Have you ever attended (or saw the poster) for a charity of a family trying to raise money to continue their child’s cancer treatment?  Have you ever met a single parent who lost their partner to an illness and now lives on food stamps in a government rent assisted apartment because they spent every last dime they had, even cashed in their 401k to pay the medical bills that accrued trying to save their loved ones life…and now have to struggle alone and raise their children in poverty?  Have you ever actually asked for an itemized bill from your doctor after a procedure and saw that they charged you $43 for that popsicle stick they shoved down your throat?  Do you know that the actual major component used in hip replacements costs $350 to make, but your total cost will be roughly $35,000?  The reason that we are not even close to being the greatest nation on Earth, and the reason why we are not respected in most parts of the world is because we are a nation filled with people who would rather let a child die than have their monthly premium raised.  Our respect for human dignity only extends to our close circle.  As we sit in front of our flat screen HDTV’s texting on our $400 cellphone, sending emails from our latest I pad…we bitch about “our rights” and “our problems”.  People go around saying that the government shouldn’t be involved in the medical practice and I totally agree…it is sad that it has come to this point, but the greed and indignity that is prevalent in our society has brought us to this point.  The ACA isn’t perfect, but it is a start.  This LAW mandates that all people will receive care regardless of their income, it makes it so that people like my Mother who has diabetes isn’t discriminated against and over charged because of her pre-existing condition.  It puts caps in place for how much doctors and pharmaceutical companies can charge for services.  So quit speculating about what might happen, quit making false and ignorant statements like Obamacare will allow the government to create death panels (insurance companies already have become that…deciding that if you can’t pay you die), quit spreading the lie that abortion will be a covered procedure.  I am disappointed that Obama hasn’t just come right out and said that fact...this bill is spreading the pain.  I for one (and I am a single mother just getting by) will gladly pay a little more every month for my insurance if it means that someone less fortunate can receive treatment…because I value human life and believe that everyone deserves to be helped in their time of need.  It is not for me or anyone else to speculate about what circumstances have put people in a place of need…our only purpose is to love and offer healing to as many people as we can while we are here.  There are a lot of good and generous people out there…but we need to stop being meek in our work.  And one more thing while I am at it…this whole thing about testing adults for drugs in order to receive welfare isn’t just affecting the addict…it is mostly affecting the children of the addicts.  As if it doesn’t suck enough to have a druggie or drunk as a parent…now we will let them grow hungry.  You wonder why our youth turn to crime, and our a generation that has record numbers of suicide and depression?  It is because they are shown from a young age that being poor makes you worthless and you most likely will not climb out of the pit of poverty…so they adapt to their environments and do what is necessary to survive.   Your pro-life and don’t think employers should have to provide birth control as a part of insurance to their employees…so you are willing to filibuster a LAW that’s very intent is to SAVE lives?  And in today’s top news Sarah Palin joined protestors in front of the Veteran Museum in an effort to re-open it?  REALLY…how about you protest for the government run before and after school programs that have been shut down and now little kids have nowhere to go, and aid was stopped for the government program that allows poor kids to get a free breakfast and lunch at school (sometimes their only meals)?  Why not protest outside the social security office so that our elderly and disabled don’t have their payments delayed?  If this rant lights the fire under even one person’s ass to begin to be vocal about the lies and ignorance that is spreading like wildfire in our own communities that would be cool.  This post is sponsored by the letters F & U and the good people at American Express J  Just kidding I am poor for an Amex J