Sandoval's mixed week

The same week that Gov. Brian Sandoval took heat for his lethargic response this year to the mental patient dumping scandal, he attracted attention in a major news organ for not blocking the Affordable Care Act.

The Sacramento Bee, following up on its summer disclosure of Nevada's dumping of patients from Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital, reported last week that crimes followed in cities where those patients were dropped. Sandoval said—through a spokesperson—that he was “appalled” and then appointed a committee to examine state mental health policies, prompting the Bee to editorialize, “So far, Sandoval has been minimizing the problem and seeking to whitewash it.”

Meanwhile, under the headline, “In Nevada, the Republican governor who doesn't completely hate Obamacare,” the Washington Post observed, “Only eight states run by Republican governors moved to expand Medicaid to cover residents making less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Only three states with Republican governors set up state-based health-care exchanges. Just two states led by Republicans—Nevada and New Mexico—did both. And Nevada is the only Republican-led state with an exchange that's actually signing people up for insurance.”