Services for Autistic children under attack by Gov. Schwarzenegger !!

Marty Omoto, Legislative Director | 12/04/03 | pollywog

[sunryse]

>Without help from the outside we will have to place him in >a government facility!!

What arrangements have you made for when you aren't here to take care of him? I'm not being crass, just curious.

[GeronL]

We should cut bureaucrats. We could cut welfare in half without cutting welfare 'benefits'.

[GeronL]

I understand that only about 20% of welfare dollars actually makes it to the poor.

[sunryse]

>How about cutting funding to illegals!!

Now that idea is a WINNER.

[GeronL]

Funny I don't see anything about cutting road maintenance or building or delivering the mail

That should all be privatized.

[Jeff Gordon]

It is nice to know that Arnold is doing the job we elected him to do. Go Arnie!

[Callahan]

What? Illegals don't have autistic kids?

[pollywog]

That's what churches and charities are for. You ARE a member of a church aren't you? If so, ask and ye shall receive

sadly FreedomCalls, the needs of autism often require help from trained individuals that are able to work with special needs. I would love to see the church rally to this need, and I do agree that we need to see more of it in local congregations, but even at that, the needs of the disabled should be at least one of the services to be maintained and not cut.

[netmilsmom]

I think this poster has it. There may be double the programs and they are skinnying them to only one. Don't panic until it's done.

[montag813]

My condolences, but plese look to local charities and churches--which used to fill needs like this until Socialists hijcked our nation--and will have to again do much more as government retreats. This country was not founded as a personal welfare state for its citizens.

[GeronL]

Is your organization involved in trying to convince the Governor that its the bureaucrats who should be cut and not the service? They should cut the number of Directors and Vice Assistant Directors and Assistants to the Directors. They should end their bonuses, all government employee's should face the end of bonuses in lean times.

[luckydevi]

I feel very sorry for you, but I would recommend you to seek out private charities

Government should not be in the business of charity.

[Numbers Guy]

We could cut welfare spending in half and still get more money to the poor if we had an efficient welfare system.

Half the welfare money does not go to staff or administration. The biggest cost in the welfare budget in every state is Medicaid, far and away. That is payments to hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, etc. as reimbursement for services. We can argue as to whether those payments are too high, whether people who shouldn't be covered are covered (like illegals), etc. But it's a myth that administration is where most of the money goes.

If there's waste in welfare (aside from the illegals issue), it is the way that people with decent incomes (NOT poor) find ways to qualify for Medicaid and other programs. In particular, the games played with estates so that the taxpayers end up subsidizing someone's inheritance. Or the assumption that every person receiving a government service must be dirt-poor and can't possibly contribute part or all of the cost of the service.

There are lots of things to cut in welfare programming. But the assumption that there's a $1 billion program out there called "waste, fraud, and abuse" that can simply be cut and everything will be hunky-dory is wildly optimistic. And how do you think fraud and so forth is prevented? That requires just a bit of staff, doesn't it?

I don't work for any social welfare agency, but I do know that most of those people are overloaded and stressed out as it is. Lay off more of them and you'll create workloads that will end up with them leaving in droves, and pretty soon you'll have inexperienced people making tons of mistakes and the waste, fraud, and abuse will increase.

[pollywog]

Who will take care of him when you are gone?

netmilsmom, we are putting that in place right now. We know that there will come a day when he will have to be in a program.( and probably with SSI and partial government funding !), but for now we long to keep him home with us.

[Sabertooth]

Without help from the outside we will have to place him in a government facility!!

Is it OK with you if that help is coerced?

Without paying my taxes, the government comes with guns and takes my stuff. The help you get from me is at gunpoint.

I'm sorry that your family has this burden, but I think you're missing part of the equation.

[Numbers Guy]

I understand that only about 20% of welfare dollars actually makes it to the poor.

Well, in a way that's true. That's because most of the money goes to medical providers who serve the poor. If a Medicaid recipient spends 5 days in a hospital and runs up a $6,000 bill, that's $6,000 paid by the taxpayers to the hospital, not to the Medicaid recipient. Would you rather see the state cut a check to the recipient in hopes that he'll turn around and pay the hospital, just so you can say that the welfare dollar gets to the poor person?

[Tempest]

"I can tell you have never had experience with a autistic child or adult.The wear on a marriage, family and then trickle down effect into the community is staggering.!!"

I know autistic kids and their parents and I have no idea what you're talking about. Especially the bit about how it's staggering to the community???

[Vladiator]

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

[anonymous86]

Yes, I agree with that point. I personally have Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. I have also worked with autistic children, so I have a soft spot for them. However, I understand that free lunches don't exist, and that we can have those services privately (at lower cost and higher quality). Services aren't truly essential, because as self-governed people, we have the responsibility and right to find and cover our own services (which can be done at low cost if we let each private service have its own system).

[GeronL]

If there's waste in welfare (aside from the illegals issue), it is the way that people with decent incomes (NOT poor) find ways to qualify for Medicaid and other programs

They just sign up. They advertise food stamps to families who make more than 2 grand a month these days! I've heard these ads with my own ears.