Government’s Been Very, Very Good to Me – But You Don’t Deserve It

I know the presidential debate is old news; Good Lord, that was Friday!  Since then a North Carolina bank has almost failed, saved by another fire sale, and the debate talk has turned to the Thrilla from Wasilla, as virtually all talk has for the past month.  But one thing that John McCain said the other night really sticks in my craw.  I'm giving it to you straight, friends, verbatim:

[OBAMA]: The only point I want to make is this, that in order to make the tough decisions we have to know what our values are and who we're fighting for and our priorities and if we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who don't need them and weren't even asking for them, and we are leaving out health care which is crushing on people all across the country, then I think we have made a bad decision and I want to make sure we're not shortchanging our long term priorities.

MCCAIN: Well, I want to make sure we're not handing the health care system over to the federal government which is basically what would ultimately happen with Senator Obama's health care plan. I want the families to make decisions between themselves and their doctors. Not the federal government."

This from a man who has had first rate health care his entire life.  FIRST RATE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE for his entire life.  It's disgraceful that he would deride government health care after he, of all people, has enjoyed it since infancy, since conception, if you will. 

Too bad the rest of us don't deserve such fine care.  Too bad many of us cannot afford health insurance, never mind care, at all.  So sad that others pay for their health-related expenses with credit cards, only to be lambasted for living outside their means while bankers who do the same get federal bailouts.  And too damn bad for those whose expenses proved too much and bankrupted them because they had the audacity to actually need medical attention.  So effing sad that a recent Harvard study showed that half of all bankruptcy filings were at least partially due to medical expenses.  No, God forbid the federal government get handed the health care system.  Why, we might all beat cancer and live to be vigorous 72-year-olds who can handle ultra-demanding schedules.  That would never do, eh, John?  It's not a long term priority for the McCain-Palin ticket.