I am so fed up with all the carping and complaining about the healthcare debate. People who I know to be fairly intelligent are posting wild propaganda that is based on fear mongering and bias. It is propagated by politicians seeking no other goal but reelection and corporations who support them to increase their influence and profits. The issue of what is good and helpful to people is completely being ignored by many people I know because they are being made to believe that "the other side" is only capable of evil. Can we please look at the issue more carefully. Let us first look at the "chewing gum" cartoon which makes people believe that the are being taxed for something they don't want. If we look at the logic of this then we can see its flaws. Taken at face value the cartoon states "I don't want to pay money for chewing gum-alias-health care. Who doesn't want health care? Suicides? Christian Scientists?(another argument for another day). This argument is very flawed. If we are discussing mandating insurance then let's look at another insurance that is already mandated.
Today, across the country we are all mandated to buy car insurance if we want to drive a car. We do not have a choice. If we drive without insurance, we incur multiple steep fines. We could even serve jail time. Once upon a time, car insurance rates were out of control across the country. Premiums often went through the roof and if you had an accident with an uninsured driver the costs would be your expense.
Such has been the case with health care and health insurance. It has not been mandatory and inexpensive options do not really exist. Yet, anyone who checks into an ER must be treated regardless of their ability to pay. Who pays for that? We all do. The costs of private insurance rates are outrageous everywhere and taxpayer pand business owner burden on welfare, Medicare & Medicaid have become astronomical because, to a large degree, we are paying for the care of the uninsured. Republicans would not support government run universal health care, so the opposition figured out a way to pay for the uninsured's emergency care and offset the insurance companies refusal to cover many by asking those who refuse to be insured to pay a tax to, in essence, cover them in an emergency. This "tax" penalty protects all Americans. Mandating we all have insurance protects our future healthcare costs from rising even more astronomically, just as Drivers are protected by buying mandated car insurance. I find it sad and strange that the ultra right and most mainstream Republicans want to deny universal healthcare. They don't want "social medicine" but they have no plans to replace it that is either fair or economical. Oh, but Governor Romney had a plan that he implemented in Massachusetts that required everyone in the State to buy or obtain health insurance. That state has the lowest rate of uninsured in the country, about 3% compared to the national average over 15%. Funny that his model that was the basis for The Affordable Care Act is now criticized by him as an evil. Why? Because he's running for President. The reality of the healthcare issue is that we as a nation are living longer and costs are increasing at a rapid rate. If The Affordable Healthcare Act and it's imminent tweaks and adjustments do not help stem the costs of a larger aging population then a more Universal Plan will be necessary and that will cost money and that will mean raising higher taxes especially on those who can afford it and don't pay enough now. The infamous 1%, Republicans and corporate conservatives will never stand for that and they will find an insidious way to make upstanding senior citizens & middle Americans to believe that higher taxes on those who do mot pay their fair share, that will make them live longer or make them comfortable are evil. They will finds a way to make make people believe that death is preferable to higher taxes on the rich. Unbelievable but sadly true.
"E Pluribis Unum"our original national motto means Out of many, one or One from many. One people united under a common cause in a country designed with a concept of the common good for one united people. Apparently, we have lost that thread. It's more like the Three Stooges: One for all & all for one and Everyman for himself. Rant over.
