Thursday, November 10, 2016

It's NaCaGiMo, Folks! Day 10



I've been veering all over the place -- despair to anxiety to "power to the people" enthusiasm and resolve and then back. In keeping with NaCaGiMo, though, I'm going to tell you that I feel the most panic when I think about what might (and probably will) happen to those of us dependent on disability-related federal subsidies. I'm talking the Affordable Care Act and it's dismantling, what it means to Sophie and her "pre-existing condition." The amount of stress -- both emotional and financial -- that our family and millions of others had before the ACA was PTSD-inducing, and it looks like we're in for another round of it. I'm talking SSI and IHSS, and the various services that many families of children with special healthcare needs and disabilities depend upon for not just their quality of life but also their existence. We had actually made progress the last eight years, and now it looks like it'll be ripped away, systematically. I got a grim reminder of how it happens yesterday as a job I had -- acting as a peer reviewer for a federal grant -- was suspended late in the afternoon. I needed that job, and I'm certain that those who wrote the grant proposals needed that money. It's started already, and if the past is any indication (the 8 years under Bush), anything related to caregiving and the disabled is the first to go on the chopping block. One of the first things that Obama did when he took office was to lift the ban on federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. At the time I was working on a national collaborative team trying to improve the quality of healthcare for children with special healthcare needs (with special effort toward closing the equality gap for the disadvantaged), and the relief was palpable, not just for the medical professionals but also for families who have children with genetic conditions and serious life-threatening illnesses. I'm thinking of the prospect of a Chris Christie in a cabinet position, a man whose draconian stance on medical marijuana could actually kill children and adults who need it. During his short presidential campaign, he vowed to go after those states that had legalized marijuana and turn the clock back. 

I'm going to be honest and admit to my fear, even as I don't despair. It's a matter of principle, I think -- the fact that the Republican party, a majority of white people, INCLUDING WOMEN, put this creep of a man into office and acquiesced to the assholes that will surround and advise him. We need to all WAKE UP and fight back.


11 comments:

  1. I am hoping that living in one of the most progressive states in the union means that the folks here will rise up and do what we can to protect ourselves from any rollbacks that come. If we can convince our western states to enact their own single-payer systems or expand their medicaid programs, perhaps we can stave off some of the pain for so many who have made strides under Obama. We've enacted plastic bag bans, gun control measures, and marijuana initiatives to name a few. Maybe it's time for us to recognize the power of states until we can get someone back in the White House who will truly work for social supports for all people.

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  2. Many people will die. That's the truth. It's one of the things I'm most scared about.

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  3. I just had a conversation with the young woman who cleans for me. J. has been coming for seven year's now. She is a single mother of four boys (3 to 12). The boys are well mannered, smart, neatly dressed and groomed.
    Even though she earns $20 an hour, she still needs food stamps and help with their health care. She has been upset with what she's hearing from the republicans about the people who sit on their behinds and collect government assistance!! I will add that she files her income tax every year. It makes me ill to think of the new man in the White House (if he deigns to live there) taking away those benefits. The thought of axing Obamacare makes me sick to my stomach!

    Best,
    Bonnie

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    1. SNAP, the food stamp program and what's left of welfare is likely to go. As well as Obsmacare. A lot of people will be affected including some of those who voted for Trump. It's going to be interesting when they feel the squeeze. They really believe it's all going to be replaced with something better

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  4. The outcome of this election affects so many issues - nation-wise and worldwide. The kind of politics, economics and, above all, culture it supports will reverberate throughout the world.

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  5. Chris Christie is a class A ass. I'm hoping the states will be able rise up out of the ashes. In the meantime - can you get some charlotte's web seeds? That's a simplistic question because I know you need the fine tuned science of tincture or distillation. ...

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  6. Honey, I'm fighting back. I promise. The families that depend on the Affordable Care Act in my practice will be hurt. Being poor and pregnant got a bit easier, for a while. And I'll fight for them.

    Seattle had a demonstration last night. We'll get organized and go to the street.

    Bless you and your family.

    Big love,

    Beth

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  7. Elizabeth, my daughter just linked to this article. Perhaps a ray of hope?

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-anthony-cooper/the-electoral-college-was_b_12897066.html

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  8. Living outside the US we were unaware of all the economic hardship this Trump victory will unleash on so many. We were just devastated by all the other horrific repercussions it will visit on the entire globe.

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  9. already picking his cabinet. basket of deplorables....

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  10. YES, Elizabeth. We will fight back. Thank you for writing, as always, and all the best to you and yours.

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