The below article about Governor and the people in power is really cool... I like the author and his point of view.
The Governor’s Depraved Cuts To IHSS
By Jack Bragen
Thursday February 11, 2010
Arnold Swartzenegger, and his longtime hero Clint Eastwood, are finally getting their fondest wish, which is to rid the state of what they believe to be a mere nuisance: The coexistence of disabled people in the community. If at all possible, these two anti-disability activists would have anyone with a significant disability be forced to live in state institutions, and out of their sight.
Clint Eastwood, who Arnold once said was his childhood hero, has been known for years to be an anti-disability-rights activist. Numerous articles in “Ragged Edge Magazine” (no longer in print) have described his bigoted activities and his attitude toward disabled people.
Arnold, following in the beliefs of Clint, is the Governor and the one to which the voters have given authority. So far he has used this power to pencil out large parts of the In Home Supportive Services, and this has caused many disabled persons to go without the caregivers who have allowed living in the community.
My wife and I have been recipients of these services and were getting help with our dishes and laundry; this service made our existence much easier. Our mental health issues made it hard to wash the dishes and do laundry. If you have experience with mental health, you will understand this difficulty as well as how much some outside assistance helps.
We recently had the experience of being discontinued from IHSS, on the basis that we were not in imminent danger of going to a skilled nursing facility. While it will be a hardship for us to compensate for the absence of our workers, we do not expect to be institutionalized as a result. And that’s now the criteria of no longer receiving these services.
Most IHSS recipients have physical disabilities, not mental ones, and the services they receive, which include very basic care, are essential for them to continue living in their homes.
The social worker who reviewed my wife and I told us that the governor hopes to eliminate IHSS entirely. This would leave numerous disabled people in California without hope of continuing an independent and therefore tolerable existence.
Apparently Arnold believes that disabled people are scum, are freeloaders, and all ought to get a job or else disappear into an institution. Because he is a multimillionaire, he believes it makes him inherently superior, and he deems himself worthy to make such a judgment. Like many who have made fortunes in society, he seems to think he is better than everyone rather than the reality that he is blessed with good fortune.
Of course, the above paragraph involves “reading in” to Arnold and is not fact. It is my interpretation of this seemingly pompous man based on how I have seen him behave.
This is one reason why society is crumbling in our country: we have a small percentage of people who hoard most of the wealth, and who apparently can never get enough wealth and power to satisfy them. This group of people inflicts cruel acts on other human beings, and on the earth itself in the course of their quest for more. The extreme hoarding disrupts the fabric of the economy since the regular people, including those who work and produce things, cannot afford to pay for the basics.
The above paragraph might explain why the governor must cut benefits for people who are less fortunate, while he refuses to raise taxes on people who can well afford to pay something back after being blessed with the best, materialistically speaking, that society has to offer.
Jack Bragen is a Martinez resident.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Friends of Dare to Dream Meeting This Saturday 2PM
Friends of Dare to Dream Meeting
Saturday December 12th @ 2PM
1815 Blake St. Berkeley, CA 94704 (Between MLK and Grant)
Bus 15 or bus 9 will get you 2-3 blocks away
Possible agenda could include:
· Name change
· Mission statement
· Board election date
· Schedule next meeting
Please refrain from wearing scented products and please let Nick Feldman (daretodream94704@yahoo.com) know ahead of time if you are coming. You can also call at 415-407-9297 (cell phone, call between 9am and 9pm).
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Homecare Article
When the recession hit, my business was put through unbelievable turmoil here in California. Everyone started to file unemployment who had ever worked for me, and many laborious hours were put into filling out claims to EDD and other authorities. People started to apply for low income everything, from transportation, to welfare, to housing.
My insurance rates skyrocketed. My clients went from 28 to 8 and not to mention our contracts in California all got reduced by 3%. My profit margins went down by about 10%, but the most tragic part is that besides not getting new clients, the work ethic of everyone except for my very dedicated office staff, crumbled right before my eyes. People stopped showing up for work, people got sick and couldn’t show any medical documentation(probably because they didn’t have any medical insurance), then there are the people who apply to work for you, they promise you the moon, you hire them, and they give a big nothing.
After hearing the news of Friday that the unemployment rate for the country was 10.2%, this did not surprise me, but because I run a home health-care agency, I found it very coincidental that they were interviewing at an unemployment who happened to be a home health-care worker, and they said that this field was a “growing field”, but of course with CNN there are always questions as to the legitimacy of what they cover, and how they cover it. If this woman at the unemployment office, was only working four days a week as a homecare worker, then why didn’t she take on my shifts, and why was she was at the unemployment office when she already had a job. If she was such a good homecare worker, then why didn’t she pick up more hours with her agency, or go and find someone in need of homecare.
It can be said that I am just a disconnected person who owns a company, no but I choose to disagree. Not only am I the owner and director of a business, having dealt with homecare workers every single day of my life due to my cerebral palsy. I work with my business probably over 80 hours a week. I have to pay rent, bills, buy into my long term care and my health insurance, which I get through the state. Sometimes I feel like workers in the state of California have simply given up hope. They don’t want to work, or if they just want to work, they just want to work on their own terms and on their own schedule, and if they need to work, maybe the Governor will just pick up their tab. But the catch-22 is when they get their paychecks, they are stunned to see how much is taken out.
