If you were in elementary school in 2007 or you had a child in elementary school in 2007—I fall into the second category—you’ve heard of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It’s a sweet, silly, mildly irreverent (and so, of course, sporadically banned) book about an awkward middle-schooler just trying to fit in.

Some books stick with me forever, like the banned books I wrote about in an email a few days ago. Other books just leave me with a single indelible image. Diary of a Wimpy Kid left me with the Cheese Touch.

For those of you who don’t know, the Cheese Touch is like cooties: a completely imaginary plague that has the real-world effect of turning someone into an outcast. (It started when a kid touched a piece of moldy cheese on the school basketball court.)

When I consider the impractical political positions taken by Gov. Bill Lee and our Republican legislative supermajority—most notably, their refusal to accept federal dollars to expand Medicaid and get hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans insured—all I can think about is the Cheese Touch.

I understand legitimate policy differences, but there’s no logical argument against expanding Medicaid. We know from the 40 states that have chosen to expand Medicaid that it’s an economic winner. (We all pay when uninsured people overwhelm our healthcare system.) Researchers have even found an unexpected benefit: lower violent and property crime. That’s what happens when hundreds of thousands of people suddenly have the ability to treat their mental health or substance abuse problems, which are a common denominator among people sitting in our jails and prisons.

Medicaid expansion? Cheese Touch.

Medical marijuana? Cheese Touch.

Universal pre-K? Cheese Touch.

Let’s vote the middle-school mentality out of Nashville. We shouldn’t be governed by people who just want to fit in.

Allison
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