I went to AZ last week for spring break with my kids. We went to a beautiful Easter vigil in an affluent part of Scottsdale. On Easter, I went to a confirmation party and met with a woman who told me that she used to whine about her tax dollars going to illegal mexicans in her state. Now that she’s come back to the church, she has changed her thinking on that and realized that these mexicans she so despised were God’s children, deserving of dignity, care and love. I was floored.
As most of us know, in most border states, including Texas and NM, illegal and legal immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in services. So the whining about their drain on financial resources is just an excuse for bigotry. And chances are they are taking jobs away from no one as employers have admitted they can’t find comparable American citizens to fill their employee roles.
As far as Obamacare goes, the program helps financially troubled people by offsetting costs of insurance. It in fact presents to the insurance companies a boat load of new customers, most of which come with guaranteed govt backed payments. By GOA accounting, this by far outweighs the extra cost of covering free screenings and other mandated services meant to reduce overall healthcare costs in the US. If your insurance company is juicing you for extra $$ and blaming Obamacare, well, I guess they will charge whatever the market will bare. While we all know that our premium increases are in part due to inflation and the rising costs of healthcare services, it’s not unheard of an insurance company jacking up premiums based on the willingness of the market to pay it. There are some states that demand that insurance companies use real economic figures to support increases. And in some cases, as in areas of MD and NJ, rates have declined since the inception of Obamacare. It’s a hard line to walk… free market vs regulation. We are certainly living thru a great experiment.
:yyeess: