Make the parents responsible for kids
I read the letter from Don Hubin (“Dads’ value goes beyond financial help,” Tuesday) regarding the involvement of dads in their children’s lives. He blamed problems on everything but what he should have.
Blame the kids. These young children keep having children, and who ends up taking care of them? Moms, dads, grandparents and taxpayers. Start using protection! Get on the birthcontrol pill or use condoms. The first one may be an accident, but after that you know what causes babies, for sure. My opinion is that after the first one on public assistance, if you have another one and ask for assistance you either get your tubes tied or some other procedure or no more assistance. I am tired of taking care of all these babies who could have been prevented.
Hold the fathers responsible, too. It’s not like they don’t know what causes babies, either. And yes, the fathers need to be held responsible emotionally and financially, as they did their part in making this baby. Why should the public pay for their babies?
Connie Louden Columbus expressed over the potential loss of health-care and Medicaid coverage, yet none of these ardent proponents of expanded health care offer any realistic proposal for financing the coverage they feel is so important to maintain. The irony is they express outrage over the loss of coverage in Ohio, but don’t expect Ohioans to fund this coverage for their fellow residents.
It seems they assume that this funding will come from some magical federal budget generously supported by taxpayers in other states. Unfortunately, this sentiment is nothing new. A good example is Obamacare. The shortcomings of this program are now painfully obvious to all but its diehard supporters. Obamacare was doomed from the start because its proponents thought we could add 25 million people, including thousands in Ohio, to the health-care rolls without expecting anyone to pay incremental taxes to support this supposed national priority. This mistake was repeated when expanded Medicaid coverage was offered “free” to every state, again with no incremental tax levy.
Many governors were smart enough to decline this opportunity, figuring it was the thin edge of the wedge. However, Kasich — a former fiscal conservative — decided it was politically expedient to accept this gift horse without asking Ohioans to put any skin in the game. Now, he bemoans the loss of expanded Medicaid coverage in Ohio and still hasn’t proposed a budget to fund it.
Regardless of the pros and cons, my view is simple — if expanded health care and Medicaid are not important enough for Suddes, Kasich and the like to propose in-state funding of these programs by our taxpayers, why should it be important for the taxpayers of Iowa or New York to support taking care of Ohioans? It’s time to get real about the priorities and our ability to afford them.
Mark G. Zardus Powell Columbus