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Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill

By Jeralyn, Section Social Justice
Posted on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 05:42:55 AM EST
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I know I've already written about how Dick Cheney knocked the crutches out from under Tiny Tim with his tie-breaking vote on the budget bill, but I've only just begun to fight. The bill now goes to the Senate House. That means there's time for you to contact your Representatives and urge them to vote against it. The New York Times has this summary of what's in it.

  • States would have sweeping new authority to impose premiums and co-payments on millions of low-income people covered by Medicaid. States can also scale back benefits for many recipients.
  • For the elderly, it would be more difficult to qualify for Medicaid coverage for nursing home care if they transfer assets to their children or other relatives for less than fair market value.
  • Medicare would freeze payments for home health services and reduce payments for medical imaging.

  • Welfare recipients would be subject to stricter work requirements. States would be subject to new financial penalties unless they put more people to work or further reduce the number of families receiving assistance.
  • Aid that helps states collect child support from absent parents would be reduced.

Some reaction:

  • "This is the biggest cut in the history of the federal student loan program," said David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, an umbrella group for public and private colleges and universities.
  • From Senator Edward Kennedy:

...the math and science program would abandon the Pell grant principle that the neediest students should receive the most help. "Under this proposal," Mr. Kennedy said, "a single mother who can attend college only part time because she has to work 40 hours a week to put food on the table will not be eligible for a penny in new grant aid."

  • Representative George Miller, Democrat of California:

About 70 percent of the savings in student aid "come off the backs of students and their families."

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    Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill | 16 comments (16 topical)
    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 01:02:29 AM EST
    I see a lot of money for mexico in this so called budget bill and as far as Tiny Tim goes, I am Tiny Tim with a MG. Can i ask why do the big boys love mexico so much? can it be that fox is sending his slave class here? someone is making big money off the enslaved people not only on mexicans but our own people.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#2)
    by scarshapedstar on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 01:49:59 AM EST
    Go Scrooge yourself.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 03:18:06 AM EST
    I think transfering parental assets would be hard to prove as one could say that the property was paid for in cash.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#4)
    by john horse on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 03:59:04 AM EST
    Usually, when the GOP has to make budget cuts, it almost all comes from programs that benefit the poor. However, this time about one third of the cuts will be from the student loan program, which benefits middle class families. What this shows is that the tax cuts for the wealthy and the war is costing us so much that they now have to go after programs that benefit the middle class.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#5)
    by soccerdad on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 04:23:53 AM EST
    "Let them eat cake"

