Rant Alert.

[AspenRose]

There is NO REASON WHATSOEVER for people living in THE RICHEST NATION ON EARTH to GO WITHOUT NECESSITIES.

Absolutely NO REASON and NO EXCUSE.

I am FURIOUS.

A home...SHELTER...IS a necessity. SEVEN HOMES (you listening, McCain? Or however many the hell you have) are not. I can't believe I'm reading threads here at the DU about people being kicked out of their homes!!!!

A way to make a living is, for most of us, a necessity. Again, folks here at the DU are getting laid off, or know of someone who will be soon.

HEALTH CARE SHOULD NOT BE A PRIVILEGE. *EVERYONE* should be able to get quality health care. And this is the crux of my rant....

In the midst of running weekend errands, I went to pick up my prescriptions at my neighborhood CVS. An older gentleman with broken English was at the counter in front of me. He was paying for diabetic supplies. When the Pharmacy Tech gave him the totals, he told her he couldn't afford it and walked away.

Earlier this week someone posted here about a lady who was laid off from her job....ergo, no more health care and, in this particular situation, no COBRA....and she induced labor because she needed the health insurance company to pay for the delivery before it expired. But guess what: The assholes at the insurance company denied the claim ANYWAY.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE and SHOULD NOT STAND.

:rant:

[jillan]

1. I could just cry reading about that old man.

I have such a soft spot for old people. Didn't the pharmacy tech do anything to help him?

Hopefully things will get better with Obama in charge.

I like what Joe used to say on the campaign trail - and it's even more appropriate now - that the reason that foreign car manufactures can charge less for their cars, and manufactures can charge less for their products, is because they don't have to pay for healthcare for their employees.
Maybe if they frame it like that, more people (like our spouses ;)) would support UHC.

[AspenRose]

3. No, she did not.

Check your PM.

[Eurobabe]

2. Sometimes I wonder if the US is a

failed social experiment? Look at all that has happened to it in the last 8 years, the country is coming unglued! People bombing banks and punching DU'ers in parking lots? :mad:

1. Obama/Daschle need to unhook healthcare from employment, that will help right there. If one is unemployed, then the govt. has to pick up the tab until that person finds another job, and then premiums should be on a sliding scale according to income.

Other countries do it, why not the US?

Often times I wonder if it is because the haves want to get rid of those "messy" have nots. The middle class is all but decimated. :shrug:

[AspenRose]

4. Wait, wait, WAIT. HOLD UP.

(Against my better judgment I ask) a DUer got punched in a parking lot?!?

What the hell is WRONG with people?!?

Sadly the bank situation doesn't surprise me. People are desperate. :-(

[Eurobabe]

5. Yeah, some douche punched WannaJumpMyScooter

in the jaw! Okay, so he flipped the dude off, but evidently the jerk was threatening WJMS first. There is a thread in the Lounge about it.

I'm not surprised, about 10 years ago my mom and I were in a parking lot and some idiot got mad because we pulled into a parking place before he did (I did not steal the space in any way, but he followed us and screamed that "people get SHOT for doing that..." Hehe Merry Fucking Christmas to you too we said and went into the mall.

The older I got the less I liked the holidays in the US.

[CrispyQ]

11. I use to flip people off all the time, & then once, some guy in a big truck

started following me. I was about two blocks from the police station so I drove there & he drove on, but let me tell you, I never flip people off anymore!!

Interesting story about the guy in the parking lot, cuz my husband & I had that happen too. The guy was furious! Furious! He rolled his window down & sort of leaned out, shaking his fist at us, & yelling something. We were still getting out of the car & didn't hear what he said. It wasn't even Christmas.

Americans are on edge. I think American society has become very harsh & shallow. It is harsh & mean & not forgiving. I don't remember it being that way when I was a kid. Or am I just cynical? x(

[PatSeg]

12. I think there have always been people

like that, but now it is worse.

You never know who is in that other car, so I never take any chances. Today could be the day that person explodes and goes on a killing spree, just needs one more little push.

[PatSeg]

6. Capitalism as we know it

just doesn't work and I think we will see major changes in the future. Sometimes things have to get really bad before real change can come about. Unfortunately it may be too late for many people. Older people who are losing everything may not have the opportunity to see a new and better world. People who are sick without health care might not have the time to wait for reform.

It took the Great Depression to bring out Social Security, unemployment benefits, and minimum wage. I think things have to get really bad for a lot of people before we'll see significant change and that's the path we're on right now.

[Eurobabe]

7. Funny, my we were waxing poetically

well actually furiously about capitalism last night over a bottle of Shiraz, enjoying a fire. I swear I think the new cool is going off the grid, generating your own electricity with photovoltaic panels, growing your own vegetables. Taking control over everyday life.

[PatSeg]

8. Sometimes

the only way to get people to embrace change is to hit them in the pocketbook. There will be major transformation over the next decade or two if we are to survive.

[CrispyQ]

9. In Jared Bernstein's book,

"All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy" he states that in a just society, there is no limit to how high one can go, but there is a limit to how far one can fall.

We have a long way to go before we can call our society just.

Remember in "Sicko" they interviewed an ex-insurance claims agent & he said that one of the best days in his life was the day he quit his job because basically his job was to deny people's health claims.

We have let our elected officials privatize & profitize every aspect of our Commons, at their enrichment. I honestly don't know how we are going to get our government back from the corporations until we have serious campaign finance reform. Money does not equal free speech.

It's Time to Overrule the Supreme Court
Overturning Buckley v. Valeo is an essential step toward enabling a democratic republic

http://www.reclaimdemocracy.org/political_reform/money_notspeech.html

snip...

Today, one political class is the overwhelming majority -- we express our preferences with our votes or volunteer efforts. The other class consists of those wielding real power -- the ability to finance the bulk of candidates' campaigns and effectively "set the menu" of candidates from which the rest of us may choose.

The justices' motivation for treating money as speech may not be racist, but the impact is. Major political donors are fully unrepresentative of Americans. According to a 1996 study by the Joyce Foundation, eighty percent of people investing $200 or more in political candidates are males from households with annual income exceeding $100,000, and about 95 percent are white.

Not surprisingly, Congress closely mirrors those distinctly unrepresentative demographics.

[PatSeg]

10. That first line

says it all. Everyone benefits from a healthy society. There is no justifiable reason for anyone in our society to be hungry, homeless, sick without health care, etc. The means are there, we just lack the will.