Posted on 10/16/2007 5:39:39 AM PDT by icwhatudo
On the conference call, Dara admitted to me that she and Brian had been talking about having children since before they were married. She further admitted that after they were married she voluntarily left a job at a country club that had good health insurance, because the situation was “unmanageable.” From there she took a job at a restaurant with no health insurance, and the couple went on to have a baby anyway, presuming that others would pay for it and certainly long before they knew their daughter would have heart defect that probably cost the gross national product of Burkina Faso to fix. But not knowing about future health problems is the reason we have insurance in the first place.
Now, pause for a second. Are you reading this at your computer at work, in a job that you don’t particularly care for or even downright detest because you have a spouse and child that depend on you? You wouldn’t be the first or last person to make that choice.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
After reading all this stuff about how stupid the ‘adults’ in that family are, (well maybe not, since they convinced the Govt to take care of their medical needs) - I have to wonder who paid them and how much, to use their son for political gain.
Those people seem to respond to the promise of freebies - so who is paying them and how much? And is it legal for a political party to do that?
You at it again?..........GOOD!...........................
Bad choices have consequences. I can almost guarantee they each had cell phones, cable/sattelite tv, internet access, 2 cars, ate out at restaurants a few days a week, possibly smoked, drank alcoholic beverages at least on weekends etc. It’s all about making good choices with the money you earn, not necessarily how much you earn.
As a pastor, I've known many families where one of the wage-earners has gone the waitress route. It is a tough, thankless job in many, many cases, and there seems to be an endless array of strange ones as managers. It has extremely high turnover, and I'd be cautious with any case I'd try to make about conservatism based on that industry.
geesh....no one is saying anything about a waitress job is a BAD job...it isn’t....They DECIDED to get pregnant WITHOUT health insurance!! WHO did they THINK was gonna pay?? Sadly, I’ll bet they thought YOU and I!
You know what, you don’t have babies until you are in a position to provide for the babies. But apparantly the Frosts didn’t think that way and neiter do about 75% of the replicating organisms in this nation. Heedless, thinking only with their reproductive parts, making their problems someone else’s problem.
The irony is that those who want to DEPEND on the Gubmint to provide for their family NEEDS, wind up destroying any chance of having a nuclear, single income family with a stay-at-home-Mom, due to the amount of TAXES they are forced to pay, so that OTHER like-minded entitlements-dependent liberals can ALSO live off others' income and taxes to provide for THEM.
There's no end to the foolishness of those who see socialism as the "answer".
The left has instilled this mentality into people.
The heart and soul of “liberalism” is using government to make responsible people pay for the consequences of the irresponsible choices of irresponsible people.
I know it’s a surprise to some, but many, many times people don’t “decide” to get pregnant.
And you know exactly what I mean. :>)
My point remains - tread cautiously on this one. In fact, EXPECT a set-up.
How about this case for conservatism, pastor:
I’ll understand that paying for a stranger’s health care is a good idea when I see those who are seeking a mandatory plan, do it themselves voluntarily.
No, I don’t personally do this either, but I do contribute to my church, and I don’t advocate using force to make others do it.
Unless I missed it, I thought the article said that they were covered by existing programs. No mention of the dad having health insurance.
Could be a dangerous headline to run with.
It's nice to be a part of the VRWC. And, As Far As I'm Concerned, this family brought it all on themselves.
Those I’ve known who’ve gone the 2 wage-earner route usually don’t really help the family finances. The best than can do is 1.5 wage earners.
The child care, gas, lunches, etc., kill the income that they supposedly are making.
The 1.5 wage earners can at least plan their schedules so that they are not paying so much for child care.
Ok I get it now. They HAD health insurance and she quit the job.
I used to be a waitress, and I loved it. Thankless??? No way. People asked for me when they came in to eat. Got LOTS of good feedback. Good waiters/resses often get lots of positive strokes and good money. Oh yeah, I made great money too, at a breakfast place (Perkins Rest.)
You forget one of the biggest additional expenses: TAXES
My words about being cautious with this family do not mean that I support government health care.
I think the best health care should go to those who volunteer for our armed forces. We have promised them deferred income to include education, mortgage insurance, and health care. That way we don’t pay them as much up front, but in exchange for their service, sometimes with extreme danger and hardship, but in later years we fulfill our deferred payment promise.
In Revolutionary times they paid with land.
Yep, taxes (SS, Med, etc) take a chunk.
Most don’t make enough to pay income tax, and if they have children, the EIC brings them a huge return that probably balances out what they’ve put into SS & Med.
Good article by Mark Hemmingway. Thanks for posting.
Read #5 again.
“Many” does not equal “all.”
