We almost choked on our jelly donut the other morning after reading that in California, the state that leads the way in outrageous Medicaid expenses (largely paid by federal taxpayers), pays for exorcisms.

California also covers various tribal healing processes.

So much for separation of church and state!

How about massages, tummy tucks and visits to the nail salon?

The graph below from Paragon shows the percentage growth in Medicaid spending per resident for all 50 states from 2013 (the year before ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion took effect) to 2023, after the Biden administration’s COVID expansion left the program with 33% more recipients than before the pandemic. In California the spending has nearly tripled in 12 years.

Gavin Newsom is counting on another 15.1% increase in his federal Medicaid funding in the fiscal year that starts July 1. That’s a 15.1% INCREASE in the same year proponents of the wealth tax are saying the state needs it to make up for federal cuts. What cuts?