Dismembered3po
09-15-2009, 06:49 AM
I'm tired of all this bullshit going on the past couple of months. I have a feeling many of you guys won't agree with what I'm about to say, but I need to vent, anyway.
<rant>
I'm FUCKING SICK of how this country, within MY memory, has gone from a society which prided itself on personal responsibility and leaving a legacy to the next generation to "gimmie mine now, fuck the rest of you." It used to be that people helped each other. It used to be that we cared about people less fortunate than ourselves. It used to be that working hard and being responsible and contributing to society meant that you'd be able to provide a decent life for your family, and you'd be relatively secure. No longer, folks.
Now we have the top 1% of income earners running all over the rest of us lowly working folks, and making shit harder for all of us. Greedy fuckers tanked the economy. Not the government...THE GODDAMNED MONEY HUNGRY EXECUTIVES did it, and left the government to try and clean the mess. Short-term profit at the cost of strength and stability did it, not over-regulation.
Take the mortgage thing to start with. The LACK of regulation in the first place allowed the FDIC banks to become one with the investment banks, which was the real cause of this whole thing in the first place. Once it happened, banks were able to push the risk of subprime loans off to unsuspecting investors. They saw no risk, so they just went around giving money to whoever the hell asked, baiting these buyers into unsustainable loans, that were BOUND to default (To be sure, there's some responsibility on the part of the buyers, but I put the blame almost entirely on the banks). This really started years and years ago, so you can't put the blame here on the current administration. Really, you can't fault the last one, either, though if they'd really looked at what was going on, they might have seen the impending disaster and done something before it came to what it did.
Then, when the government DID step in, to avert a major disaster, having to pump a stupid amount of money into the system to prop it up, we're STILL not happy, despite the fact that, had the government done nothing, things would have been way, way worse. People, you can't have it both ways. We have to either regulate on the front end, or pay the price on the back end. Pure capitalism, with no regulation devolves into chaos, making money only for the greediest, at the expense of everyone else. The other extreme, too much regulation has something of a similar effect. The balance has to be carefully maintained. How am I the only one who sees this? How come nobody realizes that there have to be shades of gray...that as with most other things in life, there isn't an absolute, we have to find the balance.
The healthcare industry in this country is fucked. It's been getting worse, and worse, and worse since...well, ever. It's ABSOLUTELY FUCKING BEYOND ME, that people are OK with the fact that we're the only Western Civilization left where someone who actually has a job, and has health insurance can still go bankrupt if they get sick. HOW THE HELL IS THIS OK?
Can people not see that this can EASILY happen to them? With all the people who have lost jobs recently, I wouldn't think it would be too difficult for the average person to think, "Well, gee...I guess I could be in that boat, too," and FEAR that it should happen. I'm a reasonably healthy individual for the moment, but I fear losing my job, and with it, my insurance. Christ, have you seen the Cobra cost? I fear that my presently unemployed mother is going to get sick, and I'm not going to have the money do do anything about it.
The fact of the matter is, even if you don't lose your job, your insurance company can still deny a claim based on any number of things, the big one being preexisting condition. This applies EVEN IF YOU AREN'T AWARE THAT YOU HAVE SAID CONDITION. They could also tell you, at some point, "You've spent too much of our money, so fuck you, you're on your own." It says so plainly when you look at your insurance policy. It's incredibly easy to hit your maximums, either yearly or lifetime. Never mind all the other loopholes.
The system being what it is, we already pay damned near twice the money per capita on healthcare than any other western country. Not only that, but more than 48% of every dollar spent on heathcare right now is ALREADY paid by the government. The best part of that is, IT BUYS US NOTHING. Hell, people in BOSNIA can expect to live longer than people in the US. SOMETHING has to be done. The status-quo is doing nobody any good, and is certainly HURTING in far more instances than we, as a people, should be ok with. When the #1 cause of bankruptcy is medical bills, how can we not see this as a problem?
