CA Budget Crisis: Murder Is NOT An Option
- by: One Of Many Concerned Citizens
- recipient: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Members of the State of California Legislature,
There is a limit to how far state budget cuts can go: a MORAL limit.
California, with an economy larger than most countries, can certainly balance its budgets without putting the very lives of its least fortunate citizens in jeopardy.
Please consider other alternatives to harming innocent citizens of our state as you make your allocation decisions.
NOTE: Please feel free to distribute this petition anywhere!
IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ:
***PLEASE SIGN ONLY IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF CALIFORNIA***
We will unfortunately have to delete the signatures of non-residents.
California, with an economy larger than most countries, can certainly balance its budgets without putting the very lives of its least fortunate citizens in jeopardy.
Please consider other alternatives to harming innocent citizens of our state as you make your allocation decisions.
NOTE: Please feel free to distribute this petition anywhere!
IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ:
***PLEASE SIGN ONLY IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF CALIFORNIA***
We will unfortunately have to delete the signatures of non-residents.
We the undersigned:
Strongly oppose cuts to California's existing health care and health insurance programs--none of which are known for extravagance and in fact have already been cut to the bone in past budget crises;
Believe that out of the myriad suggestions for solving California's current budget crisis, cuts to health care or to other programs which keep people alive and/or functioning are so repugnant that they should be take off of the table entirely;
Do NOT want the state budget balanced on the backs of the poor, the sick, the frail elderly or children. (And those of us who have heard or read the chronically ill and disabled beg for their lives in recent weeks are appalled that budget negotiations came to this point.)
We know that there is no perfect solution to the state's budget problems. But in this state which has been so blessed, we oppose measures which would collectively put all of us at the moral level of bounty hunters.
Regarding these specifics which were proposed for health cuts, we oppose all of the following:
Elimination of the Healthy Families Program, denying coverage to 1 million eligible children;
Rolling back Medi-Cal eligibility to 1999 levels, denying coverage to nearly 1 million seniors, people with disabilities and low-income parents;
Elimination of certified application assistors who help families enroll in public health coverage;
Elimination of or significantly reduced critical health and prevention programs, such as adult day health care, AIDS drugs, HIV education and prevention, maternal and child health, and children's dental disease prevention;
Elimination of important health programs at community clinics;
Reduced coverage for LEGAL immigrants; and
Reduced access by further limiting payments for Medi-Cal and other health service providers (California already has one of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates in the nation).
***
We KNOW that there are better alternatives.
This is not a partisan issue, as there are moral, ethical persons to be found within any political party. Heroes are the ones who defend the defenseless in times of crisis. We hope and pray some of you will hear the call to stand up for what is right.
The programs which provide the only safety net for any of us who are not billionaires must be kept alive and functioning well, especially in these economic times when so many are falling through the cracks.
Special note: California sends more funds to Washington, D.C. than any other state. Yet too-deep cuts to our programs cheat us out of federal funds due us, funds that often pay for most of the cost of the given program! We hope that none of this penny-wise, pound-foolish decision-making is happening now. We strongly oppose giving our federal money away.
We know that a society is truly judged by how it treats the least fortunate within it. We don't all agree on the best strategy. For example, some wish to deport illegal immigrants first, some wish to look for cuts in the highest-paid government salaries and benefit packages first, some want to see union concessions first, and others want to see immediate repeal of the recent billion-dollar tax cuts for corporations, a higher tax on alcohol and/or cigarettes, and/or other revenue-increasing measures.
But we all agree that we can and must do better than stripping life-sustaining assistance from the poor, the disabled, and the uninsured.
We thank you for taking the time to read our plea for you to reject all proposals which harm the most vulnerable of us. We want our state to stand for a higher law--be that religious in nature or simply the natural goal of all good people.
UPDATE: Those of us who sign on or after July 28, 2009 have learned that the Governor signed a budget after adding addition cuts to exactly where we hoped cuts would not be made--to health and human services. We call on the Governor and our legislators to please do what you can to reduce harm to the poor, the sick, the disabled, the government-only insured, the uninsured, children, the frail elderly, the unemployed, and any other disadvantaged citizens of our state. Recognizing that the fiscal crisis our state government is experiencing may continue, we ask you to please consider reforms to the budget process, new revenues, and/or different cuts in order to reinstate funds needed to restore our health and human services safety net.
With best wishes,
Sign PetitionSign PetitionStrongly oppose cuts to California's existing health care and health insurance programs--none of which are known for extravagance and in fact have already been cut to the bone in past budget crises;
Believe that out of the myriad suggestions for solving California's current budget crisis, cuts to health care or to other programs which keep people alive and/or functioning are so repugnant that they should be take off of the table entirely;
Do NOT want the state budget balanced on the backs of the poor, the sick, the frail elderly or children. (And those of us who have heard or read the chronically ill and disabled beg for their lives in recent weeks are appalled that budget negotiations came to this point.)
We know that there is no perfect solution to the state's budget problems. But in this state which has been so blessed, we oppose measures which would collectively put all of us at the moral level of bounty hunters.
Regarding these specifics which were proposed for health cuts, we oppose all of the following:
Elimination of the Healthy Families Program, denying coverage to 1 million eligible children;
Rolling back Medi-Cal eligibility to 1999 levels, denying coverage to nearly 1 million seniors, people with disabilities and low-income parents;
Elimination of certified application assistors who help families enroll in public health coverage;
Elimination of or significantly reduced critical health and prevention programs, such as adult day health care, AIDS drugs, HIV education and prevention, maternal and child health, and children's dental disease prevention;
Elimination of important health programs at community clinics;
Reduced coverage for LEGAL immigrants; and
Reduced access by further limiting payments for Medi-Cal and other health service providers (California already has one of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates in the nation).
***
We KNOW that there are better alternatives.
This is not a partisan issue, as there are moral, ethical persons to be found within any political party. Heroes are the ones who defend the defenseless in times of crisis. We hope and pray some of you will hear the call to stand up for what is right.
The programs which provide the only safety net for any of us who are not billionaires must be kept alive and functioning well, especially in these economic times when so many are falling through the cracks.
Special note: California sends more funds to Washington, D.C. than any other state. Yet too-deep cuts to our programs cheat us out of federal funds due us, funds that often pay for most of the cost of the given program! We hope that none of this penny-wise, pound-foolish decision-making is happening now. We strongly oppose giving our federal money away.
We know that a society is truly judged by how it treats the least fortunate within it. We don't all agree on the best strategy. For example, some wish to deport illegal immigrants first, some wish to look for cuts in the highest-paid government salaries and benefit packages first, some want to see union concessions first, and others want to see immediate repeal of the recent billion-dollar tax cuts for corporations, a higher tax on alcohol and/or cigarettes, and/or other revenue-increasing measures.
But we all agree that we can and must do better than stripping life-sustaining assistance from the poor, the disabled, and the uninsured.
We thank you for taking the time to read our plea for you to reject all proposals which harm the most vulnerable of us. We want our state to stand for a higher law--be that religious in nature or simply the natural goal of all good people.
UPDATE: Those of us who sign on or after July 28, 2009 have learned that the Governor signed a budget after adding addition cuts to exactly where we hoped cuts would not be made--to health and human services. We call on the Governor and our legislators to please do what you can to reduce harm to the poor, the sick, the disabled, the government-only insured, the uninsured, children, the frail elderly, the unemployed, and any other disadvantaged citizens of our state. Recognizing that the fiscal crisis our state government is experiencing may continue, we ask you to please consider reforms to the budget process, new revenues, and/or different cuts in order to reinstate funds needed to restore our health and human services safety net.
With best wishes,
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