>From Edmond Storms: > This is indeed a sad story, Jed, that is repeated many times each day. The > basic problem is that the American people have accepted the idea that life > in this country should be based mainly on the individual effort, with > socialism being un-American. Liberalism, which tries to use the state to > protect the individual, is considered a dirty word. These ideas are accepted > by the ordinary working person even though this is not in their > self-interest to do so. Your friend probably even voted for Bush and would > not support a politician who proposed socialized medicine, even though > variations of this approach work well in other countries. We get what we > vote for. If we are too ignorant to vote wisely, we get the government we > deserve. Hopefully, the pain inflicted by the Bush philosophy will cause > people to reexamine their criteria for voting. > > Ed
I work for the state of Wisconsin. As a humble public servant we have, relatively speaking, some of the best HMO heath insurance the common man & woman can get in our country. Like most health insurance costs the state's aggregate expenses have steadily increased along with everyone else's, often well over 10% each year, year after year. Predictably, these relentless increases eventually hit the state coffers in unpleasant ways. About three to four years ago our state unions were informed of the fact that we would actually have to start PAYING a small monthly premium OUT OF OUR OWN POCKETS. Boy! Did the ka-ka hit the fan! I don't expect much sympathy from the Vort membership, especially from those few brave souls who are actually trying to make a living pursuing the American dream of private entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, it would seem that some of my colleagues prefer to gloss over the fact that the common taxpayer, the private business man & woman who pays our state salaries are struggling each day to make ends meet, let alone pay their own draconian health insurance premiums. As best as I can figure most Wisconsin state employees are now required to fork out somewhere around $30 (single) to $80 (family plan) a month from out of their own pocketbooks to pay their share of the premium. Meanwhile the state kicks in somewhere around five hundred (single) to a thousand (family) a month tax free to pay the remainder of the premium. This is, of course, not taxable. I consider myself extremely lucky. The smarter of my colleagues consider themselves extremely lucky as well. Few of us well get rich on our government salaries. OTOH, it's not likely that any of us will need to declare bankruptcy as a result of an unexpected trip to the emergency room followed by a few days stay at the local hospital. I agree with Jed, and especially with Mr. Storm's assessment of the situation. Some form of a modified (Americanized) socialism is probably the only way we will be able to survive the health cost crisis. Unfortunately, I fear too many of us still consider the "s" word to be as unspeakable and un-American as uttering the "n" word in mixed company. We are getting what we paid for. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
