It will be interesting to see Gov.-elect Sam Brownback’s proposals for overhauling the state’s Medicaid program, especially if they include allowing Medicaid participants to have health savings accounts, as he mentioned this week. HSAs can help control costs by encouraging citizens to be more careful with their health care spending. But the concept may not work very well with lower-income citizens, who don’t have extra money to put in the accounts.
“Having accommodated their interests, they now come back and turn around and say: ‘Oh, you guys are terrible. You’re bringing this treaty up at the last minute.’ I mean, is there no shame, ever, with respect to the arguments that are made sometimes on the floor of the United States Senate?” — Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on how the new arms-control treaty, which survived a GOP filibuster Tuesday, was delayed 13 times at the request of Republicans
No Sedgwick County lawmaker has a top leadership position in the Legislature, but the appointment this week of state Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick, as chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee — the first time a woman has ever held that job — ensures that at least one area lawmaker will be at the table when key decisions are being made. McGinn’s position will be particularly valuable in fighting for such local priorities as continued funding for the affordable airfares program, the National Institute for Aviation Research and the National Center for Aviation Training.
Good for the U.S. House for passing the Defense Level Playing Field Act, which is aimed at requiring the Department of Defense to take into consideration the impact of illegal foreign subsidies in the tanker competition. “Passage of this tanker legislation continues to put pressure on the Pentagon to do the right thing and give our American workers a fair shot at competing for the KC-X aerial refueling tanker,” Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, said in a statement. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, said in a statement: “The Pentagon must not ignore the facts, that billions in illegal subsidies have put our workers at a disadvantage in this competition. Especially in this economy, the Pentagon should not be working against millions of Americans who are looking for work.”
