Mike Dennison has a nice analysis of the legislative wrangle over funding the voter-mandated CHIP expansion. Or, I should say, an analysis of the Republican intransigence to fund what the voters overwhelmingly approved in November.
Dennison:
In the wake of his move to delay funding to expand a popular children's health-insurance program, state Sen. Dave Lewis of Helena is getting plenty of mail these days - and it's not complimentary.
"I got one e-mail from someone who thinks I did the right thing," he said Saturday. "The other 700 who e-mailed me think I'm an idiot."
So why would Lewis and his fellow Republicans set themselves up for this litany of public abuse? Only they can say for sure.
Hilarious. Indeed, Mr. Dennison, the Republicans' efforts to throttle CHIP have left a lot of us scratching their heads, too. Still, Dennison moves bravely on and offers two possible reasons why the Senate Republicans are trying to kill the CHIP mandate:
Ideology.
...many in the Montana Republican Party have never liked CHIP, even though it's politically popular. They see it as more socialization of health care, with its government provision of insurance, and note that Healthy Montana Kids would add up to 60 new bureaucrats to oversee the expansion.
-- Politics.
It's possible that funding for Healthy Montana Kids is just a bargaining chip as the budget debate unfolds this session. The expansion can't be delayed without changing the law, and that takes at least one Democratic vote, since the House is tied 50-50.
And it can't be funded without some Republican votes, since Republicans also control the Senate.
If Senate Republicans are trying to use CHIP expansion as a bargaining tool, it's probably the dumbest gambit in recent memory. Passed with seventy percent of the electorate supporting it, legislative Democrats have no incentive to bargain on the issue, because if it's scuttled, Republicans will take the fall. And Dave Lewis will be famous. Or, rather, infamous.
On the other hand, if it's ideological opposition...well...it'll be yet another reminder of how far the state GOP has strayed from the electorate.
Me? Sure, I'd love to see the Montana GOP go down in flames, but I'd rather see the legislature provide funding for CHIP. There are kids out there who need the health care coverage.
The Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services voted today to strip $70 million out of the Healthy Montana Kids Act, effectively gutting the program according to one legislator I spoke with today.
This decision was made on a party line vote with the following Republican legislators voting to cut:
Sen. Dave Lewis
Rep. Penny Morgan
Rep. Don Roberts
Sen. John Esp
I'm slammed at work today. Anyone have the vote totals for these districts on the Healthy Montana Kids Initiative?
Update -- Just so we're clear on numbers, we're talking about health insurance for roughly 29,000 children. And the bulk of the money for this program would be federal money -- federal money that even Rep. Dennis Rehberg voted for (but that Max Baucus is largely responsible with the SCHIP reauthorization).
We're talking $18 million in state money in FY2010. That's a little more than $50 per child per month -- not a bad deal for health insurance that will get needed health care provided now, not years down the road.
I had an email exchange today with Dave Lewis over his Ayatollah comment, and I promised I'd post it here without commentary. He's gotten a lot of gruff for what he wrote in a quick comment, it's only fair to give him room to clarify....
Dave: The Ayatollah comment was over the top and just testifies to the degree of frustration I have with high level officials and truly stupid behavior. As I said earlier, I really don't care if he is gay but for goodness sake, as a country, we deserve to have U.S. Senators that are willing to think about their position of leadership in our culture. Embarrassing and stupid behavior is unacceptable. It demeans the office and the country they serve."
Jay: Dave, do you feel the same way about David Vitter and Ted Stevens? I'm curious, because in all the hooplah surrounding Craig, including various calls for resignation from fellow Senators, these two guys seem to have gotten off with nary an outcry. What's your take on that?
Dave: I feel the same way if they are found guilty of a crime. They are just accused at this point. If they are guilty, I put them in the same bag as Craig.
Over at a loopy reactionary forest-management-related blog (vive la Internet!), on a post that uses Senator Larry Craig's bathroom hookup as an example of the "Moral Collapse of the USA," which the site then blames for the recent forest fires, or something (you gotta read it), Montana state senator Dave Lewis makes a guest appearance in the comments:
As a Republican state senator in Montana and as a human being, I am offended by Senator Craig's existence. Why oh why are most of the perverts that get caught Republicans? Are there more of them or are they just stupid? The thought of a US Senator chasing love in all the wrong places makes me think longingly of the Ayotollahs in Iran. They would just kill the turkey.
Yeah, that's it. Let's turn the United States into a fundamentalist theocracy. That'll keep our Republican Senators from blowing strangers in public bathrooms.
But seriously, it's hard to keep track of who we're battling. Let's see: we're now in a worldwide war with Islamo-fascists who want to kill us and convert us to Islamic fundamentalism because of all the easy-livin' loose values we wallow in, which we also hate, so the terrorists are on to something, actually.
Or something. You need a frickin' scorecard nowadays to keep track of conservative phobias.
Freaky jeebus! Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Maybe Larry Craig likes to blow men he meets in public bathrooms because he's creepy, and not because of Sesame Street , peanut butter cups, and pay-per-view softcore porn. H*ll, Craig's actions weren't even all that bad, historically speaking. H*ll, Craig's actions weren't even as bad as the sh*t some Republicans pulled this year!
Personally, I like America . I'd rather take my chances that softcore porn is creating David Vitters, Larry Craigs, and Jack Abramoffs than submit to a yoke of religious fundamentalism, thank you very much.
As for why the perverts "that get caught" are Republican? Well, Dave, I've got some theories...
