Our contestants today: GOP State Senators Leah Vukmir and Mary Lazich. I know this will stun you, but they represent suburban Milwaukee, and they dropped these nuggets of wisdom when explaining their theory behind rejecting the Medicaid expansion that is part of Obamacare.
Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, said that Democrats are neglecting the failure of the federal government to deliver on their promises, and said it's odd that [Sen. Jon] Erpenbach prefers Medicaid expansion to the exchanges that are supposed to provide "affordable health care."There are 2 big problems with this "uncertainty of federal funds" argument.
Vukmir argued that accepting the Medicaid proposal could leave Wisconsinites hanging in the lurch when it's proven that federal handouts are not sustainable.
"It will create a huge hole in our budget here in Wisconsin and the very people that we are here to provide a helping hand to, the very people that deserve that safety net from government...those are the people that are going to be hurt the most by this decision," Vukmir said. "It's a fool's errand."
Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, argued that the governor's plan helps those people under 100 percent of the poverty line on the BadgerCare waiting list while providing a plan to pay for their coverage. That's something the feds, she argued, haven't got figured out. She cited a recent stock market plunge on news of the Federal Reserve saying they were pulling out of the stimulus program as signs of a rocky funding source on the federal level.
"Doesn't look too promising for incomes that are going to have a whole lot of taxability to send this money off to Washington to send back to the state," Lazich said.
1. As I mentioned last week, this budget relies on more federal money than we had 2 years ago, even BEFORE taking any of the Obamacare Medicaid funds.
Federal assistance in budget
2013-2015 DHS base- $9.726 billion
2013-2015 JFC budget, DHS- $10.295 billion ($+568.1 million)
2011-13 Adopted budget- $19.079 billion
2013-15 JFC Gen. Fun budget- $19.733 billion (+$634 billion)
2. If Crazy Mary Lazich is worried about the budgetary impacts of the Dow tanking 600 points in the last 3 days (and she should, because the alleged surplus is based largely on the booming stock market over any wage growth), then get rid of some of these Koo-Koo tax cuts, set the surplus aside in a rainy day fund, and have a cushion for any federal budget cuts or downturns in state revenues.
That's NOT what they chose to do, which proves that this Medicaid decision in based on striking a pose for low-info 620 and 1130 listeners against Obamacare over any sort of concern of "fiscal responsibility" or future debt.
Now my question to you, fair reader is this. "Are these dingbat suburban Senators "Ignorant, stupid, or lying?"
I'm going for all three. I'll add "craven" as well. I did not hear all the speechifying, but I've heard enough from these "ladies" to know that their responses to policy come from a very narrow view of the world. Whether this view is because they are wearing blinders or because they are perched at the top with large houses blocking their sight I cannot (will not) say. But they belong back among the white-gloved patrician set of the 1890s, not in the state legislature making decisions for a Wisconsin that looks nothing like they think it does.
ReplyDelete