Have seen lots of fear and misinformation lately on all sorts of different sites about the ACA lately. Have especially seen a lot of the anonymous tale of the guy in the diner....you might have seen it......been making the rounds on the right wing blogosphere:
I was in my neighborhood restaurant this morning and was seated behind a group of jubilant individuals celebrating the coming implementation of the health care bill. I could not finish my breakfast. This is what ensued:
They were a diverse group of several races and both sexes. I heard a young man exclaim, “Isn’t Obama like Jesus Christ? I mean, after all, he is healing the sick.”
A young woman enthusiastically proclaimed, “Yeah, and he does it for free. I cannot believe anyone would think that a free market wouldn't work for health care.”
Another said, "The stupid Republicans want us all to starve to death so they can inherit all of the power. Obama should be made a Saint for what he did for those of us less fortunate.”
At this, I had more than enough. I arose from my seat, mustering all the restraint I could find, and approached their table. “Please excuse me; may I impose upon you for one moment?”
They smiled and welcomed me to the conversation. I stood at the end of their table, smiled as best I could and began an experiment.
“I would like to give one of you my house. It will cost you no money and I will pay all of the expenses and taxes for as long as you live there. Anyone interested?”
They looked at each other in astonishment. “Why would you do something like that?” asked a young man, “There isn’t anything for free in this world.”
They began to laugh at me, as they did not realize this man had just made my point.
“I am serious, I will give you my house for free, no money whatsoever. Anyone interested?”
In unison, a resounding “Yeah” fills the room.
“Since there are too many of you, I will have to make a choice as to who receives this money-free bargain.”
I noticed an elderly couple was paying attention to the spectacle unfolding before their eyes, the old man shaking his head in apparent disgust.
“I tell you what; I will give it to the one of you most willing to obey my rules.”
Again, they looked at one another, an expression of bewilderment on their faces.
The perky young woman asked, “What are the rules?”
I smiled and said, “I don’t know. I have not yet defined them. However, it is a free home that I offer you.”
They giggled amongst themselves, the youngest of which said, “What an old coot. He must be crazy to give away his home. Go take your meds, old man.”
I smiled and leaned into the table a bit further. “I am serious, this is a legitimate offer.”
They gaped at me for a moment.
“I’ll take it you old fool. Where are the keys?” boasted the youngest among them.
“Then I presume you accept ALL of my terms then?” I asked.
The elderly couple seemed amused and entertained as they watched from the privacy of their table. “Oh yeah! Where do I sign up?”
I took a napkin and wrote, “I give this man my home, without the burden of financial obligation, so long as he accepts and abides by the terms that I shall set forth upon consummation of this transaction.”
I signed it and handed it to the young man who eagerly scratched out his signature.
“Where are the keys to my new house?” he asked in a mocking tone of voice.
All eyes were upon us as I stepped back from the table, pulling the keys from pocket and dangling them before the excited new homeowner.
“Now that we have entered into this binding contract, witnessed by all of your friends, I have decided upon the conditions you are obligated to adhere to from this point forward. You may only live in the house for one hour a day. You will not use anything inside of the home. You will obey me without question or resistance. I expect complete loyalty and admiration for this gift I bestow upon you. You will accept my commands and wishes with enthusiasm, no matter the nature. Your morals and principles shall be as mine. You will vote as I do, think as I do and do it with blind faith. These are my terms. Here are your keys.”
I reached the keys forward and the young man looked at me dumbfounded.
“Are you out of your mind? Who would ever agree to those ridiculous terms?” the young man appeared irritated.
“You did when you signed this contract before reading it, understanding it and with the full knowledge that I would provide my conditions only after you committed to the agreement.”
The elderly man chuckled as his wife tried to restrain him. I was looking at a now silenced and bewildered group of people.
“You can shove that stupid deal up your a** old man. I want no part of it!” exclaimed the now infuriated young man.
'You have committed to the contract, as witnessed by all of your friends. You cannot get out of the deal unless I agree to it. I do not intend to let you free now that I have you ensnared. I am the power you agreed to. I am the one you blindly and without thought chose to enslave yourself to. In short, I am your Master.”
At this, the table of celebrating individuals became a unified group against the unfairness of the deal.
After a few moments of unrepeatable comments and slurs, I revealed my true intent.
“What I did to you is what this administration and congress did to you with the health care legislation. I easily suckered you in and then revealed the real cost of the bargain. Your folly was in the belief that you can have something you did not earn, and for that which you did not earn, you willingly allowed someone else to think for you. Your failure to research, study and inform yourself permitted reason to escape you. You have entered into a trap from which you cannot flee. Your only chance of freedom is if your new Master gives it to you. A freedom that is given can also be taken away. Therefore, it is not freedom at all.”
With that, I tore up the napkin and placed it before the astonished young man. “This is the nature of your new health care legislation.”
I turned away to leave these few in thought and contemplation -- and was surprised by applause.
The elderly gentleman, who was clearly entertained, shook my hand enthusiastically and said, “Thank you, Sir. These kids don’t understand Liberty .”
He refused to allow me to pay my bill as he said, “You earned this one. It is an honor to pick up the tab.”
I shook his hand in thanks, leaving the restaurant somewhat humbled and sensing a glimmer of hope for my beloved country.
Anyways, might I recommend this sort of response to those people spreading this sort of fear mongering......feel free to ad your own links.....but maybe something along these lines might help people to actually check out the ACA rather than judging it by what the media tells them.....I replied this to a couple facebook posts from friends I saw this evening.....please feel free to cut and past or make your own.....we truly need to get the word out to others that the ACA is NOT some sort of two headed dragon that will eat their children.
This is a blogosphere post that has absolutely no attributable author.....have been seeing it now for around 5 weeks, and it's making the rounds on the radical right wing blogs as if it were fact.
Imo, and of course, I certainly could be wrong, but I think this is just over reactionary garbage put on the internet to just strike fear into people.
I would take this much more serious if it had an attributable author......but it's vaguely anonymous.....imagine that?
It is meant to appeal to the emotionally fearful side of people, with no real facts to back it up.
But, feel free to keep sharing it, even when it has no real factual basis.
While the ACA has lots of problems and holes in it, it is a step in the right direction imo, and will help many millions of people who could not otherwise afford health insurance. Is it perfect? No. It needs lots of tweaks and adjustments. But does it allow a LOT of those people who had no hope whatsoever of ever getting health insurance before a chance to get it now? YES.
I would ask that you research, truly research the ACA.....don't listen to the media pundits fearmongering about it.....go and truly research it....see what it can and can't do. Don't just blindly judge it from what you have seen and heard from some moronic media desk jockey trying to spread fear.
After my own research on it, I know that it will allow me and my wife to retire without the fear of having no health insurance. That alone is a huge plus in my book, as it helps my own little bubble world.
But I have also checked the exchanges with the stance if I was working below the poverty level(or even a few steps above it), and it allows for a lot of people to have health insurance that would otherwise not be able to.
I am all for that. It's only humane in my book. And, last time I checked, this country and it's people seemed to really dig humane causes.
But then again, I could be wrong.
Here's a great link for checking out actual exchanges for different states.....and keep in mind that one does NOT have to go through the exchanges......you can still get health insurance through private sources, AND, if you already have health insurance, you can keep it.
Here's the wonderful source for actually checking out all the different state exchanges and the different levels of coverage, subsidies, and different coverages for different incomes.....
http://www.valuepenguin.com/...