By Rebecca Feldhaus/KPR
Bowling Green, KY – Kentucky eye doctor Rand Paul, the Republican nominee for U-S senate, refuses to say how much money his Bowling Green practice receives in Medicare and Medicaid payments from the federal government. His campaign calls it an irrelevant issue, but his Democratic opponent Jack Conway thinks it's hypocritical for Paul to accept those payments while calling for cuts to most other federal programs. Isaac Wood is a policy analyst at the University of Virginia center for politics. He sees the argument as a no-win situation for Paul.
"I think most voters will recognize that, and see that he had no choice but to accept patients who were from the lowest income bracket and you can make a business decision, decide it's better not to treat them for free, but instead accept what payments are available for it."
Wood says a similar issue is stimulus money, where republicans find themselves in awkward situations of campaigning against adding to the national debt while deciding whether or not to accept money intended to improve their states.