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November 25, 2010 in City
Letter details targeted cuts to Medicaid services
Thousands of Washington’s poorest residents will receive a letter early next month informing them that they will lose health care services in the coming year as the state cuts Medicaid spending.
The “Dear Client” letter from the Medicaid Purchasing Administration says “optional” programs such as dental care, hearing devices and hospice care will be eliminated Jan. 1 as a result of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s order in September cutting state spending 6.3 percent to compensate for an expected $1.4 billion budget shortfall through June 2011.
The Medicaid cuts could be averted by the Legislature in the coming session.
The cuts in services detailed in the letter, which has not yet been mailed to Medicaid clients but is posted on the Department of Social and Health Services website, include foot care not considered medically necessary; outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy; eyeglasses; school-based medical services for children in special education; and Medicare Part D co-payments.
Not listed in the letter are major cuts scheduled to take effect March 1, including an unprecedented elimination of adult pharmaceutical benefits.
Together, the January and March cuts would amount to a savings of nearly $113 million in state Medicaid spending. But because the federal government matches such funding, the state would lose roughly the same amount in federal health care dollars for the poor.
“The only way to take that amount of money out of Medicaid is simply to eliminate optional programs, those not mandated by federal agreement,” DSHS spokesman Jim Stevenson said.
The programs affected serve hundreds of thousands of Washington residents. Adult dental care, for example, is provided to 105,000 clients; adult vision services go to 67,000 clients.
Such a reduction in Medicaid service would be accompanied by layoffs in the Medicaid Purchasing Administration, but “sorting out jobs to be lost is still going on,” Stevenson said.
On Tuesday, Gregoire sent legislative leaders a draft of proposed budget cuts in advance of the upcoming session. Medicaid cuts envisioned in the draft include dental care, school-based medical services, Medicare drug co-payments and funding for medical interpreters.
Not included in the governor’s proposal is the elimination of adult pharmaceutical benefits, which no state has cut, as well as an end to hospice care for the poor, which few states have cut.
The governor is not yet prepared to cut drug coverage for the poor – a move that would save $40 million through June.
As for hospice care to an estimated 2,600 low-income Washingtonians, Gregoire told the CBS News program “60 Minutes” in October that such a cut would be “immoral.”
So far this year, Hospice of Spokane has cared for 122 adults and nine children on Medicaid.
“It’s important to remember these aren’t just figures – these are people,” said Dale Hammond, Hospice of Spokane spokesman. “They’re dying people with very limited financial means. They need help.”
Spokane School District has budgeted about $500,000 for school-based medical services, which are required by federal and state regulations, said Dave Greaves, district director of student support services. Losing Medicaid reimbursement would cost the schools a significant portion of that amount.
Advocates for the poor say Medicaid cuts envisioned by DSHS would be devastating.
“The plan for Jan. 1 is to cut all kinds of services for adults and some children that will almost certainly affect basic quality of life,” said Amy Crewdson, a public benefits attorney for Columbia Legal Services. “For some clients, they could be life-threatening.”
Rights panel poorly understood 
cab50 on November 25 at 3:59 a.m.
Quote - Not included in the governor’s proposal is the elimination of adult pharmaceutical benefits, which no state has cut, as well as an end to hospice care for the poor, which few states have cut. The governor is not yet prepared to cut drug coverage for the poor – a move that would save $40 million through June. End Quote
That is a lie. These are part of the program cuts. People should not be mislead. I am one of the adults who will be cut of my adult pharamcuetical/medications. These cuts are life threatening for me.
Here is a list of many of the cuts:
Some of these cuts have already been implemented, some take effect January 1, 2011, others cannot be implemented without legislative approval when the state legislature is back in session on January 10, 2011. The cuts listed below have been sent to the Governor’s office by DSHS/Division of Developmental Disabilities and the Medicaid Purchasing Administration.
Medicaid prescription drugs – Funding is eliminated for all outpatient pharmacy prescription drugs for adults. Only medications administered in a physician’s office or outpatient hospital settings will be covered. This takes effect March 1, 2011.
Medicaid Personal Care – Client receives personal care from a provider based on their assessment from the Division of
Developmental Disabilities, allowing them to remain in their home. Cuts will be based on acuity (how high the need is). 6 to 14 hours per month will be cut from all clients beginning January 1, 2011.
Children’s Intensive In-home Behavior Supports – Provides in-home professional help for children with extremely challenging behavior challenges to avoid placing the child in an institution which would cost the state much more. This program is frozen, no new families will be enrolled. Effective Nov 1, 2010.
Individual and Family Services (IFS) – IFS is used mostly for respite, it is also used for therapies/co-pays and various other services. All families currently on IFS will lose service from Nov 2010 to July 2011.
Dental Services – All adult dental services except emergency services are eliminated. Adults will be able to go to a dentist or the emergency room for pain medication only, dental services will not provided. Effective Jan 1, 2011.
Vision, hearing & podiatry, physical, occupational & speech therapy services are all eliminated for adults. Effective Jan 1, 2011.
Residential Services – Rates to community residential providers will be cut 2%. It will be difficult for providers to attract and retain a stable workforce. Effective Jan 1, 2011.
Employment Services – Rates that counties pay employment providers will be reduced, causing service levels to clients will be reduced. Cuts to employment services means a loss of taxpayer revenue, no return on the State’s special education investment and more demand on other support services. Effective Jan 1, 2011.
Transition Services – Clients graduating from high school in 2010 may lose their job that school transition staff helped them get or end up at home with no job, no return on the State’s special education investment and more demand on other support services. Funding for 240 state-only clients will be eliminated. Effective October 2010.
Eliminate Case Managers (No Paid Services) – Clients with no services won’t have a case manager to provide community resources. Other clients won’t get timely assessments for services as some case manager positions currently open will not be filled. Effective Jan 1, 2011.
Temporary Layoff Days are extended to all DDD employees and two more layoff days are added. Effective Oct 1, 2010.
Residential Habilitation Centers – Reduce/restructure training programs & some services, close cottages, some staff layoffs. Effective Jan 1, 2011.
cab50 on November 25 at 4:01 a.m.
The Governor’s budget eliminates Medicaid payment for all prescription drugs and all physical, occupational, and speech therapy services for people living in the community.
