Why I Am Grateful for Obama's Health Care Plan

I've gotten into many online arguments with people, have seen posts and comments that have made me want to flip over tables, and have learned a great deal about the good and the bad about our current American society. I feel that President Obama's election to one of the most powerful seats of power in America and the passing of his Health Care Plan has brought out the best, worst, and downright evil in many people.

I have not always agreed with Obama's policies, and I am often annoyed and disappointed by our current government, however this is one policy I have supported since the beginning. This, admittedly, is primarily because I am one of those in-betweeners who found herself with healthcare after graduating college. I had been under my father's insurance as a minor and as a student, and I knew that as my graduation loomed, that if I didn't find a job with benefits, that I would be shit out of luck.

After graduating from college and being unable to find a job, I was tossed off of my father's insurance. On the one hand it motivated me to take extra care of myself so that I wouldn't break a bone (as my accident prone self tends to do at the worst times) or end up in the emergency room for whatever reason. On the other hand, I also couldn't visit my doctor when I got sick and I had to stop taking certain medications because my prescription ran out. I was only able to find a seasonal part time retail job for the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays, which does not offer benefits. And even when they did offer me a permanent part time position, the cost of paying for medical insurance in comparison to what my biweekly net pay was, was nonsensical. And it was sobering talking to coworkers who (along with their families) didn't have healthcare because they just couldn't afford the expense. I had had an elitist view coming from college, and it was nice having my rose-tinted glasses knocked off.  

Examiner

However, under President Obama's Health Care Plan, specifically the Affordable Care Act, I am covered until I am 26 if I choose to remain on my father's plan. Luckily beginning in January of 2011, I was added back onto my father's insurance. This was especially auspicious since just the end of that month I found myself in the emergency room with a broken foot. Talk about good timing.

Of course the hospital made a mistake and never billed my insurance, instead billing me (and twice) for my treatment. Because of that I was able to see just how much I would have had to pay if I didn't have insurance. It was about $4000+ just for a broken foot. And for someone making only $7.25/hr at around 20 hrs a week (you do the math), paying that myself would have left me so far in the whole it's laughable.

But thankfully, because of the healthcare plan I was covered under my father. Sure he has to pay a higher premium, but it is so worth it in the long run. And I do my part to pay other expenses for my family, so it's not as if I'm a complete moocher- which is something many people seem to see us inbetweeners as. I've gotten into many debates with people over the internet who just don't understand why they have to pay for other's children to remain on healthcare. Often they blame us for higher premiums when they need to be blaming big business, the insurance companies. And a parent is not forced to add their child back onto insurance. It's optional, and those that do more than likely have no problem paying that premium.

I'm saying all this as the White House released the latest data regarding coverage of young adults like me. 2.5 million once uninsured young adults were able to hop back onto their family's plan, many of whom (like me) would love to be able to afford our own benefits, but can't for one reason or another. Even with my current part time job where I make a significant more amount of money than the minimum wage, I can barely afford the insurance costs per month (over $100) and my job is thinking of increasing the costs. I'm extremely grateful, especially with my up and down health, that I am covered. I think of it this way. I have being paying for social security since I turned 16. I will never see any of that money. Maybe they'll have another government program for me when I reach retirement age. Probably won't. With nearly 50% of Amers living in poverty or considered poor, I don't think it's unreasonable to offer some form of safety net for those of us transitioning into a tepid economic climate. It's not like many, if not most of us, don't want full time paying jobs with fantastic benefits. For many of us, it's just taken a much longer time than the baby boomers had to, to get such jobs. So I for one appreciate President Obama and am extremely grateful for the Affordable Care Act.I may not agree with all he does, but this one policy gets my vote.


AN: Please read this fantastic op-ed regarding one person's own experience with the new healthcare plan and having a pre-existing condition.

