Ryan's budget is cruel and draconian
Rep. Paul Ryan's budget resolution would slash income and opportunity for millions of low-income and middle-class Americans while shifting trillions of dollars to the wealthiest individuals and corporations.
The proposal is completely lopsided, imposing an estimated two-thirds of the cuts in programs that provide essential services to low-income populations. Medicaid, which in Virginia serves nearly 1 million elderly, disabled, children and pregnant women, would be changed to a block grant and cut by more than 20 percent. This would shift more financial responsibility to states, leading to dangerous cuts in Virginia's already lean program, now ranked 48th in the nation in per capita Medicaid spending. A full 70 percent of Virginia's Medicaid spending is for elderly and disabled people who require acute and long-term-care services. What will happen if their nursing home or personal care services are eliminated?
The proposal would also end Medicare as we know it. Seniors enrolling after 2022 would have a government voucher to purchase private insurance. This is an extremely radical change that cuts deeply into basic Medicare protections and increases out-of-pocket costs to unaffordable levels.
The SNAP/food stamps program would be converted into a block grant with limited funding. This program has been in place during the recession to help people who lose jobs or income and cannot feed their families. As a fixed block grant, the program could not respond to such crises.
An unprecedented cut in Pell Grants would drastically reduce college loans for more than 9 million low- and middle-income students, denying access to college for many. Other draconian cuts to all levels of educational programs would completely reverse progress on improving student achievement.
This is not a balanced approach to long-term deficit reduction. It is an outrage which must be rejected.
Jill A. Hanken,
Virginia Poverty Law Center.
Richmond.
Obamacare depends on other people's money
I read the Business news story "Consumer Reports: What does health care reform mean for you?" It delineated myriad benefits that are to be phased in between now and 2014. What it does not report is who will pay for these benefits and how much they will cost.
It was Margaret Thatcher who said, "Socialism works only until you run out of other people's money."
Religious entities shouldn't make state's decisions
Editor, Time-Dispatch:
Every child deserves a family — and that is why Gov. Bob McDonnell owes Virginia an explanation of why he opposes the idea of allowing qualified gay and lesbian couples to adopt some of the nearly 6,000 children who are stuck in the state's foster care system.
We applaud your newspaper for telling the governor that "it is neither rational nor compassionate to keep a child in foster care" and that he "should not stand in the way of such adoptions."
At a recent press conference, the governor stated: "Many of our adoption agencies are faith-based groups that ought to be able to establish what their own policies are."
By opposing the proposed regulatory changes, McDonnell is ignoring the best interests of children in the foster care system and is allowing religious entities to set state child welfare policy.
Adoption agencies, even those with religious affiliations, should judge the quality of prospective parents based solely on their character, their capabilities as parents and their capacity to provide a loving, stable home.
Every established child welfare agency supports adoption by gay and lesbian couples. In fact, there are already 2 million children in our country being raised by same-sex couples, who pay taxes, send their kids to school, worship and share the same American values as their neighbors. According to the Williams Institute there are as many as 2 million more gay and lesbian parents who would consider adoption if laws and policies permitted them to do so.
Please join us in calling on the governor to place the interests of children first and remove any barriers that prevent Virginia's foster children from finding their loving families.
Washington.
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