This includes all prescription drugs - even medications essential for the treatment of diabetes, epilepsy, mental illness, heart disease, and other disabilities.
We need to hear from you. These cuts must be stopped.
If you have a story to tell about how the loss of medications or therapies will harm you,
please contact Disability Rights Washington at 1-800-562-2702 x 101. For TTY callers, please call us at 800-905-0209 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
You can also e-mail us at: yourstory@dr-wa.org.
cab50 on November 25 at 4:03 a.m.
See http://www.disabilityrightswa.org/
Scoutster on November 25 at 6:28 a.m.
cab is right. These cuts will be devastating to the individuals involved and their families.
They will have a huge ripple effect as well. Is it good to have mentally ill people not take their meds? What do you think will happen? They will just go away?
No more services for children with severe disabilities and families doing all they can to keep them at home. Take away their support, and they will be forced to put their children into institutions. Not because they want to, but because it will be the most safe option of all the bad ones out there.
It will cost us a lot to do these cuts. But there seems to be no will to increase taxes, which is really the only way around them.
Eventually it will become clear that it is foolish to make these cuts, and counter-productive. But, in the mean time, thousands will be hurt.
johnclarke on November 25 at 7:53 a.m.
There is a budget shortfall and Washington voters just voted out the consumption tax. Suggestions people ? Let’s hear from all the critics of big government with their bright ideas.
hawken on November 25 at 8:21 a.m.
My suggestions.
1- Comply with the balanced budget requirement, as the Governor and legislature are required to do.
2- Accept the fact that government will never be the cure for all human ills.
3- Accept the fact that we are “broke.”
4- Accept the fact that Utopia is a fantasy.
johnclarke on November 25 at 8:39 a.m.
I should have asked for useful suggestions. Again Hawken, I must say - you are no gentleman. You claim to be educated, yet have no compassion for your fellow man.
hawken on November 25 at 8:54 a.m.
johnclarke….
I’ll compare my personal, charitable giving with yours any day of the week. Not to mention the number of poor children my and I wife have supported in third world countries over the years… ie; World Vision and Childrund International.
“Of the top 25 states where people give an above-average percentage of their income, all but one (Maryland) were red — conservative — states in the last presidential election.”
http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2006/12/06/who_gives_to_charity
I would expect the above model be proven in such a comparison.
Once liberals open up their charitable wallets more, then tell me about compassion for the poor.
johnclarke on November 25 at 9:14 a.m.
Whatever helps you sleep at night pal. Social programs help everyone, not just who you pick. Your statistics are pointless, along with your logic.
liarsinnews on November 25 at 9:15 a.m.
If you haven`t figured it out yet, Gregoire is a pathological liar with reckless spending habits that helped put the citizens in this position. For gosh sakes, look at the way Gregoire peed away money, like for example, the tobacco settlement. Only a manic or moron would do what Gregoire did. The state lost tens of millions on her taking the money from the tobacco companies in a cash deal rather than wait to collect the full settlement amount.
Hcklbery on November 25 at 9:35 a.m.
But no death panels right ??
NO NO,
STOP paying a quarter a million dollar salaries to administrators.
THIS OVER FED, GLUTTONOUS, OBESE GOVT NEEDS A DIET when it comes to SALARIES NOT WHEN IT COMES TO THE MOST VULNERABLE OF SOCIETY which Gregoire SWORE UP AND DOWN she would protect ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE.
TYPICAL TWO FACED DEMS.
hawken on November 25 at 10:15 a.m.
Too many social programs fund the lazy, enable the non-productive, overburden the producers of this country and spend us into bankruptcy….
Under the pressure of a Republican Congress, Clinton successfully reformed welfare.
The problem with hyper-left liberals is they are tight with their own charitable, wallets, are willing to give away ALL that doesn’t belong to them. And then have the gall to lecture on compassion.
And yes, I do sleep well at night knowing that I have given to the poor, 10-20% (in any give year and based upon our ability) of our annual income, raised third world children from infants to young adults, providing them with food, shelter and an education.
johnclarke, you and other hyper-left liberals of your ilk preach Utopia, ignoring the real world. And then beg for the poor, the children and the puppies, while you keep your own money safe at home.
That’s my learned assessment of the hyper-liberal left, the most dangerous threat there is to our Republic, foreign or domestic. Look around at our current situation. The poor still exist, we are broke and you demand more from the productive.
reservedparking on November 25 at 10:36 a.m.
As much as I feel for the disadvantaged living on other parts of the planet, I think we should first take care of our own. ‘Compliance’ and ‘acceptance’ does absolutely nothing for the underprivileged who live among us.
Take care of those in our own back yard first. Perhaps our national foreign aid policies should reflect this focus as well.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 25 at 10:43 a.m.
This is whats going to happen, more programs effecting the the people most in need are going to continue to get cut because tea baggers like hawken think it is socialism.
hawken on November 25 at 10:52 a.m.
Clarke….. here’s more to make my point on how stingy the liberal left is with the poor….
Obama?
Adjusted Gross Income Charitable Giving Percentage
2001- $272,759 gave: $1,470 Percent gave: .005
2002- $259,394 gave: $1,050 Percent gave: .004
2005- $1,655,160 gave: $77,315 Percent gave: .047
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/160825/michelle-and-barack-tax-returns/byron-york
Looks like he was preparing to run for President as early as 2005
Meanwhile, in 1991, 1992 and 1993, George W. Bush had incomes of $179,591,$212,313 and $610,772. His charitable contributions those years were $28,236,$31,914 and $31,292. During his presidency, Bush gave away more than 10 percent of his income each year.
And you liberal-left hypocrites dare to lecture conservatives on compassion.
Compare Obama’s charitable giving to mine as well as stated above, 10-20% depending on the prosperity of the year.
“The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself.” ~Jane Addams
eagleproducer on November 25 at 10:52 a.m.
Hmmm. Liberals are the ones tight with their wallets and conservatives are the ones who give aplenty?
Why then does almost every blue state contribute more to the federal coffers than they receive while every red state except Texas takes more from the federal coffers than they pay in. I’ll help you out: It has to do with productivity.
Maybe that explains why those is red states give more to charity: The are spending the money earned by liberals!
I’ll take higher average incomes, higher levels of education attainment and an ability to think critically that liberals possess over the minions who toss a few coins in the platter once a week and then wash their hands of offering actual help.
