A Few "Real American" Perspectives

The following are comments that were posted in response to CNN's blatant propaganda piece on the recently passed health care legislation.  At the bottom is blog excerpt from my friend Kip (a.k.a. The Desolation Angel) who always provides a well thought out, fact-based opinion. So here we go:

I am relatively young and healthy, too old to be on my parent's plan, and earning too much to qualify for subsidies. The mandate would likely force me to pay a wildly disproportionate share of the costs relative to what I use because of community rating, gender rating, and bloated minimum coverage requirements. Actuarial tables go out the window to "spread risk", so I would end up subsidizing the obese, Octomoms, the lazy, those who get free insurance, the elderly (who I already subsidize with Medicare taxes), and those who choose unhealthy lifestyles. Do we force safe 40 year old drivers into paying auto premiums at the level of a 17 year old male driver with 3 tickets? NO!
Not gonna happen. I'm opting out instead of paying artificially inflated premiums. It would save me thousands! Also under this bill, preexisting conditions must be covered so if something ever happens, I'll just buy insurance when I need it.

If enough people like me get shafted, adverse selection might get out of control and penalties for opting out might be increased. If that happens, I might be forced in, but I will feel compelled to greatly over-utilize the healthcare system as I refuse to be a low cost profitable cash cow for insurance companies, paying in artificially high premiums on a monthly basis instead of paying my fair share
 
I am a 39 year old father of three, a husband of 16 years, have a job with health insurance and my wife has a job with health insurance. We don't consider ourselves lucky. We consider ourselves smart enough and humble enough to know we had to get real jobs, be respectful to others, work hard, pay our taxes, get educated, and follow the rules of society to ensure we have a good life. I look at all the people above and see one or more things these individuals didn't do to allow themselves to be somewhat successful at life to ensure they have control of their own lives within the standards of decent society. They have created their own mess. Two of my children have chronic health issues. We have insurance. We figured the system out. Why won't others figure it out? And, now I have to bail out the "unlucky" ones. Luck has nothing to do with it. Get real for once.
 
Do you believe that every individual has something to contribute or do you believe that those who assume they are more intelligent should dictate what you contribute? If you stand for individual choice, speak up. Learn about the people you vote for. Life IS the gift. Don’t stand by while others act like spoiled teenagers asking that their fellow man give them more. Will you stand before your creator and say that the gift of life you were given was not good enough and you want man to make your gift better? FREEDOM is yours to lose! In Ben Franklin’s words, “We have given you a republic ma’am, if you can keep it.”


The people who are celebrating the passage of the bill are either not aware of the detrimental impact of this legislation our everyone's lives going forward or are simply interested in ignoring what has made America a great country, and should read our constitution. We all agree that health care needs to be reformed, but once you begin peeling back the layers, you will see that is not what this bill is all about. It is about government control, under the guise of health care reform, which is consistent with Obama and the democratic congress' ideology. There are ways of reforming health care and still allowing us to maintain our freedom and not bankrupt our country. I would ask that those who are celebrating the passage of the bill be open minded and listen to the true facts that are revealed in the coming months and get those facts from various sources, not just CNN and major networks. If you hate Republicans, and despise Bush, fine. But please get beyond that and listen to the facts about what was passed in this bill and the truth about the cost, financial and otherwise. CNN is obviously carrying the democrats water, including the mistruths about costs and impacts on American's lives. Just explore the facts please and then make an informed decision. I pray daily that God will continue to bless America. We will definitely need it!!
 
And from the Desolation Angel himself:

. . .What I know of the bill is this. It is called a $700 billion dollar bailout of health insurance companies. It's not a bailout, but a disguised transfer of wealth to them, those companies who are among some of the largest campaign donors out there. What I know is that on Monday, every health insurance company's stock soared. What I know is that the Health Care Insurance companies walked out on Monday with their anti-trust exemption still in place, the only one besides Major League Baseball. What I know is that the bill passed and there is no portability across state lines, what I know is that malpractice tort reform was not touched.

. . . .What I know is that if you are a woman, you got screwed and betrayed, royally, with a secret Executive Order signed with no cameras, behind closed doors that bought Rep. Bart Stupak's vote. What I know is that as someone who is an incorporated small business, I got screwed, as I will now be forced to buy insurance for myself that I otherwise voluntarily elect not to get, since I can, or could negotiate prices for any health care I needed. What I know is a portion of my federal taxes will go towards, now another entitlement program that will last forever, and that will be as unfunded or underfunded as any other program like Social Security or Medicare.
. . . .And if you cannot see that what this is all leading to is a V.A.T., a National Sales Tax of 1/2 to 1 percent, that will act as a literal money pump for the Federal Gov't, and that this is what the Federal Deficit Reduction Committee will come out with as a recommendation, then you truly deserve Beck, Limbaugh, Olbermann or Maddow as your predatory mind thieves telling you what to think and lying to you about how things are.


But of course, these people don't count.  Only the 10.38% in this country who were uninsured matter, right?  The other 89.12% of us should just sit quietly and take it.  To do otherwise would be hateful.