Taxes again

[dave1949]

"

Dave...One case I knew of here locally....a Special needs student was a quadriplegic, on a ventilator and in a wheel chair with a full time Nurse by his side riding on the bus with him from his home and staying with him all day in class and then riding home with him on the bus at the end of the day...All at taxpayers expense...This is just one example...I know of others.

Yep, kids are assigned an aide or nurse for the school day. It's hard to talk about this without coming across as cold hearted, but it all costs money. I think we can't do everything for every afflicted person. That means prioritizing in some way that is found agreeable to most.

The problem grows because we are able to keep people alive, at a higher cost, much better than earlier. Maybe with the right medical technology, like stem cells regrowing a spinal cord or a kidney, for example, we can actually put those people back to real health.

My brother had a disabled child in Massachusetts years ago. It had no chance of living, but the state, probably with some federal support too, had a bus pick her up and take her to a special school a couple times a week. Mind you the child was only 3 years old, had no motor function, was fed through a stomach tube, was blind and probably deaf; and no chance of improving and did not survive. It makes no sense.

On the other hand, Stephen Hawking is a quadriplegic and has outlived any reasonable estimate while doing brilliant work in physics. There are no easy answers or choices, but funding limits force us to make some, or be willing for more wealth to be socialized. Is a house in Vail, CO morally equal to a nurse for a special needs child? That's what it comes down to.

Dave.