If church based contributions weren’t counted as charitable donations the liberal/conservative giving disparity would swing dramatically the other way.
hawken on November 25 at 10:57 a.m.
spoketucky…. facts are a stubborn thing… Reagan….
I have clearly demonstrated, “Ad nauseam”, the unwillingness of far left liberals to open their wallets to the poor… They are quite willing to open mine… which is already open, exponentially greater than yours and far left liberals.
It’s impossible to reason with a fool.
johnclarke on November 25 at 11:01 a.m.
I can only say on this day of thanks, all of the Hawken(s) should be happy with this announcement. Big government is making cuts. All of these social programs that offer medications and hospice service for the poor need to go. These old, poor or mentally ill people are a burden on the real producers of the country, the conservatives. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
cab50 on November 25 at 11:07 a.m.
hawken - Have you or your loved ones ever gotten sick and needed help? Have you or your loved ones ever been poor because of your health other legit reasons? Have you ever been homeless? Have you ever walked in any of their shoes? Have you ever taken the time to learn what compassion and empathy is? Sounds to me no to all.
It is one thing to boast and brag of how you donate to charities and how much money you claim to have, etc, but it is another to live in the shoes of those you claim to help and donate to. You put these same people down in your comment, “Too many social programs fund the lazy, enable the non-productive”. Doesn’t that make you a hypocrite? I think it does. I may be sick and rely on life sustaining medications and equipment but I have the same right to live and breath the same air as you do.
My guess is you do have not experienced what is like to be so ill that you have no choice but to rely on state help or other help. I am glad we are not related because it is people like you who think they are better than the next person, who thinks they are a know it all and always have something to say which is really nothing at all. Happy Thanksgiving, Remember, while you are eating dinner, remember every bite you take takes a bite from someone in need and who has no food. Go volunteer your time at the homeless shelter or take some food to the homeless and then come back and tell us about it and don’t tell me you do this, if you do, you would not have the attitude you have towards the less fortunate and make comments such as you make.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 11:17 a.m.
I’m not sure one’s charitable contributions amount to compassion when the other 99.9% of the time one blames the recipients for almost every national ill.
You can’t demonize the poor with your worldview and political policies while simultaneously being compassionate for their plight.
hawken on November 25 at 11:18 a.m.
cab50
First, you mis-represent what I am saying, or at least, you can’t comprehend it through your “cradle to grave” view of government.
There is a place for government to help those whom are TRULY poor and destitute through no fault of their own,,,, AND not just a vote for the liberal left, which is whom you pray upon.
We are light years beyond that point.
So,,,, let me ask you this. Have you consistently honestly, given 10-20% of your annual income to the poor and needy? As my wife and I have done? Of course, I understand, that this question does require “honesty”.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 11:20 a.m.
Hawken can label me a fool all he wants but you’ll notice not one explanation as to why blue states are net producers and red states are net consumers of federal dollars.
Liberals pay for the poverty produced by conservative policies. It’s indisputable. What more do you want from us?
Charity begins at home.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 11:23 a.m.
“pray upon?”
Always good for a laugh, Doc Sqwack! Thanks a lot!
Ready to have your scholarship examined? You probably go your so called Ph.D from the same college Cathy McMorris attended.
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 11:23 a.m.
Cut hospice services?
That’s beyond cruel, and extraordinarily fiscally imprudent.
hawken on November 25 at 11:27 a.m.
Looks like Spoketucky wants to change the subject.
Liberals cry out for the poor, the children, the puppies,…. but are demonstrably, stingy and unwilling to open their own wallets for the same.
Such hypocrisy screams from these pages!
eagleproducer on November 25 at 11:30 a.m.
Sanctimony comes in all flavors.
The people I know who are the most magnanimous dedicate their professional lives and volunteer free time helping other people. The ones who crow the most about helping others are the ones who write a few checks, make a wish on a dish, place a coin on a plate, and move on to supporting policies that put those in need in their conditions in the first place.
joetheinformed on November 25 at 11:32 a.m.
hawken,
So what should disabled people who can not afford their medication do? DIE? Yes, you are truly a humanitarian.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 11:41 a.m.
Doc Sqwack: I’m just following your straw man down the rabbit hole.
Please explain the blue states are net producers while red states are net consumers of federal dollars? Your notion of being more responsible, productive and self-reliant is not supported by the fact that red states are a drain on the nation because of the poverty conservative policies produce. It’s indisputable.
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/3/8/4/5/p138457_index.html
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/04/18/red-state-moochers-federal-taxes-favor-those-who-complain-the-most-about-federal-taxes/
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1451268
Yep, those facts sure are a stubborn thing.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 11:46 a.m.
I like how Doc Sqwack responds like a third grader on the playground with the predictable “my Dad’s bowling average is higher than yours” which when examined is really a way of masking/compensating for a deficiency in another “area.”
Who wants to bet he drives a big 4x4 truck too? Probably a white one!
cab50 on November 25 at 11:53 a.m.
Hawken, It appears to me you only post stuff like this to get attention and a response from people, I may or may not be wrong. Your attacks on people here or anywhere else is not going to help you get your point across, it is only going to create resentment and animosity towards you, is this what you want? We all have the rights to our own beliefs and opinions. I heard clearly what you said but I could not listen because of how you are saying it. Because my or someone else’s views are different than yours doesn’t give you, me or anyone else the right to sling mud. The politicians in office who created this mess do enough of that already. As for my political knowledge, you have no clue who you are talking to. Do I give, you bet I do but giving is also done other ways such as volunteering and gettting to know the people as a whole or group that I and others are helping and taking the time to get to know each one individually as a human being. I am glad you can donate, this is great and I hope that you will never be put in a position where many of us are and that opportunity is taken from you to do so or worse. Am done responding to you. Have a nice day.
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 11:54 a.m.
People who tout their charitable giving are typically louts, braggarts, and sociopaths. The example here is quite obvious.
Good to know they will not be entering God’s Kingdom on Judgment Day.
“Matthew 6 (New King James Version)
Matthew 6
Do Good to Please God
1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
eagleproducer on November 25 at 11:58 a.m.
Look at the reaction by students in England to a proposed raise in tuition compared to the reaction of U.S. citizens to the dismantling of the social safety net.
