Despite The Awesome Speech.. Some Would Still Prefer to Believe the Lies

Despite last nights very direct speech, some people with whom I communicate with via Facebook still insist on believing the lies and some still have no clue what they are talking about.

For example. Today, I , a self employed entrepreneur, was told by someone that "those people that are uninsured should just go get a job and work for it like my husband does". Uggh.. comments like that just make me want to throw my hands up in the air and bang my head against a wall. I wish there was a clue store, because this person really really needs to buy one. She obviously doesn't know that the vast majority of the uninsured are working families, either in jobs that do not provide coverage or in a small business that can not afford the high premiums. Those who are then what she was trying to imply were "lazy" or non employed (by choice, not by default) and who aren't making an income are NOT uninsured. They get their insurance FREE through medicaid. Self employed are NOT unemployed. Perhaps she needs to learn the difference in the two.

I would love for her to stand in front of a person that lost their job in this crappy economy and who has been pounding the pavement, in some cases for over a year now, and say that to their face. This person, by the way, is a stay at home mom (nothing wrong with that) with three kids. Husband is employed with benefits.

She needs to think and think long and hard about this scenario. What if the company that her husband works for lays him off tomorrow? Does she even have a clue what the cost of covering her family would be under cobra? Well given that the average cost is $12K for a family of 4, and she is a family of 5, I'm sure she'd be quite shocked at the bill that comes in the mail for the cobra coverage.

Is this person not aware that there are plenty of people, like myself, that are ready, willing and able to pay for insurance but then are refused coverage for a pre-existing condition. It would be important to note, by the way, that this person that I was debating today could very well be "disqualified" for health insurance or charged at a much higher premium because of their weight. That's not a knock to her for being on the heavy side, but it's just the reality of it.

But I should have known I wasn't going to get a good and meaningful debate out of this person when the question she posed on her Facebook wall was "What do you think of Obama's Death Panels?"

I guess some people on this issue are going to be just completely hopeless to reach or reason with.

Then there is the crowd that debated more intelligently but who's stance is that they simply do not trust the government and truly believe that this reform Obama is proposing is a complete takeover of the health care industry. I get that these people are afraid of the government. But.. WHAT about the government makes you so "afraid"?

See, it's complex. I don't fully trust the government or politicians either but I don't trust them because I feel that most, if not all, of their decisions are based on who paid them the most to vote they way they voted. In other words, our government has been bought and paid for by the highest bidder. Most of the ones who most strongly oppose this health care reform INCLUDING the "blue dog" democrats are politicians who take the MOST money from insurance lobbyists.

The entire thing is quite genius on the part of big corporations and special interest. On the one hand they decry that the government can't be trusted but on the other side they are the ones that are corrupting the government. All of this happened while we were all too busy with our "pop culture" to pay attention to our own political and government system. As we became complacent it became easier and easier for special interests to overtake the government.
Let me ask you this. If we were debating a reform that would actually LINE the pockets of insurance companies and increase their profits, do you really honestly think that this debate would be so heated and so polarized? No! It wouldn't! We probably would not hear hide nor hair of the reform if that were the case. But,be it as it may, this debate IS so heated because when, for the first time, our government is actually working in the interest of the INDIVIDUAL citizens and NOT in the interest of big profits, those with the money to throw around (and hence the weight) throw it around and do everything in it's power to defeat it because they DO not want this reform to work because it is NOT in the best interest of their profits.. even though it is in the best interest of this countries citizens. They , those that are in the pockets of the corporate interests in this matter, go on TV, radio and what have you , and outright LIE to the American public creating false rumors about death panels, free medical care and coverage to illegal immigrants and so on and so forth. They play into the public's most paranoid fears with propaganda. They demonize the President, they demonize the government. And the sad part is the public buys it and eats it right up. Some have been so far gone that no matter WHAT the President says, they are not going to believe him.

See, the concept of government is NOT an evil one, not in a democracy. However, the lust for money and anything motivated by money is what is the "evil". Governments quest is simply to govern and to protect the public from being taken advantage of by policing actions and creating laws that allows our society to live in harmony as a civilized

Perhaps its more fun and exciting to demonize the President of the United States and call him Hitler than to actually listen to reason.

