toledoblade.com --

Ohio legislators have a difficult task in deciding priorities in budget deliberations. As advocates for seniors and persons with disabilities, we are concerned over the decision-making process used to determine the appropriate use of public dollars for long-term care.

The state budget is slated to give nursing homes rate increases totaling $234 million over the next two years - $56.4 million in fiscal year 2010 and $177.3 million in 2011. Ohio's taxpayers and persons needing community-based support become the big losers in this funding scenario.

Where would you prefer to receive supports when you are no longer able to live independently?

Most individuals would prefer to be supported in their homes rather than an institution.

In Ohio, 79.2 percent of Medicaid dollars for long-term care is spent on services in institutions, and community-based services get the crumbs that remain. Newspapers across Ohio refer to the nursing home lobby as one of the most powerful in the Statehouse. They have supplanted the will of their industry over the will of most Ohioans.

Long-term care is a systematic concern that requires a commitment to provide individuals a choice to live in the least restrictive setting.

Seniors and people with disabilities who need such care are not sick or invalids. They are members of our community, who, because of their limitations, need assistance with cooking, cleaning, personal care, and transportation. All these services can be provided in the community, but must be supported with funds currently used to feed the nursing home industry.

It's time we begin to think about this from the perspective of a family member. Do we want our loved ones supported in their homes or nursing homes?

Tim Harrington

Executive Director
The Ability Center
of Greater Toledo
Sylvania

Give funds back to the taxpayers

Is anyone surprised that Commissioner Ben Konop's proposal to privatize Lucas County ambulance service was opposed by a roomful of paramedics, fire officials, and (one) local mayor?

Anytime there is a proposal to reduce the size of government, there will be a gaggle of public employees in opposition. And who can blame them? If I had a voice in my job being eliminated, I'd be opposed too.

I spoke against placing the initial tax increase on the ballot, believing that private ambulance service was adequate. I might as well have saved my breath. The decision was made before the hearing was held. There were numerous "public employees" speaking in favor then.

I still believe private ambulance service would be adequate. Most other Ohio counties find it so.

The emergency service is used over and over by the same people for nonemergency problems. Bloody nose. Not feeling well. Bad cough. The few times when a true emergency exists could just as well be handled by trained private medical responders.

Still, diverting these monies to another fund is a bad idea. Better to return the money to its owners: the tax-paying public.

Joseph E. Pflager

Maumee

There's a reason justice is blind

Apparently, Rose Russell needs a refresher in Civics 101. The United States was founded upon the rule of law and its judiciary is supposed to be guided by that principle. Not who has the sadder tale, who has the greater need, or even "what should be," but on the law of the land, under which we are all created equal.

There's a reason that justice is supposed to be blind: so the case can be argued and judged on its merits, not the personal feelings, preferences, or life experiences of the individuals involved.

Luthien Ivey

Airline Avenue

Casino's owners are only winners

I read with interest the May 30 op-ed in The Blade authored by Ohio Racing Commission member and Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority director Jerry Chabler in which he praised the idea of casinos coming to Ohio. I read a portion of it until I came to all the millions of dollars and jobs they would bring to Ohio.

I have this question: Where do all those millions come from?

Casinos, like the government, create no wealth. They take the hard-earned wages from workers, many of whom can ill afford the loss or taxes but through desperation for cash or greed will risk their wages on a million-to-one chance of winning. The taxes government extract come back to you in services. The lost bet is just that, lost.

Rest assured the casino owners are not in the business for your benefit. To them charity begins at home, and that is where the bulk of the money goes.

Robert Greek

Montpelier

Ban cell phones while driving

My family had a real scare a couple of weeks ago. A 15-year-old girl driving while talking on a cell phone ran a red light and slammed into my daughter's car while going through one of Toledo's busiest intersections.

She hit the car in the trunk area, thank God, totaling the vehicle.

What is so distressing about this incident is that my 16-month-old granddaughter was riding in her car seat on the same side as the collision. She suffered some abrasions from the lap belt, but she seems to be OK. My daughter is now seeing a chiropractor.

If that accident had happened just a millisecond earlier, my granddaughter could be dead or suffering greatly. This incident just goes to show that cell phones and driving don't mix, especially for inexperienced teenage drivers.

I see this so much every day in and around the Toledo area as I drive a lot because of my job. There has to be some sort of legislation that eliminates this distracting practice. There are lives on the line and they could be yours.

Rick Bunge

Lambertville

Doctor helped women in need

Dr. George Tiller was murdered because he had the courage and fortitude to help women in need. Like it or not, abortion has been a fact of life in America for more than 300 years.

The wealthy and well-connected have always had access. It was widely used as birth control before the availability of contraceptives and was unregulated until the late 1800s. There were approximately 1 million abortions per year prior to Roe vs. Wade and there are now approximately 1.5 million, not a significant increase.

The major difference since legalization has been the safety of women. In their zeal to "protect the unborn," abortion opponents self-righteously claim absolute moral authority over the lives and destiny of women they will never meet or know.

Dr. Tiller does not have blood on his hands. His death is another tragic reminder that the "pro-life" movement only cares about imposing its draconian and punitive views on women, perpetuating the idea that a woman's uterus and her life are the property of the churches, the government, and the insane.

Sally J. Keller

Sabra Road

Trash containers not so tough

I am 76 years old and I can take my [refuse] container to the curb, and that’s after my grandkids and great-grandkids have spent the day having a cookout.

And I have the big ones.

Tip it toward you, then push. Sure beats all of those green bags.

CLARA M. BUCKENBERGER
Elmhurst Road

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