Pathetic.
But all is well on Wall Street and corporate America. Record profits in the last quarter. It seems that firing millions of workers and forcing those who remain to work lots harder just to keep their jobs is good for profits.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=record%20profits%20for%20corporations&st=cse
Don’t worry though folks, all those CEO’s and the top 1% earners who benefit from those increases in earnings will step in to fill the void left by defunded government programs.
They are called soup kitchens for those who can’t remember.
hawken on November 25 at 11:58 a.m.
I’ve already addressed big government and that it is not a “cure all” for human ills.
What you don’t want to answer is the amount of your own money you voluntarily give to the poor… I didn’t raise this issue…. But, I was condemned as being “non-compassionate” by one of the liberals in your Spokane commune.
Again,I have demonstrated…..
1- That conservatives are much more compassionate with their own money than liberals….
2- I have demonstrated that I am exponentially, more compassionate than liberals with my own money.
Perhaps, the reason you want to change the subject, is that you are just another, stingy, hypocritical, liberal whose wallet is so tight to the poor, that you simply smile at them when you see them on the street. But, then condemn conservatives for being non-compassionate.
Unless, you’re willing to deal with your own hypocrisy, I have nothing more to say to you that I haven’t already said above.
At this point, you simply want to “string out” the discussion, change the subject and veil your own gross, liberal left hypocrisy.
I have provided, above, plenty of documented evidence to more than support my points. I’ll let others to decide for themselves.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 12:15 p.m.
Anyone can write a check.
How do you make your money, Doc Sqwack? I think that shows more about compassion than anything.
Dazzeetrader11 on November 25 at 12:29 p.m.
If you saw where the money actually goes, and how the money goes there, you guys wouldbe a lot more like Hawken.
Facts are we have a huge segment of the population who do not pay taxes. We also have a tiny segment of the population who pays the majority of taxes.
If you cannot pay for yourself or for your children, who will pay for you?
It’s stealing to force someone to pay for something without consent.
It has nothing to do with moral, ethics, etc. When you’reout of money, that’s IT!
Gregoire has spent BILLIONS on unions, salaries, programs…none of this was even there in the 80’s. Now it is it. Transformation now is a bit like Russia’s. They simply couldn’t maintain so they had a system breakdown and vanished.
It’simportant to note that the breakaway countries are doing well in capitalism. yes, time are tough for everyone. Times are tough who got used to the free programs.
Stop the spending, no taxes…solvency awaits. But nobody can continue to spend like she has without a state bankrupty.
Decertifying the WEA alone would give an extra $2 billion over 5 years. The other unions…decert and drop them…saving? $10 billion over 5 years.
Rid the St of the state contracts with unions and stop spending on free programs and this mess is over. Maybe we could fund some libraries then…like ALL of em with college tuition reduction. There’s your investment.
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 12:32 p.m.
“Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments.”
http://people.psych.cornell.edu/~dunning/publications/pdf/unskilledandunaware.pdf
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 25 at 12:44 p.m.
Hawken your argument is disgusting and makes you look like a typical ignorant white rich conservative. Please, continue to hint at how much you make and how much better you are because you donate so much of your money. Typical arrogant white man conservative logic….you truly make me sick you hateful little man.
EMTP on November 25 at 12:57 p.m.
You who boast about raising “third world children” from infants to adulthood and providing them with an education make me sick to my stomach. Maybe you should move to a third world country and do it full time to really feel good about your outsourcing selves. Screw America’s young and old right? You should be ashamed!!
straighttalk on November 25 at 1:17 p.m.
Whatever happen to families helping family members instead of relying on government to help when families should. We have gotten ourselves into this financial situation but blatantly depending on government to do what families did for each other.
Why should taxpayers provide support for someone else’s family needs? Its called being self resourceful. The voters and taxpayers have spoken; its called the majority rule. You got what the majority chose. Less government and less taxes.
oneanddone on November 25 at 1:30 p.m.
Aren’t blogs like this cool? Lets cowards throw rocks at each other, when if actually face to face they would quiver and cast their eyes to the floor. Pull your head out, all of you. Stop spittin’ into the wind. Oh yeah, and grow up too Mr. and Ms. Jackass.
force_vector on November 25 at 1:33 p.m.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
james_l on November 25 at 1:54 p.m.
I have always found it good advice to follow the teachings of a poor, idealistic philosopher, who lived about 20 centuries ago, and said:
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
- Matthew 6; 2-4 (New International Version)
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 1:55 p.m.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Food for thought:
“Contrary to Hawthorne’s assertions of self-righteousness, the colonists hungered to recreate the ethics of love and mutual obligation spelled out in the New Testament. Church members pledged to respect the common good and to care for one another. Celebrating the liberty they had gained by coming to the New World, they echoed St. Paul’s assertion that true liberty was inseparable from the obligation to serve others.
For this reason, no Puritan would have agreed with the ethic of “self-reliance” advanced by Hawthorne’s contemporary, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Instead, people should agree on what was right, and make it happen. Wanting social peace, the colonists experienced plenty of conflict among themselves. It was upsetting when this happened, but among the liberties they carefully guarded was the right to petition any government and to plead any grievance, a liberty that women as well as men acted on.
The most far-reaching of these Puritan reforms concerned the civil law and the workings of justice. In 1648, Massachusetts became the first place in the Anglo-American world to publish a code of laws — and make it accessible to everyone. Believing that the rule of law protected against arbitrary or unjust authority, the civil courts practiced speedy justice, empowered local juries and encouraged reconciliation and restitution. Overnight, most of the cruelties of the English justice system vanished. Marriage became secularized, divorce a possibility, meetinghouses (churches) town property.
And although it’s tempting to envision the ministers as manipulating a “theocracy,” the opposite is true: they played no role in the distribution of land and were not allowed to hold political office. Nor could local congregations impose civil penalties on anyone who violated secular law. In these rules and values lay one root of the separation of church and state that eventually emerged in our society.
Why does it matter whether we get the Puritans right or not? The simple answer is that it matters because our civil society depends, as theirs did, on linking an ethics of the common good with the uses of power. In our society, liberty has become deeply problematic: more a matter of entitlement than of obligation to the whole. Everywhere, we see power abused, the common good scanted. Getting the Puritans right won’t change what we eat on Thanksgiving, but it might change what we can be thankful for and how we imagine a better America. “ (continues)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/opinion/24hall.html?src=me&ref=general
Dazzeetrader11 on November 25 at 1:57 p.m.
