How do you read the American people? On one hand they give nobly and with passion to help out the struggling in Haiti. On the other hand they selfishly guard their own health benefits and deny them to the uninsured and underinsured in their own country; men, women and children with whom they work and live with day by day.The American people poll out as not supporting even a modest reform of our health care system. I reserve special ire for the senior citizens. They enjoy good Medicare coverage financed by even those who have no health insurance themselves( yes, people who work without health insurance still pay the Medicare tax from their payroll earnings); yet, they worry the proposed health care bill might diminish their own health care, and therefore reject the same. Many of our young people cannot get health insurance through their employment and cannot afford it on their own; yes, these are our children and your children, not some fantasized "other".
I am mindful many of our seniors support national health coverage; unfortunately, they are a minority of that age group.
The old kill our young; they devour our seed corn.
To our seniors: have you no shame?
I have all my adult life been proud of this country's support of Social Security and Medicare benefits; they have allowed our senior citizens to have some measure of economic security in their old age.
I am very angry; and I will stay angry
daddio
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I do not understand exactly the new health care plan is, I do know that the doctor I have accepts whatever medicare will pay, therefore he does not receive anything from private ins. I carry. Good for him, but the quality of doctoring I receive is pathetic. Is this the way it will be with the new health care programs? I do not believe you can blame the seniors anymore than the nation as a whole for political decisions being made. I am glad to see however that you are angry about it, your generation is the upcoming senior citizens, and maybe you have the abiity to do something.Mom
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, and I'd reserve special venom for our Democratic Senators and Reps who had a year to pass something and screwed around the whole time. If they can't pass health-care with a filibuster-proof majority, what is the point of voting for Democrats? Health care reform is what being a Dem is all about. I've never considered being a nihilist when it comes to politics before, but if they can't do this I'm done for a while.
ReplyDeleteMom,
ReplyDeleteI was not blaming you. I know you support helping others out, even at your own expense, and you have shown that many, many times in the past. You have given more than your share in helping others out. So, that was in no way directed at you.There are though, many , many seniors who are voting for Republicans because they believe the health reform bill will diminish their own Medicare coverage. As those who are elected set policy, I do think the seniors take some, not all, the blame for voting for republicans who have unanimously told lies about this bill and done everything they can to stop it. Yes, I do blame the seniors. They are a huge voting block who get out and vote faithfully: more than any other age group by percentage ( I think I'm right on that stat; Joel and Colin correct me if I'm wrong) and can "tip" an election very quickly. Again, I'm not talking about you. Please believe me on that
love,
john
"In 2008, younger citizens (18-24) had the lowest voting rate (49 percent), while citizens who fell into older age groups (45-64 and 65-plus) had the highest voting rates (69 percent and 70 percent, respectively)."
ReplyDeleteFrom U.S. Census Bureau
I never thought my own mother would refer to our generation as the "upcoming senior citizens." Wasn't it just yesterday that she called us the younger generation? I think I will have some warm milk and go to bed.
Love, Jeff
john, it seems to me that your anger is ironically the same anger that brings scott brown to washington.
ReplyDeletewhat frustrates healthcare reform is 'politics as usual. self-serving wrangling and deal-making within the democratic party obstruct reform just as much as republican opposition.
a vote for scott brown may not have been a vote against healthcare reform. more a vote against an anachronistic two-party system that seems incapable of instituting even the most obvious and moderate essential changes to a healthcare system that is so broken that by its own admission kills through preventable error no fewer than 2000 patients every week. (National Academy of Sciences, The Institute of Medicine, 2001).
seniors were victimized by people like dick armey. in much the same way that anti-abortionists were victimized by ben nelson.
i hear from david brooks and mark shields on the Lehrer News Hour that right now democrats and republicans alike are freaking out in response to scott brown's election. scurrying around capitol hill wetting their pants worrying about which way to turn, breaking old alliances and seeking safe ground.
whether it is democrats realizing they have wasted their majority and mandate for change or the opposition suspecting that a vote for brown is not a vote for a republican but against politics as usual, if they are not peeing their pants, they ought to be.
seniors are not at fault here any more than any other sector of the electorate. what is at fault is a system that frustrates the implementation of critical 21st century solutions with a 20th century mindset. and the evidence seems to suggest that the electorate is moving against that system.
obama seems to be moving forward and taking the helm during this chaos. at a time when others are re-trenching and trying to keep their heads low and hoping this will all blow over, he is stepping up his game.
we may not get the healthcare reform that the majority of us supported. but we may end up with something in the long run that is even better. a system aligned to the interests of the voters rather than the interests of the policy-makers.
they hear your anger, brother.
right on big dog! I summoned up my alter ego Josef Stalin(did you know he died the same year I was born? cool, huh)and he tells me I need to start holding some secret trials of known obstructionists( what does he mean by that? he also told me to bring blindfolds and guns????)
ReplyDeletedaddio