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Articles by Jonathan Bain
What Washington Learned In The 30 Years Since Welfare Reform
On August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, fulfilling his promise to “end welfare as we know it.” Democrats and Republicans had spent years fighting over the details and arrived at the same conclusion: Welfare should help people get back to work, not pay them to stay home. Bipartisan welfare reform was a momentous achievement. But 30 years later, we’ve learned that lasting reform can’t be one celebratory moment.
Opinion: Why is the government paying for dead peoples health insurance?
When people pass away, shouldtaxpayerskeep paying for their health insurance? Only in government would that even be a question. So why have450,000 Medicaid payments, totaling nearly $250 million in taxpayer money, been made on behalf of enrollees who are no longer alive?
Don’t Mistake Medicaid Work Requirements for a Green Light on Medicaid Expansion
President Trump signed his One, Big, Beautiful Bill into law on July 4, ushering in transformational changes to our tax laws, our border, as well as the most ambitious reforms to welfare programs in three decades. Yet some in Jackson are making the argument that President Trump’s historic progress against welfare fraud is a convenient excuse to expand Medicaid in Mississippi. This idea is preposterous, and it needs to be called out before anybody falls for it.
Federal changes come to rescue as NC Medicaid expansion backfires
Just weeks after President Trump signed his Big, Beautiful Bill into law, the New York Times ran a lengthy story with an emotional headline about Medicaid in North Carolina. Long on subjectivity and short on logic, the article blames Medicaid’s financial woes on a law that hasn’t even gone into effect yet. With Gov. Josh Stein joining in the pile-on, it seems obvious that the left is planning to blame Medicaid’s looming problems on President Trump.
Wayde Watson holds 4th annual Bain & Grants Town Summer Games track meet
By Jonathan Bain THE Bain and Grants Town communities were abuzz with excitement this past Saturday as the fourth annual Wayde Watson Bain and Grant’s Town Summer Games track meet took over the old Thomas A. Robinson stadium, bringing together youth, families and national heroes in a celebration of athleticism and community spirit.
“One Door” is an open door for welfare expansion in Mississippi
Jonathan Bain writes that proponents of the “one door” policy aren’t forthcoming about the negative side effects the policy can have, creating a one-stop-shop welfare concierge service. Lately there have been rumors swirling that several states are considering adopting a “one door” policy, mimicking Utah’s policy from the late 1990s. In fact, lawmakers in Mississippi have committed to forming a task force to explore the possibility.
Medicaid expansion cost $1 trillion, double the estimate — Harris would make it worse
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris attends a briefing at FEMA headquarters on Sept. 30, 2024. AP/Jacquelyn Martin Kamala Harris’ plans for America’s health-care system are, like the rest of her agenda, a mysterious enigma. But the biggest clue to her intentions is surely her budget-busting support for ObamaCare — and that should terrify taxpayers.
The X Factor: How the Labor Force Continues to Be Decimated by Skyrocketing Medicaid Enrollment
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, all economic indicators pointed toward a booming economy. Unemployment levels were at 50-year lows, there were millions of open jobs across all sectors of the workforce, and work was paying better than ever.1 Unfortunately, the pandemic derailed much of the progress made by the Trump administration, and the economy has yet to fully recover. Employers remain desperate for workers, but there are not enough workers to fill the demand.
As promised, legislative leadership opens the door for Medicaid expansion discussions
After the 2023 statewide elections – in which the fiscal plight of Mississippi’s hospitals and the working poor populations many of them serve were front and center issues – the leadership of both houses of the Mississippi Legislature has signaled that they are ready to discuss a change in the state’s healthcare strategies. At the executive level, Republican Gov.
DEI in Mississippi - Promise and Peril
This week we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. I first read his “I Have a Dream” speech in my 9th grade English textbook, waiting for a haircut. Such profound words leave a lasting impression of time and place: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” America imperfectly yet increasingly embraced that ideal.
Presumptive Eligibility for Medicaid Poses a Serious Threat to Program Integrity
Last year, just as the crisp, freshness of the spring air transformed into the thick haze that signals summer’s approach, I finally did something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time—I bought my first truck. Excitement cannot adequately describe my emotions as I pulled onto the lot and saw the truck waiting for me. I took it for a test drive and decided I wanted it.
