Convention Thoughts
I’ve been avoiding watching the political conventions. Granted I am way too busy attempting to unpack, but the rhetoric at those things is generally pretty nauseating. But I happened to catch a bit of the GOP one last night while we were out to dinner (still haven’t uncovered cooking supplies…). I think Mike got annoyed as I kept reading with incredulity the lines presented in closed captioning on the TV. Some things go beyond nauseating to seriously depressing. I’m sure there were some stupid things said at the Democratic convention also, but the half hour I caught of the GOP last night was disturbing.
First I caught Romney’s speech. The one where he said that for America (which he later called the hope of the earth) to be the head of the world family we need to stop failing the family at home. And how are we failing the family? According to him by allowing the poison of government assistance to flourish. If only welfare and Medicaid were abolished the family would improve. Besides trying to provoke class warfare, I just have to wonder what he was smoking. Does he not realize that things like Medicaid are what help families to survive? Case in point – if not for government assistance to help me pay for the six digit medical bills I accrued in the past year our family would be struggling to survive. The salary of a pastor and personal insurance, although more than a lot of people have, barely covered anything. What would Romney have had me do? Abort Aidan to avoid such expenses? If he wants to help build strong families, he needs to support things that allow families to be families.
Then there were the even more disturbing signs being waved all over the place. They read “Country First” and “Prosperity.” Are those really the two most important values of the GOP? Nationalism and Wealth? For the party that claims to cater to religious crowds how can they promote values that outright contradict the message of Jesus? Or how could any committed follower of Christ choose to support such values? I’m not saying that the Democrats are any better here, just that our country is insanely far off track and we have blindly followed along.
And of course to top it off there were the men and women wearing buttons with Palin’s picture that said “Hottest VP.” Honestly, at what point in this country do we get past seeing women as just pieces of meat?
So Romney, contrary to your assumption last night, there are many days when I am not proud of my country. And last night was one of them.
julieclawson(at)gmail(dot)com 
It saddens and then angers me when people who haven’t had to worry about money or medical bills or feeding or housing their family assume that people that do have to worry about those things either just don’t want to work, are lazy or inferior in some way. I listened to an interview on NPR with some Republican Party strategists/commentators today and they talked about how the Republican Party approach in curtailing public benefits is really more compassionate because it helps people realize their full potential (not the exact wording but close). Amazingly euphemistic language for leaving people homeless, hungry and without health care.
I am a county social worker in a small midwestern county (population 45,000)and as the economy continues to decline the request for services continues to grow–as our resources to help are cut. Do they really think it encourages dependency when the General Assistance allotment is $203 cash a month and about $140 in food stamps on top of that. You will have medical assistance but will have copays of $1-10 dollars for doctor visits and prescriptions–so that will cut into your $203. If you are really lucky you will get some type of housing assistance although the waiting lists are long-several months to years long and several things can disqualify you from recieving it. So many people have such a wrong impression about public assistance. And as often is the case, the people who complain the loudest often have the fewest facts and the least experience with it.
On a lighter note, I’ve enjoyed your blog.
Great post Julie. In the UK we have have a “free” health system, well, it comes out of our taxes. I can’t get my head around why Bush vetoed kids having free health care within the US about a year ago now. I guess it all comes down to money – not for providing the care, but because companies, doctors etc will lose some of their $$$$ income?
When I listen to politicians I generally think “you really haven’t got a clue” most a highly educated, from wealthy families and have their own large incomes – they haven’t really got a clue what it’s like to scrap by on a small income. Paying a few dollars extra is nothing to them, but it is a huge thing if you are counting your pennies each month to make sure you get by. Politics is so frustrating!
Lyn, my mother is from the UK, so I am well familiar with the British health system. My aunt writhed in pain for THREE YEARS waiting for carpal tunnel surgery. Because no one ever died from carpal tunnel. Unless you at death’s door, believe me, you will wait for your health care. They also sell DIY filling kits in the drug store. Why you ask? Because the wait to get your cavity filled by a real dentist is astonishing. Your whole tooth would rot away first. Socialized medicine is NOT what it is cracked up to be. Basically everyone gets access to the same mediocre care. Which is rationed. Proponents of socialized medicine don’t tell you about all the people who die waiting for treatment. No, they just whine about how “entitled” everyone is to everything. If government run medicine is as efficient as government run schools, we might be sorely disappointed. Americans will never stand for the inconveniences and waiting and substandard care that are part and parcel of socialized medicine. They will scream about how unfair THAT is and how they are entitled. I live about an hour from the Canadian border and I have been told that if one goes up to Bonner’s Ferry (ID) hospital, that it is full of Canadians willing and able to pay out of their own pockets to get decent care when they need it. Pretty much you take your choice: good care for some, no care for others. Or sucky care for everyone. But believe me, people who can pay for it will no doubt still manage to get good care. I don’t have any answers, there is a big problem. But believe me, socialized medicine is NOT the panacea that a lot of people make it out to be. Maybe the AMA needs to take the lead from the ABA and require docs to do a certain amount of pro bono (do they it that for doctors too?) work to keep their licensing. Thats what lawyers have to do. No freebies for the poor. No license for you this year. That simple.
