Vitter talks of highway bill, skips Medicaid cuts

U.S. Sen. David Vitter is highlighting his role as Louisiana's lone member on the congressional committee that drew up a final version of the federal highway bill. But he's omitting the detail that the bill blows an $859 million hole in Louisiana's Medicaid funding.

As President Barack Obama was set to sign the measure into law Friday, Louisiana's Democrats were questioning Vitter's role in slashing the Medicaid dollars and asking if he fought against the cuts.

In an email to supporters and in press releases, Vitter focuses on the coastal restoration and transportation funding included in the bill and ignores the Medicaid slashing.

A Vitter spokesman didn't describe the senator's role directly in trying to defeat the Medicaid cut, but said every member of Louisiana's congressional delegation opposed the reductions.