Ehrlich (R-Maryland) Cuts Funding for Bay, Disabled Programs

[diamond14]

Ehrlich Cuts Funding for Bay, Disabled Programs

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 23, 2004; Page B05

-snips-

Educational programs run by a leading environmental group and a prominent Democratic family have been eliminated from Maryland's budget, with money redirected to the struggling Baltimore Zoo.

The $23.8 billion spending plan Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) released yesterday provides no aid to two groups long supported by the state: the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Maryland Education Program and Best Buddies International, a mentoring program for the developmentally disabled run by Anthony Shriver, a son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

"We're in shock, I think that would be the word for it," said Katie Nohe, a regional director for Best Buddies, which was expecting $222,000 from the state. Nohe added that first lady Kendel S. Ehrlich has volunteered as a mentor. "There was no warning for this. No reason for this. Just goodbye."

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said it had anticipated $342,000 in state money.

The cuts, tucked into the Maryland Department of Education budget, come despite Ehrlich's recent pledges to include the Chesapeake Bay and programs for the developmentally disabled among his top priorities. Both organizations rely on private and public aid to maintain those programs.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40394-2004Jan22.html

[aquart]

1. Republican sleaze wins again.

[diamond14]

2. SOP for reTHUGlicans....declare support, promise the TOP priority,

have your wife even volunteer for the program...all to show support...then turn your back and cut funding or totally eliminate funding....the first attacked are the people with disabilities, the weakest and least able to defend themselves...the second are environmental programs and those cuts will KILL in a longer time-frame, from longer incubating diseases, like cancers and mutagenic, teratagenic diseases....
-------------------
bush* does this
arnold does this

now, erlich (R -governor of Maryland) is following the reTHUGlican standard operating procedure (SOP)


because there is no outrage...the reTHUGlicans feel emboldened, nobody says anything, so they use the same approaches again, in another state with a reTHUGlican governor...it's spreading and it's KILLING people with disabilities...and not a peep of outrage...
----------------------
it is shocking that they are all KILLING people with disabilities FIRST, just like hitler did....if hitler had been stopped when he attacked those with disabilities, the Jews might have survived...but nobody spoke up.....

today, there are several posts on DU about bush* healthcare cuts and policies KILLING thousands of Americans every year...most of them, people with severe disabilities, like diabetes....and Americans are just watching the people with disabilities being KILLED by these policies, in full view....and just like the Germans in 1937...there is no outrage...not a peep from most, living in their shells and feeling that they are not affected, so why say anything....

[Karenina]

7. KILLING people with disabilities FIRST

if hitler had been stopped when he attacked those with disabilities, the Jews might have survived...but nobody spoke up.....

Amen.

[lastknowngood]

3. They are preparing to steal MD for the shrub

we have some new dibold vote stealing machines. He vetoed money to add print out so they could be verified.

[theHandpuppet]

4. No surprise to me...

... perhaps a surprise only to some DUers here who admittedly crossed party lines to vote for Ehrlich. Haven't heard much from them lately! Hope they're happy with their choice... NOT.

[cedahlia]

23. DUers crossed party lines to vote for this jerk?!

As a Marylander, I had hoped all those obnoxious "Another Democrat for Erlich" bumper stickers I saw on the backs of so many obnoxious SUVs were some Republican ploy. I didn't think any REAL Democrats would actually vote for the guy. That is so disheartening.

I saw him at an open debate at our local community college when he was running for Congress, and I wound up walking out halfway through because he was such a royal asshole (no big surprise there, though.) That man disgusts me.

[Mr. Brown of MD]

25. I don't know any

There were a number of DUers who observed that KKT did not run the best of campaigns - an opinion that I share - and there may have been one or two who decided that they were not going to vote in the election at all, but I really don't remember anybody on DU actually saying they'd vote for Ehrlich.

The "Another Democrat for Ehrlich" bumper stickers were mostly a ploy, from what I saw - I met several people with them who actually were Republicans, and I suspect this was the case with most of them. But the truth of the election was that some Democrats did not vote for KKT, and did vote for Ehrlich. Not ones of the DUer stripe, I don't think.

In the interest of full disclosure, though, theHandpuppet and I have disagreed on the existence of DUers who voted for Ehrlich ever since that election, so this is nothing that hasn't been asserted before. Heh.

