I'm only fifteen, but I just felt an urge to write something about this ongoing mess in Congress.
As I’m sure many of my friends know, I’m into politics and I feel strongly about where I stand. No, my parents haven’t influenced exactly where I stand on the issues. I even disagree on a lot things with them. In my free time, I play online political simulations, which I know is odd to say the least. Anyways, this entry is meant to discuss the current political situation in this country. If you don’t care, don’t read, but I just wanted to express how I stand on what’s going on at this very moment.
Health care to say the least is getting worse in this country. Premiums for families are rising. Even in my own family, premiums went up nearly 25% for each of us (see Anthem Blue Cross Story). On premiums alone, we’re paying $22,000 as a family per year.......
I'm only fifteen, but I just felt an urge to write something about this ongoing mess in Congress.
As I’m sure many of my friends know, I’m into politics and I feel strongly about where I stand. No, my parents haven’t influenced exactly where I stand on the issues. I even disagree on a lot things with them. In my free time, I play online political simulations, which I know is odd to say the least. Anyways, this entry is meant to discuss the current political situation in this country. If you don’t care, don’t read, but I just wanted to express how I stand on what’s going on at this very moment.
Health care to say the least is getting worse in this country. Premiums for families are rising. Even in my own family, premiums went up nearly 25% for each of us (see Anthem Blue Cross Story). On premiums alone, we’re paying $22,000 as a family per year. That doesn’t include co-pays or things insurance doesn’t cover. And our carrier announced that they’ll have more frequent price adjustments, meaning that rates are going to go nowhere but up. Not only within my own family, the same thing is happening throughout the nation. Families, hanging on to their jobs by a thread, just can’t afford such increases when living paycheck to paycheck, and that’s just not right.
We need reform. Now. The Obama health care bill started off strong but became watered down after compromises with moderate Democrats in the Senate, going as far as removing a public option. Me? I support a single-payer health care system, but that’s radical in today’s eyes. Every industrial country in the world has it except for the United States. Sure, the GOP will try to scare us with "waiting lists" and "poor quality", but more often times than not, quality is strong and waiting lists are nonexistent. As for now, what’s feasible is that the Democrats should and must use their majority, a majority stronger than they’ve had in two decades and the strongest they’ll have in two decades, to assert their authority and pass comprehensive health care reform.
Some parts of the bill are very strong. Mandating that a certain percentage of insurance company’s profits go to actually serving people is just right. Insurance companies are making too much money without doing much of anything, and mandating that they spend a good 85-90% of their income on actually treating people is a great idea. I support the public option that the House passed, but the Senate removed it in an effort to compromise with "Blue Dog Dems" and the horrible Senator Lieberman (I-CT).
The Republicans are being unbelievably obstructionist. It makes me sick how all they do day in and day out is say "No." and sadly, their demeanor is working. Americans are beginning to become misinformed and are saying "No" to Democrats and the President with approvals dropping every day. Keep in mind that GOP approvals aren’t going up either, they’re just hurting the President, as that’s their goal.
They want to win seats in 2010 and the White House in 2012. That’s all they want—political power. Republicans don’t want change. I know that at least one Republican Senator wants health care reform passed and can be that 60th vote to break a filibuster, but none of the 41 GOP Senators will speak up. Just one can change everything. The only major GOP health solution that I've heard in 2009 was tort reform, tort reform, tort reform. That isn’t effective enough to change anything.
The Democrats aren’t perfect either. They’re weak. They can’t assert a super majority in the House and Senate to pass this bill, with or without Republican support. The time to compromise is over. The time to pass something is now. Stop worrying about re-election, you’re going to lose a whole bunch of seats regardless, so do something for both my family and the American people and get an effective bill passed now.