From: dewey@sooner.ctci.com (Dewey Coffman)
Subject: Re: Texas $3.2 Billion Budget short fall
Keywords: Taxes, Social Services
Organization: CTC, Inc., Austin, TX. U.S. of A. 78757-3109
Distribution: tx
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 02:58:39 GMT

In article <1993Jan16.135221.16021@sooner.ctci.com> dewey@sooner.ctci.com (Dewey Coffman) writes:
>From the Austin American-Statesman, 1/12/93
>
>	Sharp say $3.2 billion need to brighten 'gloomy' budget.
...  [ Proposed Cuts ]
>	6) AIDS/HIV Services
>		7900 AIDS or HIV patients will no longer receive social &
>		medical services. Another 2800 will no longer receive
>		medication. [ See new information below. ]
..
>======================================================================
>New Information:
>----------------
>#6 Glen Maxey, D-Austin, the only openly Gay member of the House, has said
>he supports a tax increase to continue funding this [AAS, Jan 16, page A13].
>House leadership has vowed to write a two-year budget without a tax increase.
>Estimated cost for this program from information in the aricle, $100 *
>each patient(3000) == $300,000,  * 12 months == $3,600,000
>Maxey explains that this saves money because one stay in the hospital for
>each of these patients for pneumocystis pneumonia is ~8500 * 3000 or is it
>7800? Sounds like a good investment.....but, bottom line, is we're (you
>and I, the people that we're paying for are indigent, AIDS apparently has
>a way of zapping all your money for the medication, and you can apparently
>no longer work.) paying to keep someone alive who is probably going to die
>from AIDS sooner or later. DOES the community "*owe*" them this prolonging
>of their life, or does this go beyond basic health care?

	Damn, I hate to followup and include all that but...

	I saw on the local Austin news today, there was a staged "Funeral"
	on the steps of the Capital with Glen Maxey(D) Austin, Danberg(D) of
	Houston involved in the speeches afterward, talking about the all the 
	people who would die if the AIDS Medication funding is cuts. Regardless
	of the facts that those who staging the "funeral" were HIV positive
	and are probably going to be DEAD and not have to pay for the medication	they want the state to continue funding, they did have one good point.

	Their claim was that if the state drops the support of the medication,
	the cost of treating the dying patients in community hospitals will
	be more expensive and fall on local communities. This to me sounds
	like Austin is going to get burdened with some extra cost of the
	state budget cutting. (cause of the large gay community here)

	But this goes back to my original question that no one responded to.
	Do we owe every citizen a free heart transplant? What about free
	RadioKwhaterver for their eyes, free limbs, free medicine that will
	keep them alive until/if a cure for AIDS is found? Free hospital stay
	for pneumonia caused by AIDS? Tough questions, expensive questions.
	
	I wish I had the answer, I sure don't have the money to continue
	paying taxes for programs like this.

	-dewey
-- 
Dewey Coffman dewey@ctci.com  All opinions expressed are unrelated to reality.
CTC, Inc.			  "That voodoo stuff don't do nothing for me."
"If you fail to plan, plan to fail" 	PANIC: waiting for a good idea.
"A fart is the cry of an imprisoned turd." muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au(Murray Chapman)
Newsgroups: tx.politics,talk.politics.misc