-CollegeDude
If only recall drama could be brought here

[theHandpuppet]

27. If only we could access...

... some of the debates which DUers were having during that time (especially on the particular forum for the elections), you would find that some DUers here DID voice that they were going to vote for Ehrlich. It was totally, totally frustrating trying to discourage this Dem support for Ehrlich and I finally gave up.

I wonder why some of those who were so gung-ho for Ehrlich are being so coy now!

[Muddleoftheroad]

28. I used to live in Maryland

Some of my Jewish friends voted for Ehrlich because of his past support for Israel in the House. They don't seem to regret it.

[Virginian]

5. What! Any Virginia Lawyers out there???!!!!!

He's going to let them polute our bay and kill off our crabs and oysters?!!!!

The crab population is already way down and oysters and clams aren't too healthy either. That decision not only affects his own state, it affects us too.

This is another state on state matter. Maryland keeps picking on us. First they won't let us filter our drinking water from the Potomac River, now they are killing off our shell fish and sports fishing as well. They don't own all of the bay, half of it is down stream, in our state.

I hope the Commonwealth of Virginia is officially putting up an objection to this.

[diamond14]

6. what about the people with disabilities...or are the fish more

important???

[kimchi]

8. I don't think the fish are more important.;

but if we kill the ecosystem of the bay we ALL suffer.

[diamond14]

14. so unless we ALL suffer, then it should be ignored when people

with disabilities suffer?

IMO, if you let bush* and his minions KILL the people with disabilities, you are opening up the floodgates and emboldening them to KILL others (environmental contamination is one way to KILL people, but hitler moved quickly after he found that NO ONE objected to his degradation and then KILLING of those with disabilities...hitler moved from there to his MASSIVE killing...but the initial degradation and KILLING of those with disabilities was the same reaction you have: if it doesn't affect ALL of us , why bother to STAND UP)

[kimchi]

31. Everyone has to pick their battles and fight hard.

We can't all work on every problem at once. I'm definitely sympathetic to the plight of the disabled, the poor, the homeless, the elderly and minorities. It seems you've chosen to fight for the disabled, and that is a noble and beautiful thing.

I just don't have the time to fight all the obstacles Bush and Co put in our way. Please don't be upset with me for choosing a different battle. Most of us work on issues near and dear to us; and I have chosen to put my energy into poverty issues and getting out the vote. It doesn't mean I'm not concerned about the rest of the USA. I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

[Muddleoftheroad]

9. The budget

A lot of this stems from the ongoing battles over the budget. Sooner or later the Dem-led House of Delegates will give into slot machines and lots more stuff will get funding.

I think both sides have problems in this battle.

[0007]

10. Gaming is the crux of many social illnesses

[Muddleoftheroad]

11. Gambling

Most Americans not only support gambling, most participate. Start counting the lotteries, the casino gambling, poker games, fantasy sports, racetrack bets, football pools, etc.

It is more obvious this time of year than any. We are heading into the Super Bowl when a huge number of Americans gamble on the result.

[Blue_Tires]

13. in Prince George's county

I can say that the majority of people in favor of casino/slots are the gambling freaks tired of driving to delaware, or local officials who stand to benefit directly from the Petersen Co's endless supply of lobby $$$$

[Muddleoftheroad]

15. Gambling

I think you underestimate the many folks who not only support gambling, but are actively involved.

[Blue_Tires]

29. i'm a reporter

And i cover the Clinton-Ft. Washington area...I've written more than a few stories about the National Harbor project

[diamond14]

30. have YOU written anything about the people with disabilities?

or are you focussed only on fish and NOT human beings?

[Blue_Tires]

32. what does

fish have to do with the national harbor project? you lost me there...

And yes, i have written about seniors, homeless and those with disabilities in the area

[tabasco]

12. Aren't times just wonderful under this republican leadership??

Why, people? How in the hell can people fall for their lies??

[underpants]

16. Having lived in bal'mer I can tell you they will not be happy about this

I worked at a plumbing/industrial supply store and about half of them crabbed or fished in the Bay. It is a great source of pride for many in that state, much more than I ever heard in Virginia where I have lived since age 7. Virginians in the Eastern part of the state love and use the Bay too but don't identify with it to the degree I encountered in Maryland.

