Az I AARP It....
- At the April breakfast event for the Surprise(Az.) Regional Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Eric Novak, a renowned, politically active orthopedic surgeon from Glendale, Az. spoke on the 'impending doom' that newly enacted national health care reform laws will have on Arizonans. He spoke of the probability that single mothers will face job discrimination and struggle to obtain and afford health insurance; that businesses with 49 employees will refrain from hiring the 50th; that Arizona would cut education, along with health care spending for the indigent and children, in order to be able to balance the state budget - because of added expenses mandated by this federal law; that young, healthy Americans should not be forced to buy what they do not need(most are one illness or injury away from being indigent themselves!); that it was unconstitutional for the feds to mandate its citizens to purchase anything, and that this particular battle would eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court, with lower court rulings setting plausible precedents(legal experts are already claiming precedent is with the President, and that Gov. Brewer and her cronies are wasting valuable taxpayer dollars!); and stated, specifically, that AARP was complicit with the insurance industries in their support of this legislation, and its evils, with unnamed insurance execs quickly proclaiming, "We won!"
I sat there, refraining from comment, because as President of AARP Chapter #1(Youngtown, Az) I am bound to abstain from political intervention. As a blogger, I may state my opposition to this elitist, and I will begin by stating the simplest - "Follow the money!" When asked why Arizonans could not purchase insurance from out-of-state networks, he replied that it was state law, and that it could be done by the legislature, if they wanted to do so. Yet he implied that the state should not be held responsible for education and health care cuts - and instead cut elsewhere - because they would have no other choice.(All state workers will receive pay cuts for the next fiscal year - except for legislators and the Governor's office!) Single mothers are already the largest group of uninsured, because they cannot afford the skyrocketing premiums, rising arbitrarily and much faster than any rate of consumer inflation index. He spoke in a room full of struggling, small-business entrepreneurs with only a few employees each, while it would be those with annual incomes of $250K or more(like the Dr.) who would bear the brunt of any tax increases. He ignored that Medicare is a forced insurance purchase - right from Social Security checks(Congress exempt), and Arizona mandates the purchase of auto insurance, and lenders are allowed to mandate purchase of mortgage protection and hazard insurances, among other mandates. Arizona has many alternatives to cutting education and health funds for children and indigents - they just do not hold those as priorities. And who pays for their expenses now? The ever-dwindling middle class. That's who! Not the high-dollar earner, who is refusing to share, because somewhere along the line, the word 'share' became synonymous with 'socialism.' It is forgotten that Social Security is just that - as well as the world's biggest Ponzi Scheme - promising to pay off the past investors with investments from present and future investors - yet Congress has borrowed from the SS pool to the point of eminent bankruptcy! And Medicare? A single-payer, government-run health insurance system. I know of NO seniors willing to cede their Medicare, yet many are also unwilling to share their good fortunes. Dr. Novak spoke of impending costs to seniors, but not a word of their gains, ie., closing the pharmaceutical 'donut hole,' assuring a longer life to Medicare, long-term care benefits, etc.
Since the Obama inauguration of 2009, critics have assailed the president as being anti-Christian - the basis for the founding of the United States of America. Right, wrong, or indifferent, is it very Christian-like to deny those less fortunate the ability to sustain health and well-being in a society that can well-afford it? Why do foodbanks exist, and how are they funded/supplied? Are Free Health Clinics, including ER visits, really FREE? And to those wealthy misers, or those who feel that their business prowess and financial successes should be esteemed over those 'worthless idlers, or supposedly those unwilling-to-work,' who do you think purchases items which you produce or market, so that you may attain your riches and lifestyle? It's about time the onus shifted a bit to the north of the economic scale.
I credit David Moss, the CEO of the Surprise Chamber, for sensing an unfairness to AARP, and the one-sidedness of the presentation, and he immediately expressed his concerns to me(Thank you, Dave!) I deferred comment to David Mitchell, AARP State Director. He has the legal authority to present AARP political issues. The rich will always be rich, and the poor will always be poor, but pain and suffering could be allayed to eliminate at least one of life's indignities. Follow the money!
I sat there, refraining from comment, because as President of AARP Chapter #1(Youngtown, Az) I am bound to abstain from political intervention. As a blogger, I may state my opposition to this elitist, and I will begin by stating the simplest - "Follow the money!" When asked why Arizonans could not purchase insurance from out-of-state networks, he replied that it was state law, and that it could be done by the legislature, if they wanted to do so. Yet he implied that the state should not be held responsible for education and health care cuts - and instead cut elsewhere - because they would have no other choice.(All state workers will receive pay cuts for the next fiscal year - except for legislators and the Governor's office!) Single mothers are already the largest group of uninsured, because they cannot afford the skyrocketing premiums, rising arbitrarily and much faster than any rate of consumer inflation index. He spoke in a room full of struggling, small-business entrepreneurs with only a few employees each, while it would be those with annual incomes of $250K or more(like the Dr.) who would bear the brunt of any tax increases. He ignored that Medicare is a forced insurance purchase - right from Social Security checks(Congress exempt), and Arizona mandates the purchase of auto insurance, and lenders are allowed to mandate purchase of mortgage protection and hazard insurances, among other mandates. Arizona has many alternatives to cutting education and health funds for children and indigents - they just do not hold those as priorities. And who pays for their expenses now? The ever-dwindling middle class. That's who! Not the high-dollar earner, who is refusing to share, because somewhere along the line, the word 'share' became synonymous with 'socialism.' It is forgotten that Social Security is just that - as well as the world's biggest Ponzi Scheme - promising to pay off the past investors with investments from present and future investors - yet Congress has borrowed from the SS pool to the point of eminent bankruptcy! And Medicare? A single-payer, government-run health insurance system. I know of NO seniors willing to cede their Medicare, yet many are also unwilling to share their good fortunes. Dr. Novak spoke of impending costs to seniors, but not a word of their gains, ie., closing the pharmaceutical 'donut hole,' assuring a longer life to Medicare, long-term care benefits, etc.
Since the Obama inauguration of 2009, critics have assailed the president as being anti-Christian - the basis for the founding of the United States of America. Right, wrong, or indifferent, is it very Christian-like to deny those less fortunate the ability to sustain health and well-being in a society that can well-afford it? Why do foodbanks exist, and how are they funded/supplied? Are Free Health Clinics, including ER visits, really FREE? And to those wealthy misers, or those who feel that their business prowess and financial successes should be esteemed over those 'worthless idlers, or supposedly those unwilling-to-work,' who do you think purchases items which you produce or market, so that you may attain your riches and lifestyle? It's about time the onus shifted a bit to the north of the economic scale.
I credit David Moss, the CEO of the Surprise Chamber, for sensing an unfairness to AARP, and the one-sidedness of the presentation, and he immediately expressed his concerns to me(Thank you, Dave!) I deferred comment to David Mitchell, AARP State Director. He has the legal authority to present AARP political issues. The rich will always be rich, and the poor will always be poor, but pain and suffering could be allayed to eliminate at least one of life's indignities. Follow the money!
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