Oh and as for Sarah Palin? Someone recently posted a picture of Mr Obama frolicking in a speedo in the surf. The general drift was that was enough for all those women; they’d vote for him on the basis of that picture alone.
And I don’t get it. You post a big rant about how horrible it is that you think Christianity denies sexuality and covers up women (to the point of defending those who want to look skanky for Jesus) Then you turn about and whine about how people have noticed that Sarah Palin is an attractive woman. It seems like one can’t win, can they?
Liz,
I’m well aware of the frustrations that come with socialized health care. I am a nurse who works within the system – so I know it’s flaws rather well. It is definitely a postcode lottery – i.e. where you live depends on how good and quick the treatment is depending on your local hospital and health care provider. I’ve NEVER seen DIY cavity kits – maybe they sell those in the US? Not here. What I was getting at in my last post is that I think at least children and the elderly should be entitled to free healthcare within the US. I have a lot of contact with different friends within the US and know of some families who have literally lost everything because they’re child needed surgery/medical attention and have then found out that their health care insurance didn’t cover everything. They have then been landed with a bill of tens of thousands of dollars that they have not had. That doesn’t seem too fair in my opinion. Being in the profession I am I am well aware of how much it costs pharmaceutical companies to make drugs, dressings etc and it is pennies compared to what the consumer is charged for them – this makes me angry.
the DIY kits are in the UK.
I agree something needs to be done. BUT the problem with socialized medicine is where is the money coming from to pay for it? And yes, the care goes way down hill. This is why Canadians come to the US many times for serious medical issues when they want the best of care. In a way, I suppose, socialized medicine IS fair: everyone gets the same shitty standard of care. I know for a fact that a lot of cancer patients in Canada die waiting for treatment if they can’t afford to come to the US. Thats not really fair either. The government is notoriously bad at delivering services. Just look at the mess that public schools have become. You do get what you pay for a lot of the time. Especially when you are dealing with government bureaucracy. I still say that the AMA should step up to the plate and force doctors to do x number of free hours per year to maintain their licensing. That’s what the bar association does with lawyers. And everyone says lawyers are such a creepy bunch. I don’t really have the big solution here. Otherwise I’d be running for office myself. But I DO strongly feel that socialized medicine isn’t the answer. Thats the thing with a lot of liberal programs, is they spout off about how people “need” and are “entitled” to this that or the other. And that’s great, but you may as well be suggesting waving a magic want to make some of this stuff appear. And appear in a manner that doesn’t simply shift the problem into another, perhaps more serious, form.
actually, I think some of it is that when I was a kid (I’m that old I remember this), insurance didn’t pay for every time you went to the doc with a tickle in your throat or for routine care. You had insurance in case something catastrophic happened. You budgeted for routine stuff the same way you budget for food, gas, rent, etc. You thought long and hard about if you “really” needed to see the doctor about some little ache or pain. Between the fact that insurance has come to mean something very different than it did when it was first implemented and the fact that there are treatments (expensive ones) that could only be imagined back in the sixties, you have a huge problem. Maybe we need to scale back. Make insurance about catastrophic care only. That would make it a lot cheaper. Again, makes the docs offer free routine care for x number of hours for people who can’t afford shots for their kids or the elderly. There are many innovative solutions out there that I bet no one has ever thought of without having to make our country even more socialist than it already is.
well maybe if our government stopped spending money on killing and maiming people and spent it on educating and healing that issue would work itself out…
I am so glad you have all the answers Julie.
officially, i have no political affiliation or position on one party or the other.
having said that, in my unofficial capacity, i could not agree more strongly with your assessment of the messages of last week’s convention.
it was ugh! sad! gross! and i’m really, really disappointed.
Julie, did you hear the chants of “drill, baby, drill”? It was either during or just after Romney’s speech. I couldn’t believe my ears.
Not only don’t they seem to care about the real needs of families, but they seem to have lost their grip on reality.