The trickledown effect of the almighty dollar can only be overpowered by one thing, the power of the people, because ultimately that is who it affects. In my business, when people don’t show up for work, people really do suffer. People who are children, and elderly, and people with mental disabilities, have to go without care. It would be nice to see the work ethic come back, to find people who do their job not just for the low wage, but because they truly care about the person. I never hear my staff ask when they call out of a job “What’s going to happen to Oliver, will he have to go without, will there be someone who can replace me?”
Besides the issue of the work ethic coming back in California, the other more critical issue is non-medical emergency response homecare services. This means that when someone has a non-medical emergency or their care providers cannot show up, that there is an on-demand service that people can call in their area that will respond, and take care of their needs. Let’s see California put some money into that.
My insurance rates skyrocketed. My clients went from 28 to 8 and not to mention our contracts in California all got reduced by 3%. My profit margins went down by about 10%, but the most tragic part is that besides not getting new clients, the work ethic of everyone except for my very dedicated office staff, crumbled right before my eyes. People stopped showing up for work, people got sick and couldn’t show any medical documentation(probably because they didn’t have any medical insurance), then there are the people who apply to work for you, they promise you the moon, you hire them, and they give a big nothing.
After hearing the news of Friday that the unemployment rate for the country was 10.2%, this did not surprise me, but because I run a home health-care agency, I found it very coincidental that they were interviewing at an unemployment who happened to be a home health-care worker, and they said that this field was a “growing field”, but of course with CNN there are always questions as to the legitimacy of what they cover, and how they cover it. If this woman at the unemployment office, was only working four days a week as a homecare worker, then why didn’t she take on my shifts, and why was she was at the unemployment office when she already had a job. If she was such a good homecare worker, then why didn’t she pick up more hours with her agency, or go and find someone in need of homecare.
It can be said that I am just a disconnected person who owns a company, no but I choose to disagree. Not only am I the owner and director of a business, having dealt with homecare workers every single day of my life due to my cerebral palsy. I work with my business probably over 80 hours a week. I have to pay rent, bills, buy into my long term care and my health insurance, which I get through the state. Sometimes I feel like workers in the state of California have simply given up hope. They don’t want to work, or if they just want to work, they just want to work on their own terms and on their own schedule, and if they need to work, maybe the Governor will just pick up their tab. But the catch-22 is when they get their paychecks, they are stunned to see how much is taken out.
The trickledown effect of the almighty dollar can only be overpowered by one thing, the power of the people, because ultimately that is who it affects. In my business, when people don’t show up for work, people really do suffer. People who are children, and elderly, and people with mental disabilities, have to go without care. It would be nice to see the work ethic come back, to find people who do their job not just for the low wage, but because they truly care about the person. I never hear my staff ask when they call out of a job “What’s going to happen to Oliver, will he have to go without, will there be someone who can replace me?”
Besides the issue of the work ethic coming back in California, the other more critical issue is non-medical emergency response homecare services. This means that when someone has a non-medical emergency or their care providers cannot show up, that there is an on-demand service that people can call in their area that will respond, and take care of their needs. Let’s see California put some money into that.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
RIP Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul and Mary)
I turned on the news tonight to see Charles Gibson doing a special segment on Peter, Paul and Mary. At the end of the broadcast he stated that Mary had passed away. I thought to myself, and I realized that the first time I heard Peter, Paul and Mary was at my first camp in New Jersey called Camp Oakhurst, a camp for people with special needs. I remember being 7 years old and not having a care in the world, listening to a counselor singing "Leaving on a Jet Plane." I was hearing these songs again years later at Skylake Ranch Camp when I was 9 and 10, and again when I was a teenager. These lyrics began to have an impact on me, and the struggles of going through life with a disability, and the reality of people dying too young, hard decisions having to be made by young people, and the ever so glowing aspect of love, portrayed in so many of their songs. As an adult, and having just listened to a few of their songs, I see an even deeper meaning now. A more somber meaning of how the world exists, and goes through it's many cycles. I remember the feeling of my first crush, and dancing to Peter, Paul and Mary at Skylake Ranch Camp. Back then I had no idea what was to come in my life and in the world. Listening to these songs now at age 34 makes me feel like there's so much that people must contend with, in this country and around the world. I think about the struggle of labor, health care, business, love, and the ability to accept the reality that some childhood memories never will fade away. I think that's what a lot of these songs are about. Mary was one of those people who I would see on TV from time to time, and I would reflect on what Peter, Paul and Mary had seen in their lives, such as the Vietnam war, and it always flashed through my mind that these three singers really gave a damn. I wondered what they thought of the world today, such as 9/11, the struggle of today's people in this country and around the world. The songs will always be with me, and not just in my iPod. It's the spirit and the tunes of the songs that allow me to keep up with advocating for the rights of the underprivileged and to speak truth to power. RIP Mary Travers.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Steinburg and Leno..Where are the rest?
The big 5 in the California Legislature and Governor had an agreement publicly and the big 5 thought the deal was done. However before the Governor signed the budget he wrote in all these line items which consisted of more cuts to Social Services, Education, Parks, HIV/Aids assistance, etc... Senators Steinburg and Leno have decided to take the governor to court under the auspices that the governor violated his executive power. It will be really hard for Leno and Steinburg to prove that they have/will incur damages due to the governors actions. So its really important that we all file as many complaints as we can. The person to contact about disability cuts is Fred Nisen of Disability Rights California, Providers/Clients, concerned individuals. I think we all need to make a big push.
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