Boy, Rand Paul is fitting in very nicely in the hypocritical Republican Party of Kentucky. You know, the Republican Party that is against any government spending unless of course that spending is going to Corporate Welfare for the greediest and least patriotic among us as they outsource our jobs and cut wages. In the case of Rand Paul, he wants to slash government spending except of course the government spending that has made him rich.
Here in my home state of Kentucky I have long watched in amazement as the voters of this state continually vote against their own interests. With the coronation tommorrow of "tea-party" candidate Rand Paul in the Republican primary, it only cements this point. You see, Paul and his tea-party backers want to "starve the beast" and slash the federal budget down to nothing. They want to do this because the Republicans here have convinced them that the very rich should not have to pay their taxes. The only problem with this approach is that many Kentuckians, including the "tea-baggers" are reaping handsome rewards from federal grants for needed programs.
After a long fight we got a healthcare bill that passed and became law. While this infuriated those on the right, it also disappointed many of us here on the left who wanted single-payer, or at least something close. What all of us got was something that was very complicated, with some of it taking effect soon and other changes to come in following years. With that in mind no matter how we feel about it we will need to know what happens when and how we will be effected.
While the healthcare debate has devolved and sputtered, we still see the need for real reform almost daily. Whatever one might believe is the solution it is almost impossible for anyone to admit we have serious problem. While the real solution, single-payer has been off the table, healthcare costs continue to spriral through the kitchen ceiling. Reports today show just how bad the recession has made things.
You know, one of the most infuriating parts of the healthcare debate is the fact that folks are saying that all of us as Democrats and our leaders want to march seniors and sick children in front of death panels consisting of Hades, Beelzebub, Satan, Lucifer, Hitler and Attila the Hun who will in turn euthanize with great malice and vengenance.
Boy, to hear many Republicans tell it they have been the watchdogs of fiscal responsibility. They have recently begun squawking about deficits and spending. They try to say our country is spending too much and we cannot afford Universal Healthcare. Of course, they conviently leave out the facts about why our deficit is where it is right now.
In many of the townhall meetings we have seen many enraged senior citizens. A lot of them are mad because they are scared that they will lose their health coverage or worse yet go before a "death panel" and be euthanized. All of this is part of a misinformation campaign waged to raise fear among them. One man in a town that slips my mind actually called for "keeping our government hands off his Medicaire".
