— I occasionally choose to exhume older posts, simply as a reminder. This one is from April 18, 2011 —
Most of you reading this post … I’m assuming a few of you actually do read this … are too young to be personally concerned with things like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security.
But you should be, because those programs affect — in some cases, dramatically affect — people you love.
Some of you have grandparents and parents whose health and survival depend upon those programs. And some of us, (the older ones), have experienced just how quickly and substantially life and income and security can change. It’s not inconceivable to imagine some, many, or all of us, at some point, needing more than what we’ve set aside in savings in order to survive.
Imagine for a moment. You’re in your forties, with young children in school, mortgage, car payment(s), insurance payments … all the monthly bills … and then you discover that a parent or grandparent, someone you dearly love, has just lost 75% (or more) of their monthly income, along with the bulk of their medical insurance. They can no longer afford their house or apartment payment. They can’t afford their medical insurance co-pay. They now must use the Republican version of a health care plan; the Emergency Room.
What will you do? What can you do? You and your spouse barely make ends meet, your house isn’t big enough to accommodate another family member, and you can’t afford to buy something bigger.
This question was posed decades ago, by politicians of a better sort than our current batch of Ayn Rand lickspittles. To their great credit, they created a few safety nets for the elderly, weak, and impoverished among us.
And now the Republican party is intent upon pulling the strands of those safety nets apart.
An example? How about something like this?
Visualize getting a letter in today’s mail. The letter informs you that as of today, if you want to continue your medical insurance coverage, you’ll now have to pay an additional $6,400.00 every year; regardless of your income, or ability to pay. Now imagine that $6,400.00 represents over 50% of your annual income. Let’s see … medicine or rent? Or utilities? Or ???
Happy Times!
Any college students out there?
How about being informed, if you want to continue your college education, well … ummm … you can’t. The Pell grants are gone, and you don’t qualify for enough student loan money.
Happy Times!
In the military? Enlisted? Spouse? A kid? Getting Food Stamps? (Yeah, that happens all the time. It’s a despicable shame.) But sorry, Food Stamps have been drastically reduced, and you no longer qualify. Sucks to be you, but never forget, we support our troops.
Okay. Maybe not so happy times.
And the really good news? If you’re a millionaire, your taxes are going down!
None of this is an exaggeration. This is real, today, and it’s what the Republicans in Congress just voted for, last Friday. This is what the conservatives in America want. And if they remain in power, or god forbid, take control, this is what’s going to happen.
We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.
We’re not even on the planet.
