By Doug Cunningham

Missouri Republicans -led by Gov. Matt Blunt - are carrying out the most extreme Medicaid cuts in the nation, according to an Illinois attorney trying to stop what he says are illegal cuts aimed at the poorest and sickest people in Missouri. Attorney Thomas Kennedy the state is cutting payments for wheelchairs, hospital beds, breathing aids and other durable medical equipment that more than 300,000 people in Missouri are depending on.

[Thomas Kennedy 1] : "These cuts are unparalleled not just in Missouri but in the United States. I'm not familiar with anyplace where cuts like this have been made. This is unbelievable. And people are suffering like crazy on account of it. And it's illegal. Just plain, dead bang illegal in my opinion."

More than 20 lawyers in California, New York, Washington, Missouri and Illinois are defending Missouri's poor Medicaid recipients. Kennedy says so many lawyers are involved because of the extreme nature of these cuts and how illegal Kennedy says they are.

"It's like they're pushing people out of the lifeboat, you know? I don't know how they think a person who relies upon a breathing machine to live is gonna be able to make it without the tube that goes from the machine to her mouth, you know? "