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YOU CAN NOW COMMENT ON STORIES AND POLLS<br />
LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ISSUES.<br />
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NEW POLL OVERVIEW:<br />
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The Medicaid expansion bill that is a critical component of Obamacare implementation was heavily revised by a Republican-led Michigan House committee on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 essentially stripping away key reforms that&nbsp; GOP legislators had previously insisted on.<br />
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The Republicans voting to adopt the watered-down substitute were Reps. Kevin Cotter, R-Mount Pleasant; Ray Franz, R-Onekama; Frank Foster, R-Petoskey; Ken Goike, R-Ray Township; Gail Haines, R-Lake Angelus; Dan Lauwers, R-Brockway Township; TOM&nbsp;LEONARD, DEWITT&nbsp;TOWNSHIP; Dave Pagel, R-Berrien Springs; Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake; and Ken Yonker, R-Caledonia.<br />
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The bill could considered by the full House as early as Wednesday, June 13, and possibly voted on this week or next week.<br />
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Many of these same Republicans who had boasted of the reforms earlier have now essentially voted to strip them from the bill. In the previous version of the bill, the expansion was conditional upon the federal government allowing a package of substantive reforms including a four-year Medicaid benefit cap, and a trigger that would rescind the expansion if federal funding dropped below 100 percent. <br />
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The committee members were reminded by Jack McHugh, senior legislative analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, that;<br />
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&quot;Back in the districts many of you have told constituents you think Obamacare is a bad law that should be repealed. Yet here you are on the threshold of a vote that will further entrench the law ... at the very moment when it is becoming highly vulnerable to a serious course correction.</span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><br />
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Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan state director of Americans For Prosperity, said Medicaid expansion would be </span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;">the largest expansion of state government in nearly 45 years.</span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><br />
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Drew Gonshorowski, a policy analyst for the Heritage Foundation, said future funding for the expansion will be via more taxes and borrowing.<br />
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</span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;">The Medicaid expansion in the long run will cost the state of Michigan,</span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;"> he said.<br />
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Democrats who voted yes were: Reps. Paul Clemente, D-Lincoln Park; Andy Schor, D-Lansing; Harvey Santana, D-Detroit; and Kate Segal, D-Battle Creek. Rep. Jim Townsend, D-Royal Oak, chose not to vote.<br />
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NEW POLL QUESTION:<br />
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Should the Michigan House pass the watered-down </span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;">Medicaid Expansion</span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;"> bill as part of the Obamacare implementation?<br />
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Yes<br />
No<br />
Undecided<br />
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TO VOTE IN THIS POLL CLICK ON THIS LINK<br />
<a href="http://www.clinton-countygop.org/content/should-michigan-house-pass-watered-down-%E2%80%9Cmedicaid-expansion%E2%80%9D-bill-part-obamacare-implementat">http://www.clinton-countygop.org/content/should-michigan-house-pass-watered-down-%E2%80%9Cmedicaid-expansion%E2%80%9D-bill-part-obamacare-implementat</a><br />
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(To enter your comments click on </span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;">Add new comment</span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;"> after you vote.)<br />
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PREVIOUS POLL QUESTION:<br />
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Should the the legislature pass a bill allowing for </span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot;</span><span style="font-size: larger;">Red Light Cameras</span><span style="font-size: larger;">&quot; </span><span style="font-size: larger;">by local governments to ticket violators in Michigan?<br />
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Yes - 17%<br />
No - 83%<br />
Undecided - 0% <br />
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ONE COMMENT WAS MADE ON THIS POLL QUESTION:<br />
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Cameras<br />
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All of the cameras, public, private, etc can be made to be able to be operated by one operator (for example, the police, the feds, etc.) so that they can see it all and this is already true in some large cities. And of course there are the drones - - did you see the video on what a drone can see (a bird) from 17,500 feet? Perhaps we have enough cameras and that is only one reason why we don't need the red light cameras. It is a mistake to think of all the various cameras as separate and unrelated to each other.<br />
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