*On SOAP Box*
It’s so very hard to stay neutral when I consider myself a
strong, smart, educated woman who pays enough attention to the world around her
to know that ‘things just aren’t right.’
Being the mother of two high school children, I’m aware that
they actually still teach History in among so many other crap classes that won’t
do them a damn bit of good in their life (But that’s for another rant). High school
still has classes on Economics and Current Issues, yet is anyone listening?
I believe The Constitution, written so many years ago was
from a collective of men who lived through enough tyranny, oppression,
imperialism…you name it, understood more than most what to avoid when writing
the law of the new world.
Is The Constitution flawless? Probably not. But then I
believe in my religious studies Adam and Eve actually lived several hundred years…and
well, even that changed. What the hell, I’m talking politics so I might as well
place religion in the mix and piss off all kinds of people.
Not that I need to back up my opinion, which is what this
rant is in case you were guessing, but let me take you back a few years.
I grew up very poor. We had very little and there was more
than one time that my mother helped support her family with Government Aide. I
was taught that Democrats were politicians supporting the poor (me) and
Republicans supported the rich (everyone else). When the Democrats were in
office, we ate better. My mother could continue to make poor choices in her
life and she’d be ‘just fine, thank you very much.’ She was so right! She
could. When Republicans were in office, things tightened up and to feed the
family, she needed to pay more attention... make better choices.
Why do I remember this of all things growing up…well let me
tell you. As a family, we went on one, ONE, vacation growing up. We took a road
trip from Washington State to Southern California and I remember very vividly a
plastic toy of Jimmy Carter with a peanut as a penis. Hey, I was a kid, things
like that amused me! Don’t judge. Anyway… We had the money to travel and guess
what, a Democrat was in office. Now don’t go all ‘oh Bybee hates Democrats’ on
me. I don’t. How could I? That vacation was epic. We had a great time. I think
every parent in the country should be able to offer those things to their
families. But let me tell you another little fact that I remember. My mom drank…a
lot, had the problems that came with that. She never missed her packs of cigarettes.
You would think the Government cheese and white label generic food would have
cut those habits, but no.
Now fast forward several years. I’ve been educated as a
nurse. I spend a decade in urban ER’s as an RN dealing with all kinds of
people. Democrats, Republicans, rich, homeless, illegal, and the “I just got
off the plane from my country but somehow have a Medical card that lets me come
into your ER for FREE care, patients.” *blinks* What? Is Bybee kidding? *shakes
head* Ah, no! I’m not kidding, but I wish I was. Not because I don’t think
everyone should have care, but even my own family, my mother and siblings,
still don’t have healthcare and yet were giving away Medical cards to people
who ‘Never Worked in the USA’ That’s something that is actually written on hospital
face sheets all over California. I’ll only speak for the State in which I
worked. I’m sure it’s everywhere.
I know for a fact that EVERYONE who needs care can go into
any ER and will get it. I know because I took care of you/them. Is it ideal?
No. Not for the patient, not for the doctor or the nurse. But is it healthcare?
Yes! I’ve had Smith, party of five, come in with the flu, get treated, and
leave. That sounds like healthcare to me. Non-insured? No problem, we can’t
turn you away. It costs a lot to come in with the flu to an ER. Some patients
might apply for emergency medical, and some just don’t bother. If it was such a
hardship to those that use the system like this, why do they come in so often I
knew their names? Yes, I know…not everyone does this. But newsflash, if we
passed a law to stop it, THAT might actually fix issues.
Am I jaded? Yeah, I know I am. I also no longer work in
healthcare. And after talking to my friends still inside, I’m happier for it.
Not because I don’t want to take care of people…because I do. It killed me,
however, to pay huge amounts of money to see a doctor when I saw so many people
abusing the system currently in place.
ENTER Obamacare:
I’m not going to go over all the bill, and what it was
supposed to do for Americans that don’t have insurance. Time will prove that the people who don’t have
insurance before Obamacare will still not have insurance after Obamacare. Those
of us who ‘sucked it up’ and payed for their insurance, however, will pay more
for less. I, for one, was canceled on my current policy. Apparently, I and my
husband and my two boys ALL have to
have maternity care. Because you know… men are known to get knocked up and need
to be insured for such. I’ve been unable to have more children for ten years,
yet I too still need to be covered if I’m miraculously with child. *shakes
head* - Equal healthcare for all and all that.
