Jackson Free Press

On August 3rd, Michael Johansson celebrated his 65th birthday and became eligible for federal government funded Medicare. While he said he is grateful for the coverage, he is saddened that other citizens of Mississippi are denied federal government funded Medicaid.

This is why he has coordinated a monthly rally called “Stand to Expand,” where Mississippi citizens will come to express support for Medicaid expansion the first Sunday of each month at the south steps of the capitol building from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Johansson pledged that he will rally until “Medicaid is expanded for the tens of thousands of women, men and children who are in dire need of healthcare.”

Johansson called the state’s failure to provide adequate healthcare to the people “shameful, inhumane and callous treatment of our citizens.”

“Most, if not all, who are eligible for this healthcare program—100% paid for by the federal government for the first years of the program & 90% thereafter—are citizens living under great financial stress. To add to their anxiety, having a sick child or a diabetic parent who cannot afford healthcare treatment is intolerable, if not cruel, for a society such as ours. This crisis could be solved by mere approval of the legislature and the governor's signature,” Johansson said.

Johansson points out that the number of uninsured Mississippians has risen, which is a disgrace when one considers the state’s reputation of being generous and hospitable. This, Johansson said, must change.

“This rally is unaffiliated with any organization. It is a TRYPARTISAN EFFORT (take out the "I" and ask the "Y") welcoming like-minded Republicans, Democrats and Independents who agree with Medicaid expansion for Mississippi. I urge any signage brought to the rally be respectful and be directed towards the cause of Medicaid expansion and not be directed against government officials or political parties,” Johansson said.

The next rally will be this Sunday, September 7th at 2 p.m.

“Justice has no timetable,” said State Sen. Chris McDaniel throughout the course of his challenge to U.S. Senate run-off election results against Sen. Thad Cochran. In the past two months, McDaniel has complained relentlessly about Mississippi’s election process, the one he has a hand in regulating as chairman of the Mississippi Senate Elections Committee.

From the beginning, the McDaniel camp tried to make the claim that so many “bad” votes were cast in the June 24 runoff between their guy and Cochran, that not only did they want Cochran’s win reversed, but they wanted McDaniel named the winner.

They made the claim that the use of election poll books was intentionally screwed up to skew the vote. When Pete Perry, Hinds County GOP Chairman, said that poll workers only found about one-fifth of the votes claimed to be invalid in Hinds County, the McDaniel camp said otherwise.

They compiled a binder of “evidence.”

The McDaniel camp blamed racial messaging. They blamed Democrats.

At more bizarre times, they involved a California blogger in the madness and even named their own lawyer as one of those “bad” votes. When the attorney general’s office launched an investigation into the shady election happenings, the camp’s spokesman was named in said blogger’s subpoena (which ended up on Twitter).

The validity of the challenge was further challenged when the Republican Party refused to hear the case.

Then, when the challenge finally reached the courts, it was shut down before things could get even sillier. Justice may have no timetable in the eyes of McDaniel, but today the presiding judge dismissed the case because he took too long to file.

Of course, McDaniel could always appeal. After reporting on the developments of this story in the last few months, believe us, we’ll be expecting it.

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