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Sweet Alchemist

It goes something like this:

"My neighbor went to Public Schools before joining the Military. He went to college on the GI Bill, bought his first home through the FHA, and received his health care through the VA and Medicare. He now receives Social Security. He's a conservative because he wants to get the government off his back."

On one side, you have the libertarian activist who encourages his allies to throw bricks through the windows of democratic offices to protest the Affordable Care Act. He hates government involvement in the lives of citizens, but his main income is tax-payer financed disability checks, which are sent to him every month by the Federal Government.

Take Tom Grimes for instance. In the last year, he has organized a local group and a state-wide coalition and he started a bus Czar website to marshal protesters to Washington on short notice. This individual mobilized over 200 other "Tea Party" activists to go to the local office of the same Congressman to protest what he sees as the government's take over of health care. "If you quit giving people that stuff, they would figure out how to do it on their own" he said. Yet when Mr. Grimes lost his job 15 months ago, one of his first steps was contacting his Congressman about available programs that might give him access to Government Health Care. He receives Social Security and is considering a job at the Census Bureau. But in the meantime, Grimes has filled the back seat of his Mercury Grand Marquis with literature, decrying any and all Government Aid to struggling Americans.

Then you have Diana Reimer, who is considered a Star Right-Wing activist for her efforts against government public programs. A campaign which she describes as her mission. Reimer of course currently enjoys Social Security and the socialized medicine that comes with Medicare.

The cognitive dissonance is rather remarkable. They perceive the government as the source of their economic distress, which itself doesn't make any sense, and then rely on the government to give them a hand, all the while demanding that the government do less to give people a hand. Their reflexive hatred for public programs is so irrational, they don't even see the contradiction! As the New York Times pointed out, after a year of angry debate, emotion now outweighs fact regarding the health care reform bill with the public.

I suggest that those on here who feel they are either for or against the bill (or even those who are neutral towards it), take a look at it yourselves and make the decision for yourselves based on what it says. Don't rely on what others tells you the bill does or does not do. It's better to think for oneself, rather than go with those who are letting emotions dictate what something is or isn't. I guarantee you, if you look at the bill with an open mind, you'll see there's more to this than emotions are letting one see. Not to mention, you'd have a lot of respect from others if you took the time to look at the bill and not decide before you've even read it, that it's a good thing or a bad thing.

The protests around the bill kind of remind me of kids when they see a new dish that their parents or someone else has made them, and they make up their mind before even trying it that it must taste bad. Remember the "You won't know unless you try it" saying? So many people are being quick to say they don't like the act, when they themselves don't really know much of anything about the bill. They rely on cognitive dissonance and their emotions to decide that it's a bad thing before they've even looked at it.

To finish off, a quote from Abe Lincoln.

Quote:
"When a corporation becomes enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow. And the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people, until wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed."

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Lunatic

<3
Thank you sir. Or madame. Whichever.

Sweet Alchemist

bhevarri
<3
Thank you sir. Or madame. Whichever.


XD It's sir. Just Gaia doesn't quite have my taste of clothes yet.

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RnS4Ever
bhevarri
<3
Thank you sir. Or madame. Whichever.


XD It's sir. Just Gaia doesn't quite have my taste of clothes yet.


Ah, good to know. I like to cover all the bases. I, myself, am a madame =P One can never tell!

Sweet Alchemist

bhevarri
RnS4Ever
bhevarri
<3
Thank you sir. Or madame. Whichever.


XD It's sir. Just Gaia doesn't quite have my taste of clothes yet.


Ah, good to know. I like to cover all the bases. I, myself, am a madame =P One can never tell!


Nothing wrong with that at all. *Bows*
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Bigt275316
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Ok OP, I have a few things to give you for bringing sanity to this forum.

First, a sticker of awesome.

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Second off, a song to praise the hero of the HCR. *bows*



And, finally, the high five paw of awesome.

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Also, can I marry you? You ok with bestiality? I am a Time Cat.

Sweet Alchemist

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Bigt275316
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MingLeChat
Geary Digit
*Applauds*


Ok OP, I have a few things to give you for bringing sanity to this forum.

First, a sticker of awesome.

Second off, a song to praise the hero of the HCR. *bows*

And, finally, the high five paw of awesome.

Also, can I marry you? You ok with bestiality? I am a Time Cat.


Time cats are superior beings to humans, because they understand what humans cannot comprehend. Therefore I should be thanking you for taking the time to visit this thread.

Thanks. ^^

gutprayer's Princess

Lunatic

I know just about zero about the Health Care Reform. But the way you described our reaction to government, I think you are absolutely right.

Sweet Alchemist

almostmuse
I know just about zero about the Health Care Reform. But the way you described our reaction to government, I think you are absolutely right.


It's true. People love to be armchair activists when they know nothing about what they are complaining about.

Sexy Vampire

While I don't disagree with the point, I'd just like to point out that asking someone to read a 2000 page legal document isn't going to help them understand what's in the bill or what it does, especially if that bill has a lot of, "Amends Section 2, Article C, Paragraph III to read..." type of stuff in it and then proceeds with a lot of legalese or complicated fine print. (I'm currently working my way through the Glass-Steagall act, in fact, and it's considerably shorter than what the recent healthcare bill is and it's still not always clear what it's saying.) It's far easier to point them at summaries and explanations of the bill than it is to have them read the behemoth itself.

To that end:

A point-by-point summary of the major features of the bill. It's a very, very long way from being a decent bill, as far as I'm concerned, since it reinforces the monopoly status of the insurance companies and gives them government backing, but it does do a lot to prevent the worst practices of the industry. This is very clearly not a government take-over of the healthcare industry, since it's primarily just a long list of much overdo regulation.

Student aid finance reform was attached to the bill during the reconciliation process.

And a few other beneficial things were in there, as well.

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