| Unbelievable.
And just when I was thinking that, you know, maybe we should post a new poll and take down the one querying readers about Republican opposition to CHIP because, well, it was a done deal, right? The GOP was pursuing an idiotic strategy by opposing the CHIP expansion, which voters supported at a 70-percent clip in November, and, boy, you don't get many points explaining your position by calling your constituency uninformed.
But then the Senate Finance Committee amended the bill providing CHIP funding, gutted it, and are passing it back to the House. From Matt Gouras' report:
Senate Majority Leader Jim Peterson said he believes he has the votes in a chamber controlled by Republicans 27-23 to fight off efforts to restore full funding of I-155 on Thursday. He said the GOP wants to maintain the $100 million-plus cuts it made to the House version of the budget.
"No one wants to see children go without health insurance," Peterson said. "The issue is spending money we don't have and keeping a structurally balanced budget."
Er...is it me...or has the money already been allocated to the program? And can't be used for anything else? Singer:
...the initiative set up a special fund that can only be used to fund the initiative. I don't understand the ins-and-outs. I'm not on taxation or appropriations or whatever. But the fund exists and will exist whether the money is spent on little kids' health care. But it can't be spent on anything else.
So, in other words, either the Republicans in Helena are just straight up philosophically dedicated to hating on little kids OR they don't understand the budget process.
Every time a newspaper quotes one of these GOP legislative leaders about how we can't "afford" CHIP, etc & co, that it threatens a balanced budget, etc & co, the article should include the little factlet that the expansion is already paid for and the money can't be used for anything else.
Now, I've heard a lot of moaning and groaning from righties that the 2000 legislative redistricting essentially put Democrats back into power in the legislature...but given the election results from 2008, where Democratic candidates won a clear majority of votes in legislative races but ended up underrepresented in the legislature, it's obvious more redistricting needs to take place. This opposition to CHIP only underscores that point: how could the majority body in the legislature be so out-of-step with Montana's electorate? Answer: it's not representative. The Republican party has been shedding supporters in the state at a record clip, and yet they carry on as if they own their seats and you, the voter.
And that's why you'll see some heated efforts by the GOP to rig the next redistricting panel to their favor. If the panel gets put together fairly, there's a chance for the districts to be redrawn more fairly, to ensure Montana gets the representation it wants. That's where the next big fight will take place, over the composition of this board. And Exhibit A in the case against the GOP's attempts to circumvent the law will be the CHIP expansion that Republican legislators are trying to tear down. |
