Commentary on current events, politics, government, and popular culture from John Sheirer, author of the book, Make Common Sense Common Again.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Obamacare Works for Working Americans
A Republican friend recently
showed me his new bumper sticker: “Obamacare only works for people who don’t.”
He beamed. I gave him a
questioning look.
“Obamacare is just another giveaway to
lazy people,” he explained.
“You paid money for that?” I asked.
“No,” he gushed. “I got it for free!”
Unfortunately, Obamacare doesn’t cover
treatment for people who are “irony deficient.”
Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) isn’t
perfect, but it’s now the law of the land that already works for Americas,
despite the bumper-sticker mentality of those who attack it and the confused
corporate media pundits who bungle reporting on its success. The vast majority
of Americans who benefit from Obamacare actually do work, despite my Republican
friend’s claim that only lazy people benefit.
Misinformation and misunderstandings
about Obamacare are still rampant four years after the law was passed, so we
need an accounting that addresses the multitudes of ways the law helps working
Americans.
What about all the working Americans
with pre-existing conditions who now can’t be denied coverage? That’s thanks to
Obamacare. Does my Republican friend think these Americans are lazy?
What about all the working Americans
who can now have their kids on their insurance to the age of 26 thanks to
Obamacare? Are these Americans lazy? I don’t think so.
Are all the working Americans whose
insurance providers must now spend at least 80 percent of income from premiums
on actual health care coverage lazy?
What about all the working Americans
who will now have no yearly or lifetime limits on what their insurance will
cover?
Are all the working Americans who now
can’t have their insurance coverage cancelled on a made-up technicality when
they get sick lazy?
What about all the working Americans
who will now not have to face extra costs and limited coverage just because
they’re women? My Republican friend can call those women lazy if he wants, but
I certainly wouldn’t. If he does think women are lazy, he should seek
counseling because Obamacare is the largest expansion of mental health coverage
in American history.
What about all the working Americans
who now have no copayments for preventative care?
Are all the working Americans who now
won’t get scammed by insurance companies selling junk policies with high prices
that don’t provide adequate coverage lazy?
What about all the working Americans
who are now guaranteed the right to appeal if their claims are denied?
Are all the working Americans who will
now not be subjected to arbitrary health insurance rate increases lazy?
What about all the working Americans
who have already saved more than $2 billion in health insurance premiums thanks
to Obamacare’s premium-controls?
Are all the working Americans who run
small businesses who will now have better, more affordable options for covering
their employees lazy?
What about all the working Americans
whose employers don’t provide insurance coverage who can now get affordable
plans on the healthcare exchanges?
Are all the low-income working
Americans who are now eligible for insurance due to the Medicaid expansion
lazy?
What about the half a million working
Americans who the Congressional Budget Office says can now get affordable
health insurance through the exchanges rather than holding onto jobs they don’t
want just to stay covered?
What about the half million unemployed
Americans who will be happy to work at those half million jobs that people will
leave because they can now get non-employer health insurance?
What about the vast majority of
unemployed Americans who desperately want to work but can’t get a job in bad
economic times? They can now get affordable coverage for themselves and their
families thanks to Obamacare.
Are all the working American taxpayers
who benefit from the fact that Obamacare cuts the federal budget deficit by
billions of dollars over the next decade lazy?
My Republican friend thinks that there’s
a laziness epidemic in America, but he’s absolutely wrong. The vast majority of
Americans are not lazy. Anyone who thinks they are has blinders that block the
view of 150 million Americans marching to work each day.
I enjoy a good bumper sticker as much
as my Republican friend does, but my favorites are the ones that are based in
facts, not ideological fantasy. Here’s a good one: “Obamacare: Signed, Sealed,
Delivering.” The law has been passed, upheld, and is now working for America.
Fact, fact and fact.
The people who object to Obamacare the
most seem to be the ones who know the least about the law--and the least about
our nation. It’s time for Obamacare haters to put away their bumper stickers,
stop calling our fellow Americans lazy and join the rest of us in the real world.
###
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Friday, March 7, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Monday, March 3, 2014
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
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