House GOP puts ideology before families with draconian budget cuts

House Republicans have finally shared their budget bills with the public, and they're ugly:

In short: the House budget is smaller than [Governor Nixon's proposal] by more than $260 million. It removes several of Nixon's signature proposals. It directs serious federal stimulus money to education, but none anywhere else. It contains cuts to social services totaling $389 million and increases funding to K-12education by nearly the same amount.

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Social services are hit, and hit hard. Nixon's plan to increase Medicaid eligibility to 50 percent of the poverty level -- at a cost of $143 million -- is axed. Likewise his $82 million plan (which would've cost the state just $22 million) to expand health-care coverage for children.

The Medicaid cut is especially galling for Democrats because they say it wouldn't have cost the state general revenue fund a dime. The federal government would pick up nearly $92 million of the cost, and hospitals in the state have pledged to pick up the rest, including $14 million that typically would be the state's responsibility.

Beyond the cuts to Nixon's proposals, the House budget slices deep into existing programs as well. $3 million for alcohol and drug addiction treatment services, gone. $2.5 million for meals for seniors, cut. $1.3 million and nearly $1 million for public health inspectors, slashed.

The GOP seems far more interested in pursuing an ideological agenda than helping families who need the assistance -- and need it now. The resources are available to help Missourians, but the Republicans refuse.

This is not an abstract exercise in budgetary philosophy. Real people will suffer if these budget bills become law -- real families, real children, real seniors.