I am outragedged at the treatment and lack of respect toward the President of the United States of America. Barack Obama is a man who worked tirelessly to advance himself and eventually become the most powerful man in our country. He truly is the epitome of the American dream. How disheartening and appalling it is to witness a total lack of respect toward him!
This is the first time a president was banned from speaking in some schools. Presidents have been speaking to school children for years and this is the only time it caused such a ruckus. This is America, the land of the free, and we are censoring our own president? This is a clear act of racism and it makes me feel very upset to see people behaving this way.
These attacks from the right wing have gone too far and have created a baseless frenzy which has led to blatant lack of respect toward President Obama. How must it look to other countries when they see congressmen texting on their cell phones and shouting during a speech by our president? Rep. Joe Wilson's comments were deplorable, something a child would do, not a member of the government. And, it seems hypocritical of Rep. Wilson to call the president a liar, and yet fail to mention that he receives most of his political backing from the same lobbying groups that have ties to the insurance companies. I believe Rep. Wilson should resign after his behavior during President Obama's speech. How can he control his state when he cannot control his mouth?
Weeks later, I received a thirty-thousand dollar bill which was denied by the insurance company. The reason was that, although we went to an in-network hospital, the hand surgeon was out of network. After multiple calls, letters, trips to the personnel office where I worked and sleepless nights, the insurance company agreed to review the claim. Weeks later, they agreed to honor the out-of-network physician, but they continued to deny the claim stating that he had too many surgeries in one day. There are no words to describe the low feeling in the pit of my stomach when I read that letter. The next few weeks were spent trying to plead with the not-so-friendly insurance representatives to re-review the claim as well as stop, or at least hinder, the bills and threatening non-payment notices that were coming in the mail every week.
I was happy to find out later that the insurance company decided to pay the claim. Feeling a sense of relief, I called the doctor’s office and let them know the check would be coming soon. The next day, I received a letter from the insurance company denying the eight thousand dollar anesthesia bill. I guess they felt my son should have been awake during the operation. I was back at square one. Once I fought this denial, they refused to pay the follow-up care and rehabilitation bill.
In the end, I ended up paying thousands for the follow up care, which the insurance company adamantly refused to pay for, and deductibles. Not only was it a great financial burden, it also cost me many sleepless nights, many tears, many fights and a lot of worry. This whole process lasted over a year.
I am, however, very aware that I am lucky that I had insurance for my son. I know very well that if I did not have insurance, the hand surgeon would not have come to the hospital and worked to reattach my son’s fingers. He would have simply deemed the fingers nonviable and the surgical resident on call would have amputated them, thus ruining my son’s career that he worked so hard to attain. I work in the medical profession. I have seen this situation many times before.
Is this the high standard of care that we are fighting to protect? Is healthcare reform really so bad? I definitely think an overhaul of the system is necessary to prevent situations like mine, and to help the unfortunate victims who have lost their jobs and benefits. Not just as Americans, but as human beings, we should have a moral responsibility and obligation to care for our fellow man.
I am outraged at the attacks led by the Republican base. I believe it is the height of hipocrisy to claim to be the voice of religious rights and then deny insurance coverage to millions of Americans. Isn't the backbone of every religion to "Love One Another"?
I am also appalled at the constant barrage of criticisms of the Obama administration. Although I do not agree with the handling of every situation, I do support most of the president's agenda. I am appalled at the attacks and outrageous lies presented by the GOP and the media coverage of them.
Sadly, after the election, I became complacent and slowly stopped visiting barackobama.com and attending events. I realize now, that our grass roots movement didn't stop when President Obama took office. It is just as, or maybe more, important now as ever. I refueled, and ready to become as active as I was. I hope you are just as angry as me and will continue to fight for what is right.
We all know, the government has passed a 700 billion dollar bailout program. What we don't know is how they are planning to use our money to put this plan into action. I have come up with some solutions to this dilemma. Here they are, short and to the point.
First and foremost, nothing is going to be solved by throwing money at big banks and institutions. It might save a few high-paying jobs but that's about it. Instead, everyone currently with a mortgage should be given a check for a lump sum, say five to ten-thousand dollars. This money should be paid directly to the mortgage company. This includes families who are in arrears on their mortgage, as well as families who are in good standing. It will not only help to keep families in their homes, but will also help out people who have been paying faithfully, thereby freeing up money they have to spend on goods and services. And the monies from these checks will help to keep big banks and mortgage companies afloat.
Second, drill baby drill is old, outdated, and foolish. The answer to restarting our economy is in alternative energy. We need to focus our attention on researching, creating infrastructure, and managing this industry. This would create all kinds of jobs for hard-working Americans, all of which cannot be outsourced, as our wind and solar power is ours. And at the end of the day, we lose our dependance on foreign oil.
Third, I do not think the big three in detroit should be bailed out. They got into this mess, some companies, such as Chrysler, more than once, and they should pay the consequences. After years of making big, fuel-consuming trucks and cars, and ignoring new technologies, I think it is time to make these companies take responsibility for their actions. Big companies should not expect small consumers pay for their mistakes!
Fimally, I am not a financial person. I am a nurse, who, for ten years, was a single mother. I, single-handedly, managed to buy a house, raise my kids, balance a budget and teach my children to work hard and be responsible. I was not perfect, but at the end of the day, I was expected to take responsibility for my actions and I learned from my mistakes. I think these qualities are missing in many of our economic and government leaders.
How is it that eight days ago John McCain said that the economy was fundamentally sound, and now a week later, he has to suspend his presidential campaign and postpone the debate or we will be in another great depression by Monday?!? Its the same republican FEAR tactics that have been used again and again by the Bush administration! Remember in 2002, we HAD to go to war with Iraq, or there would be another terrorist attack on our country? Now, we HAVE to bail out all of Bush's rich friends or we will all lose our houses, will no longer be able to put our children through college, and will be in the bread line by Monday! This is ridiculous and I think before anyone rushes into fixing this mess, we, the American people deserve answers!!!!!
Check out this video and if you agree, pass it on. Personally, I think Cassie is right on!!! (but Im alittle biased!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3mUQOGJydo
Well, this weekend was my first time helping out this campaign. Actually, this is my first time helping out ANY campaign. I just feel there is so much at stake, I need to do anything I can.!!! I invited my friend Laura and my sister Holly to join me at the Edison festival to help register voters. I was kind of scared at first, but after a little while had a great time!!! We were shouting and singing and dancing (There was a band playing). And, the people who didn't think we were totally nuts, responded! We signed up quite a few people! Now Im looking forward to the next time I can help out!!!
