tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post2512033150928873049..comments2023-10-26T08:02:44.948-04:00Comments on Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State: Don't Show This One to the KidsDon Pescihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11167988001948356357noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post-16554432078931496642012-11-29T09:58:32.375-05:002012-11-29T09:58:32.375-05:00Thanks to Sen. Markley for his clear presentation,...Thanks to Sen. Markley for his clear presentation, and thanks to you for posting.<br />It appears that the Dems, at least in the executive branch, are finally acknowledging that spending must be reduced. However, this general recognition is generally qualified by the claims that the Governor's agreement with the unions last year means there are no savings to be found there and, secondly, that medicaid cuts are difficult because of their being tied to federal dollars. I question the extent that the State can in fact be legally bound by any agreement with its employees if it were in its wisdom to either exempt itself from litigation and/or change the statutory framework that gives public employee unions their right to exist. The promises it has made simply cannot be kept. I also question whether the State can't find savings in Medicaid by rejecting the Obamacare expansion of eligibility, reversing, as I understand it, the decision made by Gov. Rell in 2010 "to provide increased medical benefits for (the near poor) through Medicaid while relieving the burden on state taxpayers.” The dramatic increase in the number of folks on medicaid is allegedly a prime reason for the current "unexpected" budget "shortfalls," and would appear to this inexpert financial analyst to be unsustainable going, as they say,forward.peter brushnoreply@blogger.com