In his weekly Cheers & Jeers column, Opinion Editor Marty Trillhaase of the Lewiston Tribune gives jeers to ... Idaho Republican Party Chairman Steve Yates:

When Idaho Falls Dr. Kenneth Krell had the temerity to challenge GOP legislators earlier this month, Yates besmirched his reputation. Director of critical care at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, Krell was the last doctor who tried to save Jenny Steinke, an uninsured Idaho Falls woman who died from complications of untreated asthma. Steinke's ghost has been haunting a state Capitol where the GOP-led Legislature has refused to expand Medicaid coverage to 78,000 uninsured working poor adults. Steinke is only one of many low-income Idahoans who are dying prematurely because they don't have access to preventive health care. The number may be as high as 800 each year. "I can only come to one inescapable conclusion: That the Idaho Legislature is unfortunately responsible for those deaths," Krell said. "Please stop the killing." Yates is blind to anyone who acts out of a sincere moral conviction. To him, everyone is a cynical political toady. More here.

Thoughts?

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