Musings from Brian J. Noggle

Post-Dispatch Finds Big Government 'Republicans'

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has dug deeply and found some 'Republicans' incensed about Governor Blunt's government cuts:

Malinda Terreri, a homemaker from Ballwin, contends that Gov. Matt Blunt is ill-informed and pursuing "a path of political suicide."

Rajesh Shah, a Creve Coeur physician, accuses the governor of displaying "a lack of maturity" and "playing the 'class' card" for political gain.

Both are Republicans who said they voted for Blunt in the fall. They might not do so again.

Blunt angered them and thousands of other parents when the cost-cutting measures he outlined with his State of the State address included eliminating the state's First Steps early childhood program.

What kind of parents/Republicans are they?

The media-savvy parents have held a news conference, packed a Jefferson City hearing room, appeared on television and flooded the phone lines and computers of the governor and legislators with hundreds of calls and e-mails protesting the plan.

Terreri, the mother of a 3-year-old boy with autism, quickly set up an Internet site - savefirststeps.com. The site has collected more than 40,000 signatures on a petition to preserve the program, and also features a forum where backers regularly post their irritation with the governor's proposal.

The kind directly benefitting from the program they want to save and who are savvy enough to hold a news conference, get some fawning coverage from the socialist St. Louis daily, and collect 40,000 clicks on an Internet petition--which are not signatures, dear Post-Dispatch.

Too bad these people don't have the energy to pursue non-coercive charitable solutions to their problems, but that's much harder, since it requires constant effort, whereas getting a government program requires only an investment to get the program started and then to infrequently fight program cuts.

Although I have to say, it surprises me to see the Post-Dispatch coming down on the side of the upper middle class or lower upper class, but they're taking government handouts, so they're okay:

Shah, the father of an autistic son, replied that the wealthy pay plenty of taxes and have just as much right to First Steps as they do to drive the state's public highways and attend public schools. "To suggest that the very wealthy should not receive these services is inconsistent with the Republican message," Shah said.

I'm not sure that's the Republican message.

- posted by Brian J. @ 6:14 AM