Expanding Medicaid? If you voted FOR that, Civitas says you are an A-rated conservative.
Medicaid is one of the Crown Jewels of the socialist revolution in America. As it is, the program is a HUGE factor in the economic decline in this country. The Medicaid program is riddled with fraud. Our country is already running on Monopoly money. We can’t afford what our federal government is trying to pay for NOW. (The Medicaid spigot has been opened up full-blast for all of these illegals pouring across the border.)
In passing Medicaid expansion, Raleigh’s “Republican revolution” has chosen to side with the hospital lobby and forsake their voters and the future of this state and country. Instead of acting on actual conservative solutions to cut health care costs — like killing off certificates of need or scaling back regulation — Raleigh Republicans chose to throw even more money-we-don’t-have at the bloated, money-wasting mess that is our health care industry.
Expanding Medicaid is not, has not been, and will never be a sensible, conservative tactic. Yet, 
Raleigh-based Civitas — founded as a juggernaut to defend the principle of limited government and call out RINOs — is finding itself more and more (especially under the leadership of field generals Dallas Woodhouse and Don Bryson) doing gymnastics to defend and cover for RINOs and their “leaders” in the General Assembly.
At one time, Civitas’s legislative conservative ratings were helpful resources. They shone a lot of light on the sliminess of Jones Street. Now, the ratings are a tool for brown-nosing incumbents and leaders on Jones Street and deceiving the taxpayers.
The 2023 legislative ratings are out. Twenty-three of the 73 House Republicans get a perfect score of 100 (grade A). Those folks did not vote to expand Medicaid.
Forty-two House Republicans scored ratings between 92 and 94 (also an A-rating)from Civitas. What kept them from achieving a perfect score? They voted to EXPAND MEDICAID. 
So, 65 of 73 House Republicans — according to Civitas — are A-rated conservatives. Wow. That’s great reelection campaign material.
Over in the Senate, things were even more ridiculous. Twenty-nine out of 30 Republicans got grades of A.
Only six Senate Republicans got perfect scores of 100. (They did not vote for Medicaid expansion.)
Twenty-one Senate Republicans scored a 90 or 91 (also a grade of A). What kept them from a perfect score of 100? They voted FOR the expansion of Medicaid.
The problem? Folks who voted to dramatically expand government and spend even-more-money-we-don’t-have are getting lumped in with folks who voted in line with their party platform. Big-spending Republicans are getting the same benefit – an A rating – that good conservatives are.
Don’t be fooled folks. Do your homework and ask questions before you vote.
Civitas’ ratings are useless. You can walk on a contentious bill and they will grade you as if you voted the right way.
They are not conservative in their ratings because they are on the wrong side of many issues, and they don’t deserve our attention at all.
‘Republican’ and ‘conservative are not synonymous! Most conservatives are Republican but most Republicans are not conservative, yet they all run for office claiming to be’Constitutional Conservatives’!
One legislator did not vote on 7 of the 15 graded bills, yet he has a rating of 100. I rest my case!
The Civitas rating was honest when Jack Hawke ran the organization, and also under his succesor. After that, it has not been reliable. The bill to repeal HB2, which was one of the most important bills that session to separate the conservatives from the go along / get along hacks, was not even rated because the new Civitas leadership was in league with the left on that issue.
Civitas and Locke are a sad shadow of what they once were. Sometimes they are still conservative, but too often just go with the establishment flow.
The genuine conservatives voted against Medicaid expansion, which was a major agenda item of both Roy Cooper and the national Democrats. Someone needs to produce an honest legislative rating. Civitas’ rating was once that but not anymore.
Regarding the John Locke Foundation: this may not matter to some people, but it told me everything I needed to know about the John Locke Foundation.
At the JLF Carolina Liberty Conference in Febr 2022, at which the CEO of the Babylon Bee was the headline speaker, the MC had us stop for a “moment of silence” before our meal. I wondered if I had purchased a ticket for a DNC event.
I used to think Civitas (a Koch family organization) was a good conservative organization. I paid to attend one of their big political events in the Raleigh area in 2016. It was supposed to be about the upcoming Presidential election to showcase the candidates here in NC. A lot of conservative candidates were there and had tables with information. TRUMP was not there, and there was nothing about him. There was a big dinner at the end of the day, where they had speakers that fiercely bashed and criticized Trump, one of them was David Limbaugh, Rush’s brother. I got up and walked out, and since then I’ve never donated to anything that had to do with the Koch family. Now Civitas has “joined with JohnLocke” Koch is funding Nikki Haley to run against Trump. I’m skeptical about any organization funded by Koch, and there are a quite a few. Do a search of what organizations are funded by Koch before you donate to “conservative” organizations.
Koch supports illegal immigration, and so does Nikki Haley. Haley actually said she would look to big corporations for direction on setting immigration policy.