So, one guy tries to step up and change some stuff. He wants to keep your insurance company from just arbitrarily dropping you. He wants to give you the option of being able to buy your own reasonably priced policies if you are between jobs or self-employed. He wants to give you an affordable option that's administered by a not-for-profit organization set up by the government (also, not FUNDED by the government in the long term) if you simply can't afford anything else. An OPTION to cover people who DON'T already have coverage now...you know, the more than 10% of people who don't have coverage now...the ones the government already winds up paying for in the first place. "OH JESUS CHRIST, HE'S HITLER!!" If I hear one more moron scream "OH MY GOD, NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY" I'm going to fucking shoot them. Christ. How about "OH MY GOD, WE'D BE LIKE AUSTRALIA!!" Oh wait...Australia is a Democracy...where the healthcare system just fucking works....and you can choose your doctors...and your treatments are based on your discussions with your doctor...and you don't have to wait for care...and the costs, even without insurance aren't completely unsustainable (as they were for me when I spent the night in a hospital, in Oz. It only cost a total of $900 for the stay, the CT scan, the EKG, the doctor, breakfast, nurses, IVs...) And the problem here is what, exactly? How about we get some of the people who are currently costing the system to pay some INTO the system? How would that be? For fuck's sake, if you have insurance now, you can fucking KEEP IT. Or buy your own. YOU FUCKING GET TO DECIDE.
THE SYSTEM IS FUCKING BROKEN, AND IT'S NOT GOING TO FIX ITSELF. This is EXACTLY the kind of things governments have to step up and fix...they're the only body with the clout to do so.
Oh, and death panels? If anyone who actually reads section 1233 of the current HR3200 and gets "death panels" out of it, they're a damned idiot. Frankly, my mother would have LOVED to have been able to take advantage of the counseling and advice which is described here when dealing with the care of her parents not long ago. Explaining living wills? How is this bad? Having someone to talk to about hospice care? Um, hospices are the devil? What? I don't get the furor.
How come all that we can ever do is call each other names and throw tantrums? How come we can't get past stupid idealogical arguments and work together to FIX SHIT? If you have a constructive idea, by all means, PUT IT OUT THERE! I'm not hearing much in the way of real plans from the people up in arms about this. If there's another way to do this that will actually fix things, and help the people who can't afford insurance now, then I'm all ears. If, on the other hand, you can't offer anything constructive, SIT THE FUCK DOWN. YOU AREN'T HELPING ANYONE.
</rant>
<rant>
I'm FUCKING SICK of how this country, within MY memory, has gone from a society which prided itself on personal responsibility and leaving a legacy to the next generation to "gimmie mine now, fuck the rest of you." It used to be that people helped each other. It used to be that we cared about people less fortunate than ourselves. It used to be that working hard and being responsible and contributing to society meant that you'd be able to provide a decent life for your family, and you'd be relatively secure. No longer, folks.
Now we have the top 1% of income earners running all over the rest of us lowly working folks, and making shit harder for all of us. Greedy fuckers tanked the economy. Not the government...THE GODDAMNED MONEY HUNGRY EXECUTIVES did it, and left the government to try and clean the mess. Short-term profit at the cost of strength and stability did it, not over-regulation.
Take the mortgage thing to start with. The LACK of regulation in the first place allowed the FDIC banks to become one with the investment banks, which was the real cause of this whole thing in the first place. Once it happened, banks were able to push the risk of subprime loans off to unsuspecting investors. They saw no risk, so they just went around giving money to whoever the hell asked, baiting these buyers into unsustainable loans, that were BOUND to default (To be sure, there's some responsibility on the part of the buyers, but I put the blame almost entirely on the banks). This really started years and years ago, so you can't put the blame here on the current administration. Really, you can't fault the last one, either, though if they'd really looked at what was going on, they might have seen the impending disaster and done something before it came to what it did.
Then, when the government DID step in, to avert a major disaster, having to pump a stupid amount of money into the system to prop it up, we're STILL not happy, despite the fact that, had the government done nothing, things would have been way, way worse. People, you can't have it both ways. We have to either regulate on the front end, or pay the price on the back end. Pure capitalism, with no regulation devolves into chaos, making money only for the greediest, at the expense of everyone else. The other extreme, too much regulation has something of a similar effect. The balance has to be carefully maintained. How am I the only one who sees this? How come nobody realizes that there have to be shades of gray...that as with most other things in life, there isn't an absolute, we have to find the balance.
