Of Morons and Medicaid

Toward the end of the Missouri Legislative Session, the House Republicans, who had already voted down a State Budget to expand Medicaid, took the further step of voting for their version of the Senate's Medicaid expansion proposal that wouldn't have expanded coverage to anyone. Oh, sure, they spoke about covering the “uninsurables” but the group they were talking about covering were already covered in the Senate plan and, under the House plan, were not funded for coverage under the Budget that the House Republicans had passed.

So, the House Republicans turned down nearly $100 million per year in Federal funds and over $50 million per year in new funds from Missouri's hospitals. Yet somehow, they have the audacity to say that their decisions were “fiscally responsible”.

At least one House Republican, Representative Bryan Pratt, knew better than to try to defend their actions, instead, he made baseless accusations of impropriety against the Governor and the groups that were advocating for the expansion. These accusations have yet to be backed up by any actual evidence, but Republican Representatives did put up signs in their offices reading “Governor Nixon, My Vote Is Not For Sale.” Of course, considering the source of the accusations, perhaps these Representatives should have put up “For Sale” signs with the tell tale “Sold” sticker across them since all of their votes were purchased long ago by Rex Sinqufield.

I cannot, however, group all House Republicans together. Evidently, there remains four Republican Representatives who are actually fiscally responsible: Jay Wasson, Ryan Silvey, Scott Largent, and Denny Hoskins. These are the only four Republican Representatives who voted against their caucus in support of a free healthcare expansion.