The shadows of life

As West Virginia's Democratic governor mulls over expanding Medicaid to over 100,000 working West Virginians, I hope he might give some thought to some things his Republican counterpart in Ohio had to say:

...in this case, extending Medicaid benefits will help us on many levels, including the positive impact this decision can have on the mentally ill and the addicted. Some of them live under bridges, some of them live on streets, some of them are in our jails tonight. One of the sheriffs that I was with the other day told a story of a man whose life had gone really perfectly. He got sick, started living in the woods. He's now in jail. He wraps scriptures around his fingers to ward off evil. The sheriff told me, he doesn't belong in our jails. It's a chance to rebuild the safety net that we've all wanted to since we have released people from, from these mental hospitals. 

My personal faith in the lessons I learned from the good book, they're like, run my life. I mean, I'm serious they're very important to me. Not just on Sunday, but just about every day. I gotta tell you, I can't look at the disabled, I can't look at the poor, I can't look at the mentally ill, I can't look at the addicted and think we ought to ignore them.

For those that live in the shadows of life, those who are the least among us, I will not accept the fact that the most vulnerable in our state should be ignored. We can  help them. And I want all of you to think about this.