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Exacting a human toll
Governor’s harmful budget cutting will lead to bleak future for autistic children
Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.
Advocates of funding for autism services scored a major victory in 2007 when a Nevada law was passed that earmarked $2 million to address the developmental disability. Most of the money was to help parents and legal guardians defray the costs of treatment for children.
Imagine the devastation Ralph Toddre, founder of the Autism Coalition of Nevada, must have felt Tuesday when he was informed by state Health and Human Services Department Director Michael Willden that the autism funding would not be continued beyond June 30 because of state budget cuts. Toddre, president and chief operating officer of Sunbelt Communications Co., wasted no time firing off a letter to state lawmakers.
As reported by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston via his Ralston Flash e-mail service, Toddre wrote: “I know times are tough, and the governor feels the solution to all the problems is to cut services, but there comes a time when this government must decide whether it is there to help people, or ignore them. Obviously, they have decided to ignore the citizens of this state that suffer from a disease that affects 1 in 150, and financially devastates the families dealing with it.”
This is simply the latest example of the “real-world carnage of thoughtless budget cuts,” as Ralston put it, which rests squarely on the shoulders of Gov. Jim Gibbons. The governor’s destructive ideology, one that fails to realize the necessity of expanding the state’s revenue base to better reflect Nevada in the 21st century, is preventing autism treatment and other worthy programs from obtaining the funds they richly deserve and desperately need. Instead, we have mindless budget cutting whose human toll cuts across a broad swath of state services, including other health care programs and education.
Gibbons appears content with running the state into the ground.
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The Democrats passed one of the largest tax increase in the state a few years ago.
Now they want to raise taxes on businesses that are just trying to survive.
I guess those businesses could pay more taxes by laying off employees.
What about the "real-world carnage of thoughtless" to tax struggling businesses with new taxes?
That sounds like something Obama wants to do.
1) autism experts have done a wonderful job exploding the number of children who are autistic. I'm believing it has become junk science with more kids labled autistic than really have serious problems.
2) raising taxes may mean autistic children benefit (its always the children) but that means someone might get laid off.
3) Why can't the private sector handle it?
And technically SUN...the governor is cutting budgets.
The managers are cutting services...not employees. Employees are a cost (an expensive cost), services are...THE SERVICE!
Get it right.
NPRI says it best, http://npri.org/publications/spending-li...
At least KDR you put your doubt of autism in a way that is acceptable. The way Michael Savage put it was reprehensible. Is it any wonder why that guy was pulled from TV?
Of course some doctors will be overzealous in calling a kid autistic, but that doesn't mean autism isn't a major problem. Also might our means of detecting autism be getting better, hence its rise.
So when the LV Sun's hired gun LV Sun satirist columnist Jon Ralston says something about Yucca or Gov. Jim Gibbons,
Then the LV Sun's editorial staff of Barbara Greenspun, Brian Greenspun, Micheal Kelly, and Micheal Campbell regurgitate Jon's spin as fact to support their editorial.
The real fact is that that the Nevada Legislature is the only body that can raise taxes with a 2/3's vote.
The real fact is Nevada Legislature set the two year budget which included their favorite pet projects.
The real fact is the Nevada Legislature set the rules to cut back the budget and they signed off on the cuts.
Jon Raltson, Barbara Greenspun, Brian Greenspun, Micheal Kelly, and Micheal Campbell will never understand the real facts if they just listen to each other.
The Democrats want to raise taxes but they too busy hiding under the rocks to say it.
Vote for a Democrat and you might lose your job if you work in the private sector.
You are right it might mean we are better able to detect autism, it may also mean there might be some special incentive with either being autistic (doubtful) or making someone think they're autistic (probable).
Remember how ADHD was a fad in the 1990s?
It turned out to be the drugs. Killer profits for doctors, and parents eager to do anything to help their kids (and kids get more test taking time and sometimes special treatment).
Agreed. A lot of kids with extra energy might have simply needed to get their butts outside and do some serious actual playing versus the kind done with a controller.
Additionally, some parents might have benefitted from simply telling their kids no to sweets, sodas, and the like.
This isn't to say kids don't have ADD/ADHD, but a lot of doctors got on the gravy train with the pharmaceutical industry.
Autism may be the next phantom disease, but it is still a serious condition that deserves respect and necessary treatment. They simply shouldn't just rubber stamp the condition on problem children in much the same way ADHD was.
Probably some voodoo statistics on autism, but could'nt they pare back budgets across instead of eliminating some completely?
No question when it comes to pharmaceuticals there is also a lot of reform needed. They get on a specific pill frenzy and all of a sudden everyones got the disease or the affliction.
(New millenium snake oil salespeople)
A genuine leader does not say, "gosh, we're out of revenue." A genuine leader busts his or her butt to find sources of revenue - new industries, etc. Gibbons is incompetent to lead. Period. And Rogers is a moron for not leading a recall effort.
Why is no one asking how government/executive branch staff can support cutting $2M from a needed service but seem to not be able to make state employees do their work and cut costs in order to keep the program going. We need to demand more of our state workforce...we need to hire the best available then hold them accountable to do their jobs...that's the real problem with the Department over which Mr. Willden has oversight...it's culture is all about go along to get along, cronism, and excuses. This is what we have witnessed in the child death class action lawsuite, the Hep C debacle, the inability of our early interveniton programs to meet federal standards, the Medicaid program being overspent and poorly managed, etc. etc. etc. As taxpayers, this should be inexcusable to all of us. Mr. Willden, we demand better from you and from those over whom you are responsible.