You will need to explain your confusion over those two quotes, since they are both about responsible people planning ahead and not expecting others to support them in times of trouble. If it is because you are see “always prepared” as some black and white physical thing, then let me enlighten you - it also means that the responsible are always prepared to deal with what happens without whining around that others should be taking care of them. Still doesn’t explain your confusion over the fact that we have enough insurance and savings to live on and rebuild should a tornado (in S Cal??) take off with our house. If nothing else, the land that house sits on is worth far more than the house itself.
Then you should know better - you should be way past your idealistic phase of life. I suppose if you have never had any serious issues in your life, maybe you will always be idealistic, dunno.
curlcoat, it seems your philosophy of life can be summed up thusly:
“I’ve done OK in my life through hard work and planning. If someone falls on hard times, it is clearly their own damn fault, since they obviously did not work hard or plan. If they worked hard or planned, they would be OK like me. Fuck them.”
No need since I haven’t said anything of the sort.
You want my philosphy on life? Earn everything you get. That’s it. People who support the taxpayer coughing up for a multi-billion dollar experiment seem to think that just because someone is a human being, they “deserve” cheap healthcare. Unless they are me. Or a rich person. Or a convicted murderer. Or whatever your personal bias is. You don’t honestly believe that every human in this country deserves full, taxpayer-funded healthcare do you? Or that it is a good idea to drag everyone down to the lowest average?
You say that as if idealism is an unavoidable, temporary condition to be endured, like menopause. I am a confirmed idealist, and considering the alternative, I consider myself lucky. Contrary to your narrow little world, it is not an over-abundance of idealism that is holding America back from its full potential.
Yeah, my life has been a bowl of fuckin’ cherries. If it wasn’t for my wife’s incurable, progressive, degenerative auto-immune disease that is slowly killing her, I’d be on top of the fuckin’ world. I hope you never see half of what I have.
"Dunno".
That pretty much sums up every thing you have learned from 52 years on the planet.
How about a tornado, followed by a flood in the place you are living while your house is being repaired a month later?
And money to live on while you’re unemployed AND fixing a house up AND restoring all your possessions? I see - only WEALTHY people are responsible according to you. If you’re middle class or poor you are, by your definition, irresponsible.
Do you tell people who can’t afford to buy bread to eat cake, too?
OK, important point here - there’s how I would do this, and there’s how the current administration will do it. They aren’t necessarily the same thing. In fact, I’d guarantee they aren’t.
Again, the “don’t pay taxes” meme is bullshit - even those who don’t pay Federal income tax STILL have to pay social security tax - another program everyone has to pay into. You can NOT get out of paying that (unless you work for the railroads, which have a separate but comparable benefit). So… make the healthcare tax another tax you can NOT get out of.
AVERAGE age is 50 - there are certainly women in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s who get breast cancer.
I have one sister who is getting her master’s in education in her late 40’s as her prior degree is now obsolete. She will have student loans in her 50’s.
My eldest surviving sister just completed medical training at 51 (she entered medical school in her mid-40’s). She has student loans.
Not everyone in their 50’s are sitting on their ass collecting a government check, you know, some 50 year olds get up off their ass and go to work every day.
Sure… having the NERVE to get sick when they aren’t millionaires!
The proposal is to raise income taxes, not SS taxes. And only on those making greater than $350k/yr. So not everyone will be paying this healthcare tax, really only a small percentage of people will be paying. Not EVERYONE, per your claim, not even if you repeat it over and over.
I’ll back this up - I work for a bankruptcy Trustee in NW Indiana (Hi Broomstick!) and I study bankruptcy Schedules for a living, and have for 12+ years.
In my area of the country, which includes very low income and very high income areas, the biggest cause of bankruptcy is credit card debt. Period.
Say I have 100 new cases in a month. 90% of those are from people with tens of thousands in credit card debt. And while it is possible that they are paying meds with their Visa, they ain’t doing it with their WalMart, Target and mall store cards.
One more time - I was talking about the way I would do it. If Obama and company want to do this in a completely retarded fashion I have no control over that (barring writing my Congress critter and expressing my opinion, which I have been known to do).
OK, you have a horrible life. And? How does this apply to the subject, other than frustration is apparently getting to you. As for the idealism, yes I view it as something to be avoided, since I think realism is a much more, er, realistic way to live.
From an idealistic point of view, I suppose so, but from a realist’s point of view? I’ve learned a heck of a lot. Such as idealism in govenment tends to result in flawed, expensive programs that don’t really benefit anyone.
OK, let’s get real here. Tornados (of the kind that destroy houses) are essentially unknown in S Cal, and I don’t live in anything close to a flood zone. So, that leaves the house burning down, which is covered by insurance. As for restoring all of our possessions - covered by insurance. Yes, there would be a deductible and things they wouldn’t cover, but that is what savings are for.
As for unemployed, I already am so that isn’t a factor. But let’s say that our house burned down, my husband was laid off and, what? I got cancer? all in six months time. How often do you think such scenarios happen? Often enough that we should create this billion dollar “safety net” you want so badly?
And it is something to be proud of. Many people would be far better off if they had a larger dose of “cheap” in their lives, or at the very least understood the concept of a budget.
I have the money to pay my bills for six months, in savings. I don’t depend on insurance to pay my mortgage, etc, nor do I expect it to pay all of my medical care.
Perhaps that is why people get into trouble financially when someone in the family gets sick - they expect that the insurance company, the government or Santa Claus will cover all the bills.
And apparently some, like your sisters, decide the thing to do is get even further into debt and go to school. Instead of working?
:rolleyes:
Someday you will think with your brain and not with your emotions. Many people weather a serious illness/injury without going bankrupt and without being millionaires. Right now, between my husband and I we are absorbing several hundred dollars a month in medical expenses not covered by insurance. I could easily spend several hundred more to make my conditions easier to live with, but I choose thriftiness over comfort.
Wow. You don’t have any trouble spending other people’s money, do you?