Another Governor Christie Blow to Seniors

I can't believe it. Just when you think you have heard it all, our Governor does it again.

I had a few minutes to surf the news today. Susan Livio, writing for the Newark Star Ledger and today's NJ.com, reported that Governor Chris Christie scarfed up promised monies that were supposed to help poor people pay their cable bills. He lumped it into the General Fund and used it to help offset last year's budget woes.

This man has raised costs for seniors by cutting back the HEAP supplements. He tried to shut down several institutions that cared for the disabled and elderly. He cut charity care funding to New Jersey hospitals which hit urban areas hardest. Is there no end to the heartless and outrageous things he is doing to us?

Six years ago, New Jersey taxed cable companies with the money going to help pay for cable TV for seniors and the disabled.

What did our outsized Governor do? He grabbed the funds, which had not been distributed yet, and used them to offset New Jersey's deficit!

Is this good business? That $9.2 million means so much to us, and Christie sucked it up.

It is heartless.

Oh, I should mention that one half of one percent of that money was also supposed to go to PAAD, to help pay for senior prescriptions. Remember last summer when Christie VETOED the "millionaire's tax bill" after the Legislature passed it so PAAD could continue?

Oh. Yeah. The funding, such as it was, eventually came from Federal funds. And then there is the Casino Revenue Fund, which was set up to help seniors and the disabled, and those millions that were not accounted for in June. (See my previous blog on this subject). I asked Senator Turner's office about the fund and they were not able to trace it for me.

I do not subscribe to cable because I am fortunate to have a TV that will work on antenna and receives both analog and digital signals. I get about 30 channels and save probably $70.00 a month.

I look around me, and most of my neighbors are using a hefty portion of their income just to keep themselves in touch with the rest of the world.

This governor is out of touch with the plight of senior citizens. His appearances at senior events are photo ops and seem calculated to keep everyone charmed into thinking he is a jolly good fellow.

We are heading for an era when the "baby boomers" will be joining our ranks. Marketing is already geared to the anticipated needs of these folks and their sheer numbers guarantees that they will be heeded. I don't know how many of us can wait. We might not be around to enjoy their new world.

We need help now. It adds insult to injury that this Governor, enthralled with Xanadu and Atlantic City, is ignoring us.

Seniors rock.