Max Baucus has earned the dubious distinction of Porker of the Month from watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).  Baucus shares this month's Porker award with Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR).  To earn this dishonor, Baucus is credited with leading the way for a $35 billion expansion of SCHIP, a federal health care program.  According to CAGW, the Baucus expansion of this program "will dramatically increase the power of the government in all healthcare decision-making, including treatments, drug and physician availability, and medical research, paving the way toward universal health care.  Families who currently have private coverage will have a strong incentive to switch to the SCHIP program, crowding out private insurance and raising the price for everyone else."

The SCHIP expansion raised the eligibility level to $61,950 for a family of four but CAGW notes that there is also a push to amend the legislation on the Senate floor to raise that eligibility to $82,600.  To pay for the SCHIP expansion, "Senator Smith proposed raising tobacco taxes by $0.61 and cigar taxes by $9.90...the Heritage Foundation found that the government needs 9 million more smokers in the next five years to pay for the program...Since that is unlikely, projected excise tax revenues will not materialize and all taxpayers will foot the bill for SCHIP in other ways.

Click here to see the full CAGW article.