Give me strength!

As you know, I try to avoid politics, but as a retiree, I need to stay on top of what the government is trying to "do" to me! I blog a lot and recently posted this on an MSNBC site...I'm sharing it here for you to think about and to encourage you to get active in the political party that is closest to your beliefs. If you aren't actively working to get Washington's attention, we are doomed to take whatever is voted on and dished out to the masses! So pardon my rant...but think about it.  Your health could depend on it.

"Let's see if I have this right...I will get a voucher to buy insurance from an insurance company that refuses to insure older adults with pre-exisiting conditions because the Repubicans are trying to repeal the President's healthcare law that mandates that I am insurable regardless and I probably can't afford it anyway because my Social Security is in jeopardy and corporations don't provide pensions anymore so I have to save money from my poorly paid job if I have one while trying to put food on the table and shelter and clothe my family. Corporations no longer offer pensions or retiree health plans because they are too expensive a benefit and unions can't negotiate on their members' behalf. If corporations do offer retiree health benefits, the cost is exhorbitant...mine is $900 a month for basic coverage. If I go to the hospital through the emergency department, they must treat me whether I have insurance or not. When hospitals don't get paid, they raise rates on everyone to cost-shift unreimbursed expenses to those with money and insurance. And, corporations are getting a tax break, the wealthy are getting a tax break, and the middle class and poor are paying a greater percentage of their income for necessities and taxes at a time when corporations and state governments are 1) not providing even cost of living raises but are giving huge bonuses to executives who have performed poorly and perhaps illegally, and 2) are still laying off or not hiring to squeeze more productivity out of the few employees too afraid to complain or are in a union that has no bargaining rights.


What part of really messed up doesn't Congress understand? Oh wait...they get paid regardless of their productivity, they can vote themselves a raise, they take money from the corporations that subsidize their campaigns (conflict of interest anyone?), they have really good health insurance, they are only worried about themselves and the constituents that voted for them, and they have no interest in representing "we the people" unless we can do something for them.

I wonder just who can manipulate us best in 2012? Promises, promises, and no follow-through. Give me strength!"