Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome to Don Talk. Today is June 12th. It is a Thursday.
Just thought I'd talk about a few things that have come across the wires.
So there's a headline over at NBC News, NBCNews.com, talking about Democratic governors seek to roll back state-funded health care for undocumented immigrants.
The moves by Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker, and Tim Walls, all potential 2028 presidential contenders, have angered some progressives and immigrants' advocates.
The article starts off by saying a trio of states with Democratic governors viewed as potential 2028 presidential candidates have taken steps in recent weeks to freeze or cut government-funded health care coverage for undocumented immigrants.
Democratic governors Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, and Tim Walls of Minnesota have largely attributed the proposals to budget shortfalls stemming from original plans to expand health care to immigrants without legal status.
The plans, which would scale back health care coverage for undocumented immigrants in the three Democratic-led states just years after it was expanded, have angered progressives and immigrant advocacy groups who warn the party risks alienating its base, particularly as protests against Trump's deportation plans break out around the country.
Think about it, I guess, illegal or undocumented immigrants.
Immigration is a sticky wicket, if you will, in this country, as we can already talk about and see the peaceful protest, peaceful protest out in L.A.
There's a lot of misinformation out there.
Don't believe everything you see.
Don't believe everything you hear.
Don't believe everything that you read.
And that includes me.
You can take what I say with a grain of salt.
I'm going to provide you with the information that I have access to, and we're going to use our noggins to try to figure out what is right, what is wrong, and what is complete bullshit.
I think we can all agree, at least anybody with a brain in their head, I think we can all agree that the way this current administration is going about rounding up what they consider, or at least what they have stated, are the worst of the worst.
They're criminals.
They're murderers and rapists.
And if that was the singular goal of trying to track down criminals that are here illegally, I don't have a fault with that.
But that's not what they're doing.
They are literally rounding up any and everybody, sometimes getting actual United States citizens, people that were born here.
They get caught up in the dragnet.
Eventually, they do let them go.
There was a mention of, I believe it was a U.S. marshal last week, was actually caught up in their sweep.
Took a little bit of time, but they verified that A, it was a U.S. marshal, and B, it was a United States citizen and was let go.
So I don't agree with the way the administration is doing it.
The entire immigration system needs a complete overhaul.
I don't think that's in question.
I think the United States is still a grand destination for people wanting to try to eke out a better life for themselves and their families.
But they just need a clearer and more efficient path of doing so when they get here.
And I do believe that part of the problem as to the reason why we have so many undocumented people here is the fact that our immigration process is so draconian.
Now, with all that said, what we're talking about here is we have three states that expanded their health care systems for lower income to cover these undocumented immigrants.
And it's costly.
It's very, very costly.
It says the latest development came in Minnesota on Tuesday after both chambers of the legislature passed a bill to end state-funded health care for undocumented adults.
The bipartisan effort advanced through the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate as part of attempts to balance the state budget.
It now goes to Walls, who said he will sign it.
The bill would end undocumented adults' eligibility for MinnesotaCare, which is the state-funded health insurance program for low-income residents.
It effectively reverses one of the signature policy wins that Walls secured during a landmark legislative session in 2023, back when the Democrats were in full control of the state government.
Undocumented children, however, will remain eligible to enroll in the program under this legislation.
In California, Newsom unveiled a budget plan last month that would cut back on health care benefits for undocumented immigrants.
A stark reversal from his promises of universal health care for all the state's residents, regardless of their immigration status.
I'm lukewarm on Newsom.
I think I like him.
But that right there is something he probably never should have promised.
You know, there's what we would love to do from the humanitarian side, and then there's what we can actually afford to do.
And sometimes those two things are in conflict, and it's deeper and more nuanced than that, because there's a lot of money that goes to BS programs that that money could be diverted to more humanitarian programs, practically in every state, but definitely at the federal government level.
And I'm talking about the Pentagon, the DOD budget.
There's absolutely no reason why we should have a trillion-dollar budget for our overall military readiness.
I forget what the actual stats show, but our military budget is basically larger than the first handful of countries' military budgets combined.
And some will argue, well, yeah, that's how we stay safe and all this other ancillary nonsense, and, you know, maybe we don't need a trillion.
Maybe $500 billion will do.
I mean, let's stop and think.
Let's use Ukraine as an example.
They managed to cause over $7 billion worth of damage to Russian military assets with drones.
Drones that I am very sure cost less than $1,000 each, probably around $500 to $600.
I'm not a drone expert.
I don't even own a personal drone.
I want one, but I've just never gotten to that point.
Couldn't justify it for the expenditure.
And they used open-source software to coordinate all this stuff.
So you can see that there are more efficient and less expensive ways of protecting the country.
So it's not too much of a stretch to look at a state that, like California, where I think Newsom pretty much put his foot in it when he said, you know, we're going to provide health insurance and what have you to all of our state's residents, whether you're documented or not.
That's not a very smart statement to make.
Newsom's plan in his 2025-2026 budget has called for freezing enrollment for undocumented adults to receive the full scope of the state's Medicaid program known as Medi-Cal.
Newsom's office has said the changes would apply only to new applicants over age 19, whereas existing enrollees would not be kicked off their plans and that the freeze, which would begin next year, wouldn't apply to people enrolled in limited plans.
