The unkindest cut of all

[dsc]

https://articles.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/08/ohio_budget_bill_ended_cash_as.amp

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich and state lawmakers last month quietly eliminated a state safety net program that provided cash benefits to about 6,000 disabled Ohioans with little or no income.

The state stopped accepting new applications for the Disability Financial Assistance program July 1 -- a change buried in the 3,300-page state budget bill . Ohioans receiving the $115 monthly assistance will be phased off the program by the end of the year, with many not receiving a check this month.

snip

The program cost $9.6 million last year from the state's $34.5 billion general revenue fund budget.

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If you do the math you will find that for every 100 dollars spent by Ohio this saves 2.8 cents. No that isn't a typo nor a math error. The next time someone tell you how moderate Kasich is or how much Kasich cares about the poor or how moral Kasich is just remember in order to save 2.8 cents out of every 100 dollars he is willing to see 6000 people have their only income taken away. Frankly the next time I see Kasich moralizing it might be enough to make me puke. Full disclosure my sister benefited from this program for about a year with the state getting every last cent back from her back pay.

[CrispyQ]

1. That is someone's grocery budget.

Who will get that 2.8¢?

[Angry Dragon]

3. corps

[dsc]

4. or the wealthy whose taxes Kasich has repeatedly cut

[Angry Dragon]

2. face it......repubs just have black hearts and black souls

[Oubaas]

5. Gee...

That Kasich is such a nice, thoughtful guy!

[Marie Marie]

6. This guy could run against Trump in 2020

and people see him as the reasonable Republican. Easy to do next to Trump but there is nothing "reasonable" about Kasich.

[BarbD]

8. He is certainly positioning himself to do just that.

We need to remember that Trump makes even the devil seem reasonable.

[Honeycombe8]

7. Oh,no. I hate to hear that. Here's what Kasich says about it.

The Kasich administration says the program was intended to help people while they waited to receive federal disability benefits, and Medicaid managed care health plans can help expedite that process so monthly cash assistance isn't necessary.

But advocates for the poor say most Ohioans in the program will never meet the high bar for federal benefits but have disabilities that keep them from working. Bob Bonthius, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, said people rely on that cash to pay their rent and other basic living expenses.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/08/ohio_budget_bill_ended_cash_as.html

So sad. "Federal disability benefits" I guess refers to SSD or SSI?

It looks like Ohio is having a budget problem and has to cut $400 Million a year off its budget.

Ohio lawmakers will have to cut $800 million from the two-year budget they're pounding out.

Gov. John Kasich, flanked by GOP legislative leaders and budget director Tim Keen, said Thursday that slow economic growth nationally and in Ohio are responsible for tax revenues lagging behind estimates.

As of the end of March, yearly tax revenue collections were $615 million below estimates, which were already revised downward in June.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/04/ohio_legislators_must_trim_800.html

Why the revenue problems? Ohio CUT TAXES, and then on top of that, WAGES WERE LESS THIS YEAR than anticipated. I guess we can see this sort of thing when the country's taxes are gutted. Decreased revenue = decreased revenue. Duh!

[BigmanPigman]

9. All Republicans are deplorable to some degree.

I still hold my same opinions of McCain and Flake too.