Occupy Wall Street- My Story

It was 10:30 at night when I got home last Thursday. After getting off the train, I decided to try to numb the pain of an additional thirty minute bus ride by catching up with a friend from high school. Expecting the late night conversation to be little more than fluff, it surprisingly turned into a fierce exchange of ideas as I shared with her my experience at Occupy Wall Street. I was just returning from the second anniversary of march's existence so I was still beaming from excitement.

I told her of the various people I knew who were also in attendance. My former high school English teacher was helping me out with a play I am writing and suggested that we head down to Foley Square after my interview with him. Although I am an avid supporter of OWS, I have been lazy and never made it to any of the protests, even the one they had in Jamaica, Queens. It was about five o'c lock when we arrived, and I realized it wasn't just laziness keeping me from attending OWS. After arriving to the area, one the first things we saw were cops equipped with riot gear. I thought to myself, where is our protection? There has been some speculation as to why ethnic minorities have been largely absent at OWS protests. I can't offer much insight into why that may be but this ethnic minority was scared out of her ass. I mentioned to my mom that I wanted to go to the protests and she, another ethnic minority, explicitly told me, "Don't come to me for bail money."

The friend I was on the phone with had the same fears. Luckily the night ended without any conflict. In fact, I found many of the officers to be kind and helpful with directions. I did find it obnoxious when few protesters antagonized the cops without any clear reason in doing so. I was giving mad shade to the silly, little white girl next to me while she was yelling at the cops. I again thought to myself, You best believe that if things get out of hand, I'll be quick to point in your direction and scream 'Cuff her' because my broke, black ass ain't finnah go to jail!

Laughing, my friend inquired about the aims of OWS. She put her boyfriend on three way and he began to challenge me about the validity of their targeting of Wall Street. Though he shared their frustrations with the little oversight placed on our financial industry, he seemed frustrated by Occupys's opaqueness, an aspect that I appreciated. He and I debated about the need for OWS to specify their wants. At that time, I was stepping through the door of my house and saw that my parents were still up. I got off the phone but ended up continuing the conversation with my parents.

They were in bed, watching the coverage from the day's protests in New York City, specifically the hundreds of arrests that were made that day. She stated her disgust with the abuse of law enforcement. While I certainly agreed, I also argued that white liberals' trouble with police brutality is a troubling in itself considering my anecdotal evidence of their tendency for provocation. A police pepper spraying old people and hippies is awful and stupid but it is much different from unarmed black men getting shot. Maybe I was being trivial but she understood my point.

My father, old, jaded and cynical echoed my friend's boyfriend's concerns. He wanted to know what was going to come of this, noting the increased coverage of what was previously largely ignored. I explained that the self-proclaimed movement is centered on the absolute power given to the financial industry and how it contributes to the socio-inequality that plagues our society. Likely speaking to the ubiquity young, white faces on TV he asked me exactly who was watching. But there were unions, students, hippies, immigrant groups, the green party, a few people in work clothes, teachers, aspiring rappers and everyone else in between. Repeating my appreciation of its vagueness, I told him I saw a wide array of people represented which is appropriate because economic affects almost all of us, 99% of us, if you will.

Marching across the bridge with honoree Sister Miss All Ass was somehow empowering for me and the other occupiers. In today's economy it is easy to feel as if you are alone in your struggles. While our struggles vary, particularly in regards to severity and experience, it can all be linked to economic injustice. I may not have fully won them all over, but I was convinced that Occupy Wall Street was working.  Some are inspired by it, but everybody is talking about it. The guy holding that sign with a well-know Gandhi quote got it right, "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win."

Troy Davis: The Death of My Brother

We have all witnessed a great injustice tonight.

Did you know that on his death certificate, Troy Davis' cause of death will be listed as a homicide? A HOMICIDE. They are killing a man, whether innocent or not, to justify the death of another. How can anyone just ignore such an egregious situation? And yet as I continued to read all the tweets regarding Davis, I also noted that #youknowyoughetto was also trending (in the Philadelphia region at least) and X-Factor was also popular. Once again human life is carelessly thrown away. Troy Davis, the 52nd person to be executed in the prisons of Georgia. But we know that he is only one of the many strange fruit whose life has been taken needlessly.

