READ SLOWLY! Four simple sentences; Great summary by a Notre Dame University engineer......... Here are the 10,535 pages of Obama Care condensed to four simple sentences.. As humorous as it sounds ... every last word is absolutely TRUE!
1. In order to insure the uninsured, we first have to un-insure the insured.
2. Next, we require the newly un-insured to be re-insured.
3. To re-insure the newly un-insured, they are required to pay extra charges to be re-insured.
4. The extra charges are required so that the original insured, who became un-insured, and then became re-insured, can pay enough extra so that the original un-insured can be insured, so it will be 'free-of-charge' to them.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is called "redistribution of wealth" or, by its more common name, SOCIALISM, or "PROGRESSIVE", the politically correct names for COMMUNISM! Wow! What a brilliant way to raise money to fund a free service. Aren't we lucky to have such a brilliant man leading us.
Mercedes and Food Stamps
Occasionally I read the Washington Post and New York Times op-ed pages to gain insight into the thought process of modern Progressives. Unfortunately, the more I read the less I understand their thought process. Maybe it's because my engineering training emphasizes empirical evidence, rather than emotion, for on-going decision making.
For those of you who haven't been following today's political wars closely, the term “Progressive” is the metamorphism of an old fashion Liberal. Seems liberal folks of yesteryear fouled the nest badly with naive, feel good government programs that are not cost effective in solving social problems. Today, Liberals are trying to restore their image and agenda as Progressives. However, their thought process remains the same. A text book example was the Washington Post op-ed written by Darlena Cunha who drove her Mercedes to pick up and use her food stamps card.
When I started reading the Cunha op-ed, at first I thought it was a tongue-in-cheek effort at humor. As I reached the mid point of the column I suddenly realized her indignation was genuine. Seems Ms Cunha was upset by the looks and comments she received (mostly from old geezers ) when she picked up her food assistance card and used it in local stores after parking her Mercedes . An example was the day an old lady in the check out line behind her, criticized Cunha for purchasing soda with tax dollars. Darlena had rationalized the soda since it was: Buy one - Get one free. That folks is classic Progressive thinking: Two wrongs make a right.
How, you ask, did Cunha and her recently unemployed husband find themselves in such an economic pickle in the first place? Seems Mr Cunha unexpectedly received a pink slip from his copy editor's job and the mortgage payments on their new $230,000 “starter” home were becoming a burden. His unemployment, led to unemployment checks that lasted for months, and thanks to President Obama, for years. If there are no positions available in your exact job classification, you can make a career out of unemployment supplemented with “off the books” pay.
As a young man I had found myself in a similar position while working my way through undergraduate school. Ma Bell had been my employer and was holding my job as a summer position. Unfortunately, a down turn in the economy eliminated the position. The folks at Bell encouraged me to sign up for unemployment compensation or investigate alternate assignments. The bureaucrats at the unemployment office felt my job classification as a communications technician was too specialized to fill and wanted to sign me up on the spot for unemployment checks. They seemed puzzled when I was willing to accept alternate positions rather than collect a check. Thanking them for their time, I left the unemployment office and put the word out on the street. Sure enough, a buddy gave me a tip about an electrician helper's opening on second shift at a factory only one trolley car ride from my parents house. It would have been nice collecting those unemployment checks and working off the books for beer money that summer but, it just wouldn't have felt right if I didn't take my best shot at finding a job, any job! In our clan there is no such thing as undignified work.
Unfortunately, the op-ed piece by Ms Cunha did nothing to help me understand the mind set of young, well educated progressives. Why would anyone start a new marriage driving a Mercedes and assuming high mortgage payments? Unforeseen land mines of life always have a way of popping up( Murphy's Law). Instead of learning from mistakes, many folks today seem intent, and content, turning to government as the benevolent panacea when problems appear. That's like depending on a relief pitcher with a double digit ERA.
There is a short term happy ending to the Cunha saga. Her 2014 column spawned close to 5000 comments from Post readers. Although the readership of the Post is overwhelmingly liberal minded, the majority of the comments, especially the older readers, were critical of Darlena's self imposed concerns. Still, that left over a thousand sympathetic comments that inspired her to start a new part time writing assignment as a stay at home mom. Her articles now frequently appear in progressive publications where heartless conservatives are condemned for not expanding still further, the Obama safety net for the “poor”.
Food for thought: How sympathetic are her preschool children going to be toward mom when they inherit today's growing debt bomb as taxpaying adults?
Stratton Schaeffer is a retired consulting engineer and farmer who lives on Joe Hill.