BTW-W cut funding to the Bay by 10% tout sweet when he got in office. That alone, if presented to the Hampton Roads, could swing Va. away from him. Trust me the fishermen and sailors and power boaters will not like to hear that.

[diamond14]

17. who will speak for the people with disabilities?....no one! FISH are

more important to most on this thread....

arnold just cut major funding for people with disabilities in California, who are now DYING and DEAD....bush* has medical policies IN PLACE and operating that KILLED 18,000 Americans in 2003 (another huge DU thread)....

nobody really want's to STAND UP for those with disabilties...they struggle in wheelchairs and prosthetics to protest through all kinds of weather...but no reasonably healthy people join them in the outrage...FISH are more important....where's the outrage while bush* KILLS people with disabilities???


in Germany 1939...even Pastor Niemller's famous quote as he lay dying in a nazi concentration camp, leaves out the FACT that hitler killed those least able to defend themselves FIRST, the people with disabilities....here is the quote...and it applies to EVERYONE in America today....sad that the Pastor didn't take action when those with disabilities were KILLED....(and the Jews were not killed first)

"First they came for the Jews, but I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then, they came for the Trade-Unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Trade-Unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for ME, and there was one left to speak out for me."

[underpants]

19. I was only addressing one side of this

of course the disabled take priority but having not worked with those involved with the disabled in Maryland ( but do in Va.) I don't know enough about that to comment.

[diamond14]

20. just try to distance yourself by feigning ignorance as the people

with disabilities are KILLED...that was exactly the German approach...

[underpants]

21. Feigning interest? Did you read my post?

I help pay their RENT here. Not just my money but billing for reimbursement.

[diamond14]

22. 18,000 Americans DIED last year because of bush* medical policies

at what point will anyone STAND UP and defend the sick and the people with disabilities? How many more must die? Are the fish so very important that NOBODY will STAND UP for those least able to defend themselves.....



From January 16, 2004, Now with Bill Moyers

http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript303_full.html

<snip>

After three years of study, a non-partisan National Academy of Sciences panel is calling for universal health coverage by the year 2010. 43 million American have no coverage. But here's the showstopper: the report says about 18-thousand people die every year in America because they have no health insurance.

--------------------------------

And this is their source:
National Academy of Sciences

Date: Jan. 14, 2004
Contacts: Christine Stencel, Media Relations Officer
Chris Dobbins, Media Relations Assistant
202-334-2138; e-mail <[e-mail]>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IOM Report Calls for Universal Health Coverage by 2010;
Offers Principles to Judge, Compare Proposed Solutions

WASHINGTON -- Given the growing stress being placed on the nation's health care system, the exacerbated health problems, and the substantial societal costs that result from more than 43 million Americans lacking health insurance, the president and Congress should strive to achieve universal health coverage in the United States by 2010, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. The committee that wrote the report offered five guiding principles by which all proposals for extending coverage should be judged.

"Lack of health insurance in the United States is a critical problem that can and should be eliminated," said committee co-chair Mary Sue Coleman, president, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. "Achieving universal coverage will require federal leadership and support, regardless of which strategy is adopted to achieve this goal."

Presenting a specific strategy or blueprint for achieving universal coverage was not within the purview of the committee, which was charged with assessing and consolidating the evidence about the nation's current approach to health insurance. "Our purpose was to help policy-makers determine the best path to universal coverage by offering a set of principles by which the merits and limitations of proposed strategies can be assessed and compared," Coleman explained. "There are many thoughtful plans for extending health insurance already on the table. We leave the debate about the specifics and exact design of the necessary health insurance reforms to elected officials, policy-makers, and the public.<snip> more....

http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309091055?OpenDocument

[Must_B_Free]

18. "Another Democrat fucked by Erlich"

[cedahlia]

24. Where can I get one of THOSE bumper stickers? n/t

[hellbound-liberal]

26. During Campaign 2002, I made a bumper sticker that said

"The LAST thing Maryland needs is another Republican fixing our economy!" Unfortunately, many of my fellow Marylanders were too stupid to realize that even though KKT wasn't perfect, she would have been much more sensitive to the needs of those who depend on us to protect their quality of life. I don't know when people are going to wake up and realize that a certain level of funding is necessary to provide basic services and that at some point revenues will have to be increased. (and I don't mean by instituting another tax on poor people who can't do math, i.e. slot machines)