As I look at this photo and listen to the @democracynow live stream the tears leak down my face. I am weeping. I have never been so hurt over a stranger. No he is no stranger. He is my brother. Troy Davis is my brother.

He is being executed right now, sitting on a gurney waiting as the cocktails of drugs take his very breath away. 7 of the 9 witnesses recanted their statements. There was no other evidence that put Davis as the murderer other than the 2 last witnesses. If that isn't reasonable doubt, I just don't know what is. If this isn't a misuse of justice. Just sickening.

I never supported the death penalty and I never will. An eye for an eye does indeed make the whole world blind. And right now too many of us have turned a blind eye to a system of justice that continues to instill injustice. 

I'm sorry if I'm not making much sense everyone. I am just so distraught that I just don't know how I can look at the government and continue to take it seriously.

Troy Davis said: They may take my body, but they can never take my spirit. Because my spirit belongs to God. 

God be with you Troy Davis. God be with his family. God be with the family of Officer MacPhail. God be with all of us. Because strange fruit continue to hang from the Poplar trees. 

Don't Compromise on Tar Baby

For the past couple of years, President Obama has endured a lot from angry voters and politicians from the other side of the aisle. While the political environment is generally hostile in America, with scrutiny of politicians' personal lives and character assassinations being commonplace, but the vitriol aimed at the President was different this time around. The newly created Tea Party featured many bigoted voters, proudly waving signs that caricatured him as a monkey or alleging Kenya as his true birthplace. Quite simply, the President was subjected to a fair amount of racism.

Such antics didn't come as a surprise for most black people, considering we already were aware of how pervasive racist sentiments are. Yet Rep. Doug Lamborn's (R-CO) comments last week on a political radio show were particularly outrageous and the overall reaction that followed was alarming. The quote:

“Now I don’t even want to have to be associated with [Obama], it’s like touching a tar baby and you’re stuck, you’re part of the problem now. You can’t get away.” 

He called the President a tar baby! Merriam Webster define's tar baby as "something from which it is nearly impossible to extricate oneself." However, anybody with a brain knows that the Congressman was referring to the racism term, prevalent in the early 20th Century along with other racist caricatures like pickanney, porchmonkey, coon and Sambo.

Having apologized more than a week after making the comment, the Congressman apologized  for "using a term some find insensitive" and also had the audacity to assume his half-assed apology was sufficient, telling the Denver Post, "I am sure that he will not take offense and that he'll be happy to accept my apology because he is a man of character." Wow.

And you know what is more absurd that Lamborn's usage of a racial slur and his determination of what (black) people should be offended by? Obama has not even acknowledged the comments. Some will argue that there is enough on his plate for him to have to worry about some dipshit calling him a previously archaic racist term. I was then reminded by how deep this racist stuff is. It is so deep that the most powerful man in this country is still not empowered enough to defend himself against people who are perpetually disrespectful towards him.

The Gays are Marrying! The Gays are Marrying!

Well, it has finally happened. Yesterday, New York recognized the separation of church and state while acknowledging equal rights being owed to all. With a 33-29 vote in the State Senate, New York has now legalized same-sex marriage with Governor Andrew Cuomo signing the bill into law. It has been a long time coming. Considering the constant disappointment that is New York politics, I could not be more merrier.

I've been arguing with bigots about this issue since I was an annoying know-it-all in high school. There is simply no justification for disallowing gay men and women to marry, well, the opposite holds true for bigots. It is good to know that the good people of New York are finally getting it. In 2004, only 37 percent of New Yorkers polled approved of the legalization of gay marriage, now 58% reportedly do. Ironically, the bill passed with the new Republican majority in the Senate. I'll go into the politics of what motivated elected officials, namely Democrats, to change their votes at a later time.

As a woman of color, I empathize with discrimination albeit in different forms. The legalization of gay marriage recognizes the separation of church and state and respects the right to privacy for all citizens. We compromise our humanity by placing injustices upon others. This bill is about not allowing for people's prejudices to determine the rights of others. And with the Gay Pride parade tomorrow, this historic piece of legislation could not have come at a better time.