*Sigh*
On to the reason this rant is taking place…
Senator Harry Reid has waved his magic wand and decided that
Obamacare isn’t for everyone. Apparently, some of his staff can just ignore
this little law that is affecting every American in the county. The article written
by The Washington Times http://bit.ly/1dQEwPI
points out that all men are NOT created equal. If you know the right people,
and can press the right political buttons, you can pass a law that you never
plan on following.
Obamacare is seriously flawed. Doctors are getting out of
the profession fast. http://bit.ly/1eRcXSR http://bit.ly/1hzlxda A couple of articles for
you to read and make your own opinions. If we keep going like we are, we’ll be
looking for Grandma’s recipe for everything that ails you. “Moonshine for
Everyone”
Let me end with this… Remember the part where I told you I
grew up poor? I also had a very sick sister who succumbed to her illness when
she was nine. I was thirteen when she died. I’m not going to go into all the
reasons as to why she passed away. I was a kid, but as a grown adult who
happens to be educated as a nurse, I know there were things that could have
helped her. Would she have died? Yeah. At the time, there wasn’t enough medical
advances to save her. She was flown to Alabama for an advance open-heart
surgery because it was the only thing that might have saved her. We didn’t have
insurance. NONE! We didn’t lose our home or miss meals because of this expense. The outfits who paid for much of the expense were charities
that the rich, Democrats and Republicans, donated to.
As an adult, I made damn sure I worked hard in school,
became educated, and have insurance… well, I did have insurance. It was
canceled and I’m not sure I’ll have anything after January 1st.
For the record… I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I think
both parties are deeply flawed and might be better off flushed down the toilet…along
with Obamacare.
*Off SOAP Box*
10 comments:
I, too, grew up poor & recall standing in line for that block of cheese. You'd think I'd be sick of cheese & repel from the thought, but perhaps it was the bonding time I had with my mom while we waited that has given me a deep-seated love for cheese. But I digress...I fully respect your rant, in fact as I started reading I found myself kicking back on the couch to get comfy because I knew I'd be buying into this.
As a child growing up on welfare I knew what services they provided us, and I also knew that my father (a Vietnam vet who served 3 tours in active combat) despised the government & accepting any support from them was one of his greatest life struggles. This was a man who left his pregnant wife at home, not expecting to return. The same man flushed his uniform down the toilet of the airplane that brought him back home after he'd been dishonorably discharged (that's a blog unto itself) & gave away anything remotely of value to his fellow passengers, for he understood the anger, hatred, & shame that awaited them once they landed. This man worked his tail off trying to support his family, after having suffered tremendous mental anguish fighting for his country & having discovered the lies & deception woven into the very fabric of what these men thought they were fighting for, & only accepted support from the government when we were in dire straits. This man, who has never had any semblance of a health care plan, who is as intelligent as any I've ever held a conversation with, as compassionate as we hope all humans can be, & yet as stubborn as one person's opposing political affiliation, FINALLY, at 63 years old, entered a VA hospital for a physical exam. I can only imagine what services will be “provided" in the coming year & I only pray he remains in good health & never comes to regret not having taken the services for granted earlier in life.
We grew up poor. I married poor (the first time) -- the kind of poor where you add two cans of water to a can of chicken soup to feed four people. And if you had crackers, you were eating very well!
Both of my daughters had to have open heart surgery when they were babies. My oldest also had to have kidney surgery and fought epilepsy for four years.
We went through all of that without any medical insurance. Not once in all those years were we ever turned away or denied care. In fact, they received some of the best care in the nation.
We filed bankruptcy once and chapter 13 twice. Yes, our credit rating sucked, but it was going to suck with or without hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills.
With that said, I am still ADAMANTLY OPPOSED to socialized health care/obamacare. Name one thing they've gotten right over the last 100 years. If there is a way to fubar something, they'll find it. I could talk on this subject for hours, but I won't do that to you.
I agree with everything you said. I hate calling it health care insurance. Its MEDICAL insurance. I may be trying to separate the fly crap from the pepper, but it grates on my nerves. Health care and medical insurance are two different things.
PS: I'm no longer poor. It took lots of hard work, a divorce, a college education and more hard work, but I survived. I know have an amazing life and an excellent credit score. And I buy Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup now, not generic. :D
Ditto, ladies. That tin can, Suzan, we used it to cover up the holes in our floor, and locked our door with a knife that we slid between the door and jamb. What solved our problem? A little education--which I got on the government's full dime and without my families help or encouragement--and very very hard work. My daughter is learning that education and hard work pay off. And she's never hungry, despite the fact we do live modestly, though I live like a queen compared to my childhood. I applied for health insurance and they wanted to give me medicaid. Yegads! Fortunately, it turned out I make too much for that. (Though we'll see how fortunate that is.)
