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©2012 Ross Williams

A major event is currently unfolding at the speed of bureaucracy in Illinois: the Democrat governor – Quinn, the empty suit sitting in the Lieutenant’s chair when our previous Democrat governor, Blagojevich, was convicted of graft and corruption in not even trying to hide his Illinois Democrat behavior by openly selling political favor and influence – ... anyway ... the governor is announcing a series of massive cuts to the state’s Medicaid program.

These cuts follow a few specific events that are worth mentioning, and several non-specific socioeconomic issues that are not, and essentially can’t be helped. Of course, the Democrats on the Illinois Street are indignant about this coming ... now ... in Illinois ... 5 months before their Messiah, promoted to National Savior, is up for reelection, and just 1 month after their Hair Club For Men governor donned his orange jumpsuit and matching anklets for the bus ride to the federal penitentiary. Democrats are feeling a little bit vulnerable in general, and a lot humiliated in Illinois, and when one of their own does something that violates the Democrat Creed they are likely to disown him.

The Democrat governor Quinn, announcing substantial cuts to Medicaid, has been declared to be a Republican by pouty Democrats. All the usual denunciations are being churned out, including the “most vulnerable people” whine. I’m constantly amazed at how frequently the most vulnerable people in our nation, state or community keep bouncing from group to group. It’s like they’re playing some massive game of political tag, and whoever’s “It” – and what a coincidence this is – is usually the very same group of people whose program funding is currently being debated.

I’ve seen, in just the last year, the Most Vulnerable People label used on [in no particular order]:
1] the mentally ill
2] the poverty class
3] the elderly
4] children of “underwater” mortgage owners
5] the unemployed
6] “native Americans” who don’t like school mascots depicting them
7] those without employer-provided health insurance
8] AFSMCE union employees who may lose their bloated pensions
9] ...ad infinitum

It’s either a testament to our society’s continual betterment of the disadvantaged that allows last weeks’ Most Vulnerable People to leapfrog the pack so consistently, or it’s an indictment of our society’s cruelty that pushes so many groups in totum to the bottom of the pack one right after the other.

Seeing as ours is still the most wealthy nation on the planet in the history of human civilization, and which third- and second-worlders still strive to enter, criminally if necessary, I’m going to go with the betterment thing. The alternative is that Most Vulnerable People is a meaningless political meme for the purpose of dishonest political demonization ... and we should all know that never happens.

The Illinois legislature recently passed a law requiring address verification of the people on the Illinois Medicaid list, after an audit [a.k.a., when Republicans do it, “data mining operation”] discovered that 6% of those who receive medical coverage “for free” from Illinois live in other states. It’s simply a matter of switching the bureaucracy from one state to another if the move was recent and benign; it’s a matter of fraud otherwise. Illinois got the idea that they should not give this 6% an Illinois Medicaid ID card, and thus save the state some money.

Keen idea right?

Apparently not. Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services does not want Illinois [and I suspect other states either] cutting down on Medicaid fraud. HHS Immediately threatened Illinois with a funding cut for the federal portion of Illinois’ Medicaid budget. This would require Illinois to make up that funding out of the Illinois general revenue to properly cover the state’s Most Vulnerable People.

Ju-u-ust one problem, though ... Illinois has no general revenue to speak of. Because Illinois’ other Most Vulnerable People – the AFSCME union employees in the state’s DMV offices and Department of Human Rights slumber pens – have an absolutely gorgeous pension system which gives them, in retirement, three or more times what their highest annual salary had been as a surly DMV toad or napping Human Rights weenie.

It seems that, yes, even socialists have to come to grips with running out of the money they believe grows on trees. And when they do, they start cutting back on all those programs they promised to the gullible voters who traded their votes for government handouts.

Among those handouts is health coverage. ...what some socialists still insist is a right. Socialists are sometimes correct: it IS a right. But as such, the only person that could stand between a citizen availing himself of his right to health care and that citizen NOT availing himself would be that citizen himself; the government would be obliged to get the hell out of his way.

But, alas, healthcare for certain people is, instead, treated as an entitlement. Entitlements are bestowed upon the citizen by the government. And what the government giveth ... the government can taketh away.

Try to not be too melodramatic, you poverty stricken people, as you endure the government rationing your healthcare. Die with dignity, now; you wouldn’t want to disturb the retired state workers.