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Title: 8 House Dems ask for border fence halt
Source:
Sacramento Bee
URL Source: http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/1616841.html
Published: Feb 11, 2009
Author: ap
Post Date: 2009-02-11 14:05:32 by Rotara
Keywords: None
Views: 321
Comments: 2
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Eight Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives are asking for a halt to new border fence construction. In a letter to President Barack Obama, the eight asked for a suspension of fence construction until an evaluation of border security operations being conducted by the new administration is finished. The letter was signed by Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, five Texas lawmakers and two from California. Tuesday's letter says there are places where fencing is feasible. But the members wrote that the previous administration's policy of using fencing along much of the border was ill-conceived because local communities and local Border Patrol chiefs didn't have "meaningful input." The Texas members include Solomon Ortiz, Silvestre Reyes, Ruben Hinojosa, Ciro D. Rodriguez, and Henry Cuellar. The Californians are Bob Filner and Susan Davis.
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#1. To: All (#0)
"I don't think the fence can solve a problem. I find it rather offensive." ~ Ron Paul (National Party - R) At this point a fence will be used AGAINST Americans - so since the game is OVER I don't want the fence either. Patriots will be coming and going and not using ameriKan check points. ;-)
By Robert Lewis Published: Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009 Sacramento County supervisors today could vote to stop providing medical care to undocumented immigrants. That is just one of the budget cuts the Board of Supervisors is exploring to close a $55 million general fund shortfall in the current fiscal year. Doctors, advocates, mental health patients, lawyers, even a Franciscan priest turned out Tuesday to protest the proposed cuts. Supervisors put off voting on the measures until 2 p.m. today. The cuts would gut mental health services throughout the county and severely reduce public health services. "The county is the web that holds up the community, and you are, by dismantling these (programs), dismantling that safety net," said Nancy Matulich, spokeswoman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 146, which represents health and human service workers. The county faces significant decreases in revenue because of the recession, leaving the board looking for places to cut. On Tuesday, the board began discussing $6.1 million in cuts including 113 staff positions, mostly vacant. Of that, the board is looking at cutting $2.4 million from the Department of Health and Human Services and $3.8 million from the Mental Health Division. Possible cuts include ending contracts with several mental health contractors, closing two community health clinics and eliminating a program that provides nursing services to about 170 first-time pregnant women annually. A controversial proposal was to stop providing care to undocumented immigrants through the medically indigent program. Officials estimate the change would save $2.4 million a year, although Bruce Wagstaff, head of the Department of Human Assistance, said the savings would be offset by the cost of setting up a program to verify eligibility. Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan, long a supporter of such a move, said the money is needed to fund other vital services. Last year, she failed to get the votes for the cut. Advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union say the move is unconstitutional and actually increases costs. "Those people will get sicker and end up in the emergency rooms," said Allen Asch, the Sacramento chapter representative of the ACLU. "It will endanger the health of all of us." Other proposed cuts proved to be equally controversial. Albert Lipson, a board member with the Sacramento chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, appealed to the board not to cut contracts with nonprofits that provide the bulk of outpatient mental health services. Lipson's 40-year-old son is diagnosed as schizophrenic, he said, and has spent most of his adult life in and out of institutions. After a stay in a locked facility, Lipson's son was able to get into a residential home where he receives special treatment and supervision. That program will end if the board approves the cuts. "Unfortunately, it will make it more difficult to maintain the stability he's had," he said.
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#2. To: All (#1)
Sacramento County may halt medical care for undocumented immigrants
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