Musings of a Dumb Ass

In talking with a neighbor today I learned some things that point to where we are in a plain and factual way and says exactly how we are in a simple way. After 28 years of service to our State my neighbors' husband went into retirement about two years ago because of blindness. His State retirement benefit is $830.00 per month and he also draws just over $900.00 per month in Social Security which at first glance gives them survivable income in our state and locale. But wait.... they were informed last week that their state health insurance for the two of them, both are over 60 years old, but do not yet qualify for Medicare, will be raised beginning Jan.1 2009 by $80.00 per month, going from $529.00 a month to a whopping $609.00 every month.
Since he was the breadwinner in the family from day one she has nothing to draw from so their situation is pretty bleak. All of the normal blame terms for them such as ' She should have been working' or 'they were bad planners', and some will be crass enough to say they deserve their situation, none of which works for me.
As a society we have proven we are as susceptible to the unbelievable as those who fell prey to all the tyrants in history and suffered defeat and death believing their way of life was best when simple logic would have told them better.
Considering health care in our nation it is odd that absolutely no one in authority has a problem with the unbridled power that's been given to the insurance and medical community. We seem to not notice Doctors' and medical technicians are grossly overpaid in this country unless you say something about it around them then you listen to them whine about their education costs and sacrifices plus insurance costs, letting that be a license to rape every pocketbook that comes into their realm. Insurance companies are no different and have been the beneficiary of bad legislators who made it law that everything in your world be insured whether you like it or not.
Since the 1950's our Government has listened to moneytalk and balderdash from insurance companies, the medical community and their lobbyists while the voice for the people has been mute and anything said to the public was poppycock and double talk. Congress has been very efficient in designating the Government as 'The Collector and Enforcer' for Insurance companies and the Medical Community even as costs went far beyond the average individuals ability to pay for services recieved. Instead we have been introduced to Socialism way beyond Karl Marx' wildest imagination. At least his master plan called for a limit on profits a Corporation could make.
It is interesting to note that Marx believed that Capitalism would become Socialism which would then become Communism. I think old Karl was in tune with reality. We're just too dumb to see...............