Posted on 10/22/2004 1:23:17 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Georgia seniors are the target of mass mailings from Democrats this fall, but this time the issue is not Social Security.
Republican lawmakers are being accused of voting to force thousands of elderly folks out of nursing homes.
The problem is that most Democrats voted for the same spending cuts, which threatened "medically needy" nursing home patients. And state officials say they know of no elderly Georgians actually evicted because of the cuts.
"It is fear politics at its worst," Sen. Randy Hall (R-Augusta), an incumbent targeted by the mailings, said. "To even suggest that any of us would knowingly vote to evict a single person from a nursing home is just plain ridiculous."
Democratic Party spokesman Emil Runge, called the mailings "technically true."
"The medically needy could have been kicked out of their homes," Runge said. "They were put in harm's way."
The mailings were paid for by the Democratic Party, but Runge said he didn't know exactly how many went out or in how many districts.
Republicans have complained for years that Democrats try to scare the elderly at election time by saying GOP candidates want to cut or change Social Security. And Democrats have been hammering GOP Gov. Sonny Perdue for months over a $9.7 million spending cut approved by lawmakers from both parties during the 2004 legislative session. Perdue proposed the cut to the "medically needy" program.
But many legislators said they didn't understand the full impact when they voted for the $16 billion state budget including the cut. The budget passed the Senate 43-10, with eight Democrats and two Republicans voting against the measure. Twenty-six Republicans and 17 Democrats voted for it. The budget passed the House 155-15, with most members of both parties backing it.
The "medically needy" program allowed an estimated 1,500 people to have Medicaid, taxpayer-funded nursing home coverage. Those in the program earned too much to qualify for regular Medicaid but not enough to afford nursing homes' private rates. Once it became clear the program would end, Democrats asked Perdue to come up with the money to save it.
Instead he gave the 1,500 a few months to create trusts qualifying them to stay in their nursing home. Dozens of lawyers across the state donated time to help create the trusts. State officials and activists don't know of any nursing home residents who were kicked out because of the "medically needy" cut, although some might have left on their own.
"We have had no reports of discharge notices," said Becky Kurtz, Georgia's long-term care ombudsman.
However, mailings going out in Republican lawmakers' districts show photos of a man pushing a person in a wheelchair with the headline, "No money, no home, no place to go."
In the case of Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry), the mailing says, "State Senator Ross Tolleson voted to evict close to 2,000 Georgia seniors from their homes." Lower in the mailing, it states, "Tolleson found room in the budget to support spending millions to build and maintain golf courses."
Hall said he'd had a few questions from voters who received the mailings. The Augusta freshman said he would have raised questions about the "medically needy" cut had he known it would threaten 1,500 seniors.
"We've got a $16 billion budget with thousands of items. Every once in a while, things slip through," he said.
A few weeks ago, the Waycross Journal-Herald published an article about seniors being locked out of nursing homes because of cuts to the state Medicaid program. The accompanying photo pictured a 79-year-old man named Delmer Miller in a wheelchair, suitcase on his lap. At his side was Roger Boatright, the Democratic candidate in the District 7 state Senate race. The caption read: "Nursing home residents face eviction today: Delmer Miller asks Roger Boatright, 'Where will I go?' "
The newspaper ran a correction when Miller's wife notified them that her husband was never in danger of being evicted.
Runge acknowledged that Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the "medically needy" cut. "But once we realized how bad the problem was, Democrats tried to bring it to the forefront and have it get addressed as quickly as possible."
He added, "Just because our folks voted for the entire budget doesn't mean they were for the Medicaid cuts."
The there is the Democrat drive where they are calling the families of military people and saying their husband/son has been killed in Iraq.
Despicable.
The Rats are going to pay for this one day.
Democratic Party spokesman Emil Runge, called the mailings "technically true."
oh please
Republicans just need to make copies of these fliers, and distribute them to non-seniors. That's how you kill illegitimate fear-based advertising that targets only a specific group: you show everyone else.
Maybe a few emails to Rush about this ......
rush@eibnet.com
That's awful.
It sounds criminal!
Nov. 2, 2004
***....Instead he gave the 1,500 a few months to create trusts qualifying them to stay in their nursing home. Dozens of lawyers across the state donated time to help create
the trusts. State officials and activists don't know of any nursing home residents who were kicked out because of the "medically needy" cut, although some might
have left on their own. ....***
Apparently they call the military person's family (wife or parents) and say their husband/son has been killed in action. Then they say it could happen if Bush is reelected.
Kerry supporters, who would do that, aren't what I call Americans.
These tactics are standard operating procedure here too.
Yes, I'm at least 91% sure.
He doesn't have the power to bring all the tribes, obviously, but he will bring some. Thune won't need that many. I picked 91 out of thin air, but I do feel very confident. It seems as though Republican activism has woke up in the last month froma very long slumber. Daschle is being hit so many ways by so many players that he has got to feel like a punching bag about now. Thune dominated each of the debates, in the last one Daschle seemed to just whimper thru it.
From your keyboard to God's monitor!
May it be so.
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