Fixing America In 500 Words Or Less Chapter 55 DID THE DEMOCRATS REALLY REFORM HEALTH CARE?        Congressional Democrats, since the election of President Obama, have passed cosmetic legislation that will likely hurt more than help the majority of Americans, while greatly enhancing the bottom-line of banking, oil and health corporations.  Like their Republican partners in crime, they are allowing citizens to become more and more economically enslaved. ¹          For example, government sources announced not long after so-called health care “reform” passed, that costs for health care will nearly double by 2020. ²  Many Americans fail to understand that when employers pay for health care, we are in reality, paying for it ourselves.  Employer cost for benefits is included in the “price at the pump” reality for all goods and services.  And because the cost is ultimately borne by us, there is in reality no such thing as employer provided benefits.        If a manufacturer, trucking company and retail chain provide benefits for their employees, consumers purchasing the manufactured products delivered by the trucking company and sold by the retail chain, pay for the cost of these benefits.  This includes the factory workers, truck drivers and store clerks who receive benefits, when they purchase goods and services themselves.        When an employer doesn’t provide health coverage, as is the case for most working class and poor citizens, then it greatly disproportionately  effects them.  Not only are they forced to pay for their own coverage or do without, they also end up paying for the health benefits of employees who do have coverage, in the form of higher consumer prices.  Instead, if health care was paid for through federal taxation, citizens would pay for it based on their tax bracket and ability to pay.        The reality now is, upper-middle class and wealthier Americans typically enjoy premium health coverage paid for by their employers.  Meanwhile, all American consumers end up paying for “Cadillac-plan” provided expensive high fashion eye-wear, cosmetic surgery and braces on children's teeth.  And, poor Americans suffering from cancer and diabetes often have no coverage at all. EVERYBODY pays while only a few receive premium coverage.          When Republicans talk about supporting “small” business, what their agenda is really helping, is very large private businesses and publicly traded corporations that gain significantly from tax reductions.  Average wage-earners lose far more in service cutbacks than they ever gain by tax reductions. ³  And, when Democrats talk about “reform”, it invariably results in the same thing, such as the projected rise in health care costs we all have to pay for.        Legislation backed by both parties severely hurts small business and the average American citizen and, the direction both parties are pursuing will ultimately enslave the masses beyond pre-20th Century industrial reality.  And, it will eliminate any semblance of legitimate business, while driving more and more people into financial ruin.        Did the Democrats really reform health care?  Is the Republican agenda any better?  As long as politicians are allowed to be bought and sold by wealthy interests, does it even really matter which party is in power?  You decide. NOTES: 1. Perhaps one of the truest facts regarding the history of human civilization is, the more wealth is concentrated at the top of a society, the more enslaved those at the bottom and on up through the upper middle of a society become.  The historical reality is the opposite of what "supply-side" conservative economists pretend is true.  There is absolutely no historical evidence supporting the utterly foolish notion that lowering taxes on the wealthy will create a "trickle down" effect and enrich the poor.  Under President Eisenhower for example, when the highest federal tax bracket was over 90%, this forced the wealthy to re-invest the majority of their wealth back into factories and other job-creating business, in order to receive tax deductions and avoid paying the high taxes.  And thus, our economy boomed and our nation as a whole and many average citizens greatly prospered, accordingly. Conversely, the more wealth has been funneled towards the top, as it has been in the United States since President Reagan forward, the greater the gap has grown between the rich and poor and, the economic lot of the middle class, working class and poor has been severely depressed.  Many and perhaps the majority of working class and middle class families in the 1950's, 60's and early 70's, on a single wage earner income working 40-50 hours per week, were able to purchase a home, own one or two vehicles, often an extra recreation vehicle, take annual vacations, attend major sporting and amusement events, eat good food and enjoy affordable medical, dental and optical care.  Contrast that to today's reality, when the majority of American two-parent families have two parents working full time, often two jobs and yet, many of them have lost their homes, and health care and, extras like summer vacations, dental and optical care are essentially disappearing, along with the rest of the "great American dream". Terms like "slavery" can be extremely deceptive from a fair historical perspective.  While it is true that a great many slaves of both American and world history have experienced horrific treatment and living conditions, it is also true that many people who have been called "slaves" in human history, have been treated much better and have had a far better lifestyle reality, than modern American homeless day laborers and migrant workers.  Who among us would not rather be called a "slave" and have a roof over our heads, adequate food, clothing and medical care while being treated decently and humanely, then to instead be called "free", yet have no home, shower, phone, job or any adequate means of improving our lot or, any hope of being cared for when we and our children become ill?  It is historically very fair to state that the majority of Hebrew "slaves" in Old Testament times were treated far better and had a better lifestyle reality, than at least 1/5 of the modern 21st Century population of the United States. 2. For liberals, this is what Reuters / AlterNet claims: IS THIS HEALTH CARE REFORM? - For conservatives, this is what the Wall Street Journal claims: IS THIS HEALTH CARE REFORM? 3. What average Americans received for their few hundred dollars at most in federal tax deductions under Junior Bush includes, cutbacks in state health care aid, cutbacks in police and fire protection, cutbacks in federal funding for college tuition and schools in general, cutbacks for immunization programs, cutbacks for federal funding of food stamps, unemployment, daycare and similar programs, cutbacks for low cost housing, cutbacks for various government agencies, cutbacks on federal funding for bridge and road construction, even cutbacks on necessary military supplies for soldiers fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and for long term health problems when they return.  And because states lose valuable funding dollars whenever the federal government makes such draconian cuts, college tuition, property, gasoline and sales taxes were raised substantially by state and local governments to offset the loss of federal dollars.  Meanwhile, the wealthiest 2% of Americans saved from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands to even millions of dollars in less taxes.  Is this what the average "tea party" or any other citizen with half a brain really wants from our elected officials? Click Here to Go Back to Contents Click Here to eMail the Author Copyright © December 10th, 2019 by Richard Aberdeen. Copyright © December 10th, 2019 by Freedom Tracks Records. ( including from several earlier copyrights ) No part of this material may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher and signed by the author. For inquiries, please contact Freedom Tracks Records.  The essays entitled Revolution and Revolution ~ Side B are open copyright and may be reproduced and distributed as desired.