Federal Medicaid Dollars aren’t “Free”
Picture it. It’s noon on a hot, humid day in the middle of the blistering Mississippi summer. You’re riding in the truck with your grandfather.The AC in his old pickup isn’t quite getting the job done, so you roll down the window for some relief as the two of you head across town to his favorite local diner. Once you arrive, you sit in your usual spot at the bar.The same nice lady who’s always there takes your order.
Beyond the Basics: How the Medicaid Expansion Experiment has been a Disaster for Arkansas and Louisiana
Last week, a Mississippi-based news organization published a series of articles highlighting the “successes” seen by Arkansas and Louisiana following their passage of Medicaid expansion. Tall tales of budget savings, conservative approaches to expanding welfare, and saving hospitals were sprinkled throughout the paragraphs as the yearning for Medicaid expansion grows at a rapid rate among the poverty peddlers in our state.
Beyond the Basics: Medicaid Expansion’s Over-Enrollment Problem
In this series, I’m seeking to go beyond the basics of Medicaid expansion—meaning the goal is to wade past the waters of talking points and do a deep dive into what expansion truly is, and what that means for our state. My last column was released shortly after the Neshoba County fair. This one after the primary elections. November is coming quickly, so we have no time to waste.
Beyond the Basics: Breaking Down Medicaid Expansion
The blistering heat of the Mississippi summer, the aroma of funnel cake and corndogs wafting through the thick, humid air, combined with ardent political speeches and posturing from candidates from across the spectrum can only mean one thing: the Neshoba County Fair. The fair began in the late 1800s, and when then-Governor McLaurin spoke at the fair near the turn of the century, he solidified a tradition that would remain to this day—perhaps stronger than ever.
Arkansas-style Medicaid expansion wrong path for Mississippi
Mississippi’s wisest policies have come from lessons learned from her neighbors. After seeing the resources stretched thin in other states, Mississippi lawmakers passed the HOPE Act in 2017 to preserve the safety net and to punish fraudsters who were gaming the system. And earlier this year, Governor Reeves signed House Bill 1310 into law, which protects our elections and maintains the integrity of the vote in our state. We need to continue this trend when it comes to Medicaid expansion.
School board elections should be on Election Day
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Election Day is less than two months away—but one key race won’t be on most ballots. They’re school board elections, and that’s a big problem for families nationwide. In 37 states, school board elections aren’t held in conjunction with statewide or national elections. This strange system was deliberately created to give special interests an advantage, since voter turnout is much lower at other times of the year.
How Mississippi flipped the script on COVID unemployment
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Policy.] By Jonathan Bain Real Clear Policy Kevin Fish, owner of Half Shell Oyster House on the Mississippi coast, said it best: “Getting customers is no longer the issue. Now the problem is finding people that want to work.” This was a problem permeating throughout Mississippi for months while struggling to keep our economy afloat and leave the pandemic behind us.
How Mississippi Flipped the Script on the Labor Shortage
Kevin Fish, owner of Half Shell Oyster House on the Mississippi coast, said it best: “Getting customers is no longer the issue. Now the problem is finding people that want to work.” This was a problem permeating throughout Mississippi for months while struggling to keep our economy afloat and leave the pandemic behind us. In early 2021, Mississippi faced the worst labor shortage in state history. By late spring, the situation had only worsened. Read Full Article »
How Mississippi Flipped the Script on the Labor Shortage
Kevin Fish, owner of Half Shell Oyster House on the Mississippi coast, said it best: “Getting customers is no longer the issue. Now the problem is finding people that want to work.” This was a problem permeating throughout Mississippi for months while struggling to keep our economy afloat and leave the pandemic behind us. In early 2021, Mississippi faced the worst labor shortage in state history. By late spring, the situation had only worsened.
The X factor: How Skyrocketing Medicaid Enrollment is Driving Down the Labor Force
KEY FINDINGS Background There is one common theme in nearly every store window across the nation. One thing that supersedes the uniqueness of regions, the boundaries of states, the variety of businesses: “Help wanted.” The economy is attempting to recover, but the lack of workers threatens a full recovery.
Georgia's Election Reform Makes It Easy to Vote & Hard to Cheat
Regardless of one’s political affiliation, it’s not difficult to find voters in Georgia who were discouraged by the messiness of the 2020 election process. It’s one thing to be disappointed by the outcome. It’s entirely another to feel disenfranchised and frustrated by questions and uncertainties surrounding absentee ballot handling, unsecured drop boxes, and questionable third-party funding of local elections.
