Sean Spicer speaks about health care benefits (CNN/screen grab).
See that list in the photo? Those are all things we are about to lose here behind The Gold Curtain. America the Fucked Up. CNN tackled Spicer, who was going with full out bluster, in an attempt to defend this monstrousness. I’m just going to remark on a bit of the stupid, I’m close to overdosing on it already today.
According to Spicer, “older men, older women” who had “gotten passed [sic] maternity age” were being forced to pay for maternity care, driving up the overall cost of insurance.
When, exactly, do men get past maternity age? There are men in their 70s who have very young children, under the age of 5. Also, a lot of women don’t have children until they are in their 40s, so can we at least define this “passed the maternity age” business? Then, if you don’t mind, would you answer as to why you think any of this is your fucking business? Also, y’know, lot of people out there, older ones, who have children who are now having children, and they have a vested interest in them having good healthcare. That sort of thing is called family. You should look it up.
“People who were at the younger end of the age scale were buying end-of-life benefits,” he added.
What, I wonder, do you mean by that one? It’s not in the least uncommon for younger people to make plans for the end of their life, that would be why people make wills, have insurance, and so on, you stupid dipstick of an idiot. What in the fuckety fuck makes you think being younger automatically rules out catastrophic health problems? Accidents? Terminal illness? Not everyone dies at the age of 100something. Most of us won’t make it that far. At your age, Mr. Spicer, I’d think you’d know just how fast it flashes past, and before you know it, you aren’t 25 anymore. Trying to have some safety nets laid out in front of you is one way to prepare, so you can have a good life that isn’t completely wiped out by one unforeseen complication.
The people in charge of the Fuck You Care Plan, now with added Fuck. You.!
Via Raw Story.
ETA: In the comments, I included a link to yet another callous rethuglican, who made a very nasty remark about mammograms. The tweetstream following his notpology is very long, and a good many people brought up a very important point: men also have breasts, and yes, they can get breast cancer too. This is not brought up enough, and men, seriously, if you find you have a lump, get your self to a doctor, immediately! Ignoring such a thing leads to one place: death. Also, manhandle your breasts every month, have a check for anything suspicious. If you have a partner, it can be fun to check each other!
I read that, and wonder why I would need health insurance at all*, if that passed. It wouldn’t pay to see the doctor (#10), it wouldn’t pay for the lab tests she ordered (7), it wouldn’t pay for my meds (3), nor for my vaccinations (8). It wouldn’t pay if I got pregnant (1), nor for care for the resulting kid (9). It wouldn’t pay if I ended up in emergency (4), or if they sent me on to hospital (5); it wouldn’t pay to teach me to walk again after a stroke or an accident. Nor would it pay if all that worry caused a mental breakdown (2). And now they want to cut maternity care and mammograms out, too.
So what’s left? Would it pay for parking at the doctor’s office, maybe?
*Glad I’m in Canada.
Conservatives. Still trying, and failing, to understand how insurance works.
Democrats. Still sitting on their hands failing to take advantage of this failure by not aggressively promoting single-payer/universal healthcare.
We are so fucked.
Even if you don’t have an extended family with kids you personally care about, it’s still good to have some healthy, educated and young people around because of that thing we call society.
I know, white supremacists tend to look older than they are, but Spicer must already have passed that point when the people you interact with in professional contexts become your age and younger. It means a new generation takes over. The babies people are having now are the professionals who will take care of people in 25 -- 30 years.
Giliell, all that, and also, as an older person with no need of maternity care, I do have a vested interest in the health of all parents. Societally, that’s a good thing, and it’s a whole lot cheaper in the long run, than paying for catastrophic health care, which is what will happen. I also do not want to see women dying in childbirth. I’d ask a republican why they do, but I already know the answer, they don’t care.
And while I might not need maternity care, it’s an idiotic sticking point, because most women don’t require that particular care their whole effing lives. I still do require specific gynecological care, but it’s not as though they care about that, either.
One idiot rethuglican is learning the hard way he should have kept his mouth shut. And do I ever loathe his “apology” -- I didn’t intend to indicate otherwise. Yes, you did.
I’ll second Susannah’s comment by wondering just what is left. Injury? Nope. Sickness? Nah. Preventative care and medical advice? Of course not.
I also find it interesting how the idiot senator in Caine’s link (#4) manages to admit that mammograms are an essential service. Does that mean he changed his mind about the whole thing? Somehow I think he’s still going to be laughing his colonoscopy-free arse* off as he’s cutting healthcare to shreds anyway.
What surprises me most these days is that these politicians even bother to react to outraged voters, even if it’s only, well, half-arsed excuses. If they went into silent running** and never listened or spoke to another voter again they’d probably still get reelected. That’s the beauty of a two-party system where the majority of the voters are certain-sure the other party is way worse, no matter what happens. From what I understand the Republicans have the presidency and majorities they need to pretty much ruin everything. Well, that’s a work in progress, clearly, but why still bother with the lip-service to the public? Seems to be a waste of energy, energy that might be better spent on their in-fighting to decide how to ruin everything. (“Obamacare lite”, right. And falling on a set of sharp kitchen knives is just a different kind of appendectomy.)
*Not to be confused with a free colonscopy covered by insurance.
**Running the country silently into the ground that is.
I am very careful. My house is never going to burn down. I resent spending my taxes on firetrucks and firefighters.
I do all my reading on the internets so fuck spending taxes on libraries.
If you want your kids to be literate, you teach them. Fuck spending taxes on schools.
I have a few guns so I don’t need no cops. No tax money for them.
</ham-handed irony>
……
Why is universal healthcare such a controversial ?
It should be glaringly obvious to everyone who has more than two brain-cells to rub together that a healthy population is a productive population.
I’d rather they left up a list of what will be covered. I bet it’s a lot shorter.
And how do people vote for these… excuses of people. That one. Nobody is going to win, everybody will be screwed, but members of the public still think they’ll be special and exceptional and none of it will apply to them. I just can’t.
Chigau:
It wasn’t always. Back in the ’70s, and part of the ’80s, there was good feeling toward social programs and safety nets, and most people thought some sort of expansive healthcare was a good thing. Then the Religious Right happened, and it’s been down, down, down since.
Way back when Reagan was first elected, there was a great deal of scorn from people at large; it wasn’t him brought it all about, or at least, not just him. The religious reich rose, and became deeply embedded in government, where they remain to this day, and they wielded tremendous power, enough to block all moves for more safety nets, and to actually strip many of them, and the results of all that are what we have today.
Wait until the rethugs step on the “third rail” of medicare. Not too many of us senior citizens are displeased with it (those that are usually have ideological complaints), and it would be even better without deductibles and copays, and if the plan also included our meds. That’s where most of the real complaints are, not quite enough coverage. So I’m still buying supplemental insurance to cover to those needs.
Let me add, we had the best medicare supplemental plan (plan F) on the Redhead before she died. It’s been about ten weeks, and I haven’t received one bill for her last illness. I switched over to plan F myself this year.
BTW, I’m damn annoyed about the “men can get breast cancer, too” stream from supposedly decent dudes. Yes, you can. That doesn’t mean that that this isn’t a full out attack on women’s healthcare and it smells more than a bit of “this is bad because it also affects men.”
Giliell:
Yes, there is that. I chose to see most of them as a smack in the face to the senator, and I hope that’s what most of them were. FFS, you should not have to remind a man that he has breasts, but there are the deep, nasty roots of misogyny -- breasts are a woman thing, and unless we’re ogling or grabbing, we don’t need to be concerned.