Well this comes to mind: Where you’re out of dough, you’re out of dough. Simple isn’t it? You own the governement not vice versa. You want some change? Change things.
Conservatives spoke on Nov 2. Seems like you libs don’t like the message…anymore than conservatives didn’t and don’t like Obama’s message of socialism.
It’ll get wose in 18 months. Lots of Senate seats up for grabs.
Obama’s spent into oblivion while he and his entourage travel to see the sights .” let them eat cake” comes to mind.
It’s over for the libs…only 23% of the country admits to even being liberal. Don’t you complainers really think it’s time to quit whining and get back to work? You seem to think that people who work hard and generate a pile of money are..well…evil and should be punished byFORCING?MAKING them part with their money and their things. Just ain’t so…not outside of communism.
We help the disadvantaged as much as we can. If I donate $100 K to various causes every year, it shouldnot be a reason to criticise. Cut taxes and jobs await. I’d like to be incharge of my own money though. I don’t hire unions…too expensive. Gregoire should learn this. Things might get back to normal then..Her and Verner are and should be known as nincompoops and incompetents.
soccermomsusie on November 25 at 2:02 p.m.
On this day of Thanksgiving, can’t we all just open our hearts and minds just a little?
NO!!!!
Open these organs up and watch Satan or “Demoncrat thinking” swoop in like an unwanted, peyote-crazed heathen at the first Thanksgiving!!
Do you know they thought popcorn had little evil spirits in them? Revisionists would make you think that explains Orville Redenheimer, BUT IT DOESN’T!
Speaking of which, Medicaid. Why should my money go to buy medicine for people who have contracted a disease because of their “lifestyle” choice?
Hawken is right when he suggests they just die and decrease the surplus population (and so was Adam Smith).
People, enjoy your meals. BUT, don’t be swayed by libertard demoncrat table talk! If you feel like your mind is being opened, have a drink and turn your attention to your stomach. If you are like me, it is tuned to KGOD and will keep you on the straight and narrow.
Lastly, thank you Comrade Hank for your blog shout out (I guess). My socialist nephew showed it to me. Comrade, why do you run barefoot? I think God told us what he thought about that when he sent Adam and Eve on a 10K out of the garden. THINK ABOUT IT AND GET SOME SHOES ON! Unbelievable.
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!!
mikemcdonnell on November 25 at 2:29 p.m.
The disparity between rich and poor has never been greater. Some ultra-rich like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett say the rich should pay more tax. To me it comes down to following the guidelines of your religion, and most say to help the poor.
Tax Cuts Offer Most for Very Rich, Study Says
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2007 — Families earning more than $1 million a year saw their federal tax rates drop more sharply than any group in the country as a result of President Bush’s tax cuts, according to Congressional study.
http://tinyurl.com/ydk9tc
Wealth Gap Is Increasing, Study Shows
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer UofW study shows. Rising inequality isn’t new but what happened under Bush is something entirely unprecedented: For the first time in our history, so much growth is being siphoned off to a small, wealthy minority that most Americans are failing to gain ground even during a time of economic growth. http://tinyurl.com/49jj89
Scoutster on November 25 at 3:08 p.m.
Here’s the thing I think a lot of folks don’t get about cuts like this. Let’s look at Medicaid services provided in a nursing home, for example. These services are not delivered by the state. They are contracted to a, usually, profit making entity that hires staff and provide the service.
Now, if the state had been paying $10 a day to deliver service, and they cut that to $9 a day, that $1 is not going to be taken out of corporate profits. It will be taken out in wages to the serfs that deliver services, the ones who actually get their hands dirty. The corporations exist to build equity and provide dividends, not to serve people. They wouldn’t be in the business if it wasn’t profitable. That’s neither good nor bad, just how it works.
Cut it another $1, same thing happens. Etc., etc….that’s how we get working poor who cannot move out of their circumstances.
This is not a diatribe against corporations. I’m a capitalist (although, like Smith and many others, I believe there needs to be regulation of markets).
There is a place for them. But taxpayers need to understand that they are supporting a lot of corporations with their tax dollars, and leaving a lot of poor behind who work their butts off doing things hedge fund managers in NYC wouldn’t do for a free membership in the country club.
It is convenient to blame all our costs on public employees, and believe if we can just crack the contracts we will have plenty to go around, it is also untrue. Public employees are certainly paid well (esp. when benefits are included), but they are not the only folks who deliver services on your behalf.
And if you have ever looked at the wage schedule at a long term care facility, it is not the employees who are doing well.
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 3:13 p.m.
Well when all those lazy shiftless good for nothing people getting Hospice care GET A JOB and PAY TAXES, the budget problem will be solved.
johnclarke on November 25 at 4:17 p.m.
Thanks for a welcome laugh Susie. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 4:29 p.m.
“What improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconveniency to the whole. No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.
The Wealth Of Nations, Book I Chapter VIII, p.96, para. 36.”
pseeger on November 25 at 4:57 p.m.
Hey, Hawken, recognize this?
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
I applaud your generosity, but those of your political stripe do not typically share that philosophy.
Dazzeetrader11 on November 25 at 4:59 p.m.
Those damnedable protitmakers who provide jobs for the middle class and safe haven for the elderly! How dare they!
Greenie..Scoutie…you can quote liberal socialist from famous books till you’re…well…green in the face! lol…come back to reality. Nice ideas then but they’re impractical now…ask Obama, Verner and Gregoire. Marr wasn’t an idealist..he’s just a dealmaking crooked lil man or he’d be in there too.
Damned profitmakers…grumble, grumble ,grumble….You can thank wealthy people’s profits for paying most of the taxes in the US. Glad we escaped 1098. Wake up you guys…money and who owns it aren’t evil …as much as you’d like to make people believe that mess of goofy ideas.
74 and the Sun’s going down…I cannot miss it. Happy T day you grumpy old pseudo intellectual men!:) Love ya!
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 5:33 p.m.
Daisy thinks, well, hard to call it that, spouts off that Adam Smith, one of the preeminent economic philosophers of his day (about the time of the American Revolution) is a liberal socialist.
