With the terrible budget shortfall at the state level, we can look forward to tragic cuts to education, the full range of social services and public safety, none of which can afford to be cut.
Our higher education system is mediocre and struggling for funding. The Oregon Health Plan, Disability Services, and a wide variety of critical services effecting infants and youth are going to be hacked up by the legislature, because there is no money. That means cuts to disability services, WIC, juvenile services, mental health, the state police, DHS -- and the list goes on. We're all going to suffer, but the ones who will undoubtedly suffer most, and most unfairly, are the very young and very old, the two groups who can't possible take care of themselves and for whom we have an absolute responsibility.
In the coming months and years even more burden will be shouldered by the food banks, homeless shelters, missions, and other non-profits who help do what used to be done by churches and governments (federal, state and local).
This is not the time to indulge silly fantasies designed to discredit the non-profits that take care of needy children and adults. (Birth to three, Lookingglass, Relief Nursery, KidsFirst, Committed Partners for Youth, CASA, Food for Lane County, Pearl Buck, etc, et) These programs have become a critical part of our community safety net for developmentally delayed, drugged, abused, abandoned, starving, homeless kids and their parents.
There is one individual who ranted under the screen name of "Foundation Trilogy" for years. Like the mentally ill woman who has nothing nice to say about anybody, Mr. "Trilogy" has nothing nice to say about county commissioners, non-profits, city council members, law enforcement agents or other government employees. Taken together his prose says two things: "The government is out to get me, and the government is corrupt is its support of non-profits". This nonsense was taken to federal court and, as many members here predicted, it was promptly thrown out as frivolous. Now we're hearing the same nonsense under a different screen name or two. Apparently, he's got access to more than one computer. Please do not keep bouncing the nonsense to the surface by responding to it. He will eventually get tired of responding to himself. He did last time.
We all know how awful it is to kick a person when he's down. Now imagine what kind of person makes up lies about conspiracies in non-profits to kill their funding just when people need their help most. It's despicable. Please, give it a rest. Try helping people for a switch. It will melt your heart.
