Russell Pearce condemns Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan

PHOENIX — Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is taking some heat over her Medicaid plan from a member of her own party.

Former State Senate President Russell Pearce said Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan is bad for Arizona.

“It will grow socialism in Arizona at a level that it has never been grown before,” said Pearce. “When you do that, every state that has 30 percent or more of its people on government programs, obviously, goes blue,” indicating that the Democrats would become the dominant political party in Arizona.

“You’re going to have everybody in the world that relies on government, so you’re going to vote for more government. It’s the nature of the beast,” Pearce said. “That’s what a democracy does. When you can vote yourself for your neighbor’s stuff, you vote yourself for your neighbor’s stuff. That’s the risk of a democracy. That’s why we live in a republic, where we reject the democratic form of government.”

Pearce also said the federal government cannot afford the Medicaid program.

“They’re out of money. They’re trillions of dollars in debt, so there is no money,” he said. “This game has got to stop.”

Pearce said if he were still in the legislature, he would do everything he could to stop the governor’s plan from passing.