Garnish? Clinton is Out of Touch (Edited)
Sun Feb 03, 2008 at 11:21:50 AM PDT
with the economic realities of the American people.
Here's what Clinton said this morning on ABC that got me riled -
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., this morning left open the possibility that, if elected, her government would garnish the wages of people who didn't comply with her health care plan. "We will have an enforcement mechanism, whether it's that or it's some other mechanism through the tax system or automatic enrollments," Clinton said in an appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos".
Clinton went on to say, though, that such mechanisms would not include penalties. "They don't have to pay fines ... We want them to have insurance. We want it to be affordable. And what I have said is that there are a number of ways of doing that. Now, there's not just one way of getting to that."
Absolutely out of touch with the American people on healthcare.
Garnish their wages?
Christ.
As if people wouldn't buy adequate health insurance if they could afford it?
I'm trying not to start shouting here.
As if single working mothers don't need every penny they earn to feed and clothe their children?
As if fathers aren't using credit cards maxed out long ago to buy essentials like gasoline and school books and waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat to wonder if they are going to have a job tomorrow or the next month or the next?
As if grandparents aren't cashing in their pensions to pay for pain medication and heart medication and stroke rehabilitation therapy and to buy their grandchildren asthma medication and dental care?
It's all I can do to not start swearing here.
Garnish their wages?
What wages?
As if working America were just a bunch of slaggards, hoarding their lavish salaries, seeking medical care in urgent care clinics and emergency rooms and denying their children preventative care, acute care, dental care, and annual check ups at a regular pediatrician to buy luxury cars, second homes, expensive vacations, designer clothes, drugs, junk food, big screen t.v.'s?
Healthcare is not an "entitlement" or a luxury.
What wages?
In America today, Mrs. Clinton -
Teachers are working at Barnes & Noble in the evening. Men and women are working two jobs to stay in their homes and feed themselves. Seniors are pinching pennies, eating less and turning the lights out early to save money on utilities and food. Children are going to school hungry. Children are dying because of infected teeth and asthma attacks that go untreated until it is too late.
People are dying every day of cancer left untreated until too late or because they cannot afford the treatment that might save them or let them live more comfortably a little longer.
Garnish their wages?
How heartless. How out of touch.
