MyDD :: Republicans blame the poor for not planning ahead

Republicans blame the poor for not planning ahead

by momoaizo, Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 01:05:58 PM EST

In Moore, a very red County, the head of the Democratic party and the head of the Republican party have been writing opinion pieces espousing their party's beliefs. In the most recent submission, John Owen (r) explains how the poor <ins>choose</ins> not to carry insurance instead they gamble that they will not need it.

In government as in life, there is always a tension between those who find themselves unprepared for unexpected misfortune and those who are fortunately prepared for misfortune, expected or not.

The latter have sacrificed to pay ever-increasing health insurance premiums; the former are those who gamble that the taxpayers who paid the high cost of insurance, or those who took a job at lower pay for the assurance of coverage, will sacrifice even more by paying even higher health-care costs.

Is it right to choose cell service rather than Blue Cross? Should the young and the reckless, the imprudent or the illegal, assume they will receive care at the local emergency room, utilizing the bankruptcy court as the bill payer of last resort?

Republicans have been complaining to the editor and publisher that the newspaper is too liberal. Both the editor and publisher assert that the Democrats have also complained that they are too conservative. Their answer to both is...

Our job isn't to protect politicians from themselves. It's to make sure our readers are exposed to a forum for civic debate. Democracy can be messy at times. This election season seems to be proving that point

Personally I feel this is a good policy. To their credit, they have just implemented a new "talk back" platform. On each letter to the editor,each opinion piece and each editorial they have added a area so citizens can comment. Please visit the Pilot Newspaper online and help the Moore County Democrats hit back on these highly volitile Republican talking points.

Tags: North Carolina, Moore County Democratic Party, Republicans (all tags)

Permalink :: 8 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: Republicans blame the poor (none / 0)

Does anyone have a cell phone plan that costs as much as an health insurance plan?

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

by momoaizo on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 01:54:31 PM EST

So I take it the GOP is against mandates.. (none / 0)

They obviously take Obama's position that "choice" in this context (so called "consumer driven" healthcare) is a good thing, even if it means that most people will expose themselves to far more risk than they can handle because they can't afford the health plan that would actually fully protect them.

Obama borrowed the "choice" mantra from GOP think tanks as a way of avoiding the real, difficult health care issue.

Thats why I was supporting Hillary.

Obama could still do it, he could adopt a healthcare plan that would actually work, and win a huge amount of extra support from working people. But, FOR SOME REASON, he is resistant to that. Maybe the insurance companies are big funders?

Health Care: WHY do we pay MORE and GET LESS?
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/con tent/full/hlthaff.28.1.w1/DC1

by architek on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 02:12:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The bailout's DOUBLE STANDARD (none / 0)

Penalyzes the responsible (the taxpayers) to pay for the bad investments of the politically well connected mortgage speculators...

That doesn't make sense..

Health Care: WHY do we pay MORE and GET LESS?
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/con tent/full/hlthaff.28.1.w1/DC1

by architek on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 02:14:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

He might do it. (none / 0)

If he were running on mandates, the Republicans would have a field day with it. Obama is just being a skilled politician and not giving his opponents small, easy things to run on against him.

But we've had this fight before. Baby steps, my friend. Ted Kennedy is sure that Obama's plans will lay the foundation for universal health care in the future, and I'm inclined to take the big guy at his word.

The pebbles have voted and the avalanche has begun.

President-Elect "That One"

by Dracomicron on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 03:05:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Don't call me your friend.. (none / 0)

Until you are honest about the impact of these things on people.

With what we have gone through under Bush, WE DESERVE BETTER THAN "THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS"

Health Care: WHY do we pay MORE and GET LESS?
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/con tent/full/hlthaff.28.1.w1/DC1

by architek on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 07:05:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yikes (none / 0)

I am honest. I face these things myself, as I've explained many times.

I'm just a realist and a pragmatist. Rome wasn't overthrown in a day, and neither will the health care crisis be fixed in a year or even four years.

The spectre of Reagan looms over everything that happens in our economy; his busting of unions and deregulation set us back many years and it's only now that the greater public is seeing what's going on.

Obama will put a solid but not perfect plan into place that is the way it is because he needs bipartisan support. Down the road, when we see improvements, and where the system can BE improved, the political capital will be there to finish the job.

Sorry for calling you a friend, but I do think I can admit the impact of these issues.

The pebbles have voted and the avalanche has begun.

President-Elect "That One"

by Dracomicron on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 09:21:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I went without car insurance for awhile (none / 0)

Before I stopped driving, I stopped getting car insurance because it was freaking expensive and I didn't have the money for both that and things like food and rent.

My idea was that I would rely on AAA membership for general issues and simply not report damage to my junker car.

Eventually it was more trouble than it was worth; I had the car scrapped and started taking the bus.

Anyway, health insurance is a similar problem. You can get away with not having it... until you can't. Then you're in trouble. I'm getting pretty sick of blaming the victims.

The pebbles have voted and the avalanche has begun.

President-Elect "That One"

by Dracomicron on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 03:09:04 PM EST

Cost of medical services is 3-5 TIMES higher (none / 0)

Hospitals, pharmacies, etc. should be prohibited from charging the uninsured far more than the insured. For example, in the Bay Area, uninsured patients are typically charged as much as 3-5 times as much for the same services or drugs as the insured because the HMOs, hospitals, etc. have pre-existng agreements. This means that uninsured artists, part and full time employees, the working poor and middle class without insurance end up paying incredibly high prices.

My 40 year old friend who had no insurance was forced to go to the emergency room by a suddenly burst appendix. She had an income of roughly 20,000 a year through her work as a house painter and decorator and could not afford health insurance. The bill for her three day hospital stay came to almost $50,000.

This was at a public teaching hospital. Because she did have an income, she was not eligible to be treated as medically indigent and have the debt written off because she made too much.

Collection agencies started calling her and they damaged her credit. The net result was that she had to give up her apartment and move back to MO where she had come from and live with her parents, so she could pay off this debt. As far as I know, she is still trying to pay it back, a few hundred dollars a month.

Health Care: WHY do we pay MORE and GET LESS?
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/con tent/full/hlthaff.28.1.w1/DC1

by architek on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 07:03:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You are not logged in.

In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.

If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.