Will Somebody Fix The Fricking Budget Already?

Yes, our dear Governator is gearing up for another round of even MORE draconian budget cuts. Raise your hand and join me if you are sick and tired of this. I don't suppose it has occurred to anyone in Sacramento that possibly the more cuts are made, the more contractions on the huge part of the economy based on state funding happen, the more that job losses and pay cuts affect what state employees have to spend--which means they can default on homes, patronize fewer businesses, pay less in taxes, and then those banks and businesses pay less in taxes, and so on, and so forth, and suddenly...another massive budget deficit looms ahead! Surprise, surprise. We are on the merry-go-round of DOOM.

I know he will hit health care services first because that is his preference and pattern. It is ALWAYS what he does first. Maybe the guy is never sick and has no clue. He hits at the disabled pretty much whenever he can and, if he can get away with it, without benefit of consultation or warning.

This is why I am already very concerned personally regarding how I'm going to continue to pay for Medicare copays and also pay what will be 15% of my prescription costs (atm about $2000/month) under Medicare Part D. I only have Medi-Cal every other month right now (due to a really crazy way my income is being calculated based on the Gov's action which the above link explains) and I can pretty much count on not having it at all next year, so it's Part D or the highway.

Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program. It is not the worst one of the fifty states, but is ungenerous enough that we no longer qualify for a lot of federal matching funds that would be ours if we did not cut so much from the program. I believe it is one of the largest items in our budget, however. I don't know why there are so many people on it. Some say it is due to undocumented workers and their families but there is debate about this. Perhaps our health insurance companies in this state leave many uncovered, or a lot of people with small businesses go without coverage for financial reasons, or we simply have a lot of people on the program because we are also the most populous state. I would be interested in seeing any research that has been done on this.

Anyway, he will slash Medi-Cal. Healthy Families will probably be hit as well. I have nothing but contempt for a budget process that lets the sick get sicker or die before doing anything else, or which leaves children at risk, or for a person who supports such a process.

The governor has some sort of special way he wants to reduce pharmaceutical costs. Not really sure why he has it in for antipsychotic medication in particular. We have so many people in the street who seemingly could use more of it. Odd man.

Cutting family planning services under Medi-Cal would be funny if the guy weren't serious about it. Guess magical fairy dust delivers the babies and provides for them until they turn 18.

It seems he is finally considering turning undocumented prisoners over to federal authorities (I wonder why this had not been done earlier?) but I haven't heard anything about sending nonviolent criminals home with ankle bracelets, which is what I had been told could save a lot of $.

Yes, I did read about the proposal to legalize marijuana and tax it :) I'm of mixed feelings. The first is a personal bias; I would like to see all smoking of any kind banned from the planet forever since it triggers my horrible asthma! I wish I never had to sport this embarrassing "sea lion" cough again! And I'm very concerned about children who are now trapped as I once was in homes where the parents smoke. Not all of us can breathe air with smoke in it.

On the other hand, what consenting adults do behind hermetically sealed doors and windows is none of my business. It does seem a pity that the illegal status of recreational drugs is in effect creating well-financed gangs who are following the business model of Al Capone while society as a whole also loses the opportunity to tax the stuff. Recreational drugs do not interest me in the slightest, and if you had my miserable load of prescriptions to carry around any extra drugs probably wouldn't tempt you either (I'm much more interested in seeing if I can get away with NOT taking something) but the demand for them doesn't seem to wane.

Some of our park usage fees are already high. There are beaches I can't go to because I can't pay the $8 and don't have the strength to hike there. But that's another one of Ahnold's favorite targets. He's also now proposing to sell off state-owned properties, some quite famous. It's like he is trying to punish someone, but it is unclear exactly whom.

Anyway, here's the latest.

I am not sure why there is such an outcry against shortening the school year since it was relatively recently that it was lengthened. I also think it is probably time for schools to restructure a bit so they are not so top-heavy in administrative costs while making life hard for teachers and students. However, I don't think we can afford to cut education very much, since our per-pupil spending has gone down so far.

I did vote for putting a stop to legislators giving themselves pay raises during deficit years (Prop 1F.) I also would be ok with seeing them having to look for their own health coverage; kind of a "we're all in the same boat now" sort of thing...I would rather see that than state workers be thrown out of jobs in the middle of a serious economic downturn. Those workers have no power over the budget.

None of this would make me more inclined to vote YES for the budget-cutting propositions; in fact I resent the attempt at being forced into a YES vote. They are poorly written and do not reflect where I think cuts should first be made. And I don't like blackmail.