Yes, the man most responsible in the world for defining Capitalism, especially markets and “the invisible hand”, whose writings heavily influenced America’s Founding Fathers, is, in Daisy’s world, a liberal socialist.
A more ignorant statement can hardly be made, but of course, Daisy never fails to astound us with her complete and utter lack of intelligent discourse.
cryssT on November 25 at 6:18 p.m.
this also was in the newspaper
AUSTIN, Texas – Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay – once one of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress – was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.
and y’all say it’s the Democrats that have caused the ruination of this country. too funny.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 8:28 p.m.
greenlibertarian: I almost fell off my turkey and stuffing dimpled rear end after reading Dazee’s critique of “The Wealth of Nations.” I can see how it is easy to mistake Smith for Marx when drink and intellectual laziness are combined.
The DeLay conviction should be just the start. It’s time Obama wakes up to how politics actually operate in the U.S. It’s down and dirty and I’d spend the next two years investigating and prosecuting the crimes of the Bush years so people understand the clear choices that await them in 2012.
The GOP spent over 100 million going after Clinton for fibbing about something that wasn’t anyone’s biz in the first place. Nearly eight years of investigation produced one measly charge which the GOP felt was an impeachable offense. In addition, the GOP shut down the government on numerous occasions while Clinton was president.
They don’t want to govern. They want to destroy government, particularly the U.S. government. When they state so in no uncertain terms it is high time the voting public viewed them for what they are: Traitors.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 8:43 p.m.
green: I read the same essay regarding the revisionism currently popular amongst Hawthorne scholars and critics. I think the scholarship is a bit shaky and makes wide generalizations from a narrow range of primary source material, but the piece does offer some insight (perhaps unintentional) into Hawthorne’s motivations as a writer and aspirations as historical figure.
Maybe Dazee can clear this up for me, but why should we thank the top earners for paying most of the taxes when they have the most income? Where are they going to come from? The bottom 80% living on 20% of the earnings? That’s the current model, to get as much from those least able to pay. It’s no wonder everything is broke. The middle class, because of sales taxes at state and local levels, pay way more a percentage of their income in taxes than do the wealthy. That is indisputable and a fact repeatedly asserted by Warren Buffet. The lazy D and her ilk always state government should be run like a business but they want those completely lacking the ability to invest to provide their start-up capital.
A famous gangster was asked once why he robbed banks. The reply was “Because that is where the money is.’ It’s the same with, or should be, taxation in the U.S. We tax them more because they have more. I’ll leave with a quote from Thomas Jefferson, that pinko-commie founding father who couldn’t wait to impose a system of socialism that hadn’t even been delineated as yet:
“Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is
to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the
higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they
rise.”
eagleproducer on November 25 at 8:47 p.m.
Hawken and the other deficit hawks want us to believe we are “broke.”
I guess record corporate profits is the new definition of broke.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=record%20profits%20for%20corporations&st=cse
The only word that comes to mind when Hospice care and hosts of other services are to eliminated but corporate amerika ratchets up record profits is obscene.
There will be a revolution in this country if this keeps up. And it won’t be led by the Tea Baggers.
eagleproducer on November 25 at 8:49 p.m.
I love the people who think the past election was about Obama needing to move to the center but don’t realize that would mean moving left.
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 8:57 p.m.
” The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities…”
The Wealth Of Nations, Book V Chapter II Pt II, v. ii, p. 825, para. 3.
-Adam Smith (the liberal socialist according to Daisy)
jddavis on November 25 at 10:09 p.m.
Come on Spoketucky…
President Clinton was impeached because:
A) he fibbed out something that was no one elses biz
B) the GOP are bad guys lookin’ to unjustly hurt his rep
C) he lied under oath; committed perjury
I know you are an educated person, and generally support your position with valid points. The argument that he did nothing wrong except maybe cheating on his wife is short sighted. Perjury is a crime, no matter what the subject of the lie.
Not a strong supportive arguement for your position/opinion.
Dazzeetrader11 on November 25 at 10:19 p.m.
I’m sure it’s his opinion. Of that I have no doubt. But look at the time and where he was. If you don’t think it was Smith’s opinion of things for the time, well…think again. Opinions are shaped by the times and what’s in front of a person.
Hi opinions surely are welcome and we DO stand on the shoulders of the past.
The problem is that we’re in untouched water. Never has a nations jobs ( the guts of the engine) been sold off to other countries. I believe Obama when he says they won’t be back. They won’t. Been to China to watch a factory work or how the people think over there? How about Poland? Or Hungary?
Listen friends…we need smarter rich people who control these industries. Or smart other people who have ideas and can get funding. You’re living in the complete past if you think you’ll make a money grab because someone has money. It’s not possible Obama tried it with the forgein accounts. He didn’t do well on that.
WHat this country need are people who understand it’s in their own self interest for the workers in the country do well, get educated, read, stay off drugs and have futures to develope. It’s how the country replenishes itself. Key to this is belief in country. Belief in borders and belief in the culture of America and belief in language..out own. You and many others think everything should be one…all nations offer themselves to world rule such as the UN. Control the money as to who gets what and why.
Smith didn’t want that and most Americans don’t wither. Sit in your houses on your couches and whine and complain. You don’t have time for that. America doesn’t either. cademics like SMith creat visiions. SO does Obama. SOme is practical..most isn’t. Why? because we’re in the real world not labs or in books. It’s how it is. Ask China sometime… capitalists who subjugate the people. Hated the thought. Live free or die off.
greenlibertarian on November 25 at 10:30 p.m.
I’ve got very little that I like about President Clinton.
“C) he lied under oath; committed perjury”.
Since the whole matter was immaterial, so it was with Clinton’s testimony. Immaterial. Not meaningless, for sure, but never should have happened.
What an utter waste of time for the Congress and the Justice Department.
There are REAL issues to deal with in good government, whatever you think that means.
Exposing a President’s sexual peccadilloes (with a more than willing paramour) are not germane to good government.
DeCaYeD on November 25 at 11:35 p.m.
Well nice to see cuts are being made that take care of our own people while we support other parts of the world.
nslopeofw on November 25 at 11:50 p.m.
Here is an idea. You get what you PAY for. If you need meds, PAY for them. So what if the CEO makes $1,000,000 a year. You need dental? PAY for it. So what if your dentist makes $400,000 a year. They and the rest of us shouldn’t have to PAY for your stuff. Get a job.
