Margaret and Helen

Margaret, I know it has been a few years since we last made the trip across the pond, but I was wondering if  anyone is still alive in Europe?   I watched a little bit of Fox News this weekend and I’m afraid everyone in Europe might have died from lack of access to healthcare.  What a shame.  They had such delicious food and beautiful art.

I am not sure when it happened but the base of the Republican party either got lazy or stupid or both… or maybe they always were.   It took me only a few minutes of research on the internet to learn that America spends more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation and yet we don’t live longer or have better health outcomes. So unless we just enjoy making health insurance companies rich, all those tea party morons  need to use the internet for something other than ordering their penis enhancement pills.

Exactly how expensive does healthcare have to get before we decide to have an honest, meaningful conversation about this?   Rush is out there talking about how this will keep you from getting your next raise.  I’ve got news for you Rush.  Maybe not for you, but for the rest of the world it already has.  Sixty-two percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were linked to medical expenses and almost all of those individuals had health insurance. About 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure every year due to unaffordable medical costs.  Over the last few years, health insurance costs for small businesses have increased by over 100%.

But let’s not get lost in the numbers.  What we are talking about here is access to healthcare.  We are talking about mothers and fathers losing their homes and their life savings trying to save their children.  We are talking about families helping a loved one to fight cancer.  We are talking about  people suffering with diabetes, asthma and AIDS.   We are not talking about death panels and for God’s sakes we are not talking about Nazi Germany.  We are talking about tending to the sick and the poor… does that sound familiar to anyone?  You Value Voters out there claim to read the Bible.  Maybe you should crack the cover on that one again.  You are so damn worried about who is marrying who and what immigrant is getting the best shift at the Taco Bell, but God forbid someone’s suffering doesn’t come with a price tag…

Honestly,  if I could , I would put the entire Republic party over my knee and give them a good spanking.  What does it say about our country if the biggest debate of the decade is no longer about the two wars we are fighting but rather about preventing children and families from having access to affordable healthcare?  I’ll tell you what it says to me.  It says the Christian Right never really was and Value Voters aren’t very valuable.

Let me spell it out for you:

Sarah Palin is worried about death squads.  I think  she should spend a little more time worrying about getting at least one child into college.

Rush Limbaugh is worried about Socialism.  That’s a big word for a college drop out, but isn’t it  nice when such a wealthy person shows so much concern for poor little us.  I wonder if he’ll spend a little of his $400 million contract and write you ditto heads  a check when you can’t afford your hospital bills.

Dick Cheney has had four heat attacks.  He underwent four-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting in 1988, coronary artery stenting in November 1994, and urgent coronary balloon angioplasty in December 1994.  He has been treated for popliteal artery aneurysms, deep-vein thrombosis, atrial fibrillation, and most recently back problems.  I wonder what his out-of-pocket expenses were.  I wonder if he even cares?

Universal Healthcare in the wealthiest country on earth should have been a no brainer.  And speaking of a no brainer…

Michele Bachman thinks healthcare reform is unconstitutional.   I think Michelle Bachmann is as nutty as a fruit cake.  Or as we say down here in Texas – Michele is one taco short of a combo plate.  She is a few fries short of a happy meal.  Her elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor.   Her cord is too short to reach the outlet.  The wheel might be spinning but the hamster is dead. 

That woman just isn’t right in the head.   I mean it. Really.