Walker's budget cuts Medicaid, increases funding for funerals.

[RandySF]

For weeks, Wisconsin has been the site of an intense battle between a Main Street Movement consisting of middle class Wisconsinites and a radical push by Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) and his allies to strip most of the state’s public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights.

One of the lesser-known assaults on working class people in Walker’s most recent legislative push is his attempt to override federal Medicaid laws to place the state’s subsidized health care system, BadgerCare, under the control of the state’s Health and Human Services office, and then proceed to slash its budget and throw thousands of people off the rolls.

As In These Times’s Lindsay Beyerstein notes, this new provision in the budget is coupled with another policy which seems darkly ironic when seen alongside these Medicaid cuts. The Walker budget “recommends increasing payments to counties to cover the costs of burying Wisconsinites who die destitute” — one of the few major increases in spending to be found in the document. Indeed, on page 248 of the governor’s Health and Human Services budget, Walker recommends an “increase” in “funeral and cemetery aids”:

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/04/walker-slashes-medicaid-funeral/

[Newest Reality]

1. "Bring out your dead!"

in a Monty Python way.

[EOTE]

8. I'm not dead yet!

I think I'll go for a walk. I feel happyyyyy!

[Newest Reality]

9. Get back on the cart!

:)

[northoftheborder]

2. macabre and Dickensonian

[Lithos]

3. talk about your Death Tax

Unlike the Estate tax, this really is a Death tax.

[Drale]

4. Wow could he be anymore sneaky?

I think Mr. Walker wanted to be a ninja when he was a kid.

[Vinca]

5. Does Kavorkian have a cabinet position in Wisconsin?

:scared:

[notadmblnd]

6. oh, he wants a twofer

kill unions and thin the herd.

[LiberalAndProud]

7. That's forward thinking.

Starve them then bury them. It's the new American way.

[joneschick]

10. I saw an article recently...

and I'm not looking up a link right now. Wisconsin cities and municipalities can not keep up with the demand for funeral service/burial needs for the homeless and other poor. And yes, Walker has backing from the funeral industry. I think I remember which funeral home it was that was listed as a supporter, but I'm not going to state a name without looking that up either. I'll try to find some info and come back to edit. :hi:
Edit to add: that would be Krause Funeral, it's a family operation with consistent Walker support. I didn't add up all the individual donations. http://wisdc.org/index.php?module=wisdc.websiteforms&cmd=searchadvanced&filter=+Search+&employer=Krause+Funeral+Homes&qty=25

[Skip_In_Boulder]

11. Well I have been saying for some time

and I understand why people don't want to hear it but the main reason the Republicans want to do away with health care is they want to eliminate those who no longer contribute to GDP. It is not the first time in history that societies, when faced with economic hardship, have eliminated the old and infirmed and I know we like to think we are above that but I think we delude ourselves. If the following statement doesn't send chills down your spine and clue you in, nothing will.

As In These Times’s Lindsay Beyerstein notes, this new provision in the budget is coupled with another policy which seems darkly ironic when seen alongside these Medicaid cuts. The Walker budget “recommends increasing payments to counties to cover the costs of burying Wisconsinites who die destitute” — one of the few major increases in spending to be found in the document. Indeed, on page 248 of the governor’s Health and Human Services budget, Walker recommends an “increase” in “funeral and cemetery aids”:

Guess he wanted to make sure that is in there as the wealthy class doesn't want to have to see the corpses in the street to remind them of their deeds.