and 8, 8, well i forget what 8 was for...

so sorry to leave my fellows hanging here... okay who am i kidding anyone that is reading this already knows what the "bomb" was. the breadwinner is unemployed, laid off, kicked to the proverbial curb. the 5 or is it 7 stages of grief are over and we're picking ourselves up by the bootstraps and moving forward. lots of prospects on the horizons and the job interviews commence tomorrow. wish us luck.

i try not to be political i really do but i just have to say this. it has been MY observation that the biggest opponents of INSURANCE REFORM (because what was signed this week has very little to do with the overhaul of a broken health care system and more to do with reigning in the big business that helped break it in the first place) are people who are already having their health insurance funded in some part by government subsidies whether it be via the military, as part of being a federal/state/county employee, via medicare, ect.

Quite a few, if not the majority or all, do not have to pay 1200 a month premiums on top of the 35 dollar copays to visit their primary care provider, 60 to 100 copays for specialists and 35 dollar copays on generic prescriptions, all the while making 40,000 dollars a year as a household. Do all of these people have a right to voice their opinions? of course they do, but my problem lies with the myopic point of view a lot of these people share, that if you are benefiting from this legislation you are "cheating" the system and trying to take what's theirs, when in actuality MOST of the people who will benefit are already subsidizing THEIR (the opponents) health care benefits through the tax dollars taken out of a paycheck AFTER they pay 600 dollars biweekly for their insurance. so who is the one "cheating" the system and getting a "free ride"?

now before words like "unpatriotic" and "communist" get thrown my way, i would like you to know that i support the already established socialized health care benefits in the us. i think we should care for those who have "done their time" in the work force (ie seniors on medicare). i think paying for the medical care of the brave men and women who defend our country and their families is the least we can do to show our gratitude (don't get me started on the disgusting state of the VA and how badly that needs an overhaul so that our veterans are given the care they deserve). I am all for the professors readying the next generation of trail blazing professionals at state funded universities receiving health benefits that ensure that they can continue to do so. And so on and so forth.

A single mom working 2 jobs has the option in most cases to have the state provide insurance for her children at little or no cost to her but what of her own benefits? there is no guarantee that her employers will offer her benefits and if they do, no guarantee that it will be cost effective for her already stretched budget.

the first example above is the situation my own family is in and now because of the small size of my husbands old office (< 20 people) we do not qualify for COBRA benefits and even if we did we would be paying TWICE what we were paying before on less income.

i'm not complaining, we handle our own shit as best we can and get on with life. but i have to ask because there are many families in our situation, why don't we "rank"? we're hardworking, tax paying, law abiding folk. we're not trying to "cheat" the system, we're just trying to make ends meet like everybody else. so what's with the pervasive attitude of "i've got mine the rest of you suck and if you ask for a piece of my pie (that you helped pay for in the first place) you're stealing and infringing on my rights as an american."? can anyone answer that for me?

i'm sure this is going to ruffle some feathers and while i apologize that you are offended, i do not apologize for my words or my feelings or my experience, just like i wouldn't expect you to apologize for yours.

now with all that in mind i'm going to go ahead and get ready to go to work, do my job, medicate the masses and save a little time to enjoy my family at the end of my 7 day stretch and that is all.