governor grinch

Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ cruelty reaches new heights this holiday season

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It’s been a cruel holiday season in Arkansas.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders kicked off Thanksgiving break with maybe her most disgraceful act yet, denying clemency to a man who’s spent 32 years in state prison for a murder he likely didn’t commit. Even though a different man confessed to the slaying, Sanders choose to keep Charlie Vaughn locked behind bars.

Instead, she pardoned a turkey.

Now as we head into Christmas, hundreds of thousands of Arkansas residents are without health insurance, thanks to the state’s frenzied efforts to kick people off Medicaid.

Earlier this year, the federal government ruled that states would have to start verifying everyone’s eligibility again after the COVID health emergency officially ended.

Though the Biden Administration gave states one year to sort out their roles, Arkansas expedited the timeline to six months. Sanders justified the swift cuts, saying they were needed to reduce “government dependency.”

As a result, there are nearly 427,500 people in Arkansas who have been kicked off Medicaid since April, many without their knowledge.

The New York Times recently highlighted the harsh plights of several former Medicaid recipients, including Tamikka Burks, a woman who was forced to drive 10 hours to Kansas for an abortion, because she could no longer afford the drugs that would’ve lessened her high-risk pregnancy. (Arkansas made abortion virtually illegal in the aftermath of Roe being overturned.)

Burks, who suffers from high blood pressure, takes two medications to keep her condition at bay. But without Medicaid, she can only afford one of them.

“I literally have $50 from now until Friday,” she said.

There’s also the harrowing tale of Charles and Phyllis Wells, a brother and sister who rely on home aids. Charles, 70, cares for his nonverbal sister, but has physical limitations himself. Medicaid covers an aid who comes to their home five days a week, and ensures Phyllis was showered and fed.

She also covers for Charles, who uses a walker or wheelchair, when attends his own doctor’s appointments.

But multiple times since last December, Charles has been told his coverage is over. While he’s gone through lengthy legal fights to restore it, he’s constantly worried his coverage could once again lapse.

“There are more people out there just like Phyllis. They need this,” he said. “[State officials] don’t understand — maybe they don’t care — that they are actually hurting people, they’re impacting people’s lives.”

Two more of those people are Sholonda Woods and her teenage daughter, who were cut off in February. To get back on Medicaid, Woods was forced to go through a grueling process, which included months of haggling with government bureaucrats, before her case was resolved. During that time, he daughter went without her ADHD medication.

As governor, one would think it’s Sanders’ responsibility to help her neediest constituents. But that’s not how she’s approached the job.

When the political nepo baby isn’t buying nearly $20,000 podiums, she’s attacking the LGBTQ+ community, and pushing for meaningless policies, such as removing “Latinx” and other gender-neutral terms from state documents.

Since taking office, Sanders signed her own “Don’t Say Gay” bill and appointed Jacob Oliva, the man responsible for crafting the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Florida, to lead Arkansas’ education department.

In addition, she’s signed a law barring transgender teachers and students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities,

Arkansas, meanwhile, ranks 49th in the nation for quality of life and 50th in the nation for quality of health.

Sanders did call a special legislative session earlier this fall, but not for the sake of addressing issues. Instead, she signed a bill loosening the state’s public records laws, so she could take less accountability.

With a track record like that, it’s no wonder why Sanders has the lowest approval rating of any Arkansas governor in 20 years. She only beats out her old man, Mike Huckabee.

Like father, daughter!

Rather than end the year on a high note, Sanders’ 2023 is ending in turmoil. Five staffers recently left the governor’s office, including the deputy chief of staff.

It looks like more cruelty and grifting is on the horizon in 2024. Poor Arkansas.

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