Jeff 'Nexus' Taylor

But with the other topics that were addressed, I think it’s time Bush – and every other politician – live the life in mid-America for a while. CIPA and health insurance is a joke, and most people are distrustful of anything said about Iraq.

What does CIPA do? It forces states to keep students in classes and passing in order for them to get funds. Let’s face it: some kids don’t want to learn. The schools, teachers and other students are then being penalized by keeping these individuals in class. CIPA needs to go away.

And we’re going to what with health insurance? Forgive me, I have to recompose myself from laughter. You’re going to make me get insurance on my own in order to make it take deductible, because of it comes from my employer it’s taxable? But it will still cost me about the same… And I still can’t afford it…

The ‘Commander and Chief’ will give his State of the Union address tomorrow, while the majority of Americans and the world will only listen half-heartedly. The president has yet to put aside his bull-headed manors in order to be effective with the mess he has put us into.

We hear him talk of ‘troop surge’, yet we fail to hear him talk of providing the troops with the necessary funds-per-soldier. These guys are putting their lives on the line daily with sub-standard equipment. Is this the best that the U.S. military can do? Spending for an increase in troops means that many more of our men and women will be dropped into a dangerous situation with insufficient equipment.

I’m referring to healthcare, or lack thereof. It wasn’t too long ago that healthcare was affordable to many people who had a semi-decent job. For those that didn’t, there was medicaid. That’s not how it is now. Why?

Many of us look at the cost of healthcare that is provided by our employer and decide that paying our bills and keeping a roof over our heads seems a better idea, and that we will ‘take our chances’. Good idea? Probably not, but what else can be done.

The insurance provider from my employer recently stated that they are out of the red from a couple of years ago, and now they have a surplus. What do we get from it? Lower premiums? No, we now get Health Coaches ‘free of charge’. I hate to say this, but when $600 a month comes out of your pay every month, it’s not free.

And what about the insurance act the Gov. Schwarzenegger is working on? Well, it seems a step in the right direction. Free healthcare to children – A great idea! At the expense of the physicians? Not so great. Physicians earn their money. They do a good job, they should get paid well.

So how do you fund such and endeavour? How about restrictions on healthcare to an individual based on how they choose to live their lives? Smokers pay more, etc.. How about paying less for illegal residents, that don’t pay taxes anyway? If they need to go to the hospital, and they don’t have residential status, they get shipped home upon being treated. How about refining the laws in order to reduce the number of unnecessary malpractice claims (you know the ads from TV – everybody wants to sue someone).