What I’m going to write here is very important. I ask for your time, patience and understanding.
The programs that support disabled people like me are in peril. Serious peril. Since I suspect this notion will be met with confusion and denial, let me explain why:
At the end of this year, the 2017 Tax Cuts passed during the first Trump administration are set to expire. This legislation offered large tax breaks, mainly to corporations and the top 1% of Americans. This tax cut was primarily funded by increasing the national debt.
Corporations and super wealthy people have really enjoyed these tax cuts. So, they have been lobbying HARD to get these tax cuts quietly renewed this year before they expire. However, to renew these cuts, they first must figure out how to pay for it.
The price tag to renew these cuts? Around $4 trillion. Yes, you read that right. $4,000,000,000,000. That’s twelve zeros. A zero for every day of Christmas. A zero for every Apostle. A zero for every month of the year. A zero for every bulging vein that has developed on my forehead.
Now, here is where you really need to start paying attention. $4 trillion is a ridiculous amount of money. They know this. But the political/financial pressure being put on this new administration and legislative majority to quietly make this tax cut happen is HUGE. It’s bigger than Elon Musk’s ego. It’s the real reason Elon Musk is even in Washington at all.
The House Budget Committee has already begun identifying targets for budget cuts. It would be reasonable to think that every single government agency, program or department would be on the list. But that’s not the case. The number one target on the list?
Medicaid.
The program that serves the most vulnerable of Americans: the poor, the disabled and the elderly.
Sure, finding “fraud” and “wasted spending” in social programs is the explanation provided for Musk’s involvement. But, in reality, fraud and wasted spending in these departments is nominal. it’s incredibly difficult to qualify for these programs and to remain eligible. Further, efficiency and fraud offices already exist because spending money on poor, disabled and elderly Americans is something that the US Government doesn’t really like to do. We’d much rather give a blank check to defense contractors that donate generously to political campaigns.
Instead, they plan to amputate nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid. That’s a quarter of the amount estimated they need to renew the tax breaks for Mr. Musk and his friends.
A funding hemorrhage of that magnitude would be catastrophic for disabled people, like me. The Medicaid programs that provide home and community-based services, medical care, and supplemental nutrition would be thrown to the wolves. We would have to beg for crumbs and scraps in a world where we carry ZERO political clout.
Did you know that people like me can’t run for elected office even if we wanted to? I’d be putting any government assistance I receive in jeopardy. There are strict rules I must follow to qualify for the Medicaid program that helps me get out of bed in the morning and use the toilet. I could lose everything by just trying to be a legislative voice for my disability community.
That is precisely the reason why Medicaid makes such an easy target: we don’t have representation. We don’t have money to buy a seat at the table. We don’t have a corporate lobby. It makes complete sense that they come after us first. If you don’t believe that (or want to believe that), then you might be in denial about how the world works.
This brings me back to where I began. If you voted/support the new administration, I have a request of you. Do you want people like me to be the collateral damage of that vote? Do you want the legacy of this era in history to be the moment when America failed its most vulnerable?
I believe your vote was made with honorable intention. So, are you now willing to hold your elected representatives to account? Are you willing to remind them of their moral and ethical responsibility?
Your support is needed now more than ever. I know you care. But now is the time for action. Please call the offices of your congressperson, and your Senators. Tell them you support Medicaid and want them to vote to protect it– not cut it. And keep calling on a regular basis. It will only take you a moment to do this. While it may not seem like a simple call could make a difference, it does. They listen to their constituents. You have power. Please use it. It could make all the difference.
I’m counting on you.
elizabette... unplugged 