Health Care
Why am I not surprised that President Bush vetoed the healthcare bill that would have maintained insurance for thousands and thousands of American children who otherwise won't have it?
We used to pay for private healthcare. It was terribly expensive and ate up nearly a huge chunk our income. We spent more each month on insurance premiums than we did on food or house payments. In fact, we spent more on health insurance each month than we did on any other single budget item. And that doesn't count deductibles or services that were not eligible.
I've got friends who work hard, make a decent living, and can't afford health insurance. They may or may not have qualified for the program President Bush offered. But I know they live in fear of their children getting in a serious accident or developing a major illness.
Healthcare expenses in this country have resulted in a situation where wealthy people can have extraordinary and/or optional procedures that cost huge amounts of money, while others are reduced to using emergency only care.
Bush has always had a blind spot when it comes to the realities of living life as a middle income American. (Among his many blind spots, let me say.) This is one of the big problems of the Republican party in general. They are willing to spend billions of dollars a day bombing Iraq for our corporations, but can't finance a far smaller expenditure that would help your average American have a decent life, free from anxiety and stress. Compassion is clearly a value many of our politicians need to learn.