“Let them eat cake.” This quote, though inaccurately attributed to Marie Antoinette, has clearly come to symbolize the attitude of the affluent in our country who lack any understanding and care even less about middle and lower socioeconomic citizens. Mitt Romney could have easily used it in his diatribe about the 47 percent of the electorate he categorized as “takers.”

While I listened to one of Calhoun County’s state representatives on a local radio station recently, it came to mind that “Let Them Eat Cake” could easily be the motto of the Alabama Republican Party. The gentleman said that we can’t let the federal government mandate what we do. We’ll eventually have to pay (something), but not in Alabama. “Let them eat cake.”

Though he didn’t go into specifics, I will. The Alabama GOP, to whom voters have awarded complete control of state government, takes the position that we can’t accept an expansion of Medicaid at 100 percent federal funds for three years, with a 10 percent state match after that. Alabama’s current match rate is tenth lowest in the nation at approximately 31 percent and has been one of the lowest since the inception of Medicaid.

Rather, “Let them eat cake.” Medicaid is clearly the fiscal foundation of health care in Alabama, and without new revenue now or in the future, it will come crashing down. (Talk about a job killer.) Real leaders would be trying to figure out how to “make it work.” But the mantra of “no new taxes” drones on, because that might result in those who can really afford it, particularly corporations, having to pay their fair share.

So for now, from our elected “bakers-in- charge” in Montgomery, comes their most appropriate motto: “Let them eat cake!”

Cliff Andrews
Piedmont