There’s nothing worse than a Republican -or- Fear and Loathing on the American No Insurance Trail

In case anyone was wondering why I disappeared last month…

No, I didn’t die, but I may well have thanks to our broken healthcare system and the Republican politicians who are more or less paid employees of the pharmaceutical and insurance cartels.

Rather than re-type the entire thing, I’ll paste the letter I sent to the editor of the local newspaper, the Huntington Herald Press.

Before I quote myself, let me say one more thing. You know what really pisses me off? That the Republicans, and the cartels who sponsor their high treason get to run libellous and patently false TV ads accusing the Democrats of trying to make a smash and grab government takeover of healthcare. They cite the pending failure of Medicare that the Republicans caused in 2006 with the pharmaceutical cartel written Medicare Part D law which forbids Medicare from negotiating for better drug prices. If the bottle of pills that costs Eli Lilly $1 to make retails for $400, Medicare must pay that even if the same bottle of pills in Canada is $80.

Their fraudulent astroturfing TV ad ends with something like “Don’t let bureaucrats stand between you and your healthcare”. Well, not having $400 a month for pills, $50,000 for major surgery, or $70 for an office visit to your doctor won’t get in the way any will it? Geez, give me a break! These idiots are just so far over the damned top, they’re in low earth orbit.

Dear Editor,

With the Republican Party continuing to be an obstruction to quality healthcare, I recently had my own ordeal.

On Sept. 27, I had two Grand Mal seizures. One was in my shower, and when I woke up, my arms were damaged and later bruised, and I had to pull myself screaming out of my shower. I called my mother at work who came to my apartment and took me to the Parkview Emergency Room, where I proceeded to have another one. The ER did the very minimal stabilizing treatment they were legally obligated to do and sent me on my way, barely able to move, since I am not rich and don’t have tons of insurance (in the same boat as 48 million other Americans). For two days I was bed ridden and could barely move, and I still have major bruising on both arms and am in considerable pain, two weeks later.

The bill for the ER arrived and is $2,851.10 after a so-called $900 “No-insurance discount” plus other expenses that haven’t arrived yet for a required EEG. (Most likely another several hundred dollars or more)

I am on Disability income and have no access to Medicare til May, many Americans don’t even have that to look forward to, and these Republicans need to stop being the “Party of No” and do something, because every minute they delay, more people die or go bankrupt due to refusal of treatment or crushing medical expenses they cannot afford.

In closing, I would like to thank the Huntington Free Clinic for helping me so much, and without their help this situation would be far worse than it is.

Sincerely,

Ryan F.

Tune in next time for “Doctor Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Bankruptcy Court”.

Maybe Florida Representative Alan Grayson says what the Republicans are up to best:

Huntington North High School gun threat keeps many kids at home.

The local high school had a gun threat etched on a bathroom wall at a Big Lots retail store:

The school responded by having extra cops there today and by trying to downplay the situation as a bunch of “rumors” in a letter addressed to parents on the school’s website.

The problem in this case is that the Republicans who hold their own single party system in local politics were/are willing to plunge Huntington County into massive debt (millions of dollars) constructing new school buildings that are of questionable need, but they also spent over $50,000 in taxpayer money  trying to defend an unconstitutional “bible trailer”. The perpetrator’s of that particular bullshit were the local churches of course, but the taxpayers get stuck paying for the mess they have made, as usual.

Not that the school or police are owning up to this, but I have it on good authority that the police found four firearms during their search of the school.

Here’ a message to the idiots running Huntington and the morons running the schools. That $50,000 could have bought metal detectors for the high school so the guns wouldn’t have even gotten into the building in the first place. Paying some cops to walk around and act important to assuage the fear of parents of children whose life has been threatened and make it look like you have the situation under control TODAY does not make my teenage brother any safer when he comes back to school on Monday, does it?

This is yet another glaring example of how the Republicans are a party of frivolous and unconstitutional taxation and spending and how the mayor of Huntington, Steve Updike, known for such gems as calling his political opponents “the Taliban” and stating that anyone who disagrees with him should leave town, along with the Republican city council, have failed the voters yet again.

I say to Steve Updike and the Republican city council that YOU are more like the Taliban of Huntington, Indiana than anyone else. The Taliban were theocratic and there was no other party opposing them, they were usurpers. Many of the Republican petty criminals and nincompoops running this town were “elected” after running unopposed like Judge Jeffrey R. Heffelfinger.

Come to think of it Mr. Updike, I hear that the Taliban are still hiring after 8 years of the half-assed Republican “war” in Afghanistan, which is more than I can say for any decent place to work in Huntington thanks to your policies and the Republican Party’s national platform, including the favoring of NAFTA. Where did Stride Rite’s warehouse go? Ohio? Where is Hayes-Lemmerz? Canada you say?  You are the tyrants, Mr. Updike. The _only_ service you Republicans offer to the American people. time after time, is lip service.

Hell, even Marion’s mayor Wayne Seybold, and I grit my teeth to mention that he’s a Republican (although his policies aren’t typical of your party), has attracted thousands of living wage jobs to Marion in spite of this recession.

Back on topic. I’d like to take this opportunity to speak to the many parents who took their kids out of school today due to the incompetent Republicans. First, you should call the Mayor’s Office at 260-356-1400 x212 and demand metal detectors that all students are to walk through upon entering the building. If he doesn’t do it, throw his worthless ass out in the next election.

While I’m at it, how much do you want to bet those incompetent pencil pushers at the Huntington police department never even catch this/these asshole(s)? If it comes to anything more complicated than a domestic disturbance or a speeding ticket, it’s my firm belief that these local cops are out of their league, and that they’ll likely spend more effort investigating the supply of doughnuts down at the Huggy Bear than on solving this case.

Steve Updike, AKA "fucking idiot", Mayor of Huntington