"Tom"is my neighbor and friend. He has worked as a maintenance man for a school
district for nearly 30 years. He is a normal middle class man who loves to run and walk
as much as me. He is smart but doesn't care about politics. He votes Republican because
he thinks a Republican government will keep his taxes low.
His daughter is sick and he seemed worried. She won't die, but she has no money and
is 17 years old.
" What about the ACA?", I asked. " I now pay $1,300 a month for a lousy policy, I can't
afford it anymore. " Has your union negotiated the best deal? " I asked.
He was told they have. The insurance company had to raise his premiums because
people like my son with Diabetes can now have insurance. He is not a mean man but he
and others feel it would be better to be poor.
He said lot's of folks will vote against Democrats because to help the poor, his rates
had to go up. 'There is nothing free for me anymore, I pay something for everything,"
"I used to pay nothing for insurance, now for two people, I pay $1,300 a month."
I'm guessing he works for $35,000 a year. I could be wrong. I said, "It seems to
me $1,300 a month for two people is high."
It's easy for me to sing the praises of the ACA. I pay 0 for my insurance.
Single Pay insurance has to be our next move. I get it to wait a spell and wait
for the right time. The VA pays $1,000 a pill for one hepatitis pill.Someone could get
a lower cost if a much larger bulk purchase was possible.
Imagine the savings, if all pills could be purchased at a huge bulk cost.
The middle class is disappearing in America. We are being squeezed with higher
taxes and higher insurance rates for some. Things need to change fast. My friend
is how Republican's survive. More Republican's than Democrats are registered to vote
in 2014.
My friend is sympathetic to the plight of the poor.He barely can make his insurance payment every month.
I reminded him that if something really happened to his health or daughter's,
Insurance would keep paying no matter how much the bill was,. That wasn't always
the case, I said.
Would you mind if I asked you to keep reading under the fold?
Apathy will destroy our chances in November. Fires need to be lit under voters to get them
to vote. Our candidates should not run from our President's policies, they should brag
about what he has accomplished against impossible odds.
Social security, medicare, war on poverty, equal pay for women, Gay rights, Killing the
man who was the mastermind behind 9-11-2001. All of this came from democrats.
The Republican's have made the rich richer and the Iraq war.
People like my friend see higher insurance premiums. He and others need to see our society in the future. They need to see a country like Canada, and nearly all civilized
nations that care for all of the people.
Every moment counts until November elections. If Republicans win Congress, my friends
insurance rates will stay the same. We will have at least 2 years of arguing. Our country
will move backwards.
I think I have convinced my friend to vote Democratic. We can make his life better, Republican's cant.
=We are not
living in eternity.
We have only
this moment,
sparkling like a
star in our hand,
and melting like
a snowflake.
-Marie Beyon Ray