OMFG, LILITH TOOK HER FIRST STEPS TODAY! ALL ON HER OWN!
I’ve been choking on my own tongue almost every time I see coverage of health care reform. I’m choking on Medicaid recipients decrying socialized medicine and insurance company-sponsored Astroturf mobs at town hall meetings. It makes me sick that public discourse is disrupted by blatant, deliberate lies and threats of violence towards politicians and Obama-backing union members.
Of course, Palin had to pipe in with her two cents of deranged foolishness:
The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.
Invoking Michele Batshit Bachmann sure is a sound way to solidify your point, Palin:
Rep. Michele Bachmann highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff, in a floor speech to the House of Representatives. I commend her for being a voice for the most precious members of our society, our children and our seniors.
Palin, you are a fucking moron. Shut up. You shame us all with your stupid.
Even Politico is in on the Stupid.
So many people are shaming us all with stupid. Like this gem:
Patients First is a project of Americans for Prosperity–one of the key conservative interests groups helping to organize the town hall protests we’ve been covering. The speaker repeats the debunked conservative canard that Democratic health care reform will mandate physician assisted suicide. “Adolf Hitler issued six million end of life orders–he called his program the final solution. I kind of wonder what we’re going to call ours.”
And after comparing Democratic health care reform efforts to the murderous regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, the speaker advises his audience to “go to offices of members of Congress and put the fear of god in them.”
Really? Godwin’s Law? Has the Republican party become the internetz?
Ugh, fuck it. Can’t bring myself to post more, I’m too revolted.
Man, I love George Pérez’s artwork. SO THRILLED about the Hero Initiative fundraiser scents.
The Hero Initiative is an amazing organization. HI is dedicated completely to helping comic book creators, artists, and writers in need, including emergency medical aid, financial support, and opportunities for finding paying work. They do good work, these people. Even if you don’t buy the scents, please consider donating to Hero Initiative. You’ll be helping people help those who cannot help themselves.
I haven’t ranted in a long time, mostly due to the arrival of the Little Demoness. Now’s as good as any to start up again, but this time with a discussion, not a rant.
(Written quickly to get this all out before Someone wakes up from her nap.)
I’ve lived in California for almost my entire life. I understand the fiscal crisis my state is in, and I understand that extreme duress sometimes calls for drastic measures. However, Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget cuts seem to bite hardest into the most vulnerable Californians, and my suspicion is that this is because these people cannot muster the money or the clout to pose any political opposition.
What is our governor cutting funding on? Well, as I posted in my LJ earlier, he’s cutting AIDS funding to pre-1985 levels and effectively eliminating funding for victims of domestic violence.
So, what else is going down?
The Parks budget has been cut by $14 million, which could lead to the (temporary?) closure of over 100 state parks. $3 billion in cuts to the UC and CSU programs, with the CSU system approving a 20% hike in fees. There is a $1.4 billion dollar cut to MediCal, which will no longer cover adult dental services, podiatry, or optometry. Roughly 14,000 In-Home Support Services recipients will have their care reduced, and some 1200 recipients will be dropped completely. Alamenda County will lose $2.8 million in Prop 36 (Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act) funds, which puts drug offenders into substance abuse treatment programs instead of jail. The Healthy Families program was cut by $178.6 million, and will not accept new children. Because the federal CHIP pays $2 for every dollar that CA spends, this amounts to, in total, a loss of almost half the Healthy Families program’s annual funding. There is a $528 million cut in CalWORKS, which includes a reduction in employment and child care services. There is a $79 million cut to Child Welfare Services. A $50 million cut to Early Start programs.
I know that California is in deep shit, but there must be alternatives to drastically cutting the funding on so many programs that affect low-income Californians, children, the elderly, and victims of violence.
