Let Capitalism Take Care of It

Whoa. *Checks blog to be sure I'm in the right place* Nope. It's the right place.

Wait. So, the socialist is telling us to let capitalism take care of something? What sort of topsy-turvy world are we now living in?

I mean, first of all, have you looked around lately?

Secondly, yes. There is a place capitalism would absolutely help us get to where we need to be and that place is health care in the US.

We're on that downward trajectory towards another presidential election and we all know what that means: There are 1,576 Democratic candidates who all say they can
a) Beat DJT
b) Get actual shit done that actual citizens need to live actual comfortable lives that are not merely "quietly desperate lives filled with worry and fear but also with an iPhone and a decent car so that means we're OK".
c) Beat DJT

One of the top issues is health care.

Now, that's silly, because "On Day One" of the Trump presidency, he repealed Obamacare and instituted the most greatest health care that's ever been seen in the history of the universe. Everyone is healthy now, everything is free, and no one even dies anymore. If you start falling, a little fairy wearing a MAGA hat magically appears, catches you, and gives you a nice cup of covefe.

Hahahahahahahaha. Just kidding. He didn't do shit.

Obama wanted to include a "public option" in the ACA (what most of us refer to as Obamacare. Like most of us will forever refer to the concentration camps on the border as TrumpCamps but that's another blog) which meant that if you were paying into Medicare out of your paychecks, you could sign up for Medicare even before the age of 65. Or, you could keep your work-sponsored or private insurance. That's the "option" part of Public Option. Your choice. Option.

The American people responded by hollering like stuck hogs and stampeding off over the horizon, screaming 'SOCIALISTS ARE COMING TO KILL US!'

So, here we are. Trump has managed to change just enough in Obamacare to screw it up and hurt people, but we have yet to see the promised "Republican beautiful health care plan that will cover everyone and be so affordable and we just won't believe it!" Let's all get our Surprised Faces out.

Therefore, health care is a big issue for the Dems who want to be POTUS.

And here's where I disagree with one of my favorite people, Bernie Sanders. Bernie has come out in front of god and everyone saying he wants to *abolish* the private health care system and force everyone onto Medicare for All, as have several others of the ginormous field of contenders.

Really?

Really really?

Oh. Em. Gee. You cannot do that. Cannot.

Not just that this will literally HAND the election to DJT on a silver platter (covered in hamberders) because he will be absolutely able to fan the flames of fear of lack of individual freedoms, but that this fanning will be justified. You cannot just suddenly eliminate our current system of health care and here's why.

First, see above about causing at least 1/3 of Americans (those who still support this president against all facts, odds, and sensibilities) to run screaming into the hills, shooting over their shoulders, and yelling that we ain't takin' their right to die as free men and wimmen away from them, dang it.

Second, the private insurance sector isn't just some amorphous thing with a few super-rich dudes sitting at the controls (channeling my inner Wizard of Oz here). Thousands and tens of thousands of actual middle class American citizens get up every day and to go work to feed their families at...private insurance companies. You can't just suddenly put them out of work.

Third, and most important because it (finally) ties in the title of this piece, if you do the Public Option- open up Medicare to those paying into it regardless of age and let their dependents also access it, and let everyone who is uninsured onto Medicaid without jumping thru hoops and ridiculous wait times, the capitalist system will literally sort it out for us, and here's how.

Say we have a public option. The guy who keeps his work-based insurance keeps paying into Medicare/Medicaid *and* his part of his premiums at work. His paycheck deductions have gone up maybe 3% so not a lot, but some. Over time, he sees his co-workers who are on Medicare
-get the same or better care as he does
-get to take home the money he's still spending on his premiums. And co-pays. And deductibles.

Unless he's a lunatic, he's going to be on Medicare before long. And that will be a long enough shake-down period that people now working in the private sector can transition to the public sector as their jobs transfer over.

See? No one has to "take" anything from anyone.

The beauty of the Free Market will work it out for us.

Today's Public Service Announcement

To our federal employees who have been told to stay home without pay till Trumpty Dumpty gets his wall:

I'm so sorry. This is very unfair and you get to suffer for the maniacal selfishness of the ignoramus in the White House. If you need anything, I will try to help you. Thank you for your service to our nation.