He also proposes changes to include a new $100 monthly premium for adults 19 and older with, quote, unsatisfactory immigration statuses beginning in 2027.
A little bit of contribution for yourself.
So, meanwhile, Illinois remains on track by the end of the month to end a program called Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults that provides state-funded health care coverage for more than 30,000 low-income adults who are living in the state without documentation.
The program in Illinois was more expensive than expected when it was created in 2021.
Pritzker's last budget, which the Democratic-led legislature passed last month, proposed eliminating it by July 1st.
At least four other states offer some type of health care coverage to adults regardless of their immigration status.
Several more offer health care coverage for children regardless of their immigration status,
as California, Illinois, and Minnesota will continue to do if the new plans go into effect.
In response to questions from NBC News, Newsom spokesperson Elena Ross reiterated his statement in his initial announcement of the changes last month that instead of rolling back the program, meaning cutting people off for basic care, they're just capping it.
Pritzker's office said in an email that this year passing a balanced budget required the difficult decision that reflects the reality of Trump and Republicans tanking our national economy and attempting to strip away health care.
I don't buy that.
Now, that was from Illinois.
I don't buy it from California.
California is either, I can't remember, it's the fourth or fifth largest economy, not in the United States, in the world.
In the world.
Now, that's not to say that maybe these boneheaded tariffs, this on again, off again, on again, off again, taco-ness, if you will, has not caused some financial hardship in California, but you can't blame it all on the tariffs.
You just can't.
There's got to be a better way.
I can't say what that better way is, because on the one side, immigrants, undocumented immigrants, do contribute.
They pay taxes.
They pay into, largely, the social safety nets of the United States, of which they never receive any benefits from.
Because, as I heard Scott Galloway point out, that when the economy's good, they're here working.
When the economy's bad, they kind of fade back into their home countries.
So, they contribute to the underlying financial stability of the United States.
They contribute to the social safety net of the United States.
They just rarely, and when I say rarely, take advantage of it, the only way they can take advantage of it is when they become, if they can become, United States citizens.
Then they're eligible for Social Security, Medicare, the same things that the rest of us that were born here as citizens can take advantage of if we pay into the systems the way we're supposed to.
So, I suppose there's an argument to be made that this is a way for them to take advantage of the benefits of the fact that they pay into the system, so they're getting a little bit of it back in the way of health care.
But, you know, at the same time, reality is reality.
Sometimes reality sucks.
You know, we all have our own personal budgets that we have to deal with in our own lives.
You know, there's a lot of things that I would love to spend money on.
I would like to trade in all my vehicles and get two brand new vehicles, but I can't afford that.
I've got to live within my means.
I've got a house to pay for.
I've got groceries to buy.
I've got utilities to pay for.
I've got to keep clothes on my back and my wife, her back, and, you know, my daughter that still lives here.
Plus, also pay for health insurance.
So, as you can imagine, there's been some blowback from the left on this.
Immigrant advocacy groups have panned the move, saying that they risk further imperiling the broader health care system and blasted Democrats for succumbing to Trump's attacks.
We urge state leaders to build on their progress rather than placing the health of the residents at risk, said Tanya Broder, the senior counsel for health and economic justice policy at the National Immigration Law Center.
Particularly as extremist politicians scapegoat and target immigrants, we are counting on state officials to do the right thing and hold the line.
As states increasingly have recognized, the community's health and well-being depend on ensuring that everyone has access to health care.
Immigrants pay billions of dollars in federal, state, and local taxes, yet many are excluded from critical health care programs.
Terminating state coverage for immigrants will compromise our collective health as well as the health care infrastructure that serves all of us.
Okay, so those are some valid points.
It goes back to what I said.
These undocumented immigrants do pay millions, if not billions, of dollars into a system that they themselves cannot benefit from.
I get that.
It's not a perfect scenario.
But at the same time, the states have a responsibility to, again, to all the citizens, to try to balance their budget.
Because if they're upside down, that's going to cause an even bigger issue, not just for undocumented immigrants, but for everybody.
Undocumented, documented citizens, everybody.
It's going to cause a problem.
So I do feel for anyone that has any of their benefits removed because of budgetary constraints.
And to me, this is a little bit different than the big, beautiful bill nonsense where it looks like, what is it, 14, 15, 16 million people are going to be removed off of Medicaid if some changes are not made in the Senate.
Don't be fooled.
That bill, as it is touted, is not a good bill.
Trump can stand there and say it's the best bill, the most important piece of legislation that has ever been brought forth, voted on, and eventually signed by him in the country's history.
That is not true.
It will, once again, provide tax breaks to the millionaires and the billionaires, while the lower-income people, unfortunately, continue to carry the country on their shoulders.
That's just the way it is.
It's unfortunate, but that is just the way it is.
All right, that's going to wrap it up.
For this little test episode, just thought I would talk about something that came across my feed, something I thought, you know, this bears a little bit of investigation and a little bit of rhetoric from yours truly.
And, yeah, so appreciate it.
Thanks for listening.
Still trying to figure out if I'm going to make this a, I'm going to relaunch this thing or what have you.
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Anyway, until next time, this has been Don Talk.
And I am yours truly, Donovan.