So here we are.....
Once upon a time I had a blog. Now I don't know its address so what the hey....just start a new one right?
I enjoy writing and musing on things once in awhile and so I thought I'd restart.......
Stardate 2016.11.09 (Ok, that's not really "Star Trek" correct...but it is my blog!)
The election is over. Whew. I'm glad truthfully, it was a stressful time and one that nearly permitted me to fall into the political abyss of hell. It was pointed out that as a tournament director I should moderate my posts especially since I am looking to make money from FaceBook amongst the sheer joy of directing softball tournaments - and I mean that sincerely, it is a lot of fun!
Trump winning surprised me. I too believed in the polls and predictions only to discover around 9pm last night that the news organizations are really full of shit - now I knew this already but it was confirmed. They had no clue that he would pull off one of the biggest upsets in election history - the only one that truly believed he could was Trump, at least that's what I think. So I say more power to him - let's move forward and see what he wants to do!
Ok seems like job #1 for him is the repeal of Obamacare. Yikes. That worries me. Yes I understand it's broken. I get it. Really I do! But dismantling it completely seems frivolous and out of control - aren't there some parts that can be saved? Like the part that says even though you have a previous medical condition you can still get affordable insurance? Can't we keep that? Yes getting rid of the government bureaucracy makes sense - all that's done is complicate it and make it expensive. Can we keep the part where all Americans can get affordable health insurance? Of course the definition of affordable might be different for a man that makes *billions* of dollars versus someone like me who makes tens-of-thousands of dollars. BIg difference for affordable there, right? Trump has stated that he wants to encourage competition between health insurance companies - that should lower premiums as they jockey to get your business. Hmmmmm not sure that has worked already - in Colorado Kaiser Permanente seems to be the dominant provider along with 2 or 3 other companies - their rates aren't low. In fact the rates are high! $265 for my wife each month doesn't seem to bad to someone that makes $50k a month, but for us it's 11% of my gross income - that leaves 89% for all the other things. Ok you say that's do-able right? Trump would pay like .5% of his income for that insurance, if even that. That doesn't seem equitable but in his defense he does make a lot more money than I do. And fair is not always equal, right? But what I am wondering is why he wants to hurt us - taking away even basic health insurance (such that it is) means I pay $125 for her to visit the doc, $325 for her labs, and $50 a month for her medicine - that's 20% of my monthly income! And for her, I'll do anything to ensure her health and well-being. But now I am making choices about even simple things - go out on a date ("Sorry honey, no date money this month.") I wonder - Trump said he wants to be every American's president - would he spend 20% of his monthly income on health care? And would he give up his dinners out or watching an occasional movie with Melania (which by the way is a weird name!)? I doubt it. I really do.
So here we are.....President-elect Trump. He has a mandate. He has Congress. What are you going to do in the first 100 days?
