Why Heath Care Must be a Right not a Privilege!

I've tired to sign up and I keep getting this screen damn it!

Today is day one of the government shutdown and who knows how long does this shutdown even last. There are over 800,000 people are going to be furloughed and the Republican party and the conservative "movement" does not give a damn. Why? Because they care more about making President Obama look bad than governing and working for the American people which is supposed to be their job. We all know the reason why the Republicans in the House of Representatives wanted to shut down the government it's over the Affordable Care Act, the Republicans are basically saying that they don't want the American people to have health insurance instead I'm going to paraphrase Representative Alan Grayson the republican party plan is for you to die quickly. That's what the Republican Party wants the Federal Government's plan for health care, and they can deny it all they want but that's the facts. So let's talk more about America's health care system. The main part of the Affordable Care Act went into effect today, The Health Care Exchanges where Americans can go on the website healthcare.gov and sign up and buy cheap health care, for example I live in the State of New Jersey and I'm going to quote healthcare.gov  "New Jersey will expand its Medicaid program in 2014 to cover households with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level. That works out to about $15,800 a year for 1 person or $32,500 for a family of 4." Since I'm a college student and I'm not making anywhere near $15,800 dollars a year then under these rules I qualify for Medicaid in my state. I do not think that the Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare" is a perfect law not by a long shot, however I am thankful that this law is in the books or else I would not be able to get insurance of any kind and if I would've gotten sick then I would be in a lot of trouble obviously.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Now I was looking through the Huffington Post and I came across a blog post by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and it's called "Health Care for All" and Sen. Sanders is basically arguing for single payer health care in his blog post and I could not agree with Sen.  Sanders more. The reason why is because I believe that having health care insurance is a fundamental right of every human being whether that person is an American or not. Sen. Sanders wrote that "The only long-term solution to America's health care crisis is a single-payer national health care program. The good news is that, in fact, a large scale single-payer system already exists in the United States and its enrollees love it. It is called Medicare. Open to all Americans over 65 years of age, the program has been a resounding success since its introduction 48 years ago. Medicare should be expanded to cover all Americans." Sen. Sanders also wrote that "Congressman Jim McDermott and I have introduced the American Health Security Act. Our bill will provide every American with health care coverage and services through a state-administered, single-payer program, including dental and mental health coverage and low-cost prescription drugs. It would require the government to develop national policies and guidelines, as well as minimum national criteria, while giving each state the flexibility to adapt the program as needed. It would also completely overhaul the health coverage system, creating a single federal payer of state-administered health plans."

Corporate Media Fails Again!

I may not be a socialist however I love the idea behind that "American Health Security Act" Every American deserves health care, regardless of the Republican talking point that says that government can't do anything right, this talking point pisses me off because it's not true, Medicare, Social Security are government programs and the people love these programs and they work very well. To me government does a better job than private companies and we need government to step in here and do the right thing for Americans. I think that the easier way to introduce single payer health care or socialized medicine as conservatives would call it is to offer an amendment to the Affordable Care Act and I would call that amendment "The Single Payer Health Care Amendment" and I could be wrong about this because I don't have cable but I did not hear any coverage at all about Sen. Sanders bill "American Health Security Act" I honestly thought that every American should have Medicare for a couple of years now and I thought I was the only one that thought this, and that I was smart for coming up with this idea but Sen. Sanders had the same idea as well so I'm not that smart. The mainstream media in this country have just ignored this bill, this would help even more Americans to get health care but the media does not even cover it. I partly understand why, the republicans shut down the government and that's the top story but I still think that this bill deserves some coverage in my opinion.

On the comment section of Sen. Sanders blog post there was a comment from a conservative which I thought was interesting he wrote that "Where does our Constitution tell us we are entitled to health care insurance? It does not; so that automatically makes it a privilege, not a right. I have a right to own guns, because of the second amendment. I do not have a right to health care because it is not in the Constitution. Read the Constitution so you will know the difference between rights and privileges." This comment makes me mad, because Republicans have managed to make conservatives believe that health care is not a right but a privilege and that the second amendment gives Americans gun right. On the gun issue if you've read my past blog posts I've discussed why the second amendment does not give Americans gun rights. This conservative makes the point that health care is a privileges, I will make this point again the US Constitution was a document which was written back in the 18th century and the founders would not have any idea that the country would need health insurance for Americans. Once again I will end this post with this point, why are we looking to an 18th century document to make policy in the 21st century. Medicare for all!

PS: I know that this post for today was very long and I'm sorry for that but I'm passionate about this issue and I truly believe in everything I said here. Now back to the government Shutdown, I came across the cover page from the New York Daily News which I loved and I'm going to post the picture here because I love the NY Daily News putting the blame for the Shutdown on John Boehner and the cover page and brilliant in my opinion check it out down below.