California's proposed budget cuts will, as usual, hit the ill and the poor the hardest. With no political voice, no practical lobbying efforts and the state at the brink of, in my opinion, bankruptcy, there is little hope that any cuts ultimatley can be avoided.
This is an excerpt from a column written by George Skelton that appeared in the LA Times today. You can read the whole thing if you click here: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap8-2009jun08,0,3806647.column
"The Legislature already has approved a $20 monthly cut beginning July 1, lowering the grant for single people to $850. That's it: No food stamps, and that includes any Social Security. This was the cut Jean had read about. But the governor also is seeking another $20 trim starting in September, reducing the benefit to $830. The rent for her one-bedroom condo is $850.
But "I consider myself lucky," Jean says, because after a long wait, she finally received a federal rental subsidy administered by a local housing authority.That's not the end of her financial woes, however. Jean has a broken tooth and badly needs a crown. But Medi-Cal, she says, will only pay for a type of crown that "dentists don't even use anymore." And things are about to get worse: On July 1, Medi-Cal will stop paying for adult dental care altogether."
Things to come.
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