Empty Pockets
Well, the government is simply fiscally overextended. Short on funds. Empty pockets, that’s the bottom line. Even with Old Man Winter knocking at the door, about 30 million families will be left in the cold this season. The government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, only has enough funding to cover 16 percent of the low-income households eligible for the program. When you consider there are 38 million households needing assistance, well, that leaves about 32 million families who should promptly begin calling family and friends residing in warmer climes, making arrangements to crash at their place for the next few months.
Leave it to President Bush to reduce the budget for LIHEAP, by about half a billion bucks, despite the increase in energy costs. Of course, this is the guy who also earlier this month vetoed the bill that would have provided health care coverage for millions of children who currently are uninsured, to families unable to afford the absurdity that is their monthly family-coverage premium. Regretfully, the government can’t help you out, it’s just too expensive, no can do. Then again, in Dubya’s defense, we are kind of strapped for cash these days. He’s just prioritizing:
Sick kids? Not number one on the list. Sorry. Heat-seeking families with winter just around the corner? Nah. Heat-seeking missiles, though, that’s another story. Money well spent!
P.S. On a final personal note, speaking of the needy … the other day I mentioned that I was hoping to be able to volunteer to help feed the hungry this Thanksgiving. Well, I may not be on the food service team, but I’m pleased to announce that I have been granted dishwasher duty at the Salvation Army on Turkey Day, for which I am indeed thankful. Hey, someone has to clean up. I’m happy to do what I can to help.
health care, poverty, health insurance, uninsured children, george w bush, veto, iraq war, low income families, energy assistance
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:17 am
[...] Want to look around the 451Press neighborhood some more? Try this post on the government’s Empty Pockets over at CurrentEventsWatch.com or learn why Seasonal Decorating is for the Birds at [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Thanks for another important item. I really appreciate your blog. And you are so right about Bush’s prioritizing. Just how much more of his “compassionate conservatism” can we stand? Ever wonder how different things would have been had the people’s true choice (by a half a million votes!) for president taken office in 2001?
October 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Thanks, Doug. And yeah, I wonder often how different things might be if my vote had apparently been counted back in 2000 …
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
[...] when they hear about the plight of the sick and uninsured, the cold and hungry (still harping about yesterday’s post, sorry, but Bush pisses me off), in some random story they may have channel-surfed through on their [...]
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:31 pm
[...] pointless, unwarranted hundreds of billions of dollars spent (tallying continues), hundreds of thousands of dead folks, sacrificed for the worthy cause that is Iraq isn’t [...]