Jerry Brown's Budget Solution Is To Starve Senior Citizens, Excluding Himself

By Matt Smith Thu., Jan. 6 2011 at 4:39 PM

Not On Our Dime

Most everyone would expect Governor Jerry Brown to take sharp measures to ensure that the state's books are balanced in the coming year.

But cutting back on food for the elderly? That seems draconian.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Brown wants to seriously trim grants for the low-income and elderly, as well as blind and disabled residents.

We asked a Brown spokesman for specifics about the proposed cuts -- and his response remained consistently vague.

"More details on the governor's budget plan will be provided when it's introduced next week," the staffer said.

Still, it's worth noting that a proposal that hits both the poor and the elderly is an audacious move for the newly elected Democrat who advocated strongly for that constituency his first term as governor. Remember when he gained hero status among aging Californians after setting up the state's first Department of Aging while making elderly assistance a budget priority?

Those efforts have been slowly stripped away, mostly under the watch of Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was notorious for slashing funds that paid for dental care, vision, podiatry, and other types of medical assistance for the state's poor and elderly residents.

Under the current Supplemental Security Income program, poor, elderly and disabled Californians can get up to $845 in combined federal and state assistance. Some 46,000 San Franciscans rely on SSI grants.

Further cuts would mean disaster for the local community, where many who rely on this assistance would go hungry and forgo treating medical conditions.

"Food insecurity is an issue," said Patricia McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a San Francisco nonprofit. "The Senior nutrition program was eliminated under Schwarzenegger last year... For Brown to use poor people, disabled people, and the frail elderly as political footballs makes me sick."

Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly

Tags:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elderly, Food Insecurity, Jerry Brown, SSI

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Calamity Babs

I always liked and supported Jerry Brown, too, so this recent rant of his about he'll raise taxes and then ask us is crap! NO ONE can afford any tax raises so he can tax his filthy rich new friends and leave the rest of us who are dependant on SSI to live and die in peace. Brown's attempt to balance the state's budget on the backs of the poor is a GOP idea so if that's how Brown is now, then he can join Gov. Gray Davis in the Recall Isle...

drBCayenneBird

Jerry Brown just gave hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to prison guards in raises and benefits under SB 151. He took the money from education and human services. There was very little public outcry against him doing this but 900 people did come together to see if there is enough support for a recall. He cut the elderly and disabled because they are weak and can't fight back. But thousands of people can replace Jerry Brown who took $1.8 mil from the prison guards when he was running. There is also $7 bil in new prison construction already approved to take place. On Facebook Liberals to Recall Jerry Brown, http://www.facebook.com/Libera...He will expand the prison industry for as long as we allow him to sit in office.

Broncosgal6539

What about the union problem with these huge pensions?.What about illegalls getting everything for free?...cutting benefits from the disabled is wrong. Helping the helpless should be a priority! Stopping the abuse to the system needs to end...and no mention of job creation??

Jonna

I take issue with you saying Governor Brown is making the cuts because he wants to. He has no choice. He doesn't have the 2/3 majority he needs to raise taxes. American's have been voting for a smaller government for years. This is what smaller government looks like.

drBCayenneBird

He has a choice. The hundreds of millions of dollars that he just gave to the prison guards in raises in salaries and benefits came from education and human services budget. There are 54,000 non-violent prisoners who are getting out anyone who could safely be released. Instead Brown is moving them to already over-crowded county jails. Brown will serve the prison guards for as long as we allow him to sit in power. Please help the campaign Liberals to Recall Jerry Brown on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/Libera...

Davidaa

Maybe a Distortion Tax on misleading newspaper articles would be good. Then maybe SF Weekly would come to its senses and fire the goons who write this crap

Rob21

Yea wouldn't it be great if we could give everyone everything they ever needed from the government?

Why don't you ever acknowledge that it might not be the job of the government to take care of everyone. Personally I'm sick of paying over 1000 bucks a month in taxes out of my pay check, to go to a government which inefficiently redistributes wealth.

itoldyou

These article give a distorted and one sided picture of the problems and solutions. Many people envisioned that by opening up the borders and allowing millions of poor and uneducated to enter this country was a prescription for disaster. Now it has come to pass and the govs says give us eveything you have for these people. I can only say if millions of these blind and disable voted for the politicans who championed these ideas they only have themselves to blame