Editorial: ‘Simply unacceptable’

Saturday, Jan. 1, 2005 | 3:22 a.m.

President Bush's pledge to cut the federal budget deficit in half during the next five years is making the nation's governors nervous. They worry that he will try to cut the share of Medicaid paid by the federal government. This program, whose annual $300 billion cost is shared with the states, provides medical care for both poor and disabled Americans. Governors are concerned that Bush will try to shift more of the program's costs to the states, or limit the services that are offered.

The governors' fears are legitimate: Although he ultimately was unsuccessful, Bush in 2003 sought to cap federal Medicare payments to the states. It's not just Democrats who are concerned what might happen to this critically important program -- Republicans are worried, too.

"I certainly understand the need to balance the budget," Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas recently told The New York Times. "But people need to remember that to balance the federal budget off the backs of the poorest people in the country is simply unacceptable. You don't pull feeding tubes from people. You don't pull the wheelchair out from under the child with muscular dystrophy."

How we treat the poor and disabled says a lot about us as a nation. We hope the president, a former governor, listens to what his ex-colleagues are saying and doesn't make Draconian cuts to Medicaid.