Spring (well, sort of)

I am so excited for the spring. But I feel as if it is never coming. Last week we had consistent highs 10-20 degrees below average and this week is looking to stay at around 5-10 degrees below average. It is a depressing thought especially after our record making winter for being one of the snowiest and consistently cold winters on record. It wasn't the coldest on record, but it did have the fewest temperature swings. Or close to it! We had 2 consecutive days in the 50s in February and 2 consecutive days in the 60's this month, but for the majority of days the highs were below the seasonal averages.

Being the expert that I am, I am going to blame this on Canada. They must be launching an attack on America by sending down their cold liberal air to attack America's recent conservative resurgence. That's the only plausible reason I can see for this! Those socialists up north must be using their science witchcraft to ruin life in America and break us all down before they invade and shove universal healthcare down our throats! Well I for one am against these crafty bastards (liberals all grew up in fatherless households) I don't want to be forced to pay for my neighbor's health care bill just because he has cancer and was rejected by private insurance. I don't have cancer. So why should I have to pay for his???? [end sarcasm]

Anyway, I've gone off topic, but this is my blog. So who cares. But it reminds me about the visit our office had from a US Congressman. He won on the tea party brown tidal wave. I can say one thing. I appreciate his zeal and passion for his job. His zeal almost made me want to run for office. Almost. Besides his zeal I don't think I could've summed him up with anything besides "catch phrase reciting band-wagoner" He pretty much repeated most of what the tea party is all about, reducing taxes for corporations, and cutting government spending.

And guess how he wanted to cut govt spending first? Repealing Obamacare, as he called it. Big surprise, huh? He went on with an impassioned speech about how the government cannot function by increasing its deficit indiscriminately and indefinitely and that no corporation could be run like that. He said that it had to stop! Well, I'm not an idiot. I agree, we need to stop deficit spending. But how he and I would rather it be done are on completely different sides. Well he wants to cut defense spending, but since he's part of the GOP, I am sure he won't actually vote to make any major cuts.

He went on to list other ways that he'd make cuts, such as govt pension cutbacks, and tax cuts to corporations. Oh wait, he just threw in a tax cut as a way to reduce deficit! Well like all Republicans he still believes that trickle down works, but in this case he believed that the spurred job growth would actually increase the taxes received by the govt. He's right, if the corporate tax break worked, it certainly would spur tax growth, but here's the problem. He has to first reduce the govt's income, then cross his fingers. I'm sure he doesn't even know when the break even point would be.

The real icing on the cake came when he decided to go on a rant about how Obamacare was shoved down America's throat. He stated that he believed that if the health care industry was less regulated, that health care companies would find a way to provide coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and the terminally ill. I'm trying not to rephrase what he said in any way or form. But I had to scratch my head on that one. So if you de-regulate health care, the companies will, out of the goodness of their hearts, find a way to provide coverage for people that would cause the company to operate at a loss? But, but, you just said no corporation would be run like our government, which is operating at a "loss." Something really doesn't add up here! He could not provide a business case for how these services would be provided, but my best guess is that they either would not provide such coverage (as it is today), or they would charge such an absurd amount that only the rich would be able to afford it. Think thousands a month (yes less than the actual medical bills, but still probably more than most people's mortgages) My company already pays about $400/mo for my coverage. Add my $70/mo contribution and you can easily argue that if a healthy male in his 20's has to pay nearly $500/mo for coverage that a terminally ill person would be paying several times that amount. I can not for the life of me understand how this congressman believes that health insurance companies would actually provide this service, if they were less regulated! It just doesn't make sense, but it sure sounds good to his voting base, I guess.

Unfortunately, caring for the sick isn't always best taken care of by for-profit corporations. I applauded the democrats for at least trying to recognize that fact. There are portions of the health-care bill that I think could be improved, but repealing it is about the dumbest solution. Change the parts that will actually cost the govt more money. Actually look into reforming the health care system. Europe is not perfect, but it may be a good idea to take a look into why they pay less for drugs designed and manufactured in the US than we do. It may be time to find out why hospitals in Europe can charge vastly less than they do in the US for similar services. Both parties need to do this. I have a sinking suspicion that this real reform isn't going to happen any time soon. Oh well.

But yeah, spring is awesome! I can't wait for the warm weather. It is my goal along with K to go for a walk every day this summer. We will also be traveling down to the city more often. Because what's the point of living here if you don't actually enjoy some of the things that only the city can offer! I am so excited for the summer, even though I just had a random off-topic rant about a crazy politician! K and I have a bunch of seedlings started and I am very excited to start eating fresh home-grown vegetables! But I think I'm mostly excited because instead of eating lunch I wrote this blog and I am very hungry. So I'll sign off for now, my 3 readers!