Left-wing pundits are all atwitter at the idea the Governor-elect of Virginia can swoop in and make another ObamaCare state by unilaterally forcing them into the Medicaid Expansion. He can't, and that might have an impact on Kentucky.
Expanding Medicaid in Virginia can't legally happen without full legislative approval, which is extremely unlikely to happen with a solid Republican majority in the House and an evenly divided Senate. But Terry McAuliffe could follow the lead of Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and attempt to implement it illegally, daring anyone to challenge him.
The immediate legal issue for McAuliffe if he tries this would expose a second big ObamaCare lie. While everyone knows you can't keep insurance you like, few realize the promise that federal benevolence will absorb 100% of Medicaid costs for the first three years of ObamaCare depends on a rather imprecise definition of "100%."
In other words, McAuliffe would need -- as Beshear has already quietly admitted to -- gobs of money right away, without legislative approval, to pay increased state Medicaid administration costs necessitated by the massive expansion of Medicaid under ObamaCare.
Ken Cuccinelli famously filed a lawsuit against ObamaCare on the day it was passed. He should get going on this one, too. Kentucky's legal challenge is soon to be heard by the state's Supreme Court.
