Apr 1, 2010

Part 3: Probably not the turn you expected me to take.

So, I know some who read that last post are thinking I've missed a huge set of numbers - the numbers this new plan is supposed to save us.  Supposedly, it's going to actually help trim our deficit but we are given no valid details as to *how.  All we have are some random numbers thrown out. Most people think it's going to help save the cost uninsured people bring upon hospitals, particularly by using the ER.  Make no mistake, that figure is enormous and very, very expensive.  Staggeringly so; however, I don't see how this plan is going to help.  In the first place, just because it requires people to buy health insurance, that doesn't mean they *will.  They may choose to pay the cheaper fine and continue using ERs as their main source of health care.  They may simply not pay the fine at all, out of choice or out of being broke.  Let's be real about a couple of things here...are we *really going to refuse someone medical care if they've not bought the insurance and failed to pay their fine?  No.  Are we really going to jail anyone for not paying their fine?  Possibly, in the beginning.  But we're going to need a hell of a lot more jails and people are going to get pretty pissed when the unemployed parents of 4 kids go to jail because they chose to give their folks $500 a month out of their unemployment so the family could live in Grandma's basement instead of buying health insurance with it.  In the end, there's not going to be any real repercussions from not buying the insurance or failing to pay the fine.  And that?  Means not much will really change by way of saving money to counteract the cost of this bill.  We'll still have the costs of Medicaid because in no way is this plan designed to eliminate Medicaid.  Bluntly, not much will change for those most apt to use the ER as a primary health care facility and not much will change anywhere else, either.  Status quo, but with trillions more taxpayer dollars going out.  Again, I challenge you - but in a totally not mean way, I swear - to prove me wrong on this.  Show me numbers, explain to me where I'm missing it.  I can guarantee I'll keep an open mind because I'd really love to be wrong about this.  All of this.

So, why would our President want such a plan if it seems doomed to failure?  "That doesn't make sense so it can't be right", you think. Well, it won't fail at a few things...it's going to cause some health insurance providers to shut their doors. It's going to cause far more to up their rates to the point only the quite-well-off can afford them.  It's going to cause some small businesses to go under, creating greater unemployment numbers.  Why in the world would our President want all of this to happen, you wonder?  There's an easy answer to that.  The greater financial chaos we have, the more people will be turning to the government for financial support for survival.  Medicaid, all welfare programs, educational grants, food stamps, assisted housing,  etc.   And why would our government want *this?  Because the greatest way to have real control over the masses is to make them financially dependent upon the government.  Economic slavery.  Look back to the 60's.  To civil rights fights. To desegregation.  And a government packed up the ass full of older, rich, white men who feared the idea of a black man with some power. Uppity niggers.  And how best to get those uppity niggers under control, the old, rich white men wondered?  Limit federal funding for improvements to areas in which they lived in higher numbers, causing the areas to deteriorate and then give them money to survive on.  Be their saviors to their faces and make them dependent upon the white man, the reality.  And tell the world how bad they are so there's fear of them.  Shocked to hear me say that?  Don't be.  See, it's all about numbers and control, once again my two favorite things to rail against.  And now, our government is simply looking at it on a broader scale with this new bill.  I've said before that I am a staunch Libertarian, yet I not only voted for Barack Obama, I actively campaigned for him.  Why?  Well, partly because I thought we needed a real change, cliche as that sounds.  The other part of why I voted for him?  He's black.  Hey, I'll say the politically incorrect thing right on out loud.  He scored bonus points with me for being biracial and identifying as black.  I thought he would be a good bet for being offended at what our government has done to our black citizens in the past and would work to undo that dependency since it really has a major effect on our entire nation.  I was wrong.  He's nothing but a younger, darker version of those old white men from the 60's, only he's looking to control the lot of us this time, not just black people.  Again, I'll say, and I ask you all to really give this some thought, that the greatest way to control people is to make them dependent.  And we, as Americans, started out as stronger stuff than this.  Back when we had that sense of independence, that sense of freedom and self-preservation, when we took care of ourselves and our own families, we did amazing things in this world, didn't we?  Staggering, awe-inspiring things.  It's what we were founded on, in fact.  We were independent, we declared it and we were good, despite some tough and ugly ups and downs.  You want to know why I hate this health care reform bill so much?  It's the start of slavery in this country again, only this time not based on race but rather, based on socio-economic status.

Something to think about anyway, no?

Now, I'm not done because I just thought of something else for the next one.  Lol...be glad you don't actually live with me.

3 comments:

Margo said...

Clapping and wishing you had a broader audience to tell us all what's really going on in DC!

Lisa said...

Oh, Margaret, I only wish I knew what was really going on in DC. As much as I'd love to proclaim I'm right and there's no other "side", I can't. But I am glad to know that there are others who agree with me in what we *believe is happening.

PJ said...

Educating and empowering others is what's needed. Having power over people as a result of who's got more money is not the answer.

Our country has been divided for centuries between the haves and have nots. The health care bill doesn't make that happen. It's already the reality.

Government programs CAN be helpful. Being independent is not mutually exclusive with working together to bring about a better place for everyone.

I join Corinne in believing that education is where it has to start. As children, many people don't learn from the adults in their lives how to take care of themselves. They don't know they have choices

You and I can't imagine not taking care of our own, not paying our bills, not supporting ourselves, because that's how we were raised. It's embedded in who we are.

Others don't have that perspective as a possibility for their lives. They only know what they've seen modeled to them.

People need to learn other ways to live their lives. That they can have choices. That getting an education can give them a future beyond relying on the government.