Politics drove decision (Kansas governor refunds $31.5 million federal health-care grant)

Source: The Wichita Eagle

Gov. Sam Brownback’s abrupt, unilateral decision Tuesday to refund the state’s $31.5 million “early innovator” health care reform grant to the federal government serves politics, specifically the Republican determination not to touch “Obamacare” with a 10-foot pole. But it certainly does nothing for Kansans’ health or the state budget.

Brownback’s refund of a grant seems to assume that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is going to be ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court — an unsafe assumption based on the mixed bag of legal rulings to date.

And the move badly disrespects the months of hard work by Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger and her team to have an online insurance marketplace for the state ready to go by January 2014, with help from the federal grant. Praeger wasn’t even told about the decision until late Monday evening.

Under the federal reform law, the exchange is where consumers and businesses in each state will be able to shop for the best private health coverage for them; it also will handle people seeking Medicaid coverage.

“We want this to be run by Kansans for Kansans,” Praeger said Monday in Topeka, before Brownback’s decision.


Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/08/11/1969444/politics-drove-decision.html

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It's bad enough that my representative, Kevin Yoder, and one of my senators, Jerry Moran, are ALEC members. Now this...

'It's bad enough that my representative, Kevin Yoder, and one of my senators, Jerry Moran, are ALEC members. Now this...'

Beware of the ones that would tear down the government from the inside

KS, FL, OH, NJ, TX...and the like.

The Party of Thug and Bully cannot wait to kill off Americans.

Wonder if Brownback the Faux Christian realizes some of those people he just screwed vote Republican.

Always political but often political and religious. Not too many people are entirely happy with him, those that voted for him that is. The rest of us are still livid that the good candidate we had to run against him got 0 support from the state Dems and 0 support from the national Dems leaving us with a state where many did not even know he had an opponent.

For those that voted for him, what did they think they were getting here? He is just one big, stupid open book.

Count on it.

Asinine is misspelled appropriately.

We announced that at our rally last Saturday and the crowd cheered, then thought about it and kinda stood there looking conflicted. Not that I would ever want to subject the country to the kind of outrageous crap that comes out of his office I would certainly love to be rid of him. He would have a harder time getting his religious crap through the country I would hope, here he does not even try to ask what the people want. Dictator Sam. He has everything it takes to be electable except brains. Perfect.

Don't know much about Kansas, is it a heavy republican state? If there is a way to recall him, and there are enough pissed off people, it might be worth a try.

Governor:
Sam Brownback, REPUBLICAN

Senators:
Jerry Moran, REPUBLICAN
Pat Roberts, REPUBLICAN

Representatives:
Tim Huelskamp, REPUBLICAN
Lynn Jenkins, REPUBLICAN
Mike Pompeo, REPUBLICAN
Kevin Yoder, REPUBLICAN

http://electedlist.com/Kansas.html

Yeah, it's pretty red...:(

there are 32 R's and 8 D's. We have 125 elected officials in the House there are 92 R's and 33 D's.

I believe we can recall but the hitch is that Brownback gets a list of replacements from the Republican party and he chooses his replacement. Not exactly a help. Our Lt. Gov. would likely be it and he is perhaps worse than Sam.

We are stuck. We have little help from the state party that seems to just be resigned to this and the national party does next to nothing.

provide that the Feds will come into the state and set it up, if the states refuse? I thought I read that somewhere.

Not a lot, but every little bit helps.