Sen. Karen Carter Peterson Says Obamacare Discussion In La. Legislature “About Race” (Video)

"It's not about how many federal dollars we can receive...it's about race."

Those words were spoken by New Orleans Sen. Karen Carter Peterson in her address to the Louisiana Senate. She has been working to get the La. Legislature to approve the federal Medicaid expansion in Louisiana, and is clearly disappointed in how the process is playing out.

In the video below, she compares Obamacare to health care reform pushed by former GOP Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

"It's about the race of this African-American president because this same thing has been authored by former Speaker Newt Gingrich in the past. Yea, he had a similar bill to what President Obama has offered...It comes down to the race of the President of the United States which causes people to disconnect and step away from the substance of the bill."

Political writers have criticized Gingrich's past stance on health insurance mandates, which they argue is different from the stance he took when he ran for president in 2012. But there are also those who argue that Sen. Peterson is "a bald-faced liar" for Obamacare to Gingrich's past positions on health care.

In the video below, Sen. Peterson also discusses her conversations with other lawmakers and why they can't support Medicaid expansion in Louisiana.