The state is bleeding money because Senate Republicans refused to give Medicaid expansion immediate effect.
The Michigan Republican senators who voted against giving Medicaid expansion immediate effect have lost the right to call themselves “fiscal conservatives.” Fiscal cons is more like it, because they only care about Michigan’s financial well-being when it suits their political ideology.
Now, courtesy of the Michigan Senate Democrats, you can see for yourself what $7 million going down the drain every day looks like.
On January 1 — the day Medicaid expansion could have launched if the Senate had voted to give the law immediate effect — the Michigan Senate Democrats launched a new website: 7milliondollardays.com.
7milliondollardays.com vividly demonstrates the cost of Republicans’ obstinacy — which will total $630 million by the time Medicaid expansion is finally launched on April 1, 2014, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The website gives Michigan residents the chance to express their indignation to the Senators who voted against immediate effect, impacting both the state’s budget and the lives of Michiganders who will have to go that much longer without health insurance. Just click the “Take Action Now” button on the website to be heard. (I did it and it only takes a minute.)
What’s more, the website and a broader campaign will highlight the individuals whose lives are being negatively impacted by the implementation delay — and demonstrate how $7 million a day might have been better spent to help Michigan and its citizens.
Here’s what Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer had to say:
Over the course of the past three years, my Senate Democratic colleagues and I have fought for adequate funding for some of the most vital issues in our state, such as education, investment in our middle class and for programs that aid the well-being of everyone in our state, only to be told time and time again that no such funding was available. To now see our colleagues on the other side of the aisle throw away more than $600 million merely to pander to political extremists is infuriating to say the least.I look forward to taking the opportunity over the next few months to demonstrate to Senate Republicans the myriad of good that could be done with $7 million per day, and to remind them of exactly who they are hurting in their decision to throw this money away. Going this far — and costing taxpayers this much money — for a political stunt is shameless, and they ought to be humiliated by this decision. This website will provide a platform for the people to voice their outrage and help hold Michigan Republicans accountable for their costly posturing.
See how much Republican legislators are costing our state every day and be heard at 7milliondollardays.com. You can also use the site to help spread the word via social media.
ACTION: Have a story about how the delay in Medicaid expansion implementation affects you? Leave a comment below or use the “Contact Us” form at the top of every page and you may be featured in an upcoming post.
[Image credit: Michigan Senate Democrats]