So congratulations gay brothers and sisters for now being a step closer to equality. However, I can't help but worry for the terrorist attacks and natural disaster that will ensue.

Racist Republican Ridiculousness

In an effort to discredit Janice Hahm, a Democrat running for Congress in California, some douche by the name of Ladd Ehlinger Jr. was compelled to create this campaign ad.

It's racist, misogynistic and unfortunately, non-satirical. I most offended by the poor choice of font!

The runoff between Councilwoman Hamn and her opponent, businessman and Tea Party favorite, Craig Huey is scheduled for July 12. Hamn has been accused, mostly by conservatives, for providing city funds to criminals who participated in gang intervention programs. While she has been a longtime advocate of decreasing gang activity in her district in Los Angeles, her Gang Alternatives Program did not directly give money to the gang workers involved. But Republicans ignored the pesky truth and continued with their smear campaign.

I never believed the Tea Party's ideologies were rooted in racism but there is no debate about it having racist elements, no matter what the real black man, Herman Cain may claim. So while the fairly nascent political movement has enjoyed moderate success in the last couple of years, shenanigans like this are going to continue to limit the little legitimacy they have in national politics. The ad isn't not officially associated with Craig Hamn but his campaign's silence since the ad surfaced is disturbing. This reflects the crossroads the Republican Party is in for next year's election season. How do you get support from a sizable voting bloc and escape their perpetual offensive antics?

You can't.

What is it that People Just Don't Get?

AN: Sorry about the spacing y'all. I'm trying to tweak it, but blogger is being mad glitchy!


This is not strictly a political blog, as we pride ourselves on having a diverse set of ideas and posts. But from time to time, we will be using this blog as a platform to get our little rants out. As such, I just have to say:


What is it that people just don't get?


I'm asking this question in regards to an article I just read from the Huffington Post entitled: "Indiana Planned Parenthood Sees Flood Of Donations After Defunding". Now the article itself speaks to citizens, and a suprisingly large deal of men, giving donations to Planned Parenthood after Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill defunding it.

"Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill earlier this week that is the first in the nation to bar Planned Parenthood from contracting with Medicaid, which means that all of the 9,300 Medicaid recipients using Planned Parenthood of Indiana as their primary health provider now have to look elsewhere for their health and preventative care. The bill is intended to prevent taxpayer money from being used to pay for abortions, although the Hyde Amendment has banned taxpayer-funded abortions for the past 30 years."

This last sentence is the one that gets my goat. Many in the GOP and on the right continue to go on and on about how Planned Parenthood must be defunded, as it does abortions through tax-payer money. Many of the comments on the aforementioned article are full of people who are happy it has been defunded because it does abortions through tax-payer money. But wait....


It actually doesn't do any such thing. 


I don't get it.


Okay, I understand people being against abortions. I myself have long waged a inner debate regarding the very subject. I can't say I'm for all forms of abortions but I can't say I'm against all of them either. I've never been put into a spot where I would need one (thank God!) and there are just certain cases were the possibility should be allowed [1]. 


That being said. Why don't people understand that institutions like Planned Parenthood aren't actually giving abortions out through tax-payer money. They do it through private donations, fundraising money, etc. But in case you didn't get it the first time: "the Hyde Amendment has banned taxpayer-funded abortions for the past 30 years." 


Don't defund something on false pretenses and then have the balls to still support it with these lies. Oh wait. It's already happened and will continue to happen because people don't read. And because of defunding you have hundreds of medicaid recipients in Indiana who are left searching for other alternatives, punished for something they may not even have had done.


Now, if you know someone who continues to harp on about Planned Parenthood needing to be defunded because of abortions and blah blah blah. Please point them to the Hyde Amendment. That is all.


[1] Why would anyone want to stop a woman from having the option of having an abortion when she has been molested by a father or family member??