I have been having a philosophical conversation on Facebook with a couple of people regarding government funded programs over the past couple of days. I have been relatively quiet about my opinions regarding the state of the economy because quite honestly I am not an expert at all in these matters. That being said, I do think there are some common sense issues that people need to look at regarding social service issues and how they affect everyone.
I have worked in elderly services for the past 20 years. I have seen skilled nursing facilities go from taking care of little old ladies on walkers of 80 years old in fairly decent health to chronic care almost acute care facilities. I watched the assisted living industry that thought they would get the 70 to 80 year old population who were fit and pretty independent but would need minor assistance become almost nursing home level care. Home care is becoming the norm and at times (in my view) unsafe.
People in this country complain constantly about welfare, government handouts, government being in our business, and wanting smaller government. I always found that amusing when I sign residents in at a nursing home because whenever I ask about mom or dad's finances the answer I get from their children is "My parents worked hard for their money and want to pass it on to me, isn't this paid for by Medicare, Medicaid or some other government program?" Let's keep government out but let them pay. We don't want to pay taxes but we want government to pay our way.
I just want to remind everyone who government is. The government is US. The Tea Party has done a great job of rallying everyone and convincing them that government is too big. The way I see it (and again, I am not an expert) is the Tea Party wants to cut everything to the bone and have government out of everyone's life as it was when this country began. Quite honestly, I don't think that would work. This is a very different world than it was in 1776 or even 1900 for that matter.
I understand that we have serious financial problems in this country but to fix them on the backs of the poor or the middle Americans is ridiculous. We pay the least amount of tax we ever have. President Bush took us into two wars while lowering our taxes. Again, I am no expert but how can you increase spending while decreasing revenue? That seems like simple finance to me. Social Security is in peril and we are constantly being told the program is going broke. But this year we lowered the amount we take out of peoples pay. How can that be done? It seems to me focusing on social programs is not the place to start. The place to start is on how we collect revenue.
My husband and I make a good amount of money. We have never qualified for financial aid to send our children to school. We work hard, we paid his ex-wife child support until his son turned 18, we provided for our children and paid our taxes. I lost my job in 2009 and we struggled to stay above water. However, we were still above a point where we could qualify for any aid. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. The point I am making is the people getting squeezed are the middle Americans making $60,000 to $300,000 per year. Those who make less generally don't have to pay as much in taxes and usually will qualify for financial aid for their kids or for assistance services. Those who make more have more places to put their money so they don't have to pay so much for taxes. It is worrisome when someone like Warren Buffet says he pays less taxes than his secretary.
Back to my social service issue...the banter on Facebook had to do with the abuse of the "welfare" system. Here is my take on that. I agree that there are people that take advantage of the system. There are providers that take advantage of Medicare. We spend more money on finding and prosecuting the Medicare fraud than the actual amount that is fraud. I am betting that would be the case here.
The problem with cutting all social programs is that by doing so we risk throwing our country into a mess of homelessness, violence and illness. For the past 15 years or so we have had relatively good times. Crime has been down, homelessness has been better (not eradicated but better), teen pregnancies are down, mental illness is being treated, there are treatment centers for drug and alcohol and people have had relative prosperity. Then all of a sudden we had the banking crisis where everything began to fall apart. Now there is uncertainty, people don't know if they will have jobs, no one is buying goods and services, things that should be done are being put off as long as possible. When those programs are cut, there will be no net for those people to fall into. During the good times we had the nets and all was well.
Teen pregnancy has been a huge problem in our city. There is a youth center that has government funding that provides programs for youth. Working with the youth in the city and by educating teens about the difficulties of children in their teens, there has been a decrease in teen pregnancy thus a decrease in use of the system.
People who have addictive personalities and get addicted to drugs have an illness. I think society forgets that addiction is an illness because we too often throw it around frivolously when superstars get in trouble. These people are generally looking for a way out from something. With the proper treatment they too can lead normal, productive lives. Not treated they will be on the streets, looking for their next hit and possibly robbing you because they need money. They will also be feeding the already too large drug trade which we know too well is violent.
Let's not forget the poor Americans. My step-son is just starting out. He started out in a trade which means he has to be an apprentice for several years. He makes $12/hour. I am sure that by the time he pays insurance, taxes, and some 401K savings he has very little left. He is lucky because his dad and I bought him a car and his mom lets him live in her home. He pays her minimal rent and pays his car insurance. His disposable income is very small at the end of the month. That is fine except he certainly is not stimulating the economy. He could not even think about marriage because he cannot afford it.
One of the most successful programs that I know of in Waterbury is the PAL program that works with inner city kids. I do not know if they get any government aid but I would assume that they apply for grants and I would assume they get some money from DCF for some of their programs. This program has helped many kids get on a positive road to success out of terrible situations.
Just a reminder, who does everyone thinks pays for the policeman that keep us safe, the fireman who fight the fires (excluding volunteers but even the trucks need to be paid for), garbage pick up in the cities, roads being fixed or plowed, bridges fixed and other infra-structure that needs attention. People in my city complain constantly about their taxes but the first snowstorm when their road is not plowed in the first hour of the storm and they are calling for someones resignation. All our taxes pay for those services. People forget that goods and services are not free even if provided by the government.
My point is that those of us who sit in an Ivory Tower making a decent living should not be judging others less fortunate than ourselves. Because even if we lived for a short time in a crappy neighborhood (I have and the person that I was sparring with did) we were raised in a very different world and the opportunities available to us were very different.
For the record I volunteer with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Waterbury and the Salvation Army in Waterbury. I have worked with nursing homes that catered to mental health patients, I have family members with mental health issues and with serious health issues. I understand how privileged I have been to have the means to take care of my family. I want others to be able to care for their loved ones as well. If that means I have to pay a bit more in taxes, so be it. But I think that all Americans, especially those that make more than my husband and I, should also pay more in taxes. Why should they be exempt?
In conclusion, I again am not an expert. This is just my view of how things appear. I may not change anyones mind but I hope I can at least get you to think a little different and look at your fellow Americans; rich, poor, Black, White, Christian, Jewish or from Mars in a more favorable light.
No comments:
Post a Comment