Maybe this “Obamacare” isn’t such a bad thing after all
By Michael Wunderlich
Okay, okay… not that I personally ever thought it was bad, but I really just wish it had gone even further and been a truer universal model — less like the plan Governor Mitt Romney signed into Massachusetts law in 2006.
Let me also state that I fully support “Obamacare” as a good start, and love that the right so badly wants it to go away. Their numerous votes to repeal and endless stream of lies have repeatedly failed to backspace it from history — and now that people are seeing it work for them, it speaks volumes on who was really telling the truth about it from the start.
A CNN poll conducted earlier this year said just a meager 36% of the adults surveyed would like to see the law repealed. I may be way off base here, but if I’m a politician wanting to keep my job, I wouldn’t touch the “repeal Obamacare” requests with a ten foot pole. Logic would suggest these people should be out of jobs, but I guess that’s where gerrymandering comes into play.
It’s no surprise that so many righties out there can’t seem to grasp the grand reality of what Americans truly want. However, this isn’t the only issue the majority of Americans are being ignored on.
- Pew Research poll shows 52% prefer controlled legalization of marijauna.
- Gallup poll shows 52% support the full legalization of same sex unions.
- Pew Research poll shows that 81% favor background checks for private and gun show sales
- A Program for Public Consultation survey found that as many as 80% of voters would like decreases to the country’s bloated defense spending.
Yet each of the above mentioned things still seem to be either taking place too slowly, not at all or going in the complete opposite direction. In some cases where pot and same-sex marriage are now legal, states are still facing federal challenges while trying to move forward. Healthcare is just another target in the cross-hairs of the GOP firing squad that is repeatedly attempting to hold this country’s progress hostage, even in the face of news coming out in areas of the country showing that the new healthcare laws taking effect are actually working — despite their efforts to tell you how it’s going to destroy the world.
Recently, Clint Murphy, a 38-year-old former GOP staffer, had his eye-opening story shared with the nation.
In 2000, the young RNC staffer was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and over the course of a few years and several successful chemotherapy treatments he was in remission as of 2004. At the time he was insured and treatments were covered. In 2010, after the sudden passing of his mother, he decided to take a break from politics to become a full-time real estate agent. It was only then that he realized just how hard it was to purchase cost effective healthcare as he was denied for, you guessed it, a pre-existing condition. You would immediately think, well… cancer does have a tendency to come back from time to time; however he wasn’t denied for having undergone cancer treatments in the past but for another entirely different pre-existing condition altogether — sleep apnea. You could probably only begin to imagine his surprise in getting that news.
“When you say you’re against [Obamacare], you’re saying that you don’t want people like me to have health insurance,” he said.
The laws concerning pre-existing conditions have already been in effect for those 19 and under, but for adults the laws aren’t set to begin until 2014. Some states are said to be starting ahead of schedule which is a good thing, but for many Americans it can’t come soon enough. It’s just a waiting game for many people who are struggling with no insurance, or who have to fight for temporary access to affordable care through provisions available in extreme cases only until broader policies are enacted.
To me, this just seems at odds with what should be the right of not only Americans, but all people in general. The right to life and healthcare should be a basic human law. I believe this is yet another misstep by Republicans who claim they are followers of Christian teachings, and that the Constitution is the infallible law of the land handed to us not only by the founding fathers, but moreover by God himself.
Hey, wait a minute? What’s that in the preamble to the Constitution about promoting the general welfare? I’m pretty sure what I know about Jesus, tells me he would agree that no person should have to choose between life and death because of the question, “Can I afford it?”
Not only that, but where are those very same pro-life nuts when insurance companies are sentencing some people to death because they were sick before they got more sick? Oh wait… they only care about a “right to life” when it’s still in the womb. After that you’re on your own.
(From Forward Progressives)
