Betting we see Trump’s approval rating go up. I see a lot of outrage on the left, none on the right. Maybe I am looking in the wrong places? My conservative friends, who all have healthcare through the military are deadly opposed to any type of government involvement in healthcare for the public.
I don’t understand this. They’re getting full healthcare from taxpayer money. Why are they opposed to everyone else getting similar healthcare?
This has always baffled me. I grew up in a military family, and all of my health care until I was an adult was via Uncle Sam. Quality ranged from good to, um, well, less so, but it was there, and damn necessary, especially for the enlisted families. But I never really experienced people going all Robert Heinlein and implying that only military personnel were “real” citizens who should get anything from the government. But it does seem things have changed over time.
Which is rather frightening, really. When the people in the military separate themselves from the rest of the population, as a group, class, or community (other than, of course, in the practical sense of specific jobs or what not), the republic is in danger. Shades of the Praetorian Guard, or Seven Days in May, though that’s a bit melodramatic.
Trump approval will almost certainly go up in the short-term, at least a couple points.
But wait until the CBO report comes out next week with all its bad news. And wait until the ads attacking the GOP congresscritters who supported this start telling people that their rates will go up by $10K a year if they are laid off from their jobs for a month. This won’t be pretty for the Republicans over the mid and long-term.
Biggest reason is that they earned healthcare by serving. A lot of people see it as if someone is poor, they should do what they needed to do to make money, if that means joining the military, then do so.
Also that the government can’t do healthcare as well as the private sector, using the military’s healthcare as an example. Now that I am retired and receive civilian healthcare, I am not sure they have point. Now everything I do is through an insurance company instead of the military. In most cases it’s not better, just different. I was frustrated with the military many times, but never as much as I am now dealing with the insurance company.
Ah, the ol’ Starship Troopers argument. How many bugs do you have to squash to earn a checkup I wonder?
I hope you are right, but I haven’t seen anything that suggests that the republican base will change their viewpoint. Sure some people who lose insurance will be mad, but most of them think the CBO and media reports are lies. It’s like the jobless claims, under Obama, lies, under Trump: “look how great the economy is!” It’s why the House wasn’t scared to vote on the bill without reading it or waiting for the CBO report, they knew their base wanted it.
Man, I hate that attitude. The “fuck you, I got mine” bullshit just makes me livid. They are literally getting their 100% healthcare through tax money.
I spent ten years in the military and I now pay for my healthcare through my employer, so I think I have a pretty good perspective on the differences. For all the complaints people lob at military medical benefits for being slow, or less on the cutting edge, it’s free and it’s there 24/7 for service members, retirees, and their immediate family. It’s a damn sight better than the healthcare I get for my monthly payment and deductible and I pay a lot for it. Oh, and while I’m at it, I help pay for the military’s healthcare, so they can shut up about non-military folks getting healthcare.
I do respect the fact that the government, and we as a society, do in fact owe more to those who served in the military though.
You served in the military, which is a job which inherently put you at risk to go into situations where you would risk your life for the country.
This is more than most people do. You do in fact deserve to get more from the government in return, than the average person.
And they do! I have no issue with that. If you serve, you should get great free healthcare. Your spouse and kids should too. Hell, if you make it through to retirement, you should get free healthcare for the rest of your life! This is all okay.
But the bullshit idea that non-military folks shouldn’t get good healthcare because they didn’t put on a uniform is dumb.
Agreed, but a lot of the enlisted are people who joined to get out of a bad situation or to improve their life, so they are going off the attitude that they did it, so others can be the same. The background of most of my old coworkers and where I grew up/live now in western WA, is so very different.
If they came out of a bad situation, that would suggest they still have friends and family still in that bad situation so… screw them?
Trump 2016 in a nutshell
That’s where there other argument comes in: healthcare under the government would be worse for them, the market should decide, or we can’t afford it because the deficit is the biggest concern there is. All arguments backed up with articles they found on Infowars or Breitbart.
But isn’t that the defining trait of conservatives? They don’t want you to get sick and die. They want your family to be healthy and happy like theirs. But they’re not willing to pay taxes to help you. They protect their family; You worry about yours.
They just don’t feel an obligation to help their fellow citizens in what they see as a zero-sum competition for resources.
The cut off all the motherfucking red states that are leaching tax dollars from the blue states.
How is getting healthcare thru your employer (the military) any different than getting healthcare thru your employer (state gov, Microsoft, etc)? It’s part of the package when you took the job?
I don’t see why a military employee complaining about ACA is any different than an employee of the state or of any private company.
So my congressman (Devin Nunes) was on the radio for a few minutes today explaining how the new ACHA will replace the “socialistic communistic” ACA. However, he did say the plan was to let the ACA stay in place for a few years and before ACHA became fully in place.
I’m sort of surprised he didn’t throw “stupid doo-doo head” in there as well.
How does he even have a job anymore after the weird Russian investigation shenanigans?