It Really Doesn't Matter Who You Are

When I travel I like to see which, if any, of the issues that are resonating in the region are also sending vibrations elsewhere. My week in Boston was coming to a close, and my elder daughter and I were on the last day of our quality time together, before she headed back to Virginia and her mother. We decided to go to see the Shepard Fairey retrospective at the ICA (see details). That he had created the now iconic poster of Barack Obama was enough to be excited about. That it was the day of the Major League Baseball All Stars Game, with the POTUS due to make the first pitch was also momentous. So, I'm not sure how we were derailed and ended up instead making a tour of Massachusetts State House, on Beacon Hill and then walking the city in the area around Boston Common. I guess that some civic genes were pulling us that way.

The State House tour itself was interesting enough, given by a young intern on holiday from college. Massachusetts had many key roles in the creation of The Union and its history is so rich that a visit focusing on that is warranted. I was also intrigued to be in a state capital whose governor was a black man, and also a close associate of the POTUS, Deval Patrick.

But on to resonance. As I walked through some corridors looking for my offices, I heard the voice of a man clearly making a set of remarks to reporters, and of all things on health reform (see NY Times report). I listened for a few moments and took a few pictures. As the press report notes, "The new state budget in Massachusetts eliminates health care coverage for some 30,000 legal immigrants to help close a growing deficit, reversing progress toward universal coverage just as the US Congress looks to the state as a model for overhauling the nation’s health care system." The critics' main plaint is that the cut, which would save an estimated US$130 million, unfairly targets taxpaying residents.

The Governor now has a fight on. He has proposed restoring US$70 million to the program, which would partly restore the immigrants’ coverage. But legislative leaders wont have it, arguing that vital programs for other groups would have to be cut as a result. The cut, which would affect only non-disabled adults from 18 to 65 years old, would take effect in August unless the legislature approves Mr. Patrick’s proposal. Ding-dong. Round one.

I thought back to the claims circulating in Barbados about the pressures being imposed on critical services by illegal immigrants. Still waiting to hear some figures, but in the Caribbean "soon come" means something. But, I smiled to myself thinking of the ballooning budget deficit the government there has and that it cannot save money by eliminating coverage for illegal immigrants--they are not covered. Would they think of eliminating it for legal immigrants, though?

The policy now in play in Mass. is the kind of thing that makes legal immigrants say "Hey! That's not fair."

I head back to Bimshire today. I wonder if the vibes from up here will find there way down there.