Tuesday, November 15, 2005

My state disappoints me

There are many days I love Virginia. It's pretty here, there is a lot of history (did you know 8 presidents were born and 7 buried here?) but it's when I read things like a 71 yr old woman getting a meager $599 a month that bugs the shit out of me. You see, we bring in a lot of money, have held onto our Triple A Bond rating, rank in the top 5 grossing states, are #5 on Best of the Web and yet we can't seem to fund a decent life for our retiring citizens.

Each month, she gets $463 from Social Security and $136 from Supplemental Security Income, a federal program to help older and disabled people who have little or no income and need help with food, clothing and shelter.

Her medical care and prescription drugs are paid by Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance for the poor.
Seriously now, the best we can do is $599/month when she still has to get through winter and the proposed hike in oil prices?

For all those thinking of moving to Virginia, be forewarned that at times, its politics sure do suck. We already rank 49th in financing community/social programs for persons with disabilities and now the Supreme Court has agreed with the 4th District Court of Appeals that parents will now have to prove the Individual Education Plan's for their child(ren) aren't working. Which I think totally let's an already defunct process off the hook entirely.

And people say voting for Governor/Lt. Governor doesn't matter....