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" If you want a winter-book favorite to become a darkhorse contender in a longshot way for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, you could do worse than look at Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. Not only does he partly answer the GOP&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;demographic&amp;quot; problem, and not only is he governor of a vital swing state that looks ever bluer with every election, but he did something very smart today. He announced that Nevada would conform to the Affordable Care Act and that he would accept the increase in Medicaid coverage that comes with it. In an exclusive interview, Sandoval said expanding coverage will add 78,000 residents to the state&amp;#039;s Medicaid rolls but will save the state $16 million in mental health programs that otherwise would be paid for out of the state general fund. The first-term Republican governor said that while he opposed the health care law, his decision will help tens of thousands of people. About 22 percent of Nevadans, or 604,000 people, are uninsured. Sandoval added that his budget to be released to lawmakers in January will propose reducing taxes paid by small businesses to help them afford insurance coverage for their employees. He also will ask the Legislature to support a &amp;quot;cost-sharing&amp;quot; copayment for recipients who receive Medicaid services. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t think it&amp;#039;s any secret I&amp;#039;ve never been an advocate for the Affordable Care Act,&amp;quot; Sandoval said. But after weighing the options, he said it was in the state&amp;#039;s best interest to expand coverage for the poor. &amp;quot;It would cost the state $16 million more not to opt in,&amp;quot; he said. Holy Everett Dirksen, Batman. Pragmatism! From a Republican. I predict that, within a couple of years, and even by the Republican standards for looking like idiots, which are considerable, the Republican governors who refuse the Medicaid money because of, you know, FREEEDOMMMM!, and who also engage in what we used to call &amp;quot;massive resistance&amp;quot; to the ACA are going to look like the biggest idiots in two shoes. I will grant you that The Base is going to raise holy hell about this, but, Jesus H. Christ on a weekend Emperor&amp;#039;s Package at Caesar&amp;#039;s, what is American politics coming to when it is untenable for a governor to accept free fking federal money?! Some things never change. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a16931/brian-sandoval-nevada-healthcare-act-121212/>