I'm lucky to say that we didn't grow up poor, although there was never ever any extra money for frills or fancy things. If there was extra money, it was for educational things because my parents believed that education was the way to open doors and improve our lot in life. My parents also believed that no country was better than the U.S. and the opportunities and liberties it provided. They knew this wholeheartedly because my family had escaped Cuba and the tyranny of the Castro dictatorship.
Over the last few years, I've watched what's happened and seen things repeated here that I never thought I'd see and I worry. But back to medical care . . .
As I said, we were not well-off and doctor's visits were tough on the family, but for all those people bashing doctors, so many of them did more than they had to for very little. Even recently, when I had a health scare, doctors did tests FOR NOTHING because they thought they were necessary. Imagine that.
I know there are people who don't have insurance and I certainly want everyone to have care. But destroying a system that was working for most to do it is just wrongheaded. Not to mention that this doesn't really address many of the reasons why healthcare costs were rising nor the fact that there were systems in place for the uninsured.
When I look at this individual mandate, I wonder, "Where are we going with this? What else will government make me do? And why do they think they know better than me what's good for me and my family?"
They don't. And they shouldn't be able to force a mandate such as this on us. The Supreme Court and Roberts, who I used to respect, turned themselves into pretzels to justify the mandate as a tax. This was after we heard speech after speech that it wasn't a tax. That no one would tax the middle class like this.
Right. It's a good thing I've grown up with a healthy distrust of government thanks to my Cuban parents. Otherwise I'd be even angrier about the lies.
Crystal, It's completely wrong that anyone who fought for our country is left without healthcare. I think the Government and our tax dollars should have always taken care of our vets. Having spent time in a roation in a VA Hospital, however, I understand why some Vets want nothing to do with Government Healthcare. I'm not saying ALL of ANYTHING is bad, but the VA I spent time in was filled with employees, doctors, nurses and ancilary staff that didn't really give two shits about thier jobs. Government jobs are notorious for being difficult to get fired from. My fear is that all hospitals will go this route with a socialized medical system.
Thank you for your opinions. I welcome all of them.
Suzan... OMG, I totally forgot about the 2 cans of water in condensed soup. YES, we did that. And Mac and Cheese... hell we even had a can of stewed tomatoes over pasta and called it spaghetti.
Or how about... the Hillbilly slushy. Scrape the frost off the freezer and dump a little juice on the top. Oh, the good old days. NOT.
Tarah, How about turning on your oven and opening it up to heat your house? So dangerous. We used to 'brush' the carpet with a broom, we didn't have a vacuum.
Wow, this blog is making all those lovely memories come back. I have apparently oppressed my childhood more than I knew. LOL
Caridad,
You and I have had more than one conversation and I welcome all your opinions. I'm afraid, with time, the US is going to repeat history, which is why I mention it in this blog. All the people out there that say, "This will NEVER happen," aren't looking back at the little things that boomed into big things in time. The only thing keeping any balance is equal parts democrats and republicans in office. As soon as it tips to one side, the system will capsize. If one sitting president stacks the Supreme Court with one political party, we're all screwed. (but that's a different rant)
I want to leave my children a world safe to raise a family in.
HI Catherine,
I live in a country that has a national health care system. It's not perfect but everyone (including newly arrived immigrants) are entitled to care. Everyone who pays tax contributes 1.5% towards the system. Those who earn above a certain amount may also have private health insurance that allows them to push through the public system and receive care through their choice of doctor (eg non emergency surgery may take up to 2 years on the public wait list but with private care, may be 1 month).
While this system has many flaws, the one thing that it does is create equal care for all at a base level without having to rely upon intervention from external organisations. This only came about through a bipartisan approach from the government of the day and could not have been achieved through one party alone. It was also necessary for the voting citizens at the time to agree that this was the direction the country wanted to take.
This is an issue that needs to take a step above individual party politics and decide if it is in the best interest of its people to take on. It requires change from health care professionals, insurance companies, government and the people for it to work. It is not a perfect system and there are still people who abuse it. BUT if you are sick and need assistance you can go to any hospital or medical clinic and will be seen by a trained professional and not have to worry about a litany of paperwork or questioning as to if you can afford to be treated or not.
Hi Kyleeg,
Thank you for you POV. Our system is broken, no doubt, I just don't see Obamacare doing anything to fix it.
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