Healthcare – The President’s Pick

When President Obama gave his speech a couple of nights ago, he made it clear that he had some very essential priorities. He made it even clearer that his main priority with trying to get the economy on track and take care of the people who need help the most is to fix a broken and out of control healthcare system here in the U.S.

Though some lawmkers on both sides of the aisle disagree on how this should be done and the timing of it, they all agree that the system needs to be fixed, and part of that broken system is Medicare and Social Security.

Now whether you take all these things individually or collectively, it is a daunting issue that needs to be balanced without taking money or benefits from those in need and at the same time, not angering those 5% or less of the population who would certainly not have to change their lifestyles at all if they were asked to help out by paying an extra few dollars in taxes in order to make this work out for everybody.

The President says that the extra taxes will only affect those who are making over $175,000 per year. Now, I’m not sure, but if I am making that much money, my personal feeling about helping others that are at or below the poverty level or maybe just above it, trying to scratch out a life at under $10,000 to $30,000 per year or even a little more, I have no problem trying to help see that they have the most basic of necessities – especially healthcare.

I have been on both sides of that fence. I’ve lived in million dollar houses making well over $175,000 per year, and due to accident, illness and divorce, lived on next to nothing without benefits. I found out two things during this saga: 1) I gave to charity and paid my taxes when I had the money to do so, and I did it without complaining and 2) Had I thought I would ever been in a situation at the other end of the spectrum, jumping through hoops and red tape for a hundred dollars of food stamps per month and fighting with Worker’s Comp, Medicaid and Social Security for over a year for just basic health benefits and help to sustain myself (after paying those taxes for all those years), I would gladly do whatever it took – regardless of my political affiliation – to fix the healthcare mess.

I understand the financial implications. I have run a very successful multi-million dollar business. It seems, however, from listening to many of the pundits and politicians regarding the matter, that some of them truly want – like the president – to work at finding a short and long term solution to the healthcare issue. Other pundits and politicians, though, seem to want to play partisan games.

Hopefully, it will all come together in the right way sooner rather than later. If I can go from the top 5% of the income ladder in this country to the bottom 5% in a few short years due to no actions of my own, this could happen to anybody.

It is heartening that there is a President who has been in the community and is in touch with the people – and willing to at least take the hits to try to make things better. He – and many of his ideas – may not be perfect, but at least there is a focus on helping the common people in this country upon whose taxes the government and other entities – public and private – have run for decades.