Money for nothing, and bills to pay!

Hey, did you know that there is a health care crisis going on currently in this country? Did you know that Democrats and Republicans are at each other's throats over a health care bill that one side says will save us all and the other side says will be the destruction of life on earth?

Up until now, I have been reluctant to wade into the fray. I can really see both sides of the issue, and I don't really know which side to come down on at this point. I am not really going to discuss the finer points of the bill, just one issue that was made clear to me last night. That would be a continuation of the governments (R and D) habit of punishing you for not being able to afford things. And when I say punish you, I mean force you to pay out even more money that you can't afford because you didn't do the thing you couldn't afford in the first place.

Did that sound confusing? It sort of is confusing. It is an absurb concept that I am shocked people are actually willing to put up with. I briefly mentioned it before in an earlier blog. If you have a car, and you suddenly become unable to afford your car insurance, the state fines you even more money, then they take away your tags making it impossible to go to you job to make the money to pay the fines. It is a vicious,vicious circle. And it doesn't stop there. What happens if you accidentally write a check that you can't really afford? The bank punishes you by charging you an overdraft fee. Because if you couldn't afford the check in the first place, taking more of your money is certainly going to help, right? If you use your debit card, it is even worse. Then the bank covers the transaction, and then charges you a fee anyway. Either way, being broke just does not fly in this country.

Now we come to my only problem so far in the health care debate. I understand that in this bill, the government will penalize you monetarily for not having health insurance. So if you don't use the gov't plan, and you don't have insurance through your job, then you are mounted with fines. To me, this is worse than the car insurance fines. If you don't want to pay for car insurance, you have a choice to not own a car. You can take taxis, you can take the bus. This country was built on freedom, and freedom is about having choices. This situation seems to have no choices. The government is telling you that you have no choices. If you want to be alive in this country, you must have health insurance, and if you don't, the government will punish you. Does this sound like a choice to you?

Sorry to deviate into a politic heavy post, but I just needed to get this off my mind. It was bothering me all night, and I needed to get it out. I promise, next week I will pick up with parenting on the Eastern Shore, and my quest to find an athletic activity that will not damage my daughters feet. Until then, just try to stay healthy. That might be the best bet of all at this point! : )