Reagan Budget’s ‘Warped Vision’
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The Reagan budget of $1.02 trillion proposes to cut Medicare by putting more restrictions on hospitals, forcing them to release patients even earlier than they do now. Medicare rates go up about $5 a month to $22.30 next year. On the other hand, people who become 65 and eligible for Medicare will pay $31.20 a month, about $9 more. Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California, will be cut by $20 billion over five years, besides the cuts already ordered by Gov. George Deukmejian.
A program providing orange juice, infant formula, cheese and milk to pregnant women will be cut by 50,000 people. A dozen programs for the poor, including the Legal Services Corp., giving free legal help to them, are eliminated--plus other social programs.
On the other hand, the military gets a budget of $312 billion, an increase of $22 billion. In other words, social programs are being cut to feed the military.
Why are we now the world’s biggest debtor nation, from the world’s biggest creditor nation just a few years ago? Why are the first four leading banks in the world now Japanese instead of American? Why did we have a budget deficit of $221 billion for fiscal 1986--a trade deficit that runs toward $170 billion?
SAMUEL GENDELMAN
Los Angeles
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