All right, I’m in this. Let there be opinions. At the risk of turning away those of you jonesing for a fresh New Mexico fix (oh, I got more for ya), I’m going to say a few more words about the Great Insurance Industry Bailout Act of 2009 and why the mandate stinks so badly.
I’ll just put it in human terms (my own). Brutal honesty ahead:
I’m 64 years old. My wife and I have gone without health insurance for years because we just couldn’t afford it, even with huge deductibles, AND it did no damn good. I’m presently working my ass off trying to pay down $12K in credit card debt incurred from things like the seven grand I had to spend on TWO DAMN TEETH.
For anyone to tell me that I “have to” buy insurance, with money I don’t have, from the same criminal idiots who got us all into this mess, is beyond evil. I don’t have ANY slack. Zip. Nada. With nearly-perfect credit, believe it or not, Capital One is still doubling my rate this April, this on a card originally issued with a guaranteed lifetime rate. I have to pay this monster off. There must be tens of millions of people in my situation, all of us in a freaking crisis, so please get real.
If I could afford health insurance and it actually worked, I’d have it, damn straight. Labeling me a criminal because of a personal financial decision my wife and I made, a decision based on improving our chances of physical survival, is highly offensive, morally wrong, and provokes visceral anger. I feel like I’m experiencing an outright assault here. I can’t afford the premiums, even with assistance. The penalty is still less than paying for insurance, but this just isn’t right. If I pay a fine, the money actually goes to the insurance companies as government subsidies. A compulsory payment to a corporation!
KILL THE BILL! You say it’s this or nothing?
Nothing, please. And make it snappy!
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It used to be “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” Now, the curtain is gone, and those who used to operate in the shadows are out in the open…… and 95% of Americans don’t seem to see… or care. This “reform” bill is a monstrous, in-your-face reminder of just who runs this country.
It’s just so hateful and stupid. The richest nation on earth can’t do the right thing and give us universal health care? Ridiculous.