The talk in Tallahassee, Florida these days is that if you're young or you're old, you lose! I would guess the same is heard in many state capitols. There's not enough money to go around. Budget cuts are the order of the day.What to do? Well, if you're a Florida Republican legislator, you moan about how tough it is, kinda like Rep. Bill Galvano, from Bradenton. "The cuts are ugly. It is what it is. The state is not doing as well as it has in the past and it's impacting the health-care budget."
It's also impacting the education budget, and the criminal justice budget, and a bunch of other state programs. Nan Rich, D-Weston, voted against a Senate health-care budget. She said, "It's a devastating budget. This destroys the safety net for the people of Florida who need it the most. It was never a strong safety net and now it's gone."
Why is it that when our federal or state governments get in financial trouble, they immediately begin to cut people programs? If you're on Medicaid in Florida, you're in deep ca-ca. And if you are a transplant patient who needs life-saving drugs, go plan your funeral.
According to Karen Woodall, a social services lobbyist, the legislature could bring back the Medicaid program for hearing aids, glasses and dentures by eliminating the annual sales tax break for sports teams and facilities in the state. She put it this way:
"Hello, we're going to take away from people who live below the poverty line [their] eyeglasses, dentures, and hearing aids? But the golf hall of fame, and the Marlins, the Jaguars, the Heat and the fish museum will continue to get their annual payout."
Can't you just hear the pain in the voice of Rep. Stephen Wise, a Repub from Jacksonville? "There are tough, tough decisions. They're not for the faint of heart."
That's right - they're not for the be faint of heart, or faint of seeing, or faint of hearing! The old, the young, the sick, the crippled - they're the ones that will feel the pain of the budget cuts.
Florida surely wouldn't want to place a burden on its "poverty-stricken" professional sports teams by cutting their sales tax breaks!
1 comment:
The people get what they deserve! They voted to get a small tax break for each homeowner and thought it was a free gift. It was obvious that budget cuts would take some things away that the voters might want to keep. Who did they think would pay for them? Now they must do the arithmetic and figure out if the gift will be offset by higher fees or cuts in service. Somehow our legislators find ways to give with one hand while taking with two hands. Are they all three handed people? Somehow the people will have to learn to evaluate what they are voting for and why. Is it possible that their representatives do not represent them?
Bob Poris
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