My neighbor needed to spend some time in the hospital, so I went from dog friend to dog sitter.
Late one night I stood on the neighbor’s deck while the dog did what dogs do.
Our deck stands about 110 feet west of the neighbor’s. Like his, we face the greenbelt surrounding the adjacent shopping center. From my deck I see pine trees and fencing with (during the work day) sounds of kids at the local day care’s playground.
Beyond my neighbor’s deck a hole in the green wall results in a direct view of the grocery store’s loading dock (getting deliveries at 11:45 p.m.) and enough light spillage to read a newspaper. The sound of major refrigeration equipment adds to the setting.
Side by side but different realities.
Recently we met friends for dinner. I know they vote much more conservative than us. Still, they dread the impact on prices if Amendment 5 passes and billions of income tax revenue gets replaced with billions in new sales tax revenue. Alas, they readily agree with the used-car-selling governor that Missouri has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
That view perplexed me. You see, the one friend’s dad is in his tenth decade. He needs skilled nursing care now but his resources melted away years back when his wife’s slow demise consumed the couple’s savings, retirement fund and most of their home equity. A successful upper middle-class businessman now hopes to get a “Medicaid bed” in a nursing home.
Most of what state government buys helps citizens. Roads to get us from place to place. Schools for our kids and grandkids. And, medical care for our neighbors.
Yes, every bureaucracy enjoys room for improvement. In Missouri though we’ve proved that that the less we spend on programs for people the lower our quality of life. Those calling the Department of Social Services spend hours on hold. Families wanting to access tuition assistance for private schools must navigate a Treasurer’s office maze. Those needing Medicaid often must fax reams of records to get — or not get – medical care.
Ironically, these are the good old days.
For generations, food stamps helped feed millions of Americans, including one in ten Missourians. Since passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year five million Americans – including a million kids – have been kicked off food stamps. In Arizona, about half of all food stamp beneficiaries have lost benefits. [ New York Times 7/21/26] Meanwhile, multiple news reports claim Arkansas is talking about abandoning the food stamp program completely.
For perspective, if Missouri dropped food stamps citizens would lose access to about $1.35 billion in grocery store funds per year. To replace half of that – just over $600 million worth of food – would require every pantry in the state to increase their operation by an order of magnitude (yeah, 10 times more food).
Medicaid? That takes an even bigger hit in the big beautiful. Better than $1.2 trillion in Medicaid support gets cut over the next decade. [ www.multistate.us ] I expect Missouri’s slice to be around $2 billion a year.
Think about that, at a time when the party in power claims Missouri doesn’t have a revenue problem the state faces a multi-billion a year new bill to maintain services!
Oh yes, per person what is the most expensive component of MO HealthNet a.k.a. Medicaid? Each Medicaid senior in a nursing home costs taxpayers more than having 20 kids in Managed Care plans. So, if you want to save money quick, bad news dad.
Good people can disagree on what state government ought to do. But what you see as “needless” depends on where you stand. And, that view may change.
Oh yes, my neighbor is back home. The light and noise never bothers the dog.
Glenn Koenen