CA Lawmakers: Kill the Poor, Disabled and Elderly So We Can Get Paid

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed the state’s new budget, just in the nick of time so that lawmakers can finally get paid. Under the new budget, which cuts around $15 billion from social services, poor people will get less medical care and welfare, fewer services will be available for disabled people, state parks will close and students at the UC and CSU university systems will see their tuitions skyrocket.

The new budget passed because there were no new taxes, old taxes were allowed to wear out, Dems and Reps looked the other way as a bit of financial hocus pocus was scattered about, and the remaining deficit was pushed onto the backs of the state’s most vulnerable and politically marginalized residents. Specifically, the tax extensions that Gov. Brown so dearly wanted extended have been allowed to end, reducing sales tax from 8.25 to 7.25% and slashing the vehicle license fee (vlf) by 50%. The San Francisco Chronicle suggests that this will benefit the average Californian by $1,000 per year. However, for those with beaters or no cars at all, the slashing of the VLF will be negligible, whereas for those with Hummers, Caddies, Porsches and fancier vehicles, the decreased VLF will save them hundreds. Similarly, the savings from a declining sales tax will be much greater for big ticket items that the wealthy can afford, and meaningless for those who spend primarily on food and medicine. Thus, the middle class and wealthy will save some money, while the poor and working classes will save very little on the deal.

Meanwhile, the $83 per month average savings will result in havoc and death for poor people in the state. For example, under the new budget, people on Medi-Cal will be limited to only 7 doctor visits per year and, for the first time ever they will have co-pays for hospital and emergency room visits and medications, the Chronicle reports, thus dissuading them from seeking necessary or urgent care. The adult day health program, which serves 37,000 people, will be eliminated, forcing thousands into nursing homes. The In-Home Supportive Services program, which serves 436,000 seniors, disabled and blind residents, providing meals and hygiene, will also be slashed, reducing their home assistance by 16.5 hours per month, the Chronicle reports. Welfare recipients will be cut off after four years. The department that oversees services for people with developmental disabilities will lose $577 million this year, on top of $700 million two years ago. The CSU and UC systems will lose $650 million each, bringing tuition to over $12,000 per year at UC schools, and up to nearly $6,000 per year at CSUs.

Even for the cynical, selfish and greedy, these cuts are far worse than they would seem on paper. Many of the cuts to healthcare, for example, will result in the loss of federal matching funds, thus doubling their negative impact. Furthermore, billions of dollars of federal stimulus funds that boosted Medi-Cal are set to run out tomorrow. According to the Chronicle, the stimulus funds added an additional 12% to the matching funds, so that for every 50 cents California spent on Medi-Cal, the feds chipped in another 62 cents.  People without health services tend to ignore treatable and chronic conditions until they need emergency services, which results in thousands of preventable deaths and ends up costing tax payers far more in the long run.

Kill the Poor: U.S. Military Spending Doubled Since 2001

A new report released by SIPRI, a Swedish think tank, indicates that U.S. military spending has nearly doubled since 2001, report Judd Legum in Think Progress.  The U.S. spent $698 billion on the military last year, an 81% increase over the last decade. The U.S. currently spends six times more than China, the second largest military spender. Overall, the world spends $1.6 trillion on the military, with the United States spending more than the next 9 nations combined.

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Economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that these numbers are significantly lower than the actual expenditures. He believes that the true cost of just the Iraq war could be over $3 trillion by 2017, or $180 billion a year. Furthermore, the Swedish report does not include new wars, like the one in Libya.

As shocking as this huge waste of money is, what is left out of such an analysis is the true cost in terms of human death, injury, privation and misery. Civilians are bearing the brunt of these wars, not only in terms of casualties, but also in destroyed homes and infrastructures, job loss, environmental devastation, terror and stress. Generations of children have now grown up in Afghanistan and Iraq without knowing peace.

