I want to discuss another quote from Obama's press conference to discuss how I believe he (and his supporters here) are fundamentally misunderstanding my anger.
This is the public option debate all over again. So I pass a signature piece of legislation where we finally get health care for all Americans, something that Democrats had been fighting for for a hundred years, but because there was a provision in there that they didn't get that would have affected maybe a couple of million people, even though we got health insurance for 30 million people and the potential for lower premiums for 100 million people, that somehow that was a sign of weakness and compromise.
You know what, it just like the public option -- there too you negotiated away and downplayed an important piece of legislation, and made things less popular and less effective. And you really need to stop saying this:
finally get health care for all Americans
because it's just not true. I still can't buy insurance.
You see, I really did want health care for all Americans, but you gave up on all that almost immediately -- and switched to what at best could be called Health Insurance regulatory reform. And then, you allowed that to be watered down, and now here is the situation I find myself in.
I'm a 45 year old diabetic, who is unemployed. I was offered Cobra at the cost of $4000 dollars a month, which somehow on my $400 dollar weekly unemployment check, I couldn't afford.
Now, due to you signature bill it possible that I will be able to purchase some insurance from a State exchange sometime in 2014 -- if it isn't delayed or repealed. I still can't buy it now. I still can't get health care now. I still see prices on my medications going up and premiums on Insurance going up.
When you passed it, you said the bill was just the first step. Now you say it's a victory and that everyone can get health care. But I can't!
Just as a I thought, it appears that without a public option, Health Insurance companies are going to continue to squeeze the US public -- but because you keep saying Health Care reform is done and we won, people will blame the government for what the Insurance Industry in doing to us.
So yeah, this is a repeat of that argument. When it comes to this tax deal this also looks just enough like a victory that if it passes, Democrats will own the results. And just like Health Care, it's been compromised to the point that every success will be attributed to the Republicans, every failure -- like the deficit increase -- will be blamed on Democrats.
And that would be fine, if the Republicans didn't plan on using that to rape the country more. I want, and I need, an economy that works. Tax gimmicks don't do that.