Yesterday seems to have been a slow day in Indiana politics, and the Schiavo story has so many compelling angles. So, like everybody and their dog, I HAVE AN OPINION! (Alert the media.) Anyway, I was reading an article from the Evansville Courier Press on the issue as it pertains to medicaid. I found the following three paragraphs interesting:
“At every opportunity, (House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay has sanctimoniously proclaimed his concern for the well-being of Terri Schiavo, saying he is only trying to ensure she has the chance ‘we all deserve,'” the liberal Center for American Progress said in a statement Monday, echoing complaints of Democratic lawmakers and medical ethicists.
“Just last week, DeLay marshaled a budget resolution through the House of Representatives that would cut funding for Medicaid by at least $15 billion, threatening the quality of care for people like Terri Schiavo,” according to the statement.
DeLay spokesman Dan Allen fired back: “The fact that they’re tying a life issue to the budget process shows just how disconnected Democrats are to reality.”
I don’t like what either of these guys are doing, frankly. We shouldn’t base our Medicaid funding policy on our empathy for every hardluck story that comes down the pike. That’s why the Center for American Progress is wrong. DeLay, however, is stunningly wrong when he indicates that Medicaid can be separated from the issues of life and death. People need medical care to live. Medical care costs money. No money = no medical care. No medical care = death. My judgment – DeLay loses this round. (Except for the fact that, the more they talk about Schiavo, the less they talk about DeLay’s alleged involvement in an ever expanding number of financial scandals.)
Leave a Reply