GA Election Reform Makes It Easy to Vote & Hard to Cheat
(Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP) Regardless of one’s political affiliation, it’s not difficult to find voters in Georgia who were discouraged by the messiness of the 2020 election process. It’s one thing to be disappointed by the outcome. It’s entirely another to feel disenfranchised and frustrated by questions and uncertainties surrounding absentee ballot handling, unsecured drop boxes, and questionable third-party funding of local elections.
JONATHAN BAIN: Senate rejects Obamacare expansion, staving off disaster
Recently, the Mississippi Senate rejected two proposals to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare. Naturally, this move has been met with criticism from folks on both sides of the aisle, but the critics have a fundamental misunderstanding of ObamaCare expansion, what it has done to other states and how expanding Medicaid would be disastrous for a state already struggling to make ends meet. Mississippi has a population of 3 million people.
Hospital Presumptive Eligibility Was Busting Budgets Long Before the Pandemic
An American recovery is well underway. Over the last few months, millions of small businesses have opened, millions of people have left dependency on unemployment benefits, and layoffs are continuing to decrease. Still, states are trying to bounce back from busted budgets and the woes that came along with the pandemic. But while lawmakers will point the finger at COVID-19 for all of their problems, state budgets have been under immense pressure for years.
South Africa: How Should Brands Behave These Days?
Have brands adopted virtue signalling too aggressively in these strange days? Will it be permissible in future to simply sell a product of quality, without having to surround it with a spurious, world-changing 'purpose'. There is surely value in the mere act of making and buying something of value. The most crushing aspects of life in one of the world's strictest lockdowns have come to an end.
OPINIONISTA: How should brands behave these days?
Have brands adopted virtue signalling too aggressively in these strange days? Will it be permissible in future to simply sell a product of quality, without having to surround it with a spurious, world-changing ‘purpose’. There is surely value in the mere act of making and buying something of value. The most crushing aspects of life in one of the world’s strictest lockdowns have come to an end.
Common sense welfare reform has Mississippians back on the right track
Jonathan Bain, Guest Columnist Published 11:46 a.m. CT Dec. 12, 2019 Most Mississippians know William Faulkner’s saying that to understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi. He’s right. Our state is a diverse place, rich with culture, and steeped in history. I’m a lifelong Mississippian and love all that makes the Magnolia State unique. But when you love something, you want to make it even better for the next generation.
Opinion: These gimmicks are keeping millions of Americans on welfare
Almost one year ago, a report was published that highlighted astonishing findings: states were abusing federal loopholes to waive food stamp work requirements for as many able-bodied adults as possible. Despite federal law requiring most childless, able-bodied adults work, train, or volunteer at least part-time, states were using gimmicks to waive the requirement.
Why some athletes refuse to stand for the national anthem - The Reflector: Opinion
“I am not going to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,” Kaepernick said. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” Many more athletes began joining Kaepernick in protest and he announced he would donate one million dollars to charities focusing on racial issues.
Airstrikes in Syria not in the best interest of US - The Reflector: Opinion
The first line of questioning critics of the airstrike have used is this: was the airstrike Constitutional? As someone who believes the Constitution is the ultimate decider of the legality of actions taken by the U.S. government, I will admit it is a bit gray in this area. The Constitution vests the authority of the military to the Executive Branch. It also states the Legislative Branch as the one responsible for making a declaration of war.
The American Healthcare Act: a failure in the free market - The Reflector: Opinion
It all started with the secrecy shrouding the new healthcare bill that House Republicans were drafting, and it ended with the Freedom Caucus syphoning enough votes to kill the bill before it even made it to the floor for a vote. With everything that has occurred since the reveal of the American Healthcare Act, there are a few questions that I am sure everyone has: What is the House Freedom Caucus? What do they support?
Alcohol serves as a social lubricant - The Reflector: Opinion
However, it is not always about the classroom or the lab. Sure, those are the most important parts of college. Doing well in those areas is the reason we are here in the first place and for a lot of people, those areas are the easiest part of college. For many, the social aspect of college is the biggest challenge they will face. Some would shrug this off as not a problem, because you are not in college to make friends, you are here to prepare for a career.
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