What a strange time we live in smack in the middle of a
worsening epidemic of drug misuse, our leaders in Foggy Bottom are debating the
depth of the cuts to be administered to our nation’s healthcare defenses. More
precisely, every one of the Affordable Care Act alternatives being deliberated
upon, as of this writing, would scale back Medicaid funding and take health
insurance away from millions of Americans. The “angels on the head of a pin”
argument has been, whether X millions is better than Y millions. It is likely
Garden State decision-makers will be called upon to make up the difference, so
to speak. This has at least one historical precedent that I’m familiar with.
When the then-Bush Administration eliminated some of the financial support for
HIV/AIDS programs while that illness was at its peak, the state, I think
heroically, stepped up to keep the struggling programs whole. Can, and will,
the N.J. state government this time, supply the monies necessary to prevent
(forestall?)a coming catastrophe for thousands of its residents? My position is
that it must. A sicker populace will also be a more expensive one . So, putting
moral and humane importuning to the side; ultimately, the state will have
little choice in the matter.
One must pity the next N.J. Administration. Whoever wins the
election will inherit a Budget that takes in less revenue than is needed to run
the government. And a tax regimen that disproportionately sends the
hard-earnings of New Jersey residents and businesses to pay for the follies of
the federales in the District of Columbia. To make the situation worse, the
state will now be asked to provide the safety net that is cruelly and
irrationally being yanked away by the apparatchiks in Puttinville (nee
Washington, DC).
Perhaps the move of the confederacy in 1861 was the wise
one, and maybe the Garden State ought to consider leaving Trussia (nee United
States of America). One would imagine self-sufficiency would be a more
rewarding goal for New Jerseyans than caring for one’s own – and – paying for
the tweeting irresponsibility of the fakirs who presently rule the country’s
roost.
A more likely, and practical, proposal would be to adopt the
TrumpCare Nullification Act offered by Senator Ray Lesniak and Assemblyman
Jamel Holley. Currently being readied for introduction, this measure would
replace the tax cuts on high-income families with an equivalent state tax, and
use the proceeds to continue the Medicaid subsidies for the low-income families
and the elderly who will suffer lost coverage or severe reductions in care.
Ed Martone
Policy Analyst