Uggh.. The entire thing is just infuriating. That even after that speech, where he talks about HOW it's gong to be paid for and how it's NOT going to be paid for, it still wasn't enough for some people. I mean what did you want him to do .. throw out ALL the numbers line by line in the budget? WE would have been there for not hours, but days. He said it people..loud and clear and here it is again;

a) the public option, for one, will NOT be funded by public tax dollars
b) Cleaning up and clearing waste in medicaid/medicare (which is outlined in several ways in the bill, including electronic medical records to make the administrative costs less, more streamlined and efficient and eliminate paperwork . All of which will be beneficial to the private markets as well.)
c.) BUDGET CUTS in other areas of spending if need be.

How much more specific beyond going into it line by line can you get?

Listen. Our taxes are going to go up, but NOT because of health care but because of a war in Iraq and Afghanistan and because of the billions of dollars used by the government to bail out Wall Street (again..those big corporations... who weren't screaming and crying about government spending then huh? No talks of Hitler or fear mongering from the corporations then was there? )Funny how when now some of our tax dollars will actually be spent on helping us CITIZENS each individually with a much needed reform is all this dirty back and forth going on.

Needless to say, another FB friend is gone from my list. It's not because she has a different opinion. It's more that her opinion is based on ignorance, incomplete facts and figures and once again, when I illustrated a point supported by actual facts, she had no real intelligent comeback beyond the empty "all those uninsured should go get a job". Is that all you got?

President Obama's Speech Tonight on Health Care

Well, you didn't think I wouldn't blog about it now did you? Of course I'm going to.

Anyone who knows me and has read this blog knows how deeply entrenched in this issue I am an how deeply personal it is to me (pre-existing condition and all, self employed and uninsured). I've spent the last month, just like the rest of you, listening to all the crap out there about this health care reform bill. Hearing people scream outright lies and asking questions based on hyperbole and rhetoric at town hall meetings has frustrated me to tears. I've de-friended at least 2 Facebook "friends" because I couldn't take their nonsensical crap anymore ; posting about how Obama is Hitler, birth certificate conspiracy theories, and basically empty arguments against health care reform, all of which I have illustrated in this post. It's hard to discuss something with people who, in response to you actually posting FACTS and FIGURES to prove your point can only come back with "your a commie and a traitor". That just shows they know not what they speak and they have no actual facts to back up their assertions.

Needless to say, this exhausted "liberal", was so very excited when I heard that Obama was going to take the stage tonight at Congress and speak to them and to us and confront, head on, the lies and tell it straight out like it is. Finally. I was feeling alone and beat up defending health care reform and in particular defending HR. 3200 and the many wonderful qualities in it.

The President hit the nail right on the head. I particularly like how he called out all those politicians that did nothing but lie and spread outright falsehoods about the bill. I love how he addressed the seniors and reminded them that the Republicans, who are quick to claim that this bill is going to deplete their medical benefits, is the same party that wanted to make strong cuts to medicare and switch it to a privatized voucher system thereby disintegrating it. I love how he pointed out that when SS was first introduced the same argument about how we would lose our freedoms and become a socialist nation was unfounded, as well as when Medicare was first introduced.

The best line " We did not come here to fear the future, we came to shape it". Very powerful.

Most importantly he took every single one of the controversial issues that have been talked about and very strongly confronted the issue head on!

I had been feeling almost hopeless about reform being passed and he once again gave me hope. He let me know that he wasn't going to back down on the public option, something I feel is so very important for a comprehensive bill that will truly make insrurance companies more competitive (ie: trimming their excess in order to compete in premium costs with a much lower overhead government not for profit system). All the rumors of him making certain compromises I felt would render the bill unaffective, were quashed.

I literally had tears in my eyes listening to him speak about the issue, not only with the passion that he so obviously has for the issue but with conviction. And, everything he has said, every point he has made I have been making over and over again for weeks against the opposition.

This health care reform IS common sense.

There is ONE thing that I agree with Republicans on in this issue and that is the tort reform issue. I was very glad and proud that Obama was going to include that in this bill.

The Republican rebuttal was empty. They were once again talking about the entire over state lines issue. Well is not the national exchange just that.. a pool of many different insurance companies competing on a national level for consumers? Why are the Republicans so opposed to a public option to compete with private? As the President pointed out, it already exists in other areas without detriment to private industry. It never makes sense to me that the same party who constantly chants how incompetent the Federal Government is , is afraid to compete with it. The President even remarked how he would agree with their "fear" of a public option IF that public option was going to be funded by tax payers dollars which he clearly states will not.

