Building a Better Monkey Trap: Strickland's Expansion of the Entitlement Constellation

You will soon be paying for health insurance for children whose parents make more than $65,000 per year, Gov. Strickland announced yesterday in his State of the State address.
This entitlement expansion creates a monkey trap for the next administration.

Gov. Strickland wants to expand children’s health coverage to families earning 300% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, the poverty level is $22,050. Do the math: $22,050 x 3.00 = $66,150.

The median household income in Ohio is $49,099. That means half of the households make more than that, half make less. Gov. Strickland’s proposal will be available to more than half of the households in Ohio.

Hubert H. Humphrey once said a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. When we stretch “most vulnerable” to include more than half, we have abandoned meaning. Anyone less wealthy than Bill Gates is relatively more vulnerable – the “most vulnerable 99.9%,” anyone? -- but it is unreasonable to expect he would be willing to pay the government to take care of all of the rest of us.

So, how can the Governor expand government when there’s a $7 billion deficit? He should send a thank you note to President Obama, with flowers.

It turns out that Ohio is going to get about $3.4 billion from the federal government to pay for the things that the Governor will not cut and will not pay for. That money, part of the federal stimulus package, is one-time money, and it takes the pressure off -- for now.

By the time the money runs out, the Governor’s proposal will be part of the entitlements constellation. Without federal money, the choice in next budget will be to take it away from the children, or raise taxes to pay for it.

The monkey trap is staked container with a very narrow neck. A monkey delicacy is placed inside as bait.

The monkey reaches inside, and can barely put his hand through the opening. When he clenches the bait, he cannot withdraw his fisted hand – and he waits for the hunter, unwilling to relinquish his prize to save his life.

Medicaid and Medicare now consume about 40% of the state budget, and squeeze everything else – education, prisons and law enforcement, public health. Gov. Strickland should be tackling this voracious beast. Instead, he proposes to expand it, and in the process has created a monkey trap for the next administration.