A gente também precisa aprender a olhar todos os pastos... The New York Times June 5, 2013 The Split Between the States By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Wisconsin and Minnesota are neighboring states with long traditions of caring for the least fortunate, but, at the moment, only one of them is concerned about the health of the poor and uninsured. In February, more than 130,000 Minnesota residents who lack health insurance became eligible for coverage when the state expanded its Medicaid program under the health care reform law. That will save the state $129 million in the first two years alone. Wisconsin, however, has chosen to take the path of indifference. On Tuesday, the Republicans who control the State Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to reject the expansion of Medicaid, even though it would have covered 85,000 people at less cost to the state. The committee was marching in lock step behind the governor, Scott Walker, who claims to be worried that federal financing will run out. What’s really going on, of course, is that state Republicans have made poor people the victims of their ideological resistance to President Obama and his health care law. That infection has spread to 25 states, mostly with Republican leaders, that have said no to the Medicaid expansion or are resisting it. As Robert Pear of The Times recently reported, more than half of all people without health insurance live in states that are not planning to expand coverage. Many of those states already do a terrible job of covering the poor and have no interest in changing their ways, no matter the financial incentive. On Medicaid, education and many other issues, the map of the United States is becoming a patchwork of conscience and callousness. People on one side of a state line have access to health care, strong public schools and colleges, and good transportation systems, while those on the other side do not. The breakdown of a sense of national unity in Washington is now reflected across the country, as more than two dozen states begin to abandon traditions of responsible government. This is not entirely a partisan issue; several Republican governors, including Jan Brewer of Arizona and Rick Scott of Florida, have crunched the numbers and decided to support the Medicaid expansion, though their legislatures refuse to go along. But most states dominated by Republicans are cutting back on their responsibilities, while states dominated by Democrats continue to believe that government has a large role to play in maintaining the safety net. In Kansas, for example, Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, is energetically trying to repeal the state’s income tax and replace it with an increase in the sales tax, unconcerned that the move would shift the tax burden from the wealthy to the poor and middle class. But some extremist lawmakers there want to cut the sales tax, too, and with it the state’s meager spending on basic services. In January, after last year’s state tax cuts for the rich, a Kansas district court ruled that the state’s school spending was unconstitutionally low. (Rather than do the right thing, the state appealed the decision.) Last week, Kansas lawmakers cut the higher-education budget by nearly 5 percent, which University of Kansas officials said would be devastating. Also last week, with money running short from a state government led by Republicans, the Philadelphia School District passed what the superintendent called a “catastrophic” budget that lays off 3,000 employees and eliminates athletics, art, music, librarians and counselors. In Indiana, Georgia, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and several other states, conservatives are blocking the adoption of national Common Core education standards. Many states are refusing to spend money on necessary road repairs. Missouri’s transportation budget is barely half of what it was a few years ago, but lawmakers have refused to raise taxes to pay for badly needed improvements. The one virtue of a patchwork is that better examples are not far away. When residents begin to realize the grass is much greener on the other side of the state line, budget-slashing lawmakers will be under pressure to either change their ways or change jobs.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:21:59 +0000