I ran into former State Rep. Carl Seel at the Princess Christmas celebration over the weekend. If you remember Seel at all it's probably in this context.
Local media viciously and endlessly mocked Seel and voters eventually complied with Laurie Roberts' goal to "De-Kook" the Capitol and turned him out of office.
Notice the issue that Laurie is mocking? That's right. Seel's big issue was AHCCCS fraud. Laurie is not mocking him DESPITE his crusade against AHCCCS fraud, she is mocking him BECAUSE of his crusade against AHCCCS fraud.
Pop Quiz. What's the biggest political story this year? How about this one?
The adoption scandal involving Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen raises serious questions about how the pregnant women he brought to Arizona were able to get government health care.
Golly, Petersen alleged scheme cost AHCCCS $800,000. Surely he's the only one right? This high-profile case that the media ignored for years is likely to be the only time that someone has signed someone up for AHCCCS even though they weren't eligible. Right?
Of course not. Petersen's case showed how easy and how lucrative AHCCCS fraud can be. Maybe someone should have looked in to that, say, ten years ago.