Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts..

I don't hate people.

I don't believe that rich people deserve better health than poor people.

I think insurance companies are kind of evil and have been the victim of their run around.

That being said.

I hate, hate, hate that this Health Care bill passed tonight in the House.

 

I work for a community support agency that receives most of its funding from Medicaid. I can tell you that, just in my company alone, there are thousands of dollars that go to abuse, waste, and even fraud.

Not only that, but a lot of the people that I work with- the families- they are people who are completely supported by government run programs.

 

They live in subsidized housing with no rent, get utility assistance, food stamps, and free child care.

Most, through their own admission or attitude, don't appreciate it. I've had clients trash the apartments they don't pay rent on, use their disability money to buy expensive gaming systems and cigarettes, sell their food stamps for cigarette and alcohol money, and complain about the 2 hours a day they spend with their kids after school and day care.

LET ME BE CLEAR: This isn't everyone. Some people haven't been raised to really do or expect better, some are genuinely down on their luck, and others are trying their best to do better for their kids.

But they are the minority, not the majority.

The reason I am bringing this up is not to trash low income people or whine about my job (which I love) but to bring to light the kind of problems with a government run program.

 

There is never sufficient oversight. The more that is given, the more that is expected. People don't progress, because they are cushioned in this safety net, which both saves them and imprisons them.

 

I don't think that these are the results that the government had in mind when it put these programs into place.

 

As my sister Danielle said "They are killing initiative".

I don't have an answer for health care.

I just know it isn't this.

Lori Ann

*post edit*

Someone named Curt S. wrote this comment on one of my friend's facebook page and I thought it said it all so much more eloquently than I ever could:

 

First, regarding caring for those who can't care for themselves; the Christian practice requires choice on the part of the giver, otherwise we're reverting to Satan's plan. Most people agree that we should care for the poor, and an analysis of charitable giving around the world shows Americans to be the most ... See Moregiving of any other country (I don't have a reference now, but have seen this cited multiple places). It's not that we don't want to help, it's that we don't want the government stealing from us and doing it through an expensive and ineffective beuraucracy.

Second, in reference to the insurance requirement; are you required to own a car and drive? No, it's a privelege that has a cost. Further, the only insurance you're required to have (and this by the state and not the federal government) is liability insurance to protect others that you may harm, not to protect yourself. This new requirement forces every living citezen to purchase insurance, regardless of the need or desire. I desire to drive so I pay the cost. Under this plan, no matter how healthy I may be, I have to buy a service that I don't want or need.

While I recognize the need for changes in the healthcare environment, I don't ever believe the government is he answer. Our nation was founded on principles of limited federal government and maximum personal liberty. A strict reading of the constitution and the writings of the founders shows that they never intended Congress to have such an active and forceful role in the lives of the citizens of this nation.