I am sickened by all of the people that get free or reduced stuff, and then cry when some of the free stuff gets cut. Need food? PAY for it. I do. Need gas? PAY for it, I do. Need heat? PAY for it, i do. Place to live? You guessed it, YOU PAY for it.
We are not a socialist country. The political middle (70%) voted out the left, and voted in the right. They no more want a socialist state than do the “red” voters. The people that want the “blue” socialist state lost in the last election. Time for the gimmee, gimmee crowd to start paying for the stuff they have been getting for free. The “free” ride is over.
nslopeofw on November 25 at 11:53 p.m.
And, Spokentucky, We as in our government are broke. The companies (privately owned) are not we. They are not beholden to “us”. It is a socialist idea that the government and the business’ are the same. They are not.
SugarShane on November 26 at 8:23 a.m.
Funny how those to decry socialism or helping the poor have probably never experienced it themselves. They somehow have come to the conclusion that people are poor by choice, just too stupid or too lazy to make ends meet. Unfortunately it is access to resources that determine success in life and poverty is passed on from generation to generation. Look it up sometime. Its the poor though that are turning your burgers, cutting your grass, building your houses and dying in foreign lands. For what you ask of us, you offer little in return, just some empty dream of one day “having a good Job” so that we may one day even have a little place of our own, for our children, so that they don’t have to struggle the way we did. Its this warm fuzzy idea like “anyone can be President”, a lie sold to the poor to keep us working on making the rich even richer. Well for you folks, I hope if they cut meds that some whackadoodle has a psychotic break with reality and meets you on the way to your car while your shopping. Be sure to mention your phoilosophy on life and how “sorry, thats just how it goes poor people” mentality.
eagleproducer on November 26 at 9:44 a.m.
sugarshane: Those days you speak of, when the wealthy will be confronted by the damage their selfishness has wrought, are not far away.
The “poor by choice” mantra comes from the despicable conservative icon Edmund Spencer and his unsupportable theory of social darwinism. His cause in the U.S. was taken up by the likes of Carnegie, who when asked why he didn’t pay his workers better when he was raking in a fortune replied: “Why, all they’ll do with it is buy a better cut of meat, a better brand of ale, whereas I am building libraries where they can improve themselves should they chose.”
This type of paternalism still dominates the elite class in the U.S. It is the location of the wellspring for their “charity” as well.
As for Clinton: Question asked and answered. It should have been over with then. What about all the previous investigations that didn’t result in a single charge filed? Oh, now I get it: The GOP’s excuse for not governing back then and shutting down the government was because the president lied about getting a blow job. What will it be this time?
slexib on November 26 at 10:36 a.m.
To our Governor and DSHS
STOP WASTING THE TAXPAYERS $$$ BY WRITING FALSE BUDGET CUT REPORTS, CLIENT LETTERS THAT WILL NEVER BE SENT and ENDLESS RULES, RULE REVERSALS. You waste so much of our time and money getting our hopes up for NOTHING.
No prescription drug coverage—really?? Not going to happen. You couldn’t even enforce a $1.00 copay several years ago, so don’t even go there. How about just eliminating narcotic coverage?? I see people spending MY money to buy their vicodin only to sell it the minute they leave the pharmacy. You’re welcome. Or hey, actually ENFORCE a copay like the rest of us have on our insurance?? A meager $2.00 copay could go a long ways in saving my tax dollar.
I work full time and have decent insurance, yet I haven’t been to a podiatrist for my bunions. I haven’t been to the dentist in 10 years because my insurance only pays 50%. How about you drop the dental coverage to that? Brushing twice a day and flossing seems to keep me in good shape. I guess the meth-heads and peeps that don’t work haven’t got the time to brush so I will continue to pay for their false teeth and dental visits on my dime. You’re welcome.
My insurance makes me pay $6.00, $10 and $20 copays. I have a copay to see a doctor and a healthy $50.00 copay to go to the ER. So needless to say, I don’t go to the ER for a case of the sniffles. If I had a baby I would be responsible for prenatal care and the formula that came after. If I didn’t want a baby I would have to buy my own condoms. MY real insurance doesn’t pay for this crap. Again, you won’t cut stuff like that, so to your clients, you’re welcome.
The liberals will say I am mean and heartless. Yes, I know there is a group of citizens our there that really need help, the DDD and elderly that can’t help themselves. I am all for that kind of help, but 80% of people getting the help shouldn’t. You know who you are and you won’t be reading this.
If you would make State Aid a tiny bit more like real insurance, problem solved. You make me sick— but I can’t afford to do anything about it!!
hawken on November 26 at 10:46 a.m.
After recovering from a huge, Thanksgiving with my family yesterday, I thought I would catch up with the rest of this string.
First, to all of you so ready to quote the Bible let me make several points”
1- I did not raise the issue on compassion.
Quote:
johnclarke on November 25 at 8:39 a.m.
…Again Hawken, I must say - you are no gentleman. You claim to be educated, yet have no compassion for your fellow man. End Quote
As for our charitable giving, it refutes the insult from johnclarke. Which it was my only intent. It hardly meets the definition of “self exaltation.” But it does magnify liberal hypocrisy.
2- I then demonstrated the “gross hypocrisy” of the left, who are stingy and greedy with their own wallets when it comes to showing compassion. From presidents to blue states… And then have the gall to lecture others about compassion.
This, I believe is what has caused all the vile, hissing and venom. Namely, again, demonstrating the hypocrisy of the left.
3- For all of you Bible scholars out there… here’s one for you…
2nd Thessalonians 3:10
“For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”
If you on the left would adopt that Biblical command…. the welfare roles would shrink to historical levels, for the betterment of all.
james_l on November 26 at 11:56 a.m.
The critical part of the 2nd Thessalonians passage is “willing to work”.
I disagree with some of your (and others) broad generalizations that the people who receive government services are just lazy or unwilling to work. With more than 32 million people having a “severe disability” and a true unemployment rate approaching 20% and 5 or more applicants for every job, clearly not everyone is unwilling to work.
The majority of Medicaid recipients are either disabled or are “working poor” who can’t afford medical care.
