochran will probably win pretty easily.

The race in Louisiana looks good for Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu, but we need to remember that all three of her opponents are Republicans. Unless she gets over 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff -- and the supporters of the two losing Republicans will probably support Landrieu's surviving Republican opponent, which would tighten the race up considerably. I still think Landrieu will eke out a win in Louisiana, but it is not going to be as easy as Booker or Cochran.

In the final analysis, I don't think these three states will change the balance of power in the United States Senate.

The Monmouth University Poll was done between June 25th and 29th of 800 New Jersey adults, and has a 3.5 point margin of error.

The Rasmussen Poll was done on June 25th and 26th of 750 Mississippi likely voters, and has a margin of error of about 4 points.

The survey from Public Policy Polling was done between June 26th and 29th of 664 Louisiana registered voters, and has a 3.8 point margin of error.

Temper The Enthusiasm Over The Mississippi Runoff

(The image above of Thad Cochran is from wxxv25.com.)

The media headlines regarding Mississippi's GOP runoff election for U.S. Senate this morning talk about the defeat of the teabaggers in that state. One source even called it a "crippling defeat" for the extreme right. I think it's time we considered the reality.

These headlines make it sound like a moderate defeated a teabagger in Mississippi, but that's not what happened. There was no moderate in that race. When was the last time Thad Cochran voted as a moderate in the Senate, or even considered compromising with the Democrats for the good of the country? All I can remember him doing is voting in lock-step with the extreme right-wingers.

What we really had in that Mississippi runoff was a fairly sane teabagger running against a bat-crap crazy teabagger. And Cochran's "sanity" doesn't mitigate his extremism at all -- it just keeps him from making crazy statements that might hurt him in November. The only difference between the two candidates was the tone of their rhetoric.

There is talk now of how angry the teabaggers are, and some are even saying they might abandon Cochran in November. I don't believe it. They might not be happy with his slightly milder rhetoric, but they know he'll continue to vote as a right-wing extremist, and they'll vote for him in November.

The headline "Extremist Loses In Mississippi" is a valid one -- but equally valid would be one that read "Extremist Wins In Mississippi".

2016 Presidential Preferences Of Mississippi Republicans

I have been posting on the early preferences for the 2016 presidential race as polls question voters on the races this year in each state, and toss in as an extra question the current choices for the 2016 presidential race. Now it is Mississippi's turn.

Harper Polling surveyed 570 likely Republican primary voters in Mississippi between April 3rd and 5th. The survey has a margin of error of about 4.1 points.

Frankly, I was a little surprised at the results of this poll. Mississippi is one of those states where the Republican Party is under complete control of the teabaggers (with 57% saying they supported the ideals of the Tea Party, and only 21% saying they opposed them) -- so I would have expected a teabagger candidate (like Cruz or Paul) to be the early favorite. But that's not what the poll showed. The current leader among Mississippi Republicans is Jeb Bush (a conservative for sure, but probably the most moderate conservative among the candidates).

And while other state polls have shown the candidates bunched together with no real leader, this poll shows Bush as a clear leader -- with a 17 point gap between him and the second place finishers (Cruz and Christie). That's a much bigger lead than can be accounted for by the margin of error.

Of course this poll was taken before Bush came out in the last few days and blasted the Republican Party's stance on immigration reform. The teabaggers don't want immigration reform. They just want to station thousands of troops on our southern border to keep minorities out, and to deport as many minorities as possible. Bush's stance on immigration reform is courageous (considering his party membership), but I'll bet it is going to cost him a lot of support.

Justice

The three young men pictured on the left are American heroes. Their names are James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. In the summer of 1964, they were in Mississippi to help African-Americans register to vote in that state -- a very dangerous thing to do in the South at that time.

Unfortunately, they had to give their lives for to get voting rights for their fellow American citizens. They were murdered by racist klansmen that summer and buried in an earthen dam. After a prolonged investigation, the FBI found their bodies. They charged 8 klansmen with the crime. Seven of them were convicted, but none served more than six years in jail (to the eternal shame of this country).

