Call it heartless or just another dumb idea from State Senator Tom Reynolds (R-West Allis), but now he wants to raise Medicare and Badgercare copayments.

In a questionaire he returned to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, Reynolds said he would push for the increase.

Reynolds handlers need to remind the Senator that he's fighting an uphill battle in a tough election year for republicans.  Reminding voters right before an election that he's planning to stick it to the poor and elderly is exactly what democrats have been saying about republicans.  So rather than take the normal politicians course of hiding this sort of thing until after the election, Reynolds does exactly what the dems are saying about republicans.

This bodes poorly for the embattled Reynolds.

The irony here is that Reynolds is the beneficiary of campaign cash from the family who owns Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart is known for paying its employees a substandard wage and those same employees have to turn to the government for health care in the form of Badgercare, GAMP (the county's General Assistance Medical Program) and Badgercare.

So now the people who can least afford to pay are being suggested by Reynolds as the source of cash to solve the health care deficit.  At the same time, he's raking in cash from the businesses that don't provide health care coverage which shift more costs on to the taxpayer.

The logic of this (and the math) doesn't hold up.  I know Reynolds is a Republican and likes to support the shift of taxes from big businesses on to individuals, but this is just poor public policy.