The latest budget proposal from the Walker administration for social services in Milwaukee County is getting out of hand:
Cuts proposed for social programs in 2010 stunned and angered Milwaukee County supervisors Wednesday, who said the county’s poorest and most vulnerable residents would bear the brunt.
The county’s Health and Human Services budget request would eliminate $1 million for homeless shelters, $2.4?million for elderly and disabled programs, $721,000 from programs for delinquents and nearly $300,000 from a burial program for low-income families. – jsonline.com
I’ve been fairly mum lately about the actions the County Exec. is taking to keep up with his “hold the line” promise in his run for Governor, but this is going too far. Effectively killing programs that help the homeless, elderly and disabled in Milwaukee County in order to advance a campaign slogan isn’t just impractical, it’s down right immoral.
Are we going to be a society and community that condemns and casts aside the less fortunate in order to save a few dollars on a property tax bill? Should we support public officials who’s policies and ambitions go against everything we ever learned in Sunday school about helping those less fortunate than ourselves?
How can anyone with a conscience support or advocate these kind of policies that will toss the homeless out of shelters or give a decent burial to someone who wouldn’t otherwise get one? It’s morbid and it’s just plain wrong.
Scott Walker, who says he is a man of faith, should know better.
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and son Carter.
It all sounds really really bad, doesn’t it? But at what point, would YOU cut off spending? Especially if the beds in the homeless shelters are remaining EMPTY?
Or are you not concerned with the effectiveness of the programs….hmmm
If you were paying say $10 a bed, for 1000 beds but only using 700 beds, would you continue to charge taxpayers for $1000 beds???
You need to stop crying “slow a painful death to innocent woman and babies if we don’t…..!!!!” and shift to some realistic facts..
Are you just throwing around numbers, or do you have any actual data that support them?
Even if I go with your fantasy numbers, you’re saying that because a homeless shelter is not filled to capacity every night that we should shut it down? I mean, if we go with your tortured logic, then if there was a single empty bed at any point in time, all those who do use the shelter should be thrown out on the street.
That’s like saying if the freeway isn’t suffering from traffic jams 24/7, it should be shut down because it’s not being used to capacity. Or if funds to help start 100 new small businesses only attracts 90 entrepreneurs that those 90 should have their funding pulled because at a certain point in time it wasn’t being utilized 100%.
You might have better luck trying to make your point if it were bound in any kind of rational thinking.
Dan – my logic isn’t tortured at all. The fact that I am using a casual number makes no difference if you are just trying to make a case for effectiveness.
And don’t put words in my mouth. I never said anything about having to satisfy a certain amount ‘every’ nite, as you suggested. Use some common sense. It has to do with a consistent vacancy of beds. THAT’s why he suggested the cut.
You’re examples are foolish and have nothing to do with my point.
Dan,
I don’t believe he’s suggesting cutting the entire program, just a portion of this program (as an example) because there is less usage of that service than originally projected. I’m not sure if those numbers are correct, but it is an example of many government run programs. The intent was noble and quite honestly could be argued necessary, but over time many of those programs become bloated with buercracy (and the people that program is supposed to help, suffer) and/or the service or program is no longer needed.