Missouri House Poised to Give Kids the Shaft

The House Budget Chairman, Allen Icet, has released the initial summary of the cuts he plans to make to the Departments of Social Services, Mental Health and Health and Senior Services.

Not surprisingly, the people who will get shafted are people with disabilities, the elderly, and children.

For the elderly, there are drastic cuts to their support systems, such as the Area Agencies on Aging, their in-home services, and funding for Alzheimer’s research and treatment.

For people with disabilities, in-home services are being cut and support and treatment for people with mental and physical disabilities (veterans anyone?).

Children get the shortest straw. Under this budget children will have less access to health care, be less likely to receive quality child care, and foster children will be less likely to get adequate clothing and diapers.

All of these cuts while they leave over $800 million in economic stimulus money in Washington, where it can be divvied out between the coastal states.

But I think I’ve figured this strategy by the Republicans out. They think that they’ve been losing seats in the House because they haven’t yet done enough damage to vulnerable Missourians. They think that the height of their popularity was after they made similar cuts in 2005, so they must do something equally drastic now.