Artesia

I got to see Obama speak at Arcadia University, my Alma Mater, today. It was an amazing speech on Health Care Reform and I was about 50 feet away from him. It was wonderful! :-D
Despite all this, there was of course debate.
The Montgomery News reported:

http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2010/03/08/ambler_gazette/news/doc4b95656f28d71262459339.txt#blogcomments


They have a comments section down at the bottom. This comment was posted by "Jerry M".


" It's obvious the cult of personality hasn't worn off with these college students. They are all for a health care reform plan about which they know nothing or very little because Obama says it will be good for them. If this bill passes, they are going to be in for a very rude awakening. They will be paying for this trillion dollar plus entitlement plus the many additional trillions in deficit spending Obama is piling up for them to pay for their entire lives. Artesia costs $31,000 a year for tuition. If this is the best they can do educating students, I would say these students are being scammed. "


Now, I'll be the first to admit that before today, I knew next to nothing about his health reform bill, but I did know that not having insurance is scary - and it's currently my problem. Being without insurance scares me every day, so I paid attention today. This is the response I left on the comments section. It's a bit... rambly, but it gets the job done.

Feel free to add any of your own input in the comments section. I'm sure I'll have some of my information corrected, but the main point of this is that I'm sick of "young people" being deemed as irresponsible and dim-witted for agreeing with Barack Obama.


"For starters, the name of the school is Arcadia University, not "Artesia". Before you judge our students capacities for intelligence, a proper recitation of our name would be appreciated.
Secondly, what is this "cult of personality? of which you speak, Jerry? Are you insinuating that we're too wrapped up in the idea of "Barack Obama" that we can't decipher his words? If so, you're sorely mistaken.

Just because we're young doesn't mean we don't understand what's going on, and from the sounds of it, we understand this bill more than most of its opponents. Had you watched the speech today, or even understood where it took place, you may have heard him explain that not only is his bill comprised of suggestions from both sides of the party lines, but he gave a distinct answer to the question of "where will the money come from?" The money is indeed coming from taxes - taxes we're already paying. He's planning on taking money away from places where it's being poorly spent and relocating it to health care, where it belongs. He's making sure that Insurance Providers, like the one you already likely have, Jerry, won't hike your premium up 100% so that you can no longer afford their health care. He's making sure that uninsured youth, like myself, would be able to either stay on my parents plan until I'm 26, or be able to afford an insurance plan of my own at a feasible rate, since my place of employment does not offer any healthcare. He'd also make sure that all of our doctors provide free checkups and preventative coverage, so that we don't have to spend any more time in the hospital. The lower class won't be affected because they already have medicare, and the upperclass won't be affected because they can afford any healthcare they want. The middle class, like me, will be the ones affected.

I've now gone without insurance for almost a year. I'm currently going without treatment for TMJ Disorder and a bad shoulder because I can't afford dental care or physical therapy because I don't have insurance. My mother's insurance has hiked her rates steadily over the years due to her increased health risks as age increases, and due to her past struggles with sports injuries, breast cancer, and pinched nerves, her insurance has been steadily increasing her premium to the point that she can barely afford it. She can no longer afford her migraine medicine, despite that these migraines will take her out of commission for weeks at a time. As a middle class family who lives well within their means, we shouldn't have to be taking these risks and making these sacrifices.

So when, Jerry, am I supposed to be undergoing this "rude awakening"? Because I think I've already had it."