Now I’m not saying that there is not fraud and waste in these programs. There is a lot of fraud and waste in the Pentagon as well, but no one talks about abolishing that agency.
Private giving doesn’t even make a dent in the need. Total private giving to all health services related charities is about $50B per year. The Federal, State, and Local programmatic (Medicaid, etc.) yearly spending on health services is between $300B and $400B, plus an additional $50B in reimbursements for hospitals providing uncompensated services.
hawken on November 26 at 12:49 p.m.
James…. correct…. we are addressing “willing to work.”
How many Americans are on welfare?
Around 50.1 million.
http://www.numberof.net/number-of-americans-on-welfare/
In September 2009, around 4 million Americans were served by a state cash-assistance or welfare program, more than 37 million received federal food stamps and about 9.1 million received unemployment benefits. If treated as exclusive numbers, there would be a total of 50.1 million Americans who received federal aid in September 2009. This data is based on a report published in USA today in January 2010.
Population of America: 307,000
http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=uspopulation&met=population&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=population+of+american
% of Americans on welfare = 16%
Please cite your source: With more than 32 million people having a “severe disability”
Then please tell me what percentage of the 32 million are supported by tax payers….
Please…. Please! Don’t just throw out uncorroborated numbers that fit your world view! Give us your sources!
james_l on November 26 at 1:43 p.m.
OK, hawken, I’ll do your homework for you this time.
The 32 million people with “severe disabilities” number comes from the Employers’ Forum on Disability, the largest business-run and funded member organization in the world: http://www.realising-potential.org/stakeholder-factbox/disabled-people-worldwide. I don’t know what percentage of these people are supported by taxpayers. I cited the statistic to show the magnitude of the overall need.
Similar statistics are to be found in the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census.
The welfare red herring is best left to another discussion; this thread pertains to Medicaid.
hawken on November 26 at 2:12 p.m.
Here’s james source:
Disability in North America
* In 2002 roughly 51.2 million or 18% of Americans “STATED” [my EMPHASIS] they had some form of disability;
for 32.5 million of them the disability was severe. [xxxv]
[xxxv] US Census Bureau figures 2002 as part of US Census Press Release, 12/05/06.
Knock Knock…
Hello, I’m from the Census Bureau.
Do you have a disability? Yes.
Do you have a “severe disability? Yes.
Thank you… I must go now, I am only a part time employee of the government and I have so many doors to knock on!
Thank you again.
eagleproducer on November 26 at 2:35 p.m.
roles or rolls? Does it really matter coming from a Ph.D.?
I guess that’s how he rolls.
james_l on November 26 at 2:38 p.m.
Woof Woof.
Is that a sycophantic little lap dog for the ultra right I hear barking?
I just realized that you are in one of your little moods and nothing will make a difference to your tea brain.
Have a nice day, bagger.
slexib on November 26 at 2:44 p.m.
‘Hawken’ hits the nail on the head. But sadly, as I stated in my post, most of these ‘cuts’ will never happen. They (Governor and DSHS) waste more time and money making up these grand reports, new rules and ‘lists’ upon lists of cuts only to reverse or not apply them in the end. So there is really no panic, liberals need not cry out ‘we gotta help’. Trust me —we will continue to help like it or not. And if Hawken’s figures are even remotely accurate it goes by the typical 80-20 rule (Pareto’s law>?), that, in this case, 20% of the population uses up 80% of the resources. I think even us hard-core, work-for-a-living types agree that there are people that really need and deserve help, but it doesn’t even come close to 16%.
hawken on November 26 at 2:48 p.m.
Oppps! James has been “busted” again! So what’s new?
james_l on November 26 at 3:01 p.m.
Busted????
This source is much more credible than some tea-brained PhD faker. Many other sources give similar results. Believe it, or not, bagger; you’ll still live in the Never land of right wing utopia.
Rainbowman1970 on November 26 at 10:19 p.m.
As Someone who is on Medicaid and Disability because of a rare form of cancer I am concerned about this proposal. I did not ask for cancer, I hope one day hope to work again and rely on the medications I am prescribed. I am lucky as I can manage somehow on disability and the medical coverage. Let me tell you I am far from living the high life and there is no way I could pay the $200 a month for the prescribed medications. I understand we must balance the budget but this is not the way to do it. I do not get reduced rent or help with my heating costs and let me tell you that in a good month I am lucky to end the month with $10 left over. I am not asking for pity…Again I manage and look forward to the day I can return to the work force and pay into the tax system. Till then I will hope for the best and manage somehow. I know that I speak for others in my shoes that feel the same way. Please think twice before assuming that all of us disabled are using the system and creating fraud…fraud happens every where…no more in medicade than anything else and mostly we are people grateful for the help. Yes my family helps me with what they can but there would be no way I could have survived with out the help from the government.
misjustice on November 27 at 7:18 a.m.
Rainbow; thank you for putting a human face on these cuts to Medicaid. Sometimes, I think, we get caught up in numbers, percentages, and cost analysis problems to the point that we forget about the people the system is meant to help.
These announced cuts, with more to come in March, are wrong headed; penny wise but pound foolish. No doubt, many of our fellow citizens will suffer; something that it would seem many on this thread would like to inflict more of, as if there is not enough already.
I wish peace for you, Rainbow; and a swift recovery/return to health.
; )
Scoutster on November 27 at 8:07 a.m.
Rainbow…
You present exactly the dilemma society is facing. Unfortunately, esp on these boards, comments immediately go to blue/red or picking on one politician or the other.
A more productive discussion would be “what should we as a society do about people such as Rainbow”?
On one side, some posters here would, I believe, just say “your sickness: your problem”, and that is certainly a position with a long history and a valid foundation and is much less expensive than public care.
On the other hand, others would say “we all have a responsibility to help every citizen receive every treatment available without concern for cost”, an equally valid position but with no current way to pay for it.
Once one knows where one is on this spectrum, it becomes easier to defend a specific position consistently.
It is the moral/ethical question that I think we have not really had a serious discussion about in this country, concerned much too much over the dollars and not the values underlying them.
nslopeofw on November 29 at 3:11 p.m.
Ya know, i’ve been poor. Both growing up, and in my early adult life. So the “pity the poor” thing don’t work with me. get a job or two, if you need help after that, hell yeah, i’m all for helping you. Sit on your butt all day and cry about being poor, too bad.