Corbett takes from poor, gives to rich

From the DAILY TIMES:

The man who has called for a 54 percent cut in spending for higher education, $1 billion reduction for public schools, significant cuts to hospital Medicaid payments and ended adultBasic health coverage on March 1 now intends to turn a blind eye to the directive covering Tobacco Settlement funds.

Pennsylvania enacted a law in 2001 which set aside tobacco money for a range of public health programs, including smoking cessation, biotech research and the already Corbett-eliminated adultBasic — the state’s health care plan for low-income adults who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid and are not old enough to qualify for Medicare.

If taking money from 41,000 of Pennsylvania’s working poor was not enough of a slap at the state Tobacco Settlement Investment Board’s decision on how the money from the settlement was to be spent, the free cessation programs which helped smokers in the state quit their dangerous habit is next on the chopping block…

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