A collection of rambling posts about gaming, running, and politics. (and, in 2009, photography.)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The Health Care Bill and You

I won't mince words. I'm pro-health care. Furthermore, I'm pro-health care for everyone. I also have a strong socialist streak.

I'm sure that there are some folks out there who feel different than me, perhaps even for some legitimate and sane reasons, but I'm seeing lots of opposition to the health care bill for completely batshit insane stuff.

Let me get right to the point again: If you are getting your information about the health care bill from Glenn Beck and the folks at Fox news, then you may as well be consulting the neighborhood four year old about it. Here's a challenge for you, if you're a Fox news follower. Tell me three things that the health care bill will do. And if one of those is "Give viagra to sex offenders", then I really can't help you. Try this - look up the bill on the internet. Read about it - no, not on the fox news forum - go look it up on the rest of the internet.

I know that politics gets mighty polarized, and dems and repubs sit on opposite sides of the fence on some issues, but are you really going to let Glenn Beck convince you that "The Democrats" are trying to destroy the country? Are you that gullible?

I suppose the other side of that coin is that I'm flabbergasted by the Republican Congressional effort to stop the health care bill. A bill that is aimed at HELPING PEOPLE.

2 comments:

MemphisMark said...

First of all, you complain about Glenn Beck and Fox News not being balanced, and then you start out your post with an “I also have a strong socialist streak.” So you have a rather large bias as well. A mote in my eye, and all that.

I’ll tell you the only thing about the bill that I need to know. This law forces me to buy health insurance, and makes it a criminal offense if I don’t. That right there is enough for me. This is the United States, founded in Liberty and Freedom. This is supposed to be THE place in the world where the People tell the government what to do, not the other way around. I dislike it immensely when my government thinks it knows better about what I need than I do. That’s not what this country was founded upon.

No matter how many times you say it, that doesn’t make it true. Health care is not a right. Rights are given to us by God, not by government. And anything the government can give you, it can also take away.

Right now, the Liberals in Congress who shoved this curse of a law down our throats are acting like rules lawyers. “It doesn’t cay I can’t, so I can, right?” The Constitution is a limiting document, like any good rulebook. It delineates exactly what you can and cannot do. If it’s not in the rulebook, then it’s not to be done in the game. To break the game like that makes the game no longer fun for the other players. You as a gamer should know this. I know there is the “Provide for the General Welfare” clause, but I don’t think the Founding Fathers had universal health care in mind when they wrote that.

I am not against everybody having health care. I would love to see that happen. But I am against it when the government mandates and manages it. You can throw around that “980 Billion over 10 years” all you want, but show me 10 government programs that came in at or under budget. 90%+ of government programs end up spending at least double what the initial programs cost was projected to be.

Also, look at it this way. You have a friend, who is deep in over their head in credit card debt, and already owns three leased cars. Most of his income comes from borrowing on the credit cards. He now wants to buy a fourth car, a Jaguar. What would be your advice to him? Because that’s the position our government is in right now.

One last thought: With this health care law, the government can levy taxes to now get us to modify our behavior. The first one is already tanning beds. Before you know it, there will be a tax on sodas, then tobacco, then fast food or anything else the government thinks is unhealthy and it will raise taxes in the name of “controlling health care costs.”

We all lost a large part of our freedom with this law. If you can live with being a subject to the government, that’s all well and good for you. I however prefer to be a citizen, and tell my government what I want them to do. If my elected officials don’t do what I tell them to do, I vote them out of office.

Jerm said...

Thanks for the reply, Mark.

I'll respond as best I can here.

True, I consider myself a strong liberal socialist. But I also understand the importance of understanding the beliefs and values of others. I understand the importance of information and facts, and how facts are different than opinions. My bias against Beck and Fox News have little to do with their values, which are admittedly different than my own, and much more to do with how they present information, and what information they choose to present.

The rest of this seems to get into stuff about "Big Government" and the right of states vs federal government. I don't consider myself a "fan of big government", in fact, I challenge you to find someone who is. But lots of people identify with being "against big government". People rant and rail against the government being involved in their lives, but the government is already involved in nearly every aspect of our lives.

There are lots of opinions on government out there, and I'm not trying to claim that mine is the only valid or right one. Furthermore, I'm not such a fanboy that I can't find fault with the current administration, though I'm of the opinion that the good far outweighs the bad.

Thanks again for the comment.