Budget cuts that hurt

Re “Program for mentally ill eliminated,” Aug. 25

It’s not surprising that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has cut the $55-million program for the mentally ill homeless while retaining the $45-million tax break for yacht owners. While Schwarzenegger has always talked about everyone having to share in the budget-deficit burden, he has made certain that the ones who carry the brunt of that burden are the poor, the elderly and the ill, while his wealthy friends and campaign contributors come out relatively unscathed.

Sandra Wolber

Granada Hills

We now learn that Schwarzenegger and other politicians have trimmed from our state’s $145.5-billion budget such things as $55 million that helps thousands of the homeless mentally ill break the costly cycle of hospitalization, jails and street life; $1.3 million for a hospital infection tracking program that could help lessen the 7,000 of us who are dying annually because of hospital infections; and $17.4 million to protect seniors. These programs, totaling $73.7 million, amount to something less than one-thousandth of every penny in each dollar of the state’s budget. What difference will such cuts make? Something is very wrong in Sacramento.

Douglas L.R. Hauge

Fillmore