Let’s call her Jackie.
Probably the most ebullient person I’ve met, Jackie came to Circle Of Concern every month. Always smiling, always appreciative, always in dire financial need.
Most days she walked three miles down and another three miles up Highway 141 – one of the least pedestrian friendly roads in Missouri – to work at the Burger King just south of I-44. They loved her. Time and again she earned Employee Of The Month. Her bosses thought she’d make a good assistant manager: she always turned that promotion, or any increase in hours, down.
Her son has barely controlled asthma. And, after a long wait, she got into a Section 8 apartment. For that school-age boy to get the frequent medical care he needed to live, Jackie had to stay poor enough to get Medicaid. Plus, every dollar she earned above a pittance increased her rent by 30¢.
Back in the late 1990’s Congress created the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which essentially expanded Medicaid to cover kids of working poor and working class parents. [ http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/childrens-health-insurance-program-overview.aspx ] That meant good parents like Jackie could work more, earn more and still be assured their kids would get the care they need. Today, 8.9 million kids are CHIPed. [ https://riponadvance.com/stories/hatch-leads-bipartisan-chip-reauthorization-bill-continue-childrens-health-coverage/ ] Better than one Missourian in ten is a child on Medicaid, most thanks to CHIPs.
Well, a week from Friday it is probable that CHIPs will expire. Under federal law, it must be re-authorized by Congress by September 30th. A bill to keep the program alive (at a lower cost) was introduces by Sen. Orin Hatch last week.
Remember, the U.S. Senate wants to kill the Affordable Care Act before the end of this month. Under the latest proposal [
http://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/graham-cassidy-health-care-bill-what-you-need-to-know/?laro=ap_c1 ], all those on expanded Medicaid in dozens of states would lose coverage. Missouri might actually get a few dollars more under the new scheme but changing Medicaid to a block grant will undoubtedly result in fewer Missourians getting health care.
If Congress wants to gut a program successfully helping people since the 1960’s, what chance does a related program from the 1990’s have?
Meanwhile, warnings from Washington point at two sets of cuts to food stamps, trims to school meals, the elimination of heating grants, the reduction in money to help students with special needs and… You get the idea.
Why is this happening? For Republicans, every action is always about money. Money for them and their friends.
The Republican President and members of Congress promised to slash tax revenue. As The Washington Post reports, the majority party claims they must enact a $1.5 trillion tax cut this Fall. [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ap-sources-gop-tentatively-agrees-to-15t-plan-on-tax-cuts/2017/09/19/ba6ffc0e-9d80-11e7-b2a7-bc70b6f98089_story.html?utm_term=.41d374428dfd ] To partially offset tax cuts they need to drastically decrease spending on programs which help Americans, no matter how much pain that creates.
That refrain ought to sound familiar to Missourians. This state’s GOP establishment looks longingly at tax cuts in Kansas: they don’t see illegally underfunded schools, decaying roads and a governor “Peter Principled” out of his job, no, they see happy rich people paying less – leaving more to give to Republican candidates. In recent years Missouri Republicans repeatedly cut taxes and opened more loopholes for their friends.
The message is clear. Forget about everyone except the rich and the elected. Pain intentionally inflicted on people like Jackie is okay, probably even a good thing (since she’s black). Pain builds character and keeps those people in their proper place.
So, when the snows come this winter, don’t be surprised if you see a woman on that skinny curb on Highway 141 on the bridge crossing the Meramec. It might be Jackie. I hope she’s still smiling.
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member