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Thousands of health care walkers rallied all over the city to protest his proposed health care cuts. They rallied in Midtown outside Governor Spitzer's offices and outside hospitals; the Reverend Al Sharpton was with protesters in Harlem.
With 36,000 jobs at stake, health care union Local 1199's head, Dennis Rivera, said, "Gov. Spitzer, you take great pride about how mean you are, how tough you are, how you can steamroll people, how you can crush people. We are of a different ilk: We're about love. We are about taking care of people who are coming to our hospitals when they are most vulnerable."
Spitzer and Local 1199 have been sparring with each other by airing ads. Though there was a momentary truce, the ads were back on - the health care union's ads questioning why Spitzer is turning his back against the people who voted him into office and Spitzer's ads include one with a choir of children singing Hallelujah about his health care reform. The Sun reports that one lobby has pulled funding from the Local 1199 ads.
Photograph of the health care rally in Midtown by kerfuffle & zeitgiest on Flickr
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Is this a real "cut?"
What I mean is that in the federal budget, people fling the word "cut" around all the time when things grow year over year. When they say cut, they're referring to the budget being increased 2% this year instead of the 5% it was last year (as an example, it doesn't apply here as far as I know).
Does anyone know the actual numbers / percentages involved here?
Ahh, it's nice to see that it doesn't matter which party occupies the governor's office -- unions will whine at whoever's in charge.
When public money is at at stake, always pay attention to each party's motivation. The governor's job is to use finite resources to serve the people the best way he can. The union's job is to pad job rolls and paychecks as much as it can.
Their rhetoric is always about "caring for the people" but their agenda is focused squarely on their own pockets. 'Twas ever thus.
I hope Governor Spitzer stands tough.
(When they say cut, they're referring to the budget being increased 2% this year instead of the 5% it was last year (as an example, it doesn't apply here as far as I know).
Yes, that is exactly what is happening to Medicaid overall, and your numbers are even about right (it's actually 2.5%).
But there is something more. Because of their political power, hospitals and nursing homes have always gotten a cut off the top, whether that's the healthcare people want and need or not. And though it is supposedly a program for the poor, many Medicaid dollars have been shifted, back-door, to the better off.
The proposals do mean a reduction in hospital funding and a freeze for nursing homes, with savings used for other things like reducing the number of uninsured children. And with Medicaid money following the Medicaid patients, more will end up going to the under-funded public hospitals, where the poor actually get care.
Which is probably why everyone other than the unions think it's a good idea...
Hallelujah indeed...
why is it that in these cases people always blame the government for a small change in budget, but fail to notice the huge role hospital adminstration plays in the bottom line of workers.
that small group or *protesters* is clearly under the direction of a larger institution posing as grassroots activism against the budget...
hehe, "health care walkers".
Stop bitching ! The guy is trying to do the right thing here . It's sick how when those in power that try to change the current system of doing things they are criticized for their actions . I have no beef with Health care workers & there jobs . I have seen first hand what the current system does to people for whom have to depend on it . Sure the workers are concerned about their jobs and I'm sympathetic too there concerns . I think the real problem for them isn't the Governor's cuts but the fact that the Local is going to lose a lot of money here . There own union is trying to scare them into thinking that this is an attack on them as a powerhouse that they are in NYC . It's not from what I see, Spitzers trying to get Health care under control . Sure he may be going about the severe way and all . It's just his style to go at it this way . That's why this guy was voted into power in the first place !