Next time, legislators should listen

To the editor:

I read with interest and a great sense of dread the article in the Jan. 3 edition, "Last year's Medicaid cutbacks reviewed." The observation by House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, that "you don't always know the consequences of any bill you pass until it actually goes into place" quite frankly scares me to death that there are actually politicians making and passing laws that the rest of us are paying for dearly and that the politicians have no idea of the reality they force the rest of us to live in.

As a disabled Missourian, it angers me that obviously the Republican-controlled House, Senate and governor did not pay attention when the disabled people of Missouri tried to tell them what would happen with the cutbacks they were proposing. They did not listen to the countless pleas to reconsider how the sharp cuts would affect us and our caretakers and families. Perhaps in the future when Mr. Jetton's constituents tell him the consequences, he will listen. If not, perhaps it is time for Jetton to go home and let someone else represent the true needs of all Missourians.

GENA BISHER, Cape Girardeau