Aquarian Rant to the Providence Journal

I know I said the next post would be about 2010 but my Aquarian planets took over. Sun, Moon, Mercury, I can't help it. This is the Aquarian Rant I sent today, January 7, 2010 to the Providence Journal Letter’s to the Editor Department. If they print it, I doubt that they will print it in its entirety as it exceeds their preferred limit of 250 words or they won’t print it at all because I tend to foam at the mouth a bit. Here it is:

I am disgusted and dismayed to see the way the United States Senate has created a health care reform bill that is a gift to the insurance industry. It should come as no surprise that Democratic Senators are retiring after their current term is up; they know they’re going to get slaughtered at the polls when the truth of this gets out. Consider a few basic differences between the House and Senate bills. To pay for it the House bill proposes to increase Income tax on individuals earning over $500 thousand and couples earning over $ 1 million. This would raise $460 billion over the next ten years. The Senate bill proposes a tax on so-called “Cadillac Health Plans” those that cost over $8500 for individual coverage and $23,000 for couples. This plan raises $150 billion. How much does your health plan cost you or your company? Do the math and you will see that this places a tax burden on most working people and raises less than half the cash that the House version does. Another item in the Senate’s health care bill is the fact that it does not take away the special exemption the insurance companies enjoy from the anti-trust laws. These laws were enacted to prevent price gouging and monopolies. With this exemption, they can charge whatever they want, which is basically what they’ve been doing. This little gift the insurance companies have had since 1945. Think of it, 1945. Administrations, political majorities have come and gone since then. So it seems to me that the American people need to get over their partisan politics and look at the facts. Don’t just buy into it because your good little Republican or Democrat says so. Both the House and Senate bills require that most Americans buy health insurance. Without the public option and even with the subsidies provided this places a financial burden on families, some would have to pay up to 20% of their income. The House bill has the public option, which brings absolutely no benefit to the insurance industry. What it does do is force competition, lower costs and brings greater choice to those people who will now be forced to buy health insurance. This is why the insurance industry fears it so much and why they have spent so much money fighting it. It is very hard for the American people to get the real facts, the talking heads and industry mouth pieces cloud the issues, create fear and spout misleading information. And the failed media print and otherwise play into the drama leaving the truth on the cutting room floor. The American people deserve better and they should demand better, from the media and their elected officials. We need the facts, clear and concise. I don’t think we are going to get it. What we will get is a health care reform bill that will send the health industry and Big Pharma stocks sky high. Only in America.