The healthcare industry in this country is fucked. It's been getting worse, and worse, and worse since...well, ever. It's ABSOLUTELY FUCKING BEYOND ME, that people are OK with the fact that we're the only Western Civilization left where someone who actually has a job, and has health insurance can still go bankrupt if they get sick. HOW THE HELL IS THIS OK?
Can people not see that this can EASILY happen to them? With all the people who have lost jobs recently, I wouldn't think it would be too difficult for the average person to think, "Well, gee...I guess I could be in that boat, too," and FEAR that it should happen. I'm a reasonably healthy individual for the moment, but I fear losing my job, and with it, my insurance. Christ, have you seen the Cobra cost? I fear that my presently unemployed mother is going to get sick, and I'm not going to have the money do do anything about it.
The fact of the matter is, even if you don't lose your job, your insurance company can still deny a claim based on any number of things, the big one being preexisting condition. This applies EVEN IF YOU AREN'T AWARE THAT YOU HAVE SAID CONDITION. They could also tell you, at some point, "You've spent too much of our money, so fuck you, you're on your own." It says so plainly when you look at your insurance policy. It's incredibly easy to hit your maximums, either yearly or lifetime. Never mind all the other loopholes.
The system being what it is, we already pay damned near twice the money per capita on healthcare than any other western country. Not only that, but more than 48% of every dollar spent on heathcare right now is ALREADY paid by the government. The best part of that is, IT BUYS US NOTHING. Hell, people in BOSNIA can expect to live longer than people in the US. SOMETHING has to be done. The status-quo is doing nobody any good, and is certainly HURTING in far more instances than we, as a people, should be ok with. When the #1 cause of bankruptcy is medical bills, how can we not see this as a problem?
So, one guy tries to step up and change some stuff. He wants to keep your insurance company from just arbitrarily dropping you. He wants to give you the option of being able to buy your own reasonably priced policies if you are between jobs or self-employed. He wants to give you an affordable option that's administered by a not-for-profit organization set up by the government (also, not FUNDED by the government in the long term) if you simply can't afford anything else. An OPTION to cover people who DON'T already have coverage now...you know, the more than 10% of people who don't have coverage now...the ones the government already winds up paying for in the first place. "OH JESUS CHRIST, HE'S HITLER!!" If I hear one more moron scream "OH MY GOD, NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY" I'm going to fucking shoot them. Christ. How about "OH MY GOD, WE'D BE LIKE AUSTRALIA!!" Oh wait...Australia is a Democracy...where the healthcare system just fucking works....and you can choose your doctors...and your treatments are based on your discussions with your doctor...and you don't have to wait for care...and the costs, even without insurance aren't completely unsustainable (as they were for me when I spent the night in a hospital, in Oz. It only cost a total of $900 for the stay, the CT scan, the EKG, the doctor, breakfast, nurses, IVs...) And the problem here is what, exactly? How about we get some of the people who are currently costing the system to pay some INTO the system? How would that be? For fuck's sake, if you have insurance now, you can fucking KEEP IT. Or buy your own. YOU FUCKING GET TO DECIDE.
THE SYSTEM IS FUCKING BROKEN, AND IT'S NOT GOING TO FIX ITSELF. This is EXACTLY the kind of things governments have to step up and fix...they're the only body with the clout to do so.
Oh, and death panels? If anyone who actually reads section 1233 of the current HR3200 and gets "death panels" out of it, they're a damned idiot. Frankly, my mother would have LOVED to have been able to take advantage of the counseling and advice which is described here when dealing with the care of her parents not long ago. Explaining living wills? How is this bad? Having someone to talk to about hospice care? Um, hospices are the devil? What? I don't get the furor.
How come all that we can ever do is call each other names and throw tantrums? How come we can't get past stupid idealogical arguments and work together to FIX SHIT? If you have a constructive idea, by all means, PUT IT OUT THERE! I'm not hearing much in the way of real plans from the people up in arms about this. If there's another way to do this that will actually fix things, and help the people who can't afford insurance now, then I'm all ears. If, on the other hand, you can't offer anything constructive, SIT THE FUCK DOWN. YOU AREN'T HELPING ANYONE.
</rant>