Poor and working class people in America also suffer from this phenomenal waste of resources. While the ruling elite demand that we live within our means by gutting education, and services for the poor, disabled and elderly, they continue to live beyond their means by spending lavishly on warfare and bloodshed to protect their financial interest abroad. There always seems to be money available for the military, but not for health care, resulting in thousands of poor people dying prematurely in the U.S. from treatable diseases and injuries.¹ Despite the end of the world scenarios being spun around the deficit, there are plenty of funds available for a new war in Libya, but we cannot afford investigators to make sure our food and workplaces are safe, resulting in thousands of deaths annually from food-borne illness and workplace accidents.² We have no problem finding money to kill and maim Iraqis with depleted uranium and white phosphorus³, but we cannot find enough to keep our own air clean, resulting in 9,000 premature deaths from air pollution each year in California alone.⁴

1.      A, 2009 study (PDF)  from Harvard Medical School said that lack of health coverage can be tied to about 45,000 deaths a year in the United States.

2.      In 2009, there were 4,340 fatal workplace injuries (compared with 5,214 in 2008).  have averaged 156 fatalities per year or about 3 percent of the revised totals. According to the Centers for Disease Control, food borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths annually in the U.S. 1,500 of these deaths are caused by Salmonella, Listeria, and Toxoplasma.

3.      The U.S. government has admitted it used white phosphorus against Iraqis during the assault on Fallujah, according to a report by Democracy Now in violation of international law banning the use of chemical weapons.

4.      According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 2 million people world-wide die prematurely each year due to air pollution, while the California Air Resources Board reports that 9,000 die in California each year from air pollution.

California’s Nuclear Option

If Republicans block a tax extension from being placed on the June ballot or if voters reject it (as they may, since it increases taxes for the majority of Californians, while letting the rich off painlessly), Gov. Brown has threatened to push the button.

California currently has a $25.4 billion deficit. Brown has promised to keep k-12 funding at last year’s level if voters approve the ballot measure. The University of California and Cal State University systems will face $500 million cuts, each, even if the measure passes, and much more if it fails. However, if the measure does not pass, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has outlined a series of dramatic cuts that Gov. Brown would have to take to close the deficit. The LAO estimate assumes no further borrowing or revenue increases.

In addition to the devastating effects these cuts will have on working class and poor Californians, there will be numerous long-term costs to the state that may be far worse than the current budget hole. For example, by slashing state employee pay and health benefits, many families that were living comfortable and secure lives will become working poor. People who no longer can afford health care will delay getting preventative care and treatment for chronic diseases, which will increase absenteeism at work and at school. Childhood hunger and malnourishment will increase, with negative effects on academic achievement. Loss of funding for juvenile crime prevention will result in swelling juvenile detention facilities and further declines in academic achievement, as kids move from public schools to classes within correctional facilities. Declining financial aid and course offerings and increasing costs will prevent more and more youth from getting a college education. Loss of funding for Adult Protective Services will consign many seniors to abusive or dangerous retirements.

Actions Proposed by the LAO

Potential Savings

$1.3 billion           K12 Education: Eliminate k-3 class-size reduction

$700 million        K12 Education: Limit kindergarten just to children who are 6 by Sep. 1

$500 million        K12 Education: Eliminate k-3 class-size reduction

$55 million           Community college: Eliminate subsidies for athletics

$85 million           Community college: Eliminate funding for PE & arts that are repeated for credit

$170 million        Community college: Increase fees to $66 per unit

$270 million        UC & CSU: Increase tuition an additional 7% for UC & 10% for CSU

$74 million           UC & CSU: Reduce institutional financial aid by 5%

$623 million        UC & CSU: Reduce operating expenses by 5%; reduce personnel costs by 10%

$124 million        CSU: Reduce enrollment by 5%

$135 million        Limit eligibility for Cal Grants; eliminate fee waivers; raise minimum GPA for eligibility

$300 million        Social Services: Reduce In-Home Supportive Services Wages to minimum wage

$190 million        Social Services: Eliminate food stamps and welfare for immigrants

$120 million        Social Services: Eliminate Medi-Cal benefits for qualified immigrants

$55 million           Social Services: Eliminate Adult Protective Services

$270 million        Social Services: Reduce CalWORKS welfare-to-work program

$506 million        Public Safety: End some grants for juvenile crime prevention

$426 million        Public Safety: Reject some prison expansions

$250 million        Public Safety: Delay court construction projects

$125 million        Public Safety: Reduce parole from three years to 18 months

$100 milion         Gift to Big Oil: Allow new oil drilling off Santa Barbara County coast

$400 million        Gut Public Transportation and reallocate savings to General Fund

$700 million        Impoverish state workers by cutting their pay by an additional 9.24%

$330 million        Further impoverish state workers by cutting health benefits by 30%