Medicaid: When a majority is ignored?
Chuck Sheketoff
With 44 Republicans in the US House of Representatives calling on the budget writers to protect Medicaid from any cuts (see letter here and sponsor's news release here) and the House Democrats united in protecting Medicaid (just as the Senate Democrats were united behind Senator Gordon Smith's Medicaid Amendment), a majority of the US House of Representatives now supports a "no cuts to Medicaid" budget. Notably, Oregon's lone Republican in the House, Greg Walden, is not supporting the Smith "no cuts to Medicaid" approach.
You'd think the numbers would add up to the House protecting Medicaid. While the House and Senate budget negotiators are still talking, they haven't taken Medicaid off the chopping block.
Oregon needs Senator Gordon Smith to deliver on the "no cuts to Medicaid" budget. This is especially important given that the Republican leadership in the House is ignoring the will of the majority.
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connect with blueoregon
Apr 16, '05
Bi-partisan support for no medicaid cuts in the HoR is encouraging indeed. But Delay & Co haven't started the arm-twisting yet, so the cheering should be withheld for a bit.
I can't quite understand why Darleen Hooley hasn't been keel-hauled by the local Dem. party over her double-vote FOR estate-tax repeal and FOR the bankruptcy bill last week.
Does anyone have any explanation for her votes, and an explanation why the local Dem. party (including Blue Oregon) did nothing to try to influence her votes?
Apr 16, '05
My rep, David Wu, also voted FOR the bankruptcy bill.
I was wondering what the rationale was there as well. Much as I disagree with many BO'ers on financial matters (I was for the estate tax repeal, for example) the bankruptcy bill is terrible. I knew my own party wouldn't do the right thing on it, but I can't believe that a couple of Democratic Representatives from Oregon voted in favor... there's got to be more to this story than meets the eye???
Apr 17, '05
Best of luck with Gordon Smith "delivering" on that amendment. He said in Roll Call the next day that he's voting for the budget, cuts or no cuts.
What incentive does he have? He's gotten one of his half-dozen cherry-picked D votes to run TV on in 2008... And the Big O's mindless waxing about his "moral compass" should look good on the chyron.
Apr 18, '05
The Congress is cutting the budget from the left and the right. The Dems are willing to cut social programs too; remember the Welfare bill of 1996. The Congress is into screwing the poor while givign the rich even more (in tax breaks, grants, incentives, etc...)