Health Insurance, the NRA, and the Big Fat Idiot

Haven’t blogged in awhile. Had a big gig on Friday that I felt unprepared for and was focused on that. It turned out to be a great gig and I’m suddenly feeling more prepared for the next one. It appears that what we lack in proficiency (or more accurately, what I lack) we make up for in song selection. The crowd loved us. So I’m back.

I got an email from a conservative friend about insurance company profits. He attached an article that basically said they were some of the lowest out there (5-6%) and of course used that as a means to take apart the argument for reform. I Googled the subject and as usual, you can find whatever you are looking for. I found articles that showed REAL profits as high as 20%! That’s pretty healthy! I think this could be argued ad nauseum. After the economic collapse we should all be painfully aware that stated profits are as much a function of book keeping as they are a function of a company’s health. But does it really matter? Are we talking about profits or health care? If you are looking at it strictly as a business, then profit is the penultimate measurement of success. Personally, I tend to look at it as a means to keep me and my family healthy… or in dire instances… alive!

This is one of the many differences between a liberal and a conservative. The conservative asks how much money is being made. The liberal asks how many lives are being saved or how many people are forced to be uninsured. It’s like the NRA. I had a talk with an NRA representative who called me a week or two ago asking for membership or money. Probably got my name because I used to be a member. I pointed out that I lost interest in them because their arguments were too extreme. I believed we had a right to own guns. But I also believed we had a right to do what we could to make sure the WRONG people didn’t own guns. When I asked why the NRA had such a problem with background checks and waiting periods he told me that when you allow that, you open the door to further regulation up to and including the banning of gun ownership.

Well, it seems that when you talk about a public option with conservatives it immediately opens the door to that being the gateway to socialized medicine. If the conservatives are so certain that the government can’t run a decent health care program they shouldn’t be concerned about socialized medicine. If the public option sucks, people will abandon it in favor of private companies and we will return to the status quo in no time. The only difference will be those that can’t afford private insurance will suddenly have coverage. These people don’t have coverage now so the effect on insurance companies (and their profit, or lack thereof) will be nil. So what ARE we really arguing about?

Like I’ve said before (and will, I’m sure, say again), this argument’s bottom line isn’t really about health care. It’s about control. If a public option becomes available, and it WORKS, then the conservatives have another big problem on their hands. Any “win” for the current administration is a “loss” to conservative America. That’s why “The Big Fat Idiot” is on record stating he hopes the Obama administration is a failure. They are in trouble. America is sick and tired of them. And any “loss” will just further weaken their position.

And speaking of big fat idiots… You need evidence of Rush Limbaugh’s disgusting sub-human ethics? Read about his latest gaff. He latches on to an article about Obama’s thesis that turns out to be false (was labeled satire) and tees off on the guy. Then when informed the article is in fact satire, does he apologize? No. He plays on the fact that satire is only funny if it is based in fact therefore there must be truth to the article in question. This is GREAT news for all of us. Now, every American needs to read “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot” to know the true nature of the guy. It wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t based on fact. He just completely destroyed any arguments against the book with his ignorant, inflammatory ranting and therefore has rendered himself pointless. We should all write him a thank you note. And tell him to shut the fuck up.

Peace,

Common Sense