California won't be doing business with @walgreens — or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk.
We're done.
https://t.co/OB10cYfm8H
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 6, 2023
Posted on 04/08/2023 8:51:19 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
California Governor Gavin Newsom has made a name for himself meddling in other states’ affairs and issuing sweeping proclamations on Twitter. Earlier this month, the exquisitely coiffed pol decided to punish major retailer Walgreens for deciding not to distribute abortion medication in 20 states. The chain was under intense pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers across the country and a changing legal environment after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v Wade.
How dare they! Abortion extremist Newsom was infuriated:
California won't be doing business with @walgreens — or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk.
We're done.
https://t.co/OB10cYfm8H— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 6, 2023
Well that certainly sounds like a decisive governor taking decisive action. Unfortunately for Newsom, however, he forgot to do his homework in advance—it turns out the Golden State is legally obligated to do business with Walgreens. Kaiser Health News reports:
California is legally bound to continue doing business with Walgreens through the state’s massive Medicaid program, health law experts said. And according to a public records request, the state paid Walgreens $1.5 billion last year.
Oops. Might want to delete that tweet, Gavin. For some reason, he hasn’t yet, but his minions are in full backtrack mode:
Newsom’s administration confirmed it will “continue to comply” with federal law by paying Walgreens through Medi-Cal, which provides health coverage to roughly 15 million residents with low incomes and disabilities. Were California to stop covering Medi-Cal prescriptions filled at Walgreens stores, legal scholars warned, the state would run afoul of federal law, which allows patients to get their medications at any approved pharmacy.
Tony Cava, a spokesperson for the California Department of Health Care Services, issued a statement admitting that the governor’s declaration actually doesn’t mean all that much: “California has no intention of taking any action that would violate federal Medicaid requirements, or that could undermine access for low-income individuals.”
In a laughable self-own, Newsom spokesperson Anthony York admitted, “Tweeting is not policy.”
The obvious question is: then why tweet at all? And, maybe you might want to do some homework before blasting out meaningless “policy” that in fact is not policy and runs counter to the law. As one of my colleagues said, “At least [Florida Governor Ron] DeSantis actually ensures what he’s going to do is legally OK before making pronouncements.”
"Newsom’s move ended up being another example of the governor’s tendency to make big pronouncements that lack important details, but garner a lot of attention"
"Tweeting is not policy" his advisors now admit. So stop treating them like anything.https://t.co/s9yoNCffhj
— Corey Uhden (@CACoreyU) April 7, 2023
The empty threat to Walgreens is yet another in a long line of examples of Newsom flashing style over substance. He routinely issues slick ads telling us how great he’s doing—meanwhile California is awash in homelessness, has a $22 billion deficit, and is hemorrhaging residents who are fleeing for happier locales.
“It’s much more about appearances and style and approach than it is about substance,” said David McCuan, political science department chair at Sonoma State University. Newsom and his administration “oversell their pronouncements and don’t actually deliver.”
This isn’t the first time Newsom has had to backtrack: in June of 2021, he banned state-funded travel to red states he didn’t appreciate. Not surprisingly, he was later caught traveling to one of those states, Montana, and even used state funds to pay for his security. Hypocritical, much? Now that ban is in jeopardy, too, as Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, has introduced Senate Bill 447 which would repeal the ban. The Orange County Register opines that Newsom might be behind such an effort as it would allow him to travel to red states to campaign in the future.
Newsom has been a colossal failure for California, yet somehow many think he’s got a serious shot at the presidency should he decide to run (he insists that he has no plans to do so). I only hope the public remembers this and the countless other egg-on-face moments Newsom has endured since he first began tearing apart Cali.
There’s a lesson here that Gavin presumably will ignore, one I always tell my kids: do your homework. Actually, there are two lessons here, the second being, “tweeting does not equal policy.”
As my long departed auntie used to say
“Too pretty to be useful”
Voters will only remember the tweet and vote for him.
You can be one clever
But not 2 clever.
California has gotten away long enough with imposing their laws on other states.
A more concise, though crude response to Gavin’s “War On Walgreen” threats is this is a guy who repeatedly steps on his own d**k.
Some leadership skills. And you were toying with the idea of running for president?
Gruesome is pretty vacant.
Very good
“The chain was under intense pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers across the country ...”
Nice bias there, Mz Hoge. /spit
Now sue him, personally, for a billion or two.
If he actually did cancel Walgreens, it would be devastating to the CA economy. And he knows that. He was counting on it being rejected by the courts.
Anyone thinking that the chief grifter in CaCaLand can be humiliated by anything is a fool. Like BeijingBiden, Newsom has always been like this. And, as the next Pres will continue.
Next Pres? Yes. ‘Cause nobody has done squat about mailin and ballot harvesting.
Mr. Musk should ban Newsom from Twitter for threatening to violate federal law. That would be sweet.
Newsom’s blatant threat to undermine federal law is a million times worse than anything President Trump did to get banned.
Or “too clever by half”
If Walgreens violates state laws in states where the sale of this drug is prohibited, the board of pharmacy will shut them down in those states.
cpdiii (Pharmacist)
There was some extremely hopeful news on that front just yesterday! Yes, it's getting late to make these "reforms." Let's hope the ball gets rolling. AND that this isn't just window dressing for the rubes.
After Mail-In Midterm Mess, Gov. Lombardo Now Backs Bill To Restore Integrity To Nevada’s Election System
The Federalist
04/07/2023
By Shawn Fleetwood
Lombardo introduced SB 405, which would implement voter ID requirements and commonsense reforms to Nevada’s unsupervised mail-in voting system.
Wow, what were you doing in such a chat room? What chat room is this? Happy Easter!
Walgreens should have gone along with him and refused to accept any Medical cards for anything.
Then make him come crawling on his knees to them.
L
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.