The reason Obama was brought into the conversation is because Obama supporters are very outspoken about the desire to have a radical change in US policy. McCain supporters seem to fine with the way things are.
I totally disagree. I think both sides realize that we need some major change to a few systems. I
l'll just list a few:
Two Party System - I think people want true change here. Will Obama give it to them? I doubt it.
But I'll give him four years to try. If not, I hope a strong third party candidate runs in 2012 and
is allowed into the debates, which are controlled by the two parties. The bigger change needs to
come in Congress. Vote the a subject for debate out! I'm voting R in my Senate race because my Rep. voted
for the bailout. That's JG's advice.
Health Insurance/Medical - I won't debate exactly what system we should adopt but we obviously
need to change the fact that the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the US is the inability to pay
medical bills. If it's not the biggest cause, it's close. Obama and McCain supporter wants change
here. How do we fix it? I don't know. It's been debated forever on this Ă‚Â board.
Economic System - A hedge fund manager makes $3.7
Billion on credit default swaps but we
still have people who go to bed hungry at night? Maybe it's more about the greed of humanity than
the system? Or both? Maybe the latter (system) led to the former (unbridled greed)? Maybe not.
Some people think a depression in this country would be a good thing. It would get people back to
spending time with their families and being creative about how they have fun. And maybe some
people will stop being so material. I agree with you that we're gone off the charts on materialism.
Here's one example of the medical issue...
(And yes, unnecessary credit card debt fuels this problem. They mention that in the story if you read the
entire thing.)
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/620679.html?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_lifestyleExcerpt:
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/620679.html?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_lifestyleThe connection between medical debt and the current credit crisis isn't a direct line, but it's strong enough to prompt Mike Leavitt, head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to declare at a recent news conference, "If we had any idea how many mortgages were foreclosed because people were crowded out by medical issues ... Health-care costs are at the heart of many of the things happening."
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted in April, way ahead of the current economic meltdown, found that 28 percent of Americans reported that they or their families had had a serious problem paying health insurance or medical bills because of changes in the economy.
And data from the Commonwealth Fund puts 41 percent of working-age adults -- 72 million people -- as having medical debt or having a problem paying medical bills, up from 34 percent -- or 58 million people -- in 2005.
Many families find themselves managing until a crisis sends them over the edge.
This is what happened to Donna Smith and her husband, Larry.
The Smiths, who raised six children together, consistently had employer-sponsored health insurance. Like the Krinskys, however, they began to notice a drift upwards in the cost of premiums as well as higher co-pays and higher deductibles in the 1990s.
"While we were both well, we could absorb that creep," said Donna, formerly a newspaper editor and now a community organizer for the California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee in Chicago.
But then the medical crises set in: Larry was diagnosed with serious artery disease, Donna with uterine cancer.
"Our debt was accelerating, but it wasn't just accelerating in medical debt," Donna said. "What you do is you hang on, you borrow from another place and pay the doctor. It's a balancing act all the time." The Smiths took payday loans, Donna pawned her engagement ring, and they even crawled to relatives.
"I can't tell you how humiliating it is," Donna said. "By the time you've gone through that kind of trauma, you've tapped out the good will of family and friends. You call them, and their tone of voice changes. You've damaged personal relationships. People are less excited about seeing you."
By 2004, their health insurance policy had a maximum out-of-pocket exposure of $9,000, and they were sued by a dermatologist for an unpaid bill. The amount? A mere $600.
Donna's wages were garnished, and the couple was forced to declare bankruptcy. They sold their house for pennies on the dollar, all while they were technically fully insured.
The couple first moved in with a daughter living in Colorado and are now renting in Chicago.
"I don't know if we have enough working years left to buy a house," Donna said. "That's pretty heavy punishment for having gotten sick."* * * * *
McCain voters are OK with that? I seriously doubt that.
