This new scoring system is pretty neat. It allows a writer to take a look at how many people voted and there is a one to ten bar graphic. So far, nobody has voted 'two' on this story. Two one's, two 3's,7's and 10's. Four votes for 8 and 9, and one vote each for 4,5 and 6.
Let's see if I can cut and paste?
Well, that was an failure, so ...
Strange group of scores, but hey, strange story. Two people hated it, two thought it was amazing, clustered in the middle are three people who thought it was average and ... weird ...
Not my best story here, obviously, but I thought I would have a shot at posting it because Mark is based on someone I knew who died this summer. If you knew the guy, you'll probably recognize him from the description, and he was a genuinely nice human being who did stuff like that all the time. It's just sad that he was technically 'solvent' to the point where he didn't qualify for medical assistance and so they did not catch the cancer in time. Catch 22: We live in America, we are not going to treat anyone who isn't poor or well off enough to afford medical insurance and Mark fell between the cracks and so he's dead now.
You have no idea of how much I hate the health care industry. No idea at all.
So. Now we are in a shut down due to a group of people who don't like people getting treated. The costs of health care are out of control, but 12 billion dollars in profits buys whatever the hell it wants, right?
Whose right about Obamacare? I don't know.
I do know that the rest of the world is going to take a look at this and see a country where a small group of people were able to threaten financial ruin to the entire world's economy if they did not get their way, and I think that this is not going to play at all well overseas where they every other industrialized country has Universal Health Care.
Every Other Industrial Country Has Universal Health Care.
So. We are in this position now where a small group of people were able to shut down the government, and that threatens bond holders getting their dividends, and This Is NOT GOOD!
You either go broke here because you got sick or you can do something about it next time you vote. If you think it is only the poor who can't afford health insurance that go broke, think again. Number one cause of bankruptcy here in America is people who have insurance who get sick and can't work for a while. Lose their house, car, whole ball of wax comes unglued and down the drain their lives go. It used to be you couldn't get hired with a preexisting condition. I know a guy who was a VP of a major electronics company out here that got leukemia and recovered from it, but as far as being insurable goes? And there went his career, down the tubes.
Oh well.
It doesn't matter all that much, does it? You don't know either of those people.
But I'd guess you either do know someone something like that happened to, or you will.
Is Obamacare the best idea in the world? No, but it was something that could get passed. There are much better plans out there in the world, but will we adapt them here in America?
Pigs will fly first.
Matter of fact, in my book, every single CEO of every single health insurance company is a pig, and they all fly either first class or in private jets.
"We have the finest medical care in the world" is a lie if you can't afford it. What we actually have is a group of very wealthy people being bought and this country is going down the tubes because of them.
And my friend went into the ground because of them, too.
So yeah, I have an ax to grind here.
We can do better.
Or else!