Democrats jeopardize $1.3 billion in federal funds
May 15, 2012
By Katy Grimes
It appears that Democrats aren’t really sincere or even serious about working toward solutions that will actually help California solve the economic crisis in the state. Last week, Democrats voted against a smart consolidation program which would have provided an additional $1.3 billion to the state.
After Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday that California’s budget deficit has grown to nearly $16 billion, astoundingly higher than the $9 billion deficit amount announced in January, one would assume that every California politician would be looking under every rock for money to shore-up the debt.
Apparently politics trumps economic stability.
Welfare system maze
One way to cut government is consolidating redundant services. If politicians are looking for redundancy in state government, the biggest mess is also the most obvious: California currently has four different systems which run Medi-Cal, CalWORKS, and Food Stamp programs. Every county has its own maze of welfare programs as well.
Last week during the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services hearing, Democrats moved to repeal the 2009 law directing the state to move towards a single, centralized system for Medi-Cal, CalWORKS, and Food Stamp programs.
In a 2010 report, the Legislative Analyst’s Office found “the new statewide process is intended to achieve two primary outcomes: (1) providing better service to people applying for these programs and (2) lowering administrative costs through better use of technology.”
Even with the LAO’s recommendation to consolidate, for efficiency, simplification, better record keeping, and cost savings, Democrats opposed consolidating the four state programs into one system – even with the $1.3 billion incentive from the Federal Government to do this.
With this opposition, Democrats have jeopardized much needed federal funds. This decision highlights the purely political problems involved in balancing our budget – government jobs and government spending, over efficiency and a slimmer state government.
In 2011 California applied for $1.3 billion in federal funding to streamline the four systems in the state’s largest welfare programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services responded in April that they were approving the funding request on the condition that California consolidate the welfare system.
But Democrats said “no.”
5 comments
Write a commentRelated Articles
Free Speech Under Attack in Sac
Katy Grimes: Silencing dissenting political opinions is a tactic used throughout history when one political party dominates. In Democratically-dominated California,
Cuts Ahead For State's Many Regulations
Katy Grimes: California leads the country in regulatory laws. It’s nothing to be proud of. While other states mock California’s
School lead contamination standards seen as weak, but safer rules would have huge cost
After reports of problems with lead contamination of water at schools around California, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in October of
What were the reasons given by the dems for repealing the 2009 law?
Were any republicans on board with the dems or was it a pure party vote?
Were any of the corporations, like JP Morgan, that administer welfare programs like food stamps at the meeting? Did they argue against consolidation too?
Why can’t Uncle Sugar force a consolidation at the State level since a large portion of welfare funds come from the feds?
Does anyone in Sactown ever talk about the massive amount of tax money (estimated @ $20B for education, healthcare, incarceration, welfare, child tax credits, etc..) that we spend on illegal foreigners living in California? Or is that a taboo topic amongst the intelligensia up there who reward illegals while simultaneously punishing their own citizens?
Once again the true rulers of the state, government sector unions, are pulling the strings. The labor cartel oligarchs don’t want consolidation because it means fewer jobs for labor cartel minions who administer the hideously bloated California welfare system. It’s all about government sector job protection, even if it means turning down staggering sums of moolah from Uncle Scam.
Never underestimate the craven duplicity and degenerate moral character of Cali’s Demonrat ruling class. My guess is that this website is one of the few places in Cali where this subject will get covered. Most other news sources will just prattle on with their vacuous infotainment for the stupified masses. Who will crash first, Greece or California?
“It’s all about government sector job protection, even if it means turning down staggering sums of moolah from Uncle Scam”
Did you miss my comment??
JP Morgan administers the food stamp program nationally.
No doubt that other private companies adminster other welfare programs in California too.
We have 33% of the nation’s welfare population in CA and only 12% of the nation’s total population.
33% of the nation’s welfare population is A LOT of business. It’s not only the public sector that profits.
We need to be honest on these boards.
No ‘bub, I didn’t miss your comment, I just ignored it. You really have your panties in a bunch over JP Morgan. Since you claim to be interested in honesty, let’s be honest. JP Morgan does not “administer” the national food stamp program, state and federal bureaucrats do. It makes a profit by electronically processing food stamp transactions. Bank of America makes a profit from processing EDD unemployment compensation transactions. That is still better than employing thousands of government workers to slowly and incompetently process the same transactions using broken down 50 year old computer technology while they all stand around the water cooler yakking or spend their days porn surfing the internet (if they show up for work at all).
Are these crony capitalist banksters using their political influence to maintain this arrangement? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were. But even if they are, the problem is ulimately the bloated welfare state and the death grip the government sector unions have on state politicians. Whatever influence the banksters have in this state is dwarfed by the pervasive influence of government worker cartels. They run the state. They own the state. They are the state. Stop obsessing over the fly on the wall and try to see the elephant in the room!
“Since you claim to be interested in honesty, let’s be honest. JP Morgan does not “administer” the national food stamp program, state and federal bureaucrats do. It makes a profit by electronically processing food stamp transactions. Bank of America makes a profit from processing EDD unemployment compensation transactions”
Ok, let’s play the semantics game. JP Morgan ADMINSTERS THE ELECTRONIC PROCESSING OF FOOD STAMP AWARDS. There, can we both agree on that? And JP Morgan make a BUNDLE OF MONEY doing it. In fact, the more people on food stamps THE MORE THEY MAKE. And food stamp awards have gone from about 22M five years ago to 46M today. Nice profits, eh???
And thank you for including BoA as processing EDD claims. HAH! So BoA helps put millions of Americans out of work by helping to blow up the economic system and then profits on the back end by processing their unemployment claims!!! HAH! 😀
Basically you are arguing who is worse? Frankenstein or Dracula. You assign a LEVEL of blame – and in your original post point your finger exclusively at government. While I agree that government is a major culprit that the corporate oligarchs who own the government cronies are equally responsible for the failed economy.
“Are these crony capitalist banksters using their political influence to maintain this arrangement? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were”
That’s disingenuous, Dyspeptic. If you are as well informed as you claim you know how the pols are getting bribed and paid off by the corporate interests to dish out favored legislation and special favors. You know how the high ranking pols stack the deck with Wall Street cronies on Capital Hill. You know how pols and Wall Street crooks exchange seats with one another – like the Corzines, Hank Paulson’s and Timmy Geithners of the world. You KNOW ALL THIS so don’t way “I don’t know”.
“Whatever influence the banksters have in this state is dwarfed by the pervasive influence of government worker cartels”
You are fact challenged. The government does not “dwarf” the government cronies. THEY WORK HAND IN HAND TOGETHER TO SCREW THE AVERAGE ORDINARY CITIZEN. Who do you think gets the government contracts in return for “campaign donations”??? Do you think the Wall Street goons got those $trilion$ dollar bailouts in the interest of the nation??? HAH! Wall Street, SacTown and Capital Hill all walk arm in arm to fleece the average American. THEY OPERATE TOGETHER – MUCH LIKE THREE STREET GANGS THAT WORK IN UNISON.
Educate yourself, Dyspeptic. You are part way there. But you need further research.