I had a bit of a debate last evening with a friend of a friend on facebook.
I did not know him, but he was responding to my friend just stating she “wants universal healthcare”
His first response was snarky and meant to offend her
“Yeah... I totally love communism too!”
Then came a series of right wing talking points that I vehemently disagreed with and the debate was on. By the way, he ended up calling me “Pastor” in one of our later posts because I had the nerve to bring the Ten Commandments into the debate. The nerve of me!!!
Follow me over the fold to see how he thinks that folks need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps so they too can have insurance.
He starts out with this
"The governmment already has a wondeful plan for the 15 percent that we are really talking about here... it is called pell grants and stafford loans. I say we utilize this already good program and help push the 15 percent that don't have some form of health care to strive to become more educated so they can place themeselves into a situation in which they can afford proper health care!"
He doesn’t mind helping people just a little, especially those who are
"physically and mentally handicapped or even people who hit a temporary rough patch in life."
He just thinks it is entirely unfair and taxes he might have to pay seemed to be a real concern for him
"... to tax me more on every one of my payroll dollars paid out as well as my personal income just so we can provide healthcare to an over wieght nation that statistically wastes more than 4 hours a day watching TV instead of working on something that could better their life."
He feels that ultimately
"Opportunity in life is equal for all those who have full mental and physical capabilities. What lacks is desire, hard work, and the patience to create and execute a plan for self improvement."
I was not impressed and decided to address him starting with his tax obsession and the canard that people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, so they too can have insurance.
Here is my response.
Tax Me!
I am happy to band together with my fellow citizens to control the cost of my healthcare.
I am already being taxed because a large part of the reason healthcare costs are so out of control is that we are ultimately paying for the uninsured every time they use an E.R. rather than a doctors office.
Our current approach is rather barbaric. Rather than treating a small cough or removing a pre-cancerous growth at a small cost, we won't do anything about it until the uninsured are forced into emergency care. Because no one will see these folks until it is really out of control, that level of care ends up costing a fortune. That cost of course gets passed onto us as higher hospital costs and higher insurance premiums, and that is ESSENTIALLY A TAX.
In addition, we are also putting ourselves at risk, because illness is allowed to spread when public health is at the mercy of the profit motive.
Tax Me!
Many people don’t realize that Insurance companies have a fiduciary responsibility to first, generate profit for their investors. If they do not, they can be sued.
If your insurance company lets you die because they found a slick way to get out of paying for your healthcare they are less likely to be subjected to lawsuits that will stick than if one of their investors can prove that they are not doing everything they can to maximize profitability.
Many make the argument that they don’t trust the Government, but WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT. The people who make the argument that the government is the enemy is saying that we are our own enemies. I’d rather have to deal with a bureaucrat working for me than a corporate crony working for a bonus by ginning up some lie meant to deny me the care I paid for.
I have have far more trouble in my life with giant corporations like banks, credit bureaus or even video rental places than government. When I see average folks out there arguing on behalf of corporate giants, I just can’t figure it out.
Tax Me!
I think that the health of my neighbors and community are more important than the contribution it costs me in taxes. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18) Pretty simple stuff. I don’t recall any of the ten commandments saying “only love the neighbors who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps” or “I got mine, not my problem if your too dumb or lazy to get yours”
I am not a religious person, but I get the basic idea of The Ten Commandments, what I don’t get is how the right wing of this country, folks who claim to be super Christian, can’t seem to remember this one simple commandment and keep it.
Leviticus 19:18 is about keeping faith with our brothers and sisters, that they don’t have to face bankruptcy and a cruel death because they were unable to get medical care. It is assuring that the misery of losing a loved one won’t be compounded by leaving the debt to their family so some rich investment firm can get a fat quarterly dividend check from United Healthcare, Humana or Blue Cross Blue Shield.
TAX ME!