The minimalist in me makes this particularly hard. I've seen posts on Facebook, hundreds of them already covering the gamut. Yeah! Healthcare! Booo Socialism! and some who obviously have zero fucking clue of what it means either way.
The Dems see this as a win. The repubs see it as a loss, although I guarantee someone is thinking up some shit to use it as political ammo to oust as many dems as possible in upcoming elections.
Apparently nothing happens until 2013, except the rise in personal taxes. But for simplistic reasons, let me just throw out what it really means.
- The US Government just took control of 1/6 of the nations economy
- This bill was passed to "help" just around 10% of the population
- The Dems tried (I'm not sure if it was successful yet) to get this legislation passed without ever being able to be overturned or reversed.
We lost today. Democracy literally took a back seat to politics and big business. In a Democracy, the majority is supposed to rule. On this issue, it didn't. The majority of US citizens were against this bill, yet it passed.
Listen, I'm not against affordable health care. I wish it for everyone. I agree it should be a right. I've been convinced. But this is not going to be what everyone thinks it is. Nothing much will change unless you are already a member of the welfare class. The policy you have will stay the same. You will pay more taxes. Your premiums will not go down. Your service will. Doctors will become less available. A new system will be built privately for the wealthy, driven by capitalists who see a need, and demand, for specialized care, afforded by those who want it, and will and can pay for it.
This will only cause more problems as those who don't have will cry bull shit. I really view this as yet another step in separating the classes even further. The middle class is dying. This will only help to widen the divide between classes.
5 comments:
I'm afraid I can't agree with all of your conclusions in the second to last paragraph. I don't believe the results will be nearly so benign (not that you paint a completely benign picture).
I think your last paragraph is correct though.
If I may paint with a broad brush, the Legislative and Executive branches have succeeded in rendering the Constitution moot once and for all. The Judicial branch has demonstrated in the past their willingness to validate this course.
A stake has been driven into the heart of individual liberty.
So in closing, AC WILL prosper once table games are allowed in PA ?
James, you're sounding a bit like Chicken Little in your assumptions. Maybe I'm a bit naive, but I don't think that i saw my taxes rise when we bailed out that farce of a corporation General Motors, why would our taxes rise now that we, as a country, see to it that ALL of our citizens will have health care ?
Not a fan of this bill but I blame the GOP for that as much as the Dems. If they had actually tried to work towards reasonable reform instead of saying No Way and speading their scare tactics, Armaggedon?, ssomething decent might have been acheived. This bill has two major provisions that take effect almost immediately and are probably the most important, the ones that prevent insurance companies from dropping people due to major problems and from denying people insurance due to pre existing conditions. you may not think it effects you when you are healthy and have a job but have a chronic condition and become unemployed and see how you feel. And as far as better systems being built for the wealthy and less service that already happened without government interference. It was called the developement of the HMO.
I agree with BamBam.
And in the time it has taken me to write this comment, your allotted appointment time to see me has already lapsed. Too bad you had to wait three months for the appointment.
-DrC
Riggs,
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. For what it's worth, my post wasn't (isn't) targeted towards those who actually have thoughtful disagreement and take well-reasoned issue with the legislation, and I think you understood that. And I certainly don't take the "cuts $130b from the deficit" figures for granted, as even if those numbers eventually turn out to accurate within the context of *this* bill, the federal government will find 30 ways to spend those perceived savings between now and then, anyway.
And that will be the case no matter which party is controlling the purse springs by then.
I would disagree with your statement that "most" against this bill make very logical points. At least as measured by my local paper, most of what passes as opinion writing is no more than what is spewed by Palin and Beck.
My own perspective is somewhat different, I suppose. I have quality health insurance. My wife has had it too...until she became a prime candidate for recission because a previously healthy woman suffered a catastrophic illness and racked up $1.8million in medical bills over a six month period.
Without legislation like what just passed, she could no longer change jobs, because she'd move into a new plan where her illness is now a "pre-existing condition", her current plan would drop her, etc, etc...the horror stories that are out there are very real.
And the very nature of insurance is to be a pool. You don't get to just kick a given individual out of a pool because they actually had to avail themselves of the benefits they've already paid for.
Of course, even this bill isn't perfect...far from it. But it's a far cry better than the status quo.
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