And that Republican from SC, Joe Wilson , that yelled out "liar" when the President was speaking (I believe it was when the President talked about how it was a lie that this bill would cover illegal immigrants - and the bill doesn't say that at all.. I read that section and blogged about it in this post. It was completely disrespectful and he should be ashamed of himself. I plan on writing him and telling him so as soon as his website is accesable because I can't seem to get through to it at the moment (my twitter was a blaze with everyone tweeting that we should all email him and blast him for being so disrespectful, or, as I like to put it, for being a tool!).

So I will be anxiously waiting and watching wondering if those whiny neo-cons that have been spouting utter nonsense about this bill will finally give their crap a rest. I don't have much faith they will, but who knows. There is no reasoning with the irrational. They seem hell bent on turning Obama into Hitler and the anti-christ. I also hope that the public actually listened and took something positive away from this speech. This health care reform is such a good thing for this nation and so badly needed.

The Objection to President Speech is Completely Absurd! Get a Grip on Yourselves Already

I don't know if it's just my PMS'g hormones this week, but man .. the attitudes of so many Americans is just really, well pissing me off is the only way that I can put it.

I can not believe that people seriously were objecting to the President of the United States, the highest office held in the most powerful country in the world, to speaking to their children about staying in school and working to achieve better in their lives. Especially coming from a man of his background (under privileged) and his wife's background.

Yeah.. I know the "objection" was to the "assignments" proposed by the administration and the Board of Ed , particularly the "How Can I Help Obama" question. But , since when is teaching your children to GET INVOLVED with politics and the issues in this country a BAD thing. I heard one person on the news object to their child becoming a "community organizer". When did being a community organizer , or one who works within the community in a positive and productive manner, or volunteer in the community become such a dirty word? I mean really?

For crying out loud people, I wish my generation, myself included, would have been more involved, paid more attention, knew more about the issues and voiced opinions about them. Then perhaps this country wouldn't have been bought and paid for right under our nose to the highest bidder while we were all too busy.. well NOT paying attention!

That's it you neo-cons.. teach your children to just sit back and do nothing but whine. Apparently it's all the right knows how to do these days. Everything that President does they twist, turn and make into some sick conspiracy theory. It's really quite sickening. You don't have to agree with everything he does or says. You don't have to agree on all of his policies, but why demonize him? What is the point? What does it achieve? Really, all it does is make you all look like a bunch of lunatics.

What the hell happened to actually RESPECTING the office of the President?

Bush sure as hell wasn't my President (well at least the first time around and half way through the second time I realized I'd made a huge error in judgement when I cast my vote for him!). But you know what, he was still my President and irregardless I had respect for that.

Now Obama is our President. Let the man get something done! The only ones sinking this country further down the rabbit hole are those that want to demonize everything the President does!

Any school, any parent that objected and didn't let their kids listen to his speech missed an amazing opportunity. Even if they do not agree with the Presidents politics (of which wasn't even in the darned thing anyway) they missed a great opportunity to open the lines of communication with their children to talk about the issues and to teach their children about U.S Politics . Wow, imagine that. Parents sitting around having a conversation with their own children and talking to them about their personal political views on any and all issues facing this country today. Imagine the children sitting and writing a letter, for themselves, on ways they could "help" the President.. perhaps by making suggestions on such issues (and that includes ALL points.. like objecting to his health plan). The younger children probably would have said something cute about "helping" the President with his dog or something (because obviously a younger child will not grasp the concepts) and teenagers could have taken the opportunity to figure out how they feel about certain issues. The letters suggested weren't even ever going to be sent to the President anyway. It was just an exercise.

Even if his speech was completely lined with political rhetoric and wasn't bi-partisan, it still would have been an excellent opportunity for parents on the other side of the issues to discuss the issues. But you know what, there is no need to even address the 'what if'. It was not anything even remotely resembling anything of the sort.

Here is a link to the SUGGESTED lesson plan for Prek-6
Here is the link to the SUGGESTED lesson plan for 7 - 12

I particularly think the last 2 questions at the end are THE most important.

• What do you believe are the challenges of your generation?
• How can you be a part of addressing those challenges?

But then again, this is the same group of people who seem to think that not discussing sex with their children means that their children will not be having sex.. (insert smack head emotion con here).

And, then again, perhaps they are doing us a favor (those neo-cons that didn't allow their kids to hear the president thereby opening up discussions at home about the "issues") because , after all, the only thing they would have done is poison their children's minds about their crazy rhetoric and lies ; ie: the government wants to kill granny. Yeah.. that's all we need. The younger generation buying into that crap.