"This structural problem we have is nothing more than overspending - it has to stop," Booher said.
The state must focus on the "big four" departments that account for 82 cents on every dollar: corrections, human service, community health and higher education, Booher said.
"With the big four, the hard looks really need to come," he said.
-Cadillac News
While I agree that we need to look for ways to cut spending I’m not so sure that these departments are the ones to look at first.
Corrections: any cuts to the corrections budget need to be handled delicately. The governor has already stated that three more prisons will be closed, that’s a big cut right there and maybe that’s where we should stop until judges obtain and exercise more flexibility in sentencing. In order to do that, the prisoners residing in those facilities must be moved, either to other prisons, or paroled. If cuts are made to the corrections budget there is a good chance that they will come out of programming. Programming is the means through which offenders learn skills that they can use to be contributing members to society. You know stuff like substance abuse education, GED preparation, anger management skill building. The things that we citizens need them to learn before they return to our neighborhoods.
Human Services: we need human services now more than ever. The counties represented by Rep. Booher, Mecosta, Osceola and Wexford all have unemployment rates higher than the state average of
10.4%. (Mecosta, 11.2%; Osceola, 12.5%; Wexford, 15.1%.) So, what do you propose these jobless people live on, not all of them are receiving unemployment? Contrary to popular belief the unemployment rate does not equal the number of people receiving unemployment benefits from UIA. What will they eat? How will they cover their children’s medical costs? Family Independence Program, Food Assistance Program, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Medicaid…all programs administered by the
Department of Human Services, all programs that your constituents NEED right now.
Community Health: when people lose their jobs they typically also lose their health insurance, COBRA is cost prohibitive even if you have a steady income. We should deny our citizens healthcare? That seems particularly heartless, even coming from Rep. Booher.
Higher Education: totally unnecessary. I mean, who needs to have a higher education to work in a factory? Oh, that’s right, the factories don’t have jobs. Where are the jobs? Medical, technology, science…all fields that typically require a little bit more education than a high school diploma or GED.
Rep. Booher doesn’t give a hoot about the people he represents. If he really did he would take a look at his own salary before trying to cut the services that his constituents need to survive right now. Yes the House
voted yesterday to recommend a 10% pay cut but if approved it won’t happen until 2011. They need to vote to put the 10% pay cut on the fast track and get it implemented before October 1, 2009.
Booher said he does not support eliminating History, Arts and Libraries, as it provides necessary services that directly affect taxpayers.
-Cadillac News
So, corrections, human service, community health and higher education do not provide necessary services that directly affect taxpayers?
Since when?
