THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 3, 1995 TAG: 9510030012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
The devil has delivered mine enemies into my hands.
In your Sept. 11 editorial regarding block grants to the states, you fall laughably short of making your point. You use evidence of Medicaid fraud in Louisiana as an example of why the current state campaign is flawed.
What is truly flawed is your logic.
The point your editorial should have made, with the evidence at hand, is that Great Society programs have been rife with fraud since their inception. The escalation of Medicaid claims in Louisiana occurred under the very federal system you are attempting to defend. An argument can be made that things could hardly get much worse.
When I was younger I used to hear the adults in my neighborhood discussing how some business people were getting wealthy using HUD homes. A few miles from my house I used to see food stamps traded at 50 cents for the dollar so the recipients could buy alcohol.
It was an excellent firsthand lesson on how good intentions can go awry. While liberals shouted their platitudes about helping the poor, many millions of average citizens were well-aware that much of the money was going to the wealthy, or being managed irresponsibly by the people it was designed to help.
The more a community is involved with the decision-making process of government, the closer we get to a true democracy. This is the fundamental point behind the movement away from federal control of everything.
It is also a point you seem to miss.
MICHAEL T. OLIVER
Suffolk, Sept. 15, 1995 by CNB