Was I laying the sarcasm on a little too strong again? Sorry, bad habit of mine. *sigh* The rich not only seem to be getting richer, but they also seem to be able to dictate how this country runs…
Anyway, I guess it’s back to the grind for all us working-class schlubs (and humble bloggers) since we don’t have the luxury of extended vacations and daddy’s money to preserve our physical and mental health.
That’s no joke either. The working class really does need to keep on working in order to stay above that proverbial poverty line. Even under an employee co-pay system, the average cost of health insurance for a family of 4 in America is $13,000. $13,000 is a lot of money, but considering this amount is over a third of what the average person makes in a year and the fact that food, living, and incidental costs just keep going up, you’ll start to get a better picture if how important that chunk of income in. Not to mention how important and vital a publically funded health care option really is to the vast majority of citizens in America. Oh, and by the way, don’t forget that the average cost of raising one; ONE child to adulthood (which is 18 years old, just in case any of you alcoholics out there think it’s 21) ranges between $124,000 to over $250,000. Another interesting note is that single parents with incomes over $39,000 actually spend more on their kids than two-parent households. Guess missing a parent makes you more likely to throw money at your kid’s problems. Wish my parents did that with me…
Having free, or at the very least, affordable health care for people and their families in light of these statistics emphasizes how vital the public option really was and is. People will always fight over money simply because there never seems to be enough of it to go around, whether that money is taken from them through taxes or services that were once free, but no longer given as such. It’s no surprise then why according to the latest statistics from LegalMatch, over a third of all litigation raised against employers is regarding coverage of employee benefits. In other words, health insurance.
It’s a brain-teaser how this new democratic congress voted down such an important reform. I mean, the majority of citizens seemed to be for it. And last time I checked, public official were supposed to be elected in order to represent the people’s interests. I guess we’ll never know why thing turned out like they did. But I wonder if someone might have some clues that could point us toward this anomalous outcome.