GIVING AWAY YOUR TAX DOLLARS IS SOMETIMES A DIFFICULT THING TO DO

The travails of government giveaways are once again in the news. According to The Associated Press, three of five parents whose children lack health insurance don't know they could get coverage through free or low-cost government programs, leaving about 7 million eligible youngsters "outside this critical safety net." We're talking about the Children's Health Insurance Program, called CHIP, created by the federal government through a mechanism administered by the states four years ago.

This has been true also in Missouri, where program proponents four years ago told us there were 90,000 uninsured Missourians who would be covered by this program. Three years into CHIP, despite aggressive government advertising and solicitation, only about 40,000 had signed up. This despite the fact that Missouri's is the most generous such program in America: Families of four with incomes of $50,000 now qualify. The ad campaign continues with an aggressive radio effort, paid for by your tax dollars, seeking to sign up more beneficiaries. Another report says that AmeriCorps workers are going door-to-door to sign up beneficiaries.

Giving away your tax money is hard work. You can thank Gov. Mel Carnahan for this latest episode in teaching dependency on government.