Jackson Free Press

"We're going to have the entire Legislature in a septic tank, and when we climb out, we're all going to have the same poo-poo on us."

—House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville, on the political fallout over lawmakers' failure to renew the Medicaid program.

Why it stinks: Well, there's the poo thing.

Mississippi legislators have been slinging mud at each other over which party is to blame for not reauthorizing the state's Medicaid program during the regular session, which ended last week. The Legislature must renew the program by July 1, which will require Gov. Phil Bryant to call a special session at taxpayer expense. At the same time, all have been adamant that politics isn't the motivation.

Republicans say they can't understand why Democrats would put the sick and elderly in eminent danger by not voting to reauthorize the program. Democrats say they can't understand why Republicans won't even debate the possibility of expanding the program under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and accuse Republicans of putting poor Mississippians at risk by leaving many without health insurance.

Meanwhile, it's the citizens—who expect their elected leaders to give them the facts about the ACA—who are left in the dark.