Medicaid struggle all about power
Lee Benson
At a press conference, Lendl was asked how he planned to counter the serve-and-volley game of his opponent, Boris Becker.
To which he replied, "At this level, it's not about the tennis."
The unspoken profundity was that there comes a point when evenly matched, well-prepared foes collide and the competition, no matter the venue, isn't a matter of who has the best form or best record, it's who has the will to win, no matter what.
As Yogi Berra might put it, it's not about what it's about.
Such was the case with the recently concluded political showdown over whether $2 million in emergency Medicaid dental benefits should be funded for the aged and disabled.
On one side of the metaphorical net stood Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who was in favor of funding the $2 million.
On the other side stood Republican legislators who were not.
The governor used his office to set up a special legislative session where he urged the emergency appropriation for the poor to be debated and passed.
Politically, the Republican legislators prevailed, as they usually do. Their clout trumped the governor's clout. Chalk up another "W" for the Yankees of Utah.
Meanwhile, lost in the smoke were the estimated 40,000 aged and disabled Utahns who are on Medicaid and as of July 1 are facing roughly the same options for dental care as Tom Hanks on that deserted island in "Castaway."
The only consolation for the poor is that it wasn't personal, just political. The battle was never about their dental needs any more than it was about the money. For a Legislature that just finished divvying up $1 billion, $2 million is ashtray change.
The battle was all about power and the control that goes along with it. Otherwise, there's no explanation for why the legislators would OK $15 million for a parking garage at the State Capitol in the same session where they would deny $2 million for dental care for the underprivileged.
That would be like telling your fixed-income grandmother to sit there and live with her toothache because you're busy building a garage.
Nope, this wasn't about dental aid at all; this was about the people in power making sure the people not in power know who's in power.
Which brings up the only remaining wrinkle in the whole unfortunate episode.
That would be this November's elections.
If voters are angry enough, the Republicans who snubbed the poor and are up for re-election could be voted out of office.
At which point they could be told, "it is about the Medicaid."
It probably won't happen, but it's something cool to think about.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.
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