Shame Is, Like, So '90's

Okay, if you're not into moral outrage, skip over this post. I will think no less of you.

Via Daily Kos (aka "The Big Orange") comes a story from the Associated Press that got lost in the Friday, pre-New Year's "news dump". Apparently, the Bush administration has decided that they're giving way too much money to low-income disabled children and has decided to cut back to the tune of $3.6 billion over five years:

For example, schools can no longer expect Medicaid reimbursement for the planning of student immunizations. Schools also won't get paid for transporting students getting speech or physical therapy to school or back home.

It's insidious, if you think about it, since it's actually a double cut. They'll still reimburse the actual immunizations, but if the school can't adequately plan for them, well, then, there won't be as many immunizations to reimburse, will there? And they're not cutting out the therapies, they're just making it much more difficult for the kids to get to where the therapies are being offered. Fewer participants, fewer reimbursements. At this moment in Washington, someone is patting himself on the back for his ingenuity.

They'll end up saving a whole lot more than $3.6 billion on this. It will come at the expense of the most vulnerable members of our society. And our President approves of this, quite possibly because it'll pay for a whole entire week of his ridiculous war.

I'm not what you'd call a Bible-thumping Christian, but I've actually read the book, and I recall a passage where Jesus says something along the lines of "Whatsoever you do to the least among you, you do unto me."

George Bush once claimed Jesus as his favorite philosopher. I call bullshit. Bullshit times infinity.

In other news, Goldman Sachs is handing out end-of-the-year bonuses to the tune of about $18 billion this year. I do not begrudge the G-S employees their bonuses, I honestly don't, and frankly I know for a fact that there are more than a few bonus recipients who will turn right around and give huge chunks of money to disabled children and underfunded school programs. I just wanted to include the number for a little perspective. Make of it what you will.

And yes, I realize that my first two posts are a tad grumpy. I'm really not always like this, really, I'm not, but sometimes I just get all lathered up, as they say. I'll post something amusing tomorrow, promise! It'll be about Alan Keyes, so it's almost guaranteed to be funny, even if all I do is post the words "Alan Keyes" 250 times.