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#6)
    by Pete Guither on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 05:45:05 AM EST
    I believe the bill now goes to the House (not the Senate), so you should contact Representatives (not Senators). Cheney broke the tie in the Senate, and with the new provisions added, it has to be approved by the House when they come back in session after the Holidays.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#7)
    by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 06:23:55 AM EST
    Et al – It varies by state, but NOW the basic rule is that any property must be disposed of three years prior to the person(s) going into a nursing facility paid for by Medicad. Typically if that has been done, there is no problem. All income goes to the state for payment to the facility with a small amount given to the patient for small purchases. If there is any cash the patient may prepay reasonable funeral expenses. If the above is not done, the property is taken by the state and sold, the proceeds used to pay the nursing facility. If death occurs before the total amount is paid to the facility, the remainder is returned as part of the patient’s estate. As above, funeral expenses may be prepaid. Income is not touched until the original cash fund is depleted, then it is taken as described above. There is an exception to the three year rule that allows transfer to the primary care giver if the care giver has lived with the patient for three years before transfer to the facility. All of this information can be found on the web in your state’s Medicaid site. I am NOT an attorney and there will probably be tax ramifications. If you, or your parents, are getting into the latter part of life, do what I did. See an attorney and a CPA. Sounds tough, but why should people be able to give away things to family and friends and then have the rest of us pay for their care? Pearyb – If you do what you mentioned understand that there will be lots of forms to sign. All of them will tell you about the criminal act you may be committing and the penalties for same. And no, cash transfers are not hard to find if they want to. John H – Are the loan cuts to existing budget levels, or to proposed increases? i.e. They wanted a 6% increase and got 4%? Given that there is almost no control on college cost, and that it is going up faster than inflation, I am almost ready to say, make all state schools free for a total of four years. More than that, or private schools, paid for by the student, with NO federal or state assistance.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#8)
    by MikeDitto on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 06:48:57 AM EST
    Jim, there hasn't been an increase in student loan caps in many years. So this has to be a cut. I frankly don't understand why they would cut student loans-- they are a money making opportunity for the Federal government. They charge interest, and there is no way to welch on student loans. Thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, even permanent disability won't get you out of student loans--they can garnish your SSDI check until the loans are paid off. And why they would stop paying for home health care I don't understand. In the last few years of her life, home health care helped us keep her out of a nursing home or a hospital when she got sick (she was susceptible to occasional bouts of pneumonia). Thanks to the home health care, she never hit the annual cap for Part A, which means Medicare saved a lot of money. $250 a week rather than $1500 a day. These cuts are not about saving money, they're about dismantling programs that they don't like. They're giveaways to the nursing home industry. "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years," Grover Norquist says, "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#9)
    by soccerdad on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 07:01:37 AM EST
    My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years," Grover Norquist says, "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
    The other two parts of the plan are to starve it by reducing tax revenues and by spending the governemnt into bankruptcy. Of course they are making sure the corporatrcy gets theres before the crash.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#10)
    by roy on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 07:13:04 AM EST
    I didn't realize that declining to force others to pay for Tiny Tim's crutches, on penalty of imprisonment, was the same as kicking them out from under him. Next time a homeless person asks me for money, I better give him some from somebody else's pocket, lest I pull a Cheney.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#11)
    by MikeDitto on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 09:19:37 AM EST
    PPJ - Grandma had very good supplemental insurance, but it was gap coverage. As long as Medicare paid $0.01, the secondary would pick up the rest. But if Medicare denied something in full, so would the secondary. That's just Part B though... If you want Part A covered you had better get a separate long-term care policy. Re: education, I think there are two separate issues there. yes, costs have gotten out of control--that has a lot to do with diploma mills and the crappy certification process. Half (if not more) of the for-profit "universities" in this city should be put out of business. These schools charge ivy-leauge rates and provide practically no education, hence the "worthless degree." They should definitely not be getting federal student loan money without a more stringent certification process. And I agree that public universities should be free. A 12th grade education is not enough anymore, even though it should be. I think it's a crisis that's coming to a head in that area--our economy can't sustain itself forever based on just buying things. It needs to go back to making things. And making things does not necessarily require a college degree.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#12)
    by soccerdad on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 09:42:10 AM EST
    our economy can't sustain itself forever based on just buying things. It needs to go back to making things. And making things does not necessarily require a college degree.
    good because making things is going to pay 3rd world wages, globalization and all that.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#13)
    by Dadler on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 11:10:40 AM EST
    Only the poor are ever asked to sacrifice. This is the mark of a truly dysfunctional society. I suppose the wealthy are too lazy or stupid to realize they're digging their own metaphorical graves. And cutting student loans is saying loudly and clearly: the Federal government thinks an education is a luxury not something the free USA wants to provide for those who can't afford it. Eat the rich may have been a catchprhase at one time, but it's going to come true are we not more attuned to creating an equitable society in which ALL people feel a stake and opportunities.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#14)
    by peacrevol on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 11:41:17 AM EST
    Grandma had very good supplemental insurance, but it was gap coverage. As long as Medicare paid $0.01, the secondary would pick up the rest. But if Medicare denied something in full, so would the secondary. That's just Part B though... If you want Part A covered you had better get a separate long-term care policy.
    So the govt and insurance companies get to piss in each other's boots again? You have to buy insurance that is supplimental to the supplimental insurance you already have so that you can make sure you're fully covered if medicare doesnt pay.
    the property is taken by the state and sold, the proceeds used to pay the nursing facility.
    Sounds tough, but why should people be able to give away things to family and friends and then have the rest of us pay for their care?
    Because in most cases they paid about 28-38% of every dollar they ever made in income tax (on top of 8.25ish% of everything they ever spent in some cases). Some of that money should be allocated to their care when they cant work any more and cant live on their own. Or because all the time that they wor working, they were producing some good or service that helped the advancement of society. Perhaps that should be worth something besides the wages that they were paid and taxed on. But consider the old granny that doesnt have anything of substantial value but cant support herself and cant live alone any more. Does the "govt" pay for her? If it does, why does it pay for her and not others? ......continued from above scenario.....consider the old granny that has only the house that she and grandpa built with their own two hands 75 years ago out of lumber that they cut off of their land that they paid for. Do you think it's fair to ask her to give that to the government because that's all she has? Point being...where's the line? Somebody is going to get screwed in this system and you have to do all you can to make sure it's not you or your loved one that gets the shaft, only b/c the govt is too wasteful with its tax revenues.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#15)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 12:07:59 PM EST
    Cutting student loans means more military volunteers. How will Tom Delay's life change as a result of theis budget cut? Oh, I forgot. He's rich.

    Re: Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill (none / 0) (#16)
    by kdog on Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 12:43:19 PM EST
    As the richest 5% raise their champagne glasses a la the '72 Dolphins. Still undefeated.

    Ebeneezer Cheney and The Budget Bill | 16 comments (16 topical)