[lbo-talk] Dean Baker on immigration

jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net
Tue Apr 18 12:29:48 PDT 2006


On 18 Apr 2006 at 10:16, Marta Russell wrote:


> Yeah Miles what have you done lately to make sure that people on
> Medicaid get the medical care that they need? I don't see any of you
> DOING anything to fix things then you whine when a disabled person
> resents that they can no longer get the dental care they need RIGHT
> NOW not tomorrow, not some place in the future, man, RIGHT NOW.
>
> Arnold took away the cost of living increase of $24 from people on
> SSI in California. These are people living on about $800 a month.
> Could any of you do that? COULD ANY OF YOU DO THAT? Do you ever do
> a damn thing about it? Now people must pay co-pays for medicines
> they did not have to pay before. I have another friend who had NO
> MONEY FOR FOOD this month because he had to pay for some medication
> for an abscessed infection in his leg. He lives on SSI. MediCal
> doctors are getting something like $14 a visit. The abscess was
> largely due to improper care from his MediCal doc. Do you think
> anyone gets adequate care for that? I could go on and on . . . but
> what is the use of it.

Please don't use the "my brand of suffering is so much worse than your brand of suffering argument". It's counterproductive as well as really fucking irritating. Who are you to berate anyone on this list? Have you lived my life and faced the racism I have? Have you lived Miles life and faced his trials? Come on down from the soapbox.

FWIW my SO and I live on $800 a month combined income. We receive absolutely no government assistance. I also train therapy animals which I do at my own expense. I also deliver "Meals-on-Wheels" to homebound persons. I generally bring a pet with me on these visits because most of the home-bound people really like interactions with animals. I volunteer a few hours at nursing homes to bring therapy pets in for residents to interact with. I too could go on and on...but what is the use of it?

The entire system is totally fucked when people literally have to choose between paying their utility bill late and incurring penalties or buying needed medication.

Immigrants are not the cause of this problem and are not my enemies nor Marta's. Marta needs to stop doing the white-mans bidding and blaming "the other". Hell, all white people are immigrants to me!

Think about this. How many medicine co-pays could have been made with the money spent to keep people alive in vegetative states? You really don't want to play blame the other Marta. It's a losing game.

John Thornton



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