Of all the states that are currently in a serious financial crisis, California is probably the worst. They are struggling to put together a budget, they are raising taxes and users fees, they have furloughed government workers and reduced the work week. They are so far in debt, that meeting their retirement obligations is looking like it will be mission impossible.
Add to this crushing budget woes is an illegal immigration population that is taxing the state-run hospital system. In 2010, the state of California spent $1.25B to treat illegal immigrants. Because of this cost, the state has asked the federal government, which also has no money, to bail them out.
Here is an idea. Stop treating them. I realize this is cold and I know it is against the law to turn away anyone, regardless of their immigration status, from receiving treatment. But this is just plain crazy. California and other states are spending billions of dollars to treat people that don’t even contribute to the system. I know there are liberals/progressives out there that say the illegals pay taxes. This might be true in some cases, but by and large, these folks are paid under the table.
We simply can no longer afford to provide handout to everyone who desires them. California is in desperate straits right now that they have to ask the feds to give them money to cover the cost of an utterly failed immigration enforcement policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment