What would happen to you and your family if you lost 25 percent of your income — or faced exploding and unexpected medical costs?
What about one-third or a half of your income? All of a sudden, without warning.
Would you be prepared? Do you have the savings to weather the storm without your life falling apart? Without needing help from the government, from your family, from your community?
Before we continue with Gov. Paul LePage’s headlong assault on the poor, the near-poor and working families in Maine, we should ask ourselves those questions. And we should understand the odds because accident, illness or job loss can happen to any of us.
Data collected by a respected team of researchers, including political scientist Jacob Hacker from Yale University, tells us that catastrophe isn’t that far away. With support from the Rockefeller Foundation, the researchers developed the Economic Security Index.
According to the research, one in five people in this country can expect a major economic loss, whether it’s a sharp decline in household income or a significant increase in medical expenses, during the next year. More than 15 percent can expect income to decline by a third. And almost 10 percent can expect to see household income decline by 50 percent.
“Economic insecurity has increased substantially over the last generation, and especially in recent years,” the researchers conclude. “It’s clear that the economic security of Americans is under greater threat today than at any point over the last quarter century.”
The number of people who are economically insecure has increased from an estimated 34 million in 1986 to 62 million in 2010.
And while step declines in income, often associated with a lost job, are part in the increased insecurity, the exploding cost of health care is also a major factor. According to ESI, the median household spent about 36 percent more out of pocket for health care in 2010 than it did in 1986.
Increased long-term unemployment, less access to health insurance and high medical costs swirl into a toxic stew that is crippling families, not just in Maine but across the country.
And no one is immune.
While the incidence of dramatic income loss hit families with lower levels of education the hardest, even relatively well-off families were affected.
“Many of those who experienced such losses, including solidly middle-class families, reported being unable to meet basic needs, such as food, shelter and medical care. More than half of families with incomes between $60,000 and $100,000 that experienced employment or medical disruptions, for example, reported being unable to meet at least one basic economic need.”
When job loss or an accident strikes, few of us can recover without help.
You can go to work every day, play by the rules, live modestly, pay your bills and there are still no guarantees that fate’s cruel hand won’t find you. In fact, the odds suggest that for one in five of us, it will.
None of this should come as a surprise. In Maine, we’ve seen the effects of the Great Recession and the growing gap between the rich and poor for some time. And in reaction, we have worked boldly to make sure that an unexpected medical expense or sudden job loss doesn’t destroy families.
We’ve been innovative and a leader in expanding access to health insurance and improving health. Maine ranks sixth best for the number of uninsured in the country and our state is the eighth healthiest.
But that’s all at stake.
Gov. LePage has proposed taking health insurance away from 65,000 Mainers. His plans would force thousands of seniors, who have limited income, to spend more on their prescription medicines. He would take away substance abuse treatment, Head Start and needed medical care, like podiatry, from thousands more.
His plans do nothing for jobs, to control the cost of health care or to make Mainers more economically secure.
The governor’s political strategy around the cuts has been to try to divide people into groups, and pit one against the other. He said in Aroostook County that he’d have to close schools or nursing homes, for example, if his proposals aren’t adopted.
When it comes to having the financial rug pulled out, there isn’t an “us” and a “them.” Today’s economic reality could leave any of us needing help to care for our children or to keep our homes.
If Gov. LePage has his way, that help might not be there.
David Farmer is a political and media consultant. He was formerly deputy chief of staff and communications director for Gov. John E. Baldacci and a longtime journalist. His clients include Maine Equal Justice Partners and EngageMaine. You can reach him at dfarmer14@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dfarmer14.
There is currently an assault on the wallets of the working people in Maine started and perpetuated by the party that was in power for 3 decades.
Mr Farmer, your party has done more to create and perpetuate poverty in the state of Maine, greater than any other force.
Where in your rhetoric have you ever suggested that people lift themselves up from their situations without the use of my and that of fellow hard working Mainers.
Yes I could withstand all the calamities you described above. The last thing I ever want to happen is to be at the mercy of what virtually everyone considers a dysfunctional government system. Work hard and do not make stupid decision and you do not have to rely on anyone else.
Democrats do not and have not generated wealth. Their only goal is to distribute that hard earned money to others in order to buy votes and maintain a constituency.
“Democrats do not and have not generated wealth. Their only goal is to distribute that hard earned money to others in order to buy votes and maintain a constituency.”
People who make these kind of huge and baseless generalizations are lunatics.
Truth hurts doesn’t it? The left has created an industry and a constituency out of poverty.
Show us a society — past, present, or future — that did not have poor people. Study a little history and you might better understand the reasons for that. Maine has a long history of exploitation and oppression — and it would be short-sighted to blame that on the poor alone.
Poverty often does travel in a cycle — and we need to work to break that cycle. So let’s get at it. And no, I don’t think a sudden cold-turkey approach to cutting the social safety net is going to get the job done.
And people who deny “Democrats do not and have not generated wealth. Their only goal is to
distribute that hard earned money to others in order to buy votes and
maintain a constituency.” are just plain bat $h!t crazy.
Well you must think baseless is a synonym of truth because flatlander got it right.
Nope.
We are a society, and as a society we form a government. As a nation, we, the people, agree to pay taxes in order to accomplish certain ends. We form a vorernment, and agree to pay taxes, so that we might establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and provide the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
Our Constution is a social contract. We form a government to benefit all of society — not limited to but including the poorest, sickest, and weakest members of society.
We are all only temporarily able-bodied. Some day you or I will be sick or disabled in some way. As a society we provide for these situations because any of us could wind up in such a situation, like a woman I know who was hit by a drunk driver, was hospitalized for many months, permanently lost the sight of one eye, was unemployable for two years, and still suffers from traumatic brain injury. She lived in subsidized housing for about two years, and received SSI disability payments and food stamps. She is now working again and paying taxes. We never know when that might happen to you or to me.
You say, “Work hard and do not make stupid decision and you do not have to rely on anyone else.” The woman I mentioned didn’t make any “stupid decision.” Her only “mistake” was go through a green light. The drunk driver was going through the red. My stepdaughter has MS. What “stupid decision” did she make to get MS? It could happen to anyone, including you.
So my income is about the national average, and I don’t think my taxes are too high. I did not think my taxes were too high when they were higher than now under Clinton and under Reagan. I was willing to pay my taxes then, and I’m willing now, because I am part of society. We need one another.
Of course, the popular idea today is Ayn Rand’s atheist gospel of selfishness. But I care about my fellow humans (“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”).
“and agree to pay taxes” under penalty of incarceration.
As a society aren’t we all supposed to do what we can to help pull the cart and contribute.
Nearly half of all eligible votes now pay no federal income tax. Is this what you mean or imply by a social contract?
The examples you give are rare compared to the reality of the recipients receiving entitlements.
Pay as much as you want but someone else’s poverty does not entitle you to confiscate my legally earned money.
“Social contract” is liberal-ese for “open your wallet.”
“Social contract” is what Thoms Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison based our government on. It’s the basis of the U.S. Constitution. Read your history. You benefit from our highways, police departments, fire departments, military defense, etc. Stop whining. If you don’t want to be a part of our society, feel free to move to another country. America doesn’t need more whiners.
I have read my history – it’s not the basis of the U.S. Constitution. That’s blatantly false. Maybe you should try reading your history. It WAS directly invoked in the Declaration of Independence – a separate document which has no legal standing whatsoever. Lots of people confuse the two.
Besides, even if it WERE the basis of the Constitution, that wouldn’t matter. All that matters is what the Constitution actually says, in black and white, not the theories behind it.
I don’t have a problem paying for any of the things you just mentioned; I do directly benefit from those. It’s paying for things that don’t directly benefit me that I have a problem with.
My point was that liberals now use the term “social contract” as an excuse to raise taxes and pay for ANYTHING. I understand what the term originally meant and where it come from. However, in modern parlance it’s being overused and misused as an excuse for unnecessary government.
You’re the whiner.
Yes, I know the difference between the Declaration and the Constitution (I’m glad you know that much, because most right-wingers, indeed most Americans, are very bad at American history) — and social contract thinking is behind them both.
They didn’t say “we based the Declaration of Independence on John Locke’s social contract theory, but now that we are writing that ‘we, the people’ form a government under the Constitution, we have forgotten what we were talking about when we wrote the Declaration.” No, that’s not what they said. Both documents are based on the same principles.
You whine because you are asked to pay for Social Security that you will want to collect when you retire. You whine because you are asked to pay for Medicare that you will benefit from. You whine because you are asked to pay for MaineCare or Medicare that pays for grandma, who has dementia and is in the nursing home. Some day you might break your neck and be in a wheelchair and collect SSI disability and food stamps, but you don’t want to pay into that system that protects everyone, including yourself and your loved ones. The idea that you will always be young and healthy and that nothing bad will ever happen unless you do something dumb is just magical thinking. We all die. Getting old, getting sick, becoming disabled, these are facts of life. Grow up, quit whining, and do your part to contribute to the good of our society. Or, if you don’t like the social contract that “we, the people” (that’s in the Constitution, not the Declaration) agree to, go somewhere else, and good luck with that.
I am not a whiner; you, however, are a liar.
I do not want Social Security benefits. I do not want Medicare or MaineCare, for myself or anyone else, ever. I do not want SSI Disability, for myself or anyone, ever. I don’t ever want anyone else to ever pay for anything for me, whether I’m young and healthy or not.
However, as long as I am stuck paying for these things, I have no problem using them. If they all went away tomorrow, though, I’d be thrilled, because America would start returning to the principles of freedom embodied in the Constitution that you seem to think gaurantees benefits.
I’m glad that you will never get old, never get sick, and will never be in any accident — and none of your loved ones will ever get old or sick, and will never be disabled. Good luck living in Never-Never Land. The rest of us, however, don’t believe in magic.
No one confiscates your money. Almost everybody pays taxes of some kind. You are an American citizen (I assume) and supposedly a grown-up. Take some responsibility, you big whiner. If you don’t want to live under the Constitution and laws of the land, feel free to leave.
Why are conservatives such whiners and freeloaders? You want all of the things our government provides — such as the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines and Air Force, state and local highways and Interstate highways; fire fighters; libraries; city, state, and national parks; city water lines and sewer lines; a justice system that includes courts, prisons, jails, and police departments; Social Security; Medicare; Medicaid or MaineCare to pay for grandma in the nursing home; etc., etc., — but you expect it all to be free. You whine and say you’re being robbed because you have to pay taxes. Right-wingers are a bunch of crybaby whiners and freeloaders.
I’m willing to pay for the things we, together, as a government, do for one another. We, the people of the United States of America, form a government and agree to be a part of that society — to get the benefits, and to take responsibility to do our part. It’s what makes our society work. Grow up.
You want to take my money to pay for other people’s problems and I’m the freeloader. Wow, there’s some magical liberal thinking.
You, sir, are lying. I DON’T want “all the things our government provides”. I don’t want 95% of them. I want public safety, justice, national defense, and basic infrastructure. THAT’S IT.
You completely misrepresent my position and take it to a bizarre extreme. I don’t know if that’s because you don’t understand or because your made-up position of mine is easier to argue with. I am not an anarchist; I do not want to eliminate government or taxation. I just want smaller government, and only want government to pay for things that actually directly benefit everyone.
You want to live in the United States, and get all of the benefits of citizenship for free, and you don’t call that freeloading! Wow, there’s some magical anarcho-libertarian thinking!
When you get to retirement age you will want Medicare and Social Security, but you don’t want to pay for them. When your grandma is in the nursing home with dementia you will want MaineCare to pay her bills, but you don’t want to pay for it. If you get hit by a drunk driver and have to spend two years on SSI disability, you will want it, but you don’t want to pay for it. You want to be protected by the armed forces and the police department and the fire department and drive on local state and interstate highways; and you want safe drinking water, foods that have passed FDA inspections so they are not contaminated, and clean air to breathe; and you want to be able to visit local, state and city parks, and you act as if that happens without any tax money. That’s magical thinking!
Or, maybe you don’t like the Constitution, based on the “social contract” thinking of our Founding Fathers. Maybe you think you ar an islandund unto yourself, and you don’t want to live in society with others, and take responsibility for your part in that society. Maybe you believe you have no responsibilities to your fellow citizens, and instead you believe in the atheistic selfishness of Ayn Rand’s gospel of greed. Maybe you don’t believe in Jesus’ admonition to love your neighbor, and you think that if your neighbor breaks his neck in an accident, or is born with a mental illness, that’s his tough luck. Maybe you don’t like living in the United States with it’s Constitution that says “we, the people” are all in this together. In that case, love it or leave it. We don’t need whiners and anarcho-libertarian freeloaders.
No, I don’t want anything for free. Stop lying. Nobody else ever should either. That’s the real greed, wanting something for nothing – not wanting to be able to keep what you earned.
So, you don’t want to pay for Social Security — and when you get old you promise not to collect any? You don’t want to pay for Medicare, and do you promise not to collect when the time comes? You don’t want to pay for MaineCare, and you promise your grandma won’t collect when she needs the nursing home? Do you promise to never get in a debilitating accident? Do you promise to never get old or sick?
Maybe you think that, magically, you will never get old, will never get sick, will never get hurt. And you don’t care about anyone but yourself.
You want to live in the United States, and get all of the benefits of citizenship for free, and you don’t call that freeloading! Wow, there’s some magical anarcho-libertarian thinking!
When you get to retirement age you will want Medicare and Social Security, but you don’t want to pay for them. When your grandma is in the nursing home with dementia you will want MaineCare to pay her bills, but you don’t want to pay for it. If you get hit by a drunk driver and have to spend two years on SSI disability, you will want it, but you don’t want to pay for it. You want to be protected by the armed forces and the police department and the fire department and drive on local state and interstate highways; and you want safe drinking water, foods that have passed FDA inspections so they are not contaminated, and clean air to breathe; and you want to be able to visit local, state and city parks, and you act as if that happens without any tax money. That’s magical thinking!
Or, maybe you don’t like the Constitution, based on the “social contract” thinking of our Founding Fathers. Maybe you think you are an island unto yourself, and you don’t want to live in society with others, and take responsibility for your part in that society. Maybe you believe you have no responsibilities to your fellow citizens, and instead you believe in the atheistic selfishness of Ayn Rand’s gospel of greed. Maybe you don’t believe in Jesus’ admonition to love your neighbor, and you think that if your neighbor breaks his neck in an accident, or is born with a mental illness, that’s his tough luck. Maybe you believe in magic, that you will always be young and healthy, and will never grow old or get sick, and never need the help of others. Maybe you don’t like living in the United States with its Constitution that says “we, the people” are all in this together (that’s the social contract).
In that case, love it or leave it. We don’t need whiners and anarcho-libertarian freeloaders.
Nope – I don’t want to get anything for free. Stop lying.
Well, I’m glad that you will never get old, will never get sick, will never get into an accident (even the other guy won’t hit your car), will never need Social Security or medicare or SSI disability or Medicaid or MaineCare, and if any of those things happen to you, you promise to never collect a dime. But in the meantime, my adult step-daughter, who has MS, needs a little help. My friend who was hit by the drunk driver was glad that SSI disability, food stamps, and subsidized housing, were there when she needed them. My other friend, who is confined to a wheelchair because of an accident, is glad there is a social safety net. But you don’t want to be part of this society, because you don’t care about anyone but your own selfish self. You want to live in some other country where people don’t give a damn.
The people paying no tax are extremely POOR. They have very little income. Republicans seem determined to force them to pay additional taxes (they already pay excise tax, sales tax, etc), while giving millionaires special tax breaks–talk about entitlements!
They need to pay something, as the say their fair share,, have some skin in the game.
The millionaires certainly do need to have some skin in the game. The families trying to get by on, say, $12,000 or $20,000 a year are well past skin–they’re cutting into flesh and bone, just barely surviving.
And have Republicans generated wealth? Because they’re Republicans? I can mindlessly generalize too to point out your illogic.
Apparently, you could be considered among the fortunate. Therefore, no empathy for the less fortunate.
Blah, blah, blah. Working people without good-paying jobs don’t pay much in taxes anyway. If you have a good job and you think the income tax rate (now under 8%) is a big barrier to your peace and happiness, you should probably look around more closely — and maybe look within as well. Think your life would be that much better if you were paying 5%? I doubt it.
Not saying I love to pay taxes or that I have extra money to contribute. Not saying that government shouldn’t seek to eliminate wasteful spending. But please do recognize that in any institution or corporation, there is always going to be some inefficiencies and some waste.
On the other hand, the selling of this myth of taxes as the “great evil” is getting old. America is a great country because we do pay taxes — and because we have highways, schools, bridges, libraries, fire departments, police departments, town offices, universities, communications systems, state and national parks, social security, medicare, and social services for those in need. If you are wealthy, there is a good chance your wealth would not have been possible without the above systems, so get over yourself and ask what you can contribute to society instead of sitting around thinking how much happier you would be if someone would please cut your taxes by another 2%.
bla bla bla the sky is falling
Translation: The policies of the Democrat Party, which enjoyed a 40 year reign here in Maine, and the 8 year calamity called the Baldacci administration, that Mr. Farmer was a part of, have driven Maine’s financial securities to the point of exhaustion through their big government spend-thrifty policies. Like the boy who drives a line drive through a picture window and waits for some other boy to pick up the bat so he can say, “His fault”, Mr. Farmer is cackling with fiendish juvenile glee that the Governor has stepped forward in the his first year of his administration to pick up the pieces of the Democrats litany of misfires. It is the risk every problem solver must expect. Taking the blame from shallow inept problem makers.
Nebraska is in a similiar state as Maine, losing it’s youth to jobs out of state, a budget that is in trouble and a loss of jobs so they must have been under democratic control for the past 40 years as well….. Oops, they have been under Republican control for teh past 40 years.
I wonder why they are having the same issues as Maine having been controlled by Republicans for the past 40 yrs?
Actually, I have friends who live in Nebraska and raise Beef Cattle, which most Nebraskans do. It’s very hard for a State government to create a prosperous climate for cattle ranchers when the Federal government has saddled the beef industry with onerous regulations which range from a cow flatulence tax to calling spilled milk, for diary cattle, toxic waste, forcing dairy farmers to spend precious funds to clean up “toxic” milk which in the past was handled with a mop and bucket. But Maine takes things one step further than the Federal absurdities. Maine creates one a kind regulatory bureaucracies, such as LURC, which chase business out of rural Maine and scares the crap out any sane businessman who wishes to locate and develop in rural Maine. That’s the difference, sir. Maine democrats have publicly prided themselves in being far and beyond the regulatory curve in this Nation.
Mr. Farmer, your failed Baldacci administration created these problems and you were a part of his administration. Shame on you for blaming this fiscal nightmare on Governor LePage! LePage inherited a 4.5 billion dollar pension deficit from you and Baldacci. Is this what you call good fiscal management? I don’t think so!! LePage inherited a totally dysfunctional and unaccountable state government (MSHA FRAUD, MTA Fraud and DHHS abuses to name a few) from you and Baldacci and now you blame LePage for trying to correct your mistakes. The only people you and Baldacci represented were all the far left special interest groups, like the vitriolic MPA and Maine Can Do Better crowd. If you notice, these are the groups who are screaming the loudest about Maine’s long awaited new direction.
LePage’s structural reform proposal will save Medicaid for 280,000 Mainers, which is still 15% above the national average. Medicaid expenditures increased by 1 billion dollars (78%) since 2002 and you and Baldacci did NOTHING to fix it. Of course, you, Baldacci and the Democratic majorities did cut education, transportation and public safety to pay for this Medicaid entitlement expansion, which is now 35% above the national average. Congratulations Mr. Farmer, for bankrupting the State of Maine. Now you say that Maine can absorb another 78% increase in Medicaid expenditures in the next 10 years. And as taxpayers, we’re all supposed to take this laying down. I don’t think so, Mr. Farmer! To pay for this Medicaid entitlement expansion, you and the Democrats want to further cut education, transportation and public safety, to name a few. NO, NO, NO, there are no more places to cut to expand welfare! We’ve got to get spending under control and the problem is the bloated CADILLAC DHHS budget.
As far as bringing jobs to Maine, LePage has already done more in 1 year than Baldacci did in 8 failed years in office. Since LePage was inaugurated, unemployment has decreased from 7.6% to 7%. Not bad Governor LePage, not bad at all. Keep up the good work Governor LePage and please continue moving Maine forward. The last thing we want to do is to go back to the FAILED policies of of Mr. Farmer and his pal Baldacci.
Perhaps, Mr. Farmer would like to explain to Maine why the Veterans Homes have lost Federal Funding. The Baldacci administration, that Mr. Farmer was a part of, was caught, well lets just call it what it is, scamming the matching funds system for PNMI, and subsequently the Feds cut them off. I believe that would somewhat of a calamity are most vulnerable War Heroes. That calamity was created by Democrat deceit. Nothing lower than scamming our veterans. That’s the Baldacci legacy.
That is why Maine has the highest taxes, and the most lenient standards to qualify for DHHS handouts.
It is also why Maine is bankrupt.
The disgraceful Baldacci Administration and DHHS has wrapped the car around the pole and Governor LePage has towed this financial wreck back to the body shop to see if he can fix it.
Fortunately Lepage isnt going to hand the keys back to the former DHHS appointees to screw up again. He is going to change the mission to help the truely needy and kick off all the fringe able bodied people who should never have been on it in the first place.
Maine does not have the highest taxes nor the most lenient standards. Just more Tea Party/LePage “misinformation” from right wing extremists. There aren’t thousands of Mainers out there out there happy to live off foodstamps and MaineCare. Do you really think that is any kind of happy life to aspire to?
Honey
Under Baldacci we grew the Mainecare by 80% in 10 years, and yes I know people who are more than happy to stay trapped under these failed policies living on all the government handouts.
Time to reset the rules and shrink the program. The DHHS budget is 120 mil short so it will have to be cut. Maine runs out of money by March.
More of the same scare tactic. Yes, many of us live on the economic edge and a loss of income or serious health issue would leave us at the mercy of the community, family and government. What I see in LePage’s proposals is a plan to make sure that the safety net is there for individuals and families who do find themselves in trouble. But the safety net cannot be there if we do not set clear and realistic limits on who we serve and for how long.
Mr. Farmer, you state that Maine is rated high in health, partly because of expanded health insurance, and you are correct. But that health insurance costs money and the administration you worked for was unable to pay for the services it committed itself to providing. Year after year, the state did not pay its MaineCare bill. Hospitals took out loans to fill the gap between services they were obiligated to provide, but were not paid for. They cut staff, wages, and hours. They shifted costs to privately insured patients and patients who paid out of pocket.
Policies always have consequences. Either the state needs to raise more revenue to cover its promises, or it needs to renege on the previously made, imprudent promises. For years, the state has been unwilling to do either,and, now that the current administration is trying to tackle the issue all we hear are wails and laments.
Re your hopes (just that, hopes) for LePage’s proposals to make sure there is a safety net, unlike Dickens, your expectations can not be considered great.
And, Dave, in your world the government is the only one who can help. I actually don’t have a problem with temporary assistance, as long as it’s truly temporary. It’s the people who live on government handouts (your base) who should see their aid cut off. Temporary assistance for the truly needy on a limited basis is a reasonable policy. Endless government support for people in a poor state is not reasonable.
Where is Maine’s outrage over LePage’s advocacy of using our tax dollars to pay for high schoolers’ advanced college courses? Aren’t childless adults expected to foot this bill as well as they are expected to lose the MaineCare social saftety net? Are childless adults second class citizens? And why am I the only one who raises this issue?
My family’s income has been slashed by 40% in the last couple of weeks. I don’t think we can look for any sympathy from Landslide LePage and his social darwinists.
With these facts already in print shouldnt that be enough to let people know they should be prepared for possible losses