It’s everywhere. Every time you read or turn on the news there it is. Right there in your face. If you thought it was everywhere before, just wait. After last night’s House vote on the bill, it’s really going to be everywhere, while its fate is determined.
After spending pretty much all of my Saturday glued to C-SPAN and missing college football games, I have to say I’m rather disappointed. I’ve been asked repeatedly, “But Kirstie why are you disappointed?”
The answer I’ve given over and over is that I don’t believe the government should be running our health care system. As a young person, I’m apparently supposed to support a government take over. As a person with a pre-existing condition, who will no longer be on my Mother’s insurance come graduation in May, I should support this. Yet I don’t. I don’t and I will not.
I got into a “Facebook debate” with a friend of mine over this issue yesterday after posting a status that said ‘Call your representatives in DC and urge them not to vote for the healthcare bill! Kill the bill.’ Apparently this friend of mine is okay with higher taxes, because he believes it will help the economy and lower the deficit. I’ve been friends with this guy for years, but I don’t think he has done much reading up on this bill.
According to the Washington Post it will cost “$894 billion”, but I’ve read estimates that put it well over 1 trillion dollars. That’s not reducing the deficit as he has claimed it will do. The only way that can be paid for would be to raise taxes. Last time I checked, we are in the midst of an economic downturn. I’m no economist (or economics major for that matter) but I know that raising taxes and stripping citizens of more of their income is not going to help. An economy strives from spending. By raising taxes individuals will have less disposable income to spend and therefore the economy won’t be stimulated. Isn’t that economics 101? I should ask my younger brother. He’s taking that right now.
If you know me, then you know I am a fan of Sarah Palin. If you just gasped, I don’t blame you. A young, college-aged woman that likes Sarah Palin? This can’t be! Guess what? There are some of us. I read her thoughts on the passing of the bill and this stood out to me:
“This out-of-control bureaucratic mess will be disastrous for our economy, our small businesses, and our personal liberty.”
I have to completely agree with her. It will be disastrous as she says. How can I say that? Well, I live in a state that has a State run health care system. Google TennCare and you will know what I’m talking about. In my local paper the Knoxville News Sentinel an article came out about how this national plan would effect Tennessee. They wrote that it would cost the State between, “$570 million and $1.18 billion over the next five years.”
In case you don’t want to pop open another tab, I’ll give you a brief summary on our system. TennCare was started in 1994 as a model that the Federal Government could look at and use. The system was not prepared for the overload that occurred and the entire fiscal system in the state of Tennessee was in trouble. Our current governor Phil Bredesen tried to overhaul the system, when all he really did was reduce benefits and cut individuals from the program and slap a new name on it – Cover Tennessee. It has put the State of Tennessee into a hole that they are now trying to figure out how climb out of. Since Tennesseans are strongly against an income tax (bring it up and you will get an earful), budget cuts will occur with Education being one of the first things on the chopping block.
What is going to happen when a Federal program damages the economy? It’s only a matter of time if it passes. They will have to tell people NO. Those who supported this will be turned away and they won’t understand why. Not only that, we will be taxed to death for a failing system.
Don’t think I’m totally heartless now. I do believe that there should be better access to health care and that costs need to be controlled. However, that doesn’t mean that the government should rush in and run it. It has not worked on a State level, what makes them think they can run such a program on a Federal level? It is a disaster waiting to happen.
Now it’s wait time to see what happens with the bill going to the Senate. Like Sarah said,
“We’ve got to hold on to hope, and we’ve got to fight hard because Congressional action tonight just put America on a path toward an unrecognizable country.”
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