I suppose this has become a place for me to vent my frustrations more than anything. Honestly, I don't care who, if anyone reads the shit anymore. I've also come to the realization that there are some people that you try to teach them to fish, to feed them for a lifetime.. and they are still to lazy or stupid to want to do it themselves. I also realize that many people are intent on blaming someone else for their misfortunes and will judge someone based on situations they know nothing about. Most people aren't truly educated about the issue and fail to see the root of the problem, which of course would make more sense to start there for a lasting solution....and don't bother trying to explain it that way because all they see is what they want.. no matter what you say.. so, on with today's rant.

I know that the Affordable Care Act as well as government assistance of any kind are hot button topics with most people for one reason or another. Understandably so. On one hand you have a medical care system that really helps no one, costs way more than people could imagine( or afford) and it seems that the burden has fallen to middle class people to pay for... Well, where I could see that might be true... look deeper than that. While Affordable care for Americans sounds like a great idea... someone really fucked this all up and created what seems like an attempt to herd us all into one giant clusterfuck for medical care that is funded by the government.... So in thinking about this.. if insurance companies, are rich people worried? Probably not..aside from the penny pinching self made millionaires who are to fucking cheap to by a screw for $.20. The rich can afford these costs..so they aren't worried. What about us mediocre folks who make enough money to scrape by check to check. Well, while some can afford care through the ACA that couldn't afford it before, which is good... where does it leave us people in the middle? If we have coverage through our jobs and the premiums increase to where we can't afford them, that leaves but one place to turn.... The Good ole government funded ACA. ( because most of us would rather eat the cost to have the coverage than be fined.. which by the way was more than 4 times the "small amount" that the government told us it would be). I have heard stories that the ACA policies don't cover some medical procedures, medicines, simple dental check ups or even eye exams...so please tell me, why would I need it? Further more you want to make me choose between paying a fine for not having health coverage or paying for something that doesn't meet my need? Well, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Then again, this is the government we are talking about.  There is no limit to the amount of premiums an insurance company can charge for the cost of coverage and as far as I know, there is no guideline for standards that must be met for specific levels of care. I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to have different levels of coverage people can actually use according to their needs? All of this seems like people would look at issue #1- Insurance Premiums and the fact that there is no limit on the amount of premiums...so lets think about this.. chances are there are Insurance lobbyists in Washington.. which brings us to problem #2- Our government is getting richer over making poor people suffer and pay for this shit. The way its presented though is that the added premiums go to pay for someone else who wouldn't be able to afford coverage other wise. Just some food for thought.. What if your grandmother, with her fixed income couldn't afford her care or her medicine and medicare wouldn't pay enough to help. Would you really want someone to make the argument that they are paying for her coverage or that she doesn't deserve it? I would be willing to guess not..because I know I wouldn't want someone to tell me that one of my parents didn't deserve coverage because they worked for the state 25 years and gave 20 years military service respectively. I know and understand that there are people who take advantage of the system...there always have been.  The best part to me is that there have been government programs in place for a number of years.. medicaid being one of them.  A woman can go get on medicaid once she learns she is pregnant..if she doesn't have insurance or a job then she can have her prenatal needs met for no out of pocket expense. Even the birth and care of her child becomes free and then the child can get medical coverage until they are 18-21 depending if they are a student. This being the case.. we have funded the pregnancy and birth, as well as the medical coverage for thousands of children in this country. How many other kids may have suffered without that.. how many more kids would have been found in dumpsters because their parents couldn't care for them. This is just one example I could think of regarding medical care and the current ACA. I see it all the time.. " the Governement aint your baby daddy.. well, LOL if you want to look at is as "paying for someone else" then there are thousands and thousands of kids that we ALL pay to be treated and cared for every year. Some would say, no thats different... HOW? Its still a government funded medical program that our tax dollars supposedly pay for. I'd love to see a person tell someone that they don't deserve their kids because they couldn't afford their birth and medical coverage. Well, then most of us wouldn't have kids. The logic is flawed in this way of thinking and people only want someone to blame and don't look deeper than the surface for the major cause of the problem.  Its a vicious cycle honestly.. its a way for the government to own and control you by making its citizen dependent upon what it provides.
If people really knew just how small the percentage was of the text book idea of the "welfare queen" they wouldn't believe it. Which brings me to the next part of my rant... foodstamps and or public assistance.
Did you know that there are more military families that receive foodstamps than any other group of people? or that most households that receive foodstamps have 2 parents that work full time jobs? Yea, probably not. My question is... why in the fuck do people think they don't have the right to eat? Do they not have the right to support their families? To feed their kids? Since when did the basic necessities of life come with an entitlement statement? Jesus H Christ... what happened to "christian values and love others... or do unto others as you would have done unto you. It amazes me to see how many :christian folk will be the first to stand up and say that someone doesn't deserve something. We all have moments where life happens and we need extra help. Did you know that there are contingencies to receive any government assistance? I'm going to go with no... since you think people get this shit for a life time. You have a set time limit to receive public assistance then you have to be off for a period of time.. then it has a time where it is done for good. I can think of one instance and a person I know personally who was stunned when they couldn't get help and they really needed it based on the lifestyle she had led. She was used to the finer things.. drove a BMW and had designer clothes and the like. She had a serious knee injury for which she needed surgery and the cost of the medical bills were killing them. She couldn't work because of this injury and went in search of assistance for food, not money. DSS told her to sell her car and looked down her nose at her because she wasn't the type of person to come around looking for help. Did that mean she wasn't deserving of the help? Not to me it doesn't. To ask her to sell her car... the only means of transportation...they wanted her to sell it to eat. Now, while to most this seems like a practical solution.. Have you ever tried to take a step down from the current lifestyle you enjoy? While most of us work our asses off to get to a better place.. Have you ever stopped to think about what would happen if you fell flat on your ass? If you didn't have friends or family willing to help you live until you could get on your feet? Probably not, because most of us have this " that won't happen to me" kind of thinking. It can happen.. I just hope you pray hard enough that it doesn't.
I guess I just can't understand when helping people who genuinely need it became such a bad thing. When being a good person and doing the right thing became less important than how much money you make or how many pairs of air Jordans you own.
The solutions seem simple. Pay more at jobs so people can support themselves properly. I'm not saying get crazy, but most of us simply want to be able to get the the things for our families. I know many who sacrifice their own medical care to feed their kids. How is THAT fair?  Find a solution to the ACA starting with a cap on the premiums that insurance companies can charge as well as what the cost of medical procedures cost. Programs in place for things like daycare, and things working parents need. If we would work together and stop fighting among ourselves, then we would be stronger people. We argue over dumb shit like flags and symbols.. Our government is quick to act on that front but will ignore issues that will help ALL of us NOW. We have rights that are being taken away and more and more people are falling below the poverty line. If we don't HELP each other now and stick together.. Then we will all fall into misery and we will all pay for it.. further more our children and grandchildren will pay for it. Is this really the legacy we want to leave for them? We have to stop being sheep and start making our voices heard. When is enough enough? When will we collectively wake up and stop all this shit?