This law helps a lot of people. Let's repeal it!

A friend sent me a link to a conservative blog today. Out of politeness, I took a look at it and one of the first posts that I found was a diatribe against what she and her ilk are pleased to call "Obamacare". She ended her post by saying that the Republicans have two years to repeal this socialist monstrosity and the clock is ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick.

She didn't address exactly how the Republicans are to do this. She and other people of her opinion and level of political sophistication seem to think that all John Boehner has to do is wave his magic wand like Harry Potter and everything will go back to the way it was. It will be as if the Health Care Reform Act never happened and that is what these people so desperately want.

Yes, apparently they really do want the health insurance companies once again to be able to kick people off their insurance coverage when they get sick.

They want the insurance companies to be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

They want anyone who is not able to afford coverage under current conditions to have to go to the emergency room for treatment - the most expensive treatment there is.

They want the poor beleagured insurance companies to be able to put a lifetime or annual cap on what they will pay out to their customers.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that passage of the reform bill would reduce the deficit by $138 billion - that's billion with a b - over 10 years, but these repealists would prefer that we add that $138 billion back to the national deficit.

They would also prefer that Medicare Advantage plans continue to receive overpayments in comparison to traditional Medicare.

They do not want parents to be able to keep their children on their health plans until age 26.

They want Medicare recipients on Part D to have to pay 100% of their annual medicine costs after $2700 is spent in a coverage year until they reach $6154 in medicine expenses. That's the infamous "doughnut hole" and that is $3454 out of the sick person's pocket.

They do not want small businesses to get tax credits to help them provide coverage for their workers.

Well, there is lots more in a similar vein that these misguided people would ram down the throats (to use one of their favorite phrases) of sick and helpless Americans. My question to them is, why do you hate your fellow citizens so much?

The truth is that most of the people out there demanding repeal of the law don't even know what is in it. They know what their fearless leaders like Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Rush Limbaugh have told them and so they are up in arms and in full-throated cry against this "socialist, fascist" law. Once again foolish people have been persuaded by lies from liars to inveigh against their own public and personal interests.

Disgusting. There must be a special room in hell for people who mislead others in this way for their own political advantage.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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