As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, www.stltoday.com/… Republicans in the Missouri House made good on their plan to torpedo funding for expansion of Medicaid, even though a majority of Missouri voters approved it, and it’s now part of the state constitution.
This confirms my belief that the red states are indeed, to paraphrase an old saying, the “Meth Labs of Democracy” and where good ideas and important, beneficial programs are often sent to die. Either that, or they are sometimes even used as a cudgel to hurt the exact people those programs were designed to help.
And as the Post-Dispatch reminds us:
Despite the pandemic and its effect on unemployment and business closings, the state budget is flush with cash heading into the next fiscal year on July 1. In January, (Governor) Parson proposed a budget that anticipates $1.1 billion in surplus state funds.
In addition, the state is receiving about $2.8 billion in federal emergency stimulus money and will get an additional $1.1 billion over the next two years if it expands the program, known in Missouri as MO HealthNet.
Republicans, usual, complained about “the socialism”. Rep. Justin Hill, R-Lake Saint Louis, said the expansion was a “socialist” plot.
No money for health care, or public schools! But there’s plenty of money for things near and dear to Republicans, like a socialist shooting range:
Republican initiatives fared better. House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon, was able to add $15 million to the Department of Conservation budget for the agency to buy a gun range “to preserve practical application of Second Amendment rights.”
One assumes if you’re poor in Missouri, and become a victim of a mass shooting, maybe you can turn to GoFundMe for help with those medical bills.