The eighth klansman was Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen, and he escaped justice for 41 years because of a hung jury. But in 2005, the state of Mississippi again charged him with murder. The jury found him guilty of manslaughter, but fortunately he received a proper sentence -- 60 years in prison.

Killen has been appealing his conviction, while serving his sentence in a Mississippi state prison. His lawyers have claimed that his trial lawyers didn't represent his interests sufficiently, and that the huge time gap prevented him from receiving a fair trial. Both the trial judge and the appeals court rejected those arguments, and upheld his prison sentence.

Killen's appeal finally made it to the United States Supreme Court -- and last Monday that court refused to hear the case. That means the appeals court decision will stand, and Killen (now 88 years old) will spend the rest of his miserable racist life in prison. In my opinion, that's exactly what he deserves -- to die in prison.

Nothing can be done about the others. If any are still living, they are protected by the "double jeopardy" provision of the Constitution. But Monday's Supreme Court decision means Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner have finally been assured of at least some justice. May they never be forgotten. Their sacrifice helped to change this nation for the better.

Even The Reddest States Are Changing

The charts above represent the thinking of the citizens of Mississippi. If there is a redder state (a more conservative state) than my own state of Texas, it would be Mississippi. But even the reddest states are starting to change these days -- and embrace some ideas normally thought of as being "liberal".

One of those ideas is raising the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour. One might think that southern states like Mississippi would be opposed to that, since the many Republicans they have sent to the Senate and House are dead set against raising the minimum wage by any amount (and some would even abolish it) -- but that would be wrong. The people of Mississippi actually favor raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour by a 17 margin (54% to 37%).

That probably shouldn't surprise us, since the state has as many low-wage workers (making at or slightly above minimum wage) percentage-wise as Texas does (which leads the nation in minimum wage workers). The real surprise comes in the second and third charts -- which concern granting equal rights to those in the LGBT community.

A whopping 66% (including a slight majority of Republicans) say employers should not have the right to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation (38 points higher than those who would support such discrimination). And a plurality of 49% think gays/lesbians should have legal rights equal to those of married heterosexual couples, either through marriage or civil unions (with 21% supporting legal marriages and 28% supporting legal civil unions). About 45% oppose those equal rights.

Social change is happening, even in the Deep South. The ideas that workers deserve a livable wage for full-time work and that the LGBT community deserves the same rights that other Americans enjoy are sweeping this nation -- and even the reddest states are starting join in the fight for social justice.

The charts above were made from a recent Public Policy Polling survey (taken between November 15th and 17th of 502 Mississippi voters, with a 4.4 point margin of error).

Unsung Heroes

At first glance, this may look like a rogues gallery. It is not. This is a gallery of American heroes. These men and women are "Freedom Riders". On May 24, 1961, they entered a "whites only" waiting room at the bus station in Jackson (Mississippi), and refused to leave. They knew they would be arrested, probably beaten, and maybe even killed for their actions -- but they did it anyway. And their bravery helped to make America a better country.

I stand in awe of the magnificent courage and unwavering belief in the equality of all Americans that these young (at that time) Americans displayed. We should always honor them (and the other young Americans who rode with them that summer).

Most Southerners Want Medicaid Expansion

Republican governors in the South have been delaying or denying an expansion of Medicaid in their states. This expansion would give health insurance coverage to millions who do not have it right now. And they want us to think this is the wish of most people in their states. That's just not true.

The chart above was taken from a survey done in 5 Southern States in March and April of this year by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. It shows that significant majorities in all those states want Medicaid to be expanded in their states -- and those majorities cut across all age lines and racial lines. Only one group (conservatives) don't show a majority in favor of Medicaid expansion -- and they are pretty evenly split on the issue.

The position of these Republican governors may please their teabagger base, but it is not the wish of the majority of voters in their states.