"Hey Big Spender!"

WARNING: 

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH KOREA, AND IS JUST THE RANTINGS OF AN ANNOYED AMERICAN WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING TOO MUCH OF THE NEWS. 

BEWARE.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

I've been paying too much attention recently to the health-care debates and general politics back in the States, and frankly, it's beginning to really annoy me.

I understand each side of the debates, but pretty much support the Democrats on this one. Here are a few of my thoughts.

1. We need affordable health-care for everyone. Obama is not proposing a complete government take-over of health-care, but an addition of a public option for those who choose to take part. If I were unemployed and needed insurance, I would much rather be on a cheaper plan without having to worry about pre-existing conditions, and all the red tape that the giants like BCBS have set up in order to screw you once you can't pay. Much like some states and mandatory auto insurance, I think everyone should be covered regardless, and I actually don't think socialized health care is a bad idea, but I think  a better idea is having the public option as if it were successful in gaining enough people (which I think it would) it would be a competitor for the private companies and would bring some more competitiveness to the market and curb some of the insane policies that the private companies currently abide by.

2. Tea Party Express Hypocrites: I get what you are saying, and agree on some of your issues. You want to cut government spending and out of control debts and bailouts. I think government spending is ridiculous and the national debt is insane - fine. However - these people participating in the protests (ie, GOP friends, Fox News watchers, and crazies) make me angry. These are the same people who supported the Bush administration and turned a blind eye when they ratcheted up the deficit, funded 2 trillion wars which were pointless to begin with, infringed upon your civil liberties with policies such as "the Patriot Act", and most importantly, caused most of the issues leading up to the extreme government spending, out of control debts, and the downward spiral of the economy.  Where were the protests then? Where was the outrage then?

I read a couple lines at Examiner.com, which made a lot of sense.

The Tea Party conservatives not only don't want to pay for their mistakes they don't want to admit they even made mistakes while Bush and the Republicans ran the country's economy into the ground. Instead they want to blame the current president and the current congress.

It isn't a coincidence that now that the Democrats are in power these fiscally concerned conservatives have suddenly found their voice.

My advice - get off your high horse, stop your whining, and accept some fault and responsibility. You people are the reason we've had an out-of-control Republican administration for 8 years (I still can't believe you re-elected him in 2004).

3.  Death Panels and "You Lie": 

• Death Panels are not happening, it's a complete falsity made up by Sarah Palin. She's an idiot.
  
• Joe Wilson yelled out during Obama's Health-care Reform Speech "You Lie". His argument is based on illegal immigrants being insured for health-care. First off, most illegal immigrants are excluded from Medicaid, the government-run health care for the poor. Secondly, the plan isn't to insure them on the government option - the bill leaves that alone, and keeps the current system - which is to help people who are in need. If an illegal immigrant is hurt, are you going to tell them to go away? No - we are passionate human beings. We don't turn people away. It's always going to be an issue as long as there are illegal immigrants - which probably will be forever.
  

4. Fox News Propaganda: Fox News is probably the worst form of "news" you could ever get. It's completely biased, they don't have journalists - just commentators who can say pretty much whatever they want. Some of their most popular shows (O'Reilly, Beck, Hannity) are soapboxes that are run by Rupert Murdoch to twist the truth and basically LIE to it's audience. The network uses scare tactics and will basically tell you that you are an enemy of the state and UnAmerican for not believing what they believe. But they stil claim they are "Fair and Balanced"

I can site so many cases of this, but here are a few:

5. The Democrats aren't getting off easy: With a majority in the House and Senate, they need to actually work together and stop trying to appease everyone on everything. Yes, some things need compromise, but as liberals often do, they are being too careful not to step on anyone's toes, and are just bogging down any progress they could be making with more bureaucracy, pandering, and entitlement. With health-care, they are far too vague and can't seem to make up their minds on anything. Get with the program already and try to undo the last 8 years.

I think if anyone is really interested in some of the crap that people are saying and doing, they should turn of the cable news networks because they are all biased, and start focusing on real journalists, and political watchdogs. Some good sources are PolitiFact and OpenSecrets.

Overall, be careful of what you hear, where you get your news, and what and how politicians, pundits, commentators, and journalists are telling you.

(Sadly, I think Jon Stewart and the Daily Show gives the most accurate - and hilarious - news)