Why do you want a Republican to be the next President? You believe the Republicans will do better at running the country. You have good health care insurance and when you retire, you’ll be receiving a good pension so you can still afford your insurance. You won’t apply for Social Security or Medicaid because you support cutting funding to all social programs and think Medicare should be eliminated or at least privatized so that your tax dollars aren’t going to those people.
You think people who depend on Social security and Medicare just didn’t plan well for the future and should have worked harder, saved their money and had better jobs. My parents worked. My father graduated from high school. My mother did not graduate. They never learned a trade that would have enabled them to have higher paying jobs. My father worked as a baker’s helper in a state school (actually more like a state institution) in the 60s and early 70s but had to quit because he no longer had a ride to work and the school was located 34 miles from where we lived. His fault for never learning how to drive and buying a car, right? Also his fault for taking his pension, which was less than $10,000 in one lump sum. He should have invested that money instead of using it to pay bills while he looked for employment closer to home. Of course, he never should have quit without having another job, right? Actually he tried to find another job while still working by using his accrued sick days. But when his boss found out that he was looking for employment because a prospective employer called for a reference check and he was not not really sick, he was was given the ultimatum to work or quit. He also didn’t get hired by the prospective employer for using his sick time to look for another job. He did manage to find a job at a local bakery, but the pay was low. The bakery went out of business without any warning. My father found another job at a shoe factory where he worked six days and, again, the pay was low. Because he worked for the State of Massachusetts, he received less money from Social security when he retired because the State did not pay into Social Security nor did its workers.
My mother worked at low paying jobs, and while she did work after my sister was born, she didn”t work for 14 years after I was born. She took a job as a cafeteria aide in the public high school. Working seven years for the city meant seven years of not paying into Social security. She worked at a local hospital in the kitchen for a few years until she retired 8 months before her 62nd birthday because we made the decision to move to Florida. Applying for Social Security at age 62 reduced her monthly payment. Together my parents received less than $1000.00 each month from Social Security. They applied for Supplemental Social Security Insurance (SSI) assistance but were turned down because the received too much money. They lived with me and we shared the household expenses.
After my father died, my mother applied for and received his Social Security, but not hers. At the time of her death in 2011, she was receiving a little over $700 a month. That amount would have been reduced by $97 had she not been eligible for assistance from the State of Florida which meant the State would pay her Medicare payment as well some assistance with prescription drug costs. She had a supplemental health insurance which paid most of the costs Medicare did not cover. My mother began having medical problems in 1995 which became more serious as she got older. She lived with me and helped me pay the rent and other household expenses until her death. She also qualified for food stamps.
You believe my mother should not have received help. If she didn’t plan well for the future, well that was her fault. Perhaps you think that if she couldn’t afford her medications, well that’s too bad, too. You really believe that if people can’t help themselves and pay their own way all the time, then they should suffer the consequences even if they can’t pay for prescriptions or have to choose between buying food or buying medicine.
I have and can afford health insurance only because of the Affordable Care Act. I was able to seek medical treatment, find out that I have high blood pressure and type 2 Diabetes and get medications. You really don’t believe I should have health insurance if I can’t pay for it on my own without help from the government. Your tax dollars shouldn’t be spent on me even if I am working and paying taxes, too.
I really do hope that you have planned well for your retirement and you never find yourself in need of programs that help those who are, for whatever reasons, unable to help themselves because the Republican Party you support and the Republican Party presidential nominee you will vote for will do everything they can to make sure those programs will not be available when you retire.
Moderately liberal, liberally moderate, American flag waving Democrat! Bachelor of Arts in History with concentration in Early American History and Abraham Lincoln
Graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts Degree online in American History at Southern New Hampshire University