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	seriousbusiness 2011-07-06 03:21 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, this on the same day that they cut necessary services for the poor, elderly, and disabled. Nice cover-up. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	tehrin 2011-07-06 03:46 am UTC (link)
	With all the shit that's going on (that link included), I'm celebrating what I can. (Reply to this)(Parent)

laguera25
2011-07-06 04:04 am UTC (link)

I'm glad disabled folks will finally see some representation in textbooks and history courses, but as to the budget cuts, I can't help but wonder who the politicians will target once there's nothing left to strip from the poor, aged, and disabled. A lot of them are barely getting by now, and what do those most vociferously championing these cuts as "doing what has to be done" think is going to happen to these people once the resources are gone? Do they really think that they'll just find those mythological bootstraps and will themselves off the streets?

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rosehiptea
2011-07-06 05:54 am UTC (link)

I work om California as a care provider in a group home for people with serious physical and cognitive disabilities that receive twenty-four hour nursing care. They're not going to just suddenly discover an ability to get a job and live in an apartment by themselves. (Not that apartments aren't a better idea than group homes, in general, and the state and our organization were moving in that direction... though who knows what the funding did to that.)

If they did end up out on the street, they would die. It's that simple. But yes, these cuts have affected them directly and if it keeps going it's not impossible that places like where I work will be shut down. And it's not like they could just "move in with their families." Most of our clients are older than me (I'm forty-five) and many of their parents have passed away or are quite elderly themselves.

OK, I'll shut up now, but yeah, this pisses me off big time.

(I'm glad they're doing something about the textbooks though. It's not a bad thing. But still.)

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	rosehiptea 2011-07-06 05:55 am UTC (link)
	(Er, sorry for the typos... thought I checked better. :/) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	varkias 2011-07-06 10:35 am UTC (link)
	If they did end up out on the street, they would die. Maybe it's just me being cynical, but I'm kind of thinking that is basically what they're going for. At the very least, they don't care. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	telegramsam 2011-07-06 12:37 pm UTC (link)
	You took the words right out of my mouth. They DON'T care and probably DO hope a lot of people just go off and die somewhere so they don't have to be bothered... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ecchaniz0r 2011-07-06 01:25 pm UTC (link)
	And these are always the people who claim--loudly--to be just sooooo very fucking "Christian". (Bitchyquotes because they are no such fucking thing.) Seriously, you greedy old douchestains, the archangels would kick you in the balls. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	telegramsam 2011-07-06 01:53 pm UTC (link)
	"If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent." (Reply to this)(Parent)

laguera25
2011-07-06 06:41 pm UTC (link)

That's the thing for me, though; all these people who are so smugly patting themselves on the back for "making the hard choices", a phrase which here means stripping the poor and vulnerable of even more dignity, are soon going to be squawking indignantly about the sudden influx of poor, dirty, starving, helpless people on the sidewalks outside their trendy restaurants. So, while they might have solved the problem of "wasteful spending" by cutting funding to these groups, they've created a new seat of problems by leaving them with no medical care, no homes, and no resources by which to even support themselves on the most basic level.

And after all that, the budget will still be in a major deficit, so how has this helped anyone or set anyone on the right track?

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	telegramsam 2011-07-06 07:16 pm UTC (link)
	Hmph. Well I hope one of those sidewalk folks pisses on their favorite shoes.... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	spacelogic 2011-07-06 07:31 pm UTC (link)
	It's kept the richest Californians from having to pay their fair share of taxes! What's a little loss of fundamental infrastructure compared to that? Besides, we're still paying for the prison system, so we can just shove 'em in there. bitter California community college student (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kookaburra 2011-07-07 02:00 am UTC (link)
	Actually, they would likely end up in hospitals that are ill-equipped or -staffed to care for them. Because THAT will help our healthcare costs sooooo much. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	varkias 2011-07-07 02:23 am UTC (link)
	Mmm true. And the prisons too, no doubt. :/ All it'll do in the end is increase the general taxpayer burden in other ways. Actual decent social service/welfare programs would actually cost less, in the long run. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	laguera25 2011-07-07 04:09 am UTC (link)
	But at least they won't be paying those useless drains to lie on their spoiled asses and eat filet mignon in that swank government housing. Real 'Murrikans don't believe in paying for other folks' stupid decision to be poor, old, or disabled. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	rosehiptea 2011-07-07 05:53 am UTC (link)
	So much this. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kookaburra 2011-07-07 05:09 am UTC (link)
	And any steps that they or their caregivers take to enable towards the goal of becoming independent from government assistance programs will of course immediately make them ineligible for benefits. WHAAAAARGARBL (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	varkias 2011-07-07 08:26 pm UTC (link)
	I'm dealing with that right now, actually - I've been out of work struggling with some major health issues, and now that I'm cleared to go back to work I'm looking at losing the support which is enabling me to maintain the health issues and be stable enough to go back to work. Fuck it all, man. :/ (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kookaburra 2011-07-08 03:08 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, one of my co-workers got some education that enabled her to get a $1 an hour raise...but the extra money made her lose her food stamp benefits (which were worth more than the extra money, and as a single mother of two boys and the sole support of her mother, she needed every penny.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	laguera25 2011-07-08 04:12 am UTC (link)
	They punish you for bettering your circumstances, and then publicly castigate you for not trying to better your circumstances. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lilychan 2011-07-07 05:27 am UTC (link)
	.... It's never that easy, is it? (Reply to this)(Parent)

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