To our federal employees who have been told they have to show up and work without pay:

Tell that Orange Shitgibbon to fuck right off.

Seriously. The majority of America has your back completely if you decide to just stay home.

There is no way any of us expect you to work without pay. He wants to "play hardball"? Pitch that flaming bag of shit right back into his lap, ya'll.

Air traffic controllers? Oh, well. Thank you, President Trump for shutting down the airports.

Border Patrol? Guess that "emergency on the border" isn't that big if you are expected to work for free. Vete a la chingata, pendejo.

Members of the Secret Service who are expected to show up without pay? Yeah. Just don't. See how bombastic that chickenshit draft-dodger is when you're not there.

I mean, I get it.

Sometimes people work without pay. If there's a natural disaster, for instance. But this is not that.

You are being asked to work without pay because the world's biggest whiny baby wants a wall that every single expert says will not work and is a bad idea.

This is not about border security and "democrats wanting open borders".

This is about SENSIBLE and EFFECTIVE border security...which a wall is not in either case.

The last time someone in power made this big a dick move, Job had a pretty bad time of it.

Let's be perfectly clear: Donald J. Trump doesn't give a rat's ass about you and your family. He never has and he never will. Don't feel bad. He doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but himself.

Your fellow Americans do not want you to work without pay.

Thank you for your dedication and your service, but sometimes a bully needs to be called on his shit.

You can end this infantile power play and be actual American heroes by just staying home.

Thank you for your dedication and your service.

Sincerely,

The Majority of Americans

Let's Do Talk About Entitlements, Shall We?

So, our Conservative friends say we need this wall. It's vital to America's security and future and therefore we (the American taxpayers) have to pony up the dollars to pay for it.

Here is not the place to hash over all that "Mexico will pay for it!" bullshit, because anyone with three meager brain cells to knock together *always* knew that Mr. Art of the Deal who's been bankrupt 5 times and stiffs everyone he comes into contact with could not make a sovereign foreign nation pay for the damn thing. Anyone who believed that for a split second is dumb as a sack of wet mice and that's no lie.

Back to reality.

So, we need a wall.

We need a wall despite there already being 600+ miles of physical barriers all along the places that a physical barrier is possible in the world of having to work with physics and geography.

We need a wall despite the number of border crossings from the South has dropped every year for the last decade-plus, and most of our "illegals" FLY HERE with green cards and just overstay their visas.

We need to pony up billons of taxpayer dollars despite there being a fund specifically for border security and last year they used less than 10% of that fund.

ALL THAT ASIDE...here's what I (a mere elderly socialist) do not, in my obviously fluffy-headed femaleness, do not understand:

Why should I have to pay for this damn wall?

I don't live on the border. The people who live on the border, many of them ranchers, put up fences all day long. It's part of being a rancher. You need fences. Why should the American taxpayer pay for YOUR FENCE along one side of YOUR property? You're the one who moved down along the border. You knew where your land was. Your land/your responsibility, bubba.

Why should *I* have to pay for *your* CHOICE to live on the border?  I mean, there's tons of empty land out there. Why didn't you ranch in Wyoming or Kansas?

Ah. Wait for it. Here it comes. I can sense the conservative brains all locking on to this with the acuity of melting tar.

But this is for national security! It's necessary for the future and safety of our citizens!

Outstanding. I'm delighted you feel so strongly about the future and safety of our citizens.

So, you're exuberantly for universal health care? Taxpayer-funded health care that would either take the place of or strongly augment private insurance like every other nation in the world provides its citizens would go a long ways to ensure the future and safety of all Americans.

And, you'll stand shoulder to shoulder with me for publicly-funded higher education? Taxpayer-funded higher education for anyone who wants it and scholastically qualifies for it like many other nations in the world provide their citizens would go a long ways to ensure the future and safety of all Americans.

Wait. What? You *don't* want those things because they smack of socialism and you don't want YOUR tax money funding someone else's health problems and/or education? People should take responsibility for their own lives and choices?

Awesome.

Build your own fucking wall. Why should you move to or remain on the border and expect the rest of us to pay for your choices?

Entitled Snowflakes.