Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, has in the past expressed his dissatisfaction with the stings attached to federal handouts. It looks like his critique has been valid--and that the federal bailouts are yet another step in the march towards a government takeover of health care, directly or otherwise.

The Obama Administration has said that South Carolina can't get some of the stimulus money because it recently made some cuts to the program as a part of the response to a budget deficit.

From a long-term perspective, South Carolina is on to something. If it uses one-time money to expand Medicaid, it gets some help from the people manning the printing presses in the basement of the Bureau of Engraving.

But then it will have to reverse recent cuts--and maintain that reversal, for years to come, putting greater fiscal pressure on the state and undermining private ways of paying for health care. In other words, "free" money isn't.