Perkins is in my area here in Ohio. Are you MidWest? (Hopefully a Buckeye Fan! :>)
I was working in the backyard the other day and a family of goldfinches flew in. The parent birds were all busy flying quickly to my feeders, grabbing a sunflower seed, flying back to a branch, "peeling" the seed then stuffing it down one little wing-fluttering baby after the other.
I wondered, jeez, it's mid-October, why are these birds still feeding nestlings?
Then I remembered...goldfinches! They lay eggs late in the year because they don't want babies until the great bullrushes are mature and spilling seed. Goldfinches love thistle seed.
The squirrel-rodents, meanwhile, are all busy reproducing because, duh, it's acorn season thus the young will have food before establishing winter territories.
So if the animals are smart enough to reproduce at optimum time, why not the allegedly more evolved humans?
But besides the above point, I'd like all yon readers to scroll back up to the beginning of this post. Read the responses of various Freepers, the many wise points made, and continue scrolling down to read them all.
Now ask yourself, when has a pubbie senator or rep, or even one of those lackluster candidates, bothered to SAY THE SAME THING?! The morning talk shows are full of blow-dried pubbies so why not make a point while looking so handsome?
See, we can sit here and gripe all day and God knows there's none wiser than Freepers but you think it might be time for some of the people elected to make these very same wise points...TO DO THE JOB THEY WERE ELECTED TO DO?
How about the President? He's going to veto SCHIP so why doesn't he use the bully pulpit to make the same points we are making? why doesn't he ask the question someone asked...how many of us are working at jobs we don't like because we need to provide for our families? Why don't some of those candidates who want our vote take this on?
See, I am so disgusted. It's why they win. The left wins even though the vast majority (by my unscientific estimate) of the American public would surely understand but the elected pubbies don't want to rock their cushy boat.
The libs win because those elected to do their jobs....DON'T.
What I got from the article is that EXISTING programs solved the medical problem.
Again, misdirection and scare tactics from the dems as NO ONE is talking about cutting the existing program.
I was up in PA. I’m in GA now, no Perkins near here. (sad sigh) I love their omelets.
I know he said “many” Just sticking up for the other side.
:)
Bush might veto SCHIP because they are talking about people making $80K being eligible. Rightly so.
Bush needs a press conference now to discuss this and plus the Democrat inspired Armenian genocide resolution that amounts to treason.
So, you can ‘almost guarantee’ that they ‘possibly smoked’? It’s a wonder that you don’t have your own TV show or something.
We have Perkins about 45 minutes from here. It’s close to a Bob Evan, IHOP, and Cracker Barrel. — Breakfast Heaven!
Yup, second income gets taxed at the highest marginal rate of the first. Average couple starts (at least) 25% in the hole, this way. Plus (likely) State tax, probably FICA and sometimes Local taxes.
Mrs. WBill has a part-time job that she particularly enjoys. I figure that I'm likely paying for her to go to work...at best we might be breaking even. Which is fine - she *really* likes to do it, and it enables her to "keep a finger in" so that it will be easy for her to go back to work full time at some point down the road.
But the 2nd income, ain't helping much.
One of his daughters is a mess, born stupid and selfish. It was her birthday. She turned twenty-five. Her daughter just turned seven. She had three friends there, all her age, all from 'good' families, none married, one with two kids, one pregnant. They all expect that 'everything' will work out. None of them makes more than $22k/yr (in NYC).
I suspect that this little circle of losers/leeches is replicated in the thousands around the country.
(The dentist is mortified and dumb-founded at how his daughter turned out)
What I got from the article is that EXISTING programs solved the medical problem.
Again, misdirection and scare tactics from the dems as NO ONE is talking about cutting the existing program.
“(The dentist is mortified and dumb-founded at how his daughter turned out)”
Public school education? They fill up kids with illusions about the way the World works.
Sounds like my son. Bad decision after bad decision and he wonders why he isn’t doing better.
Looks like most Americans are siding with Bush:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-10-15-poll-schip_N.htm
There are a multitude of ways to avoid these kinds of problems and there are several ways to manage if the problem is not avoided.
For those that did not avoid the problem of ending up in a job without health insurance, there are Health Savings Accounts via many banks (HSAs) and Catastrophic Medical Insurance plans. It really is not difficult to understand these things and the coverage is very affordable.
For a couple with one child with a catastrophic policy, the cost is as low as $232 per month with a deductible of $3500. This family can put away an additional amount in an HSA that is tax deferred and that can be drawn out to meet any medical, dental or vision expense including applying to the deductible should a serious illness or condition occur.
Now if the husband is working as a dishwasher and the wife is working as a waitress, the $232 can be considered to be $116 for each which boils down to roughly $29 per week.
If (they are not required to do so) this couple opens an HSA at a bank and puts in enough to cover the high deductible in a year’s time say $300 per month, then that’s an extra $38 per week or so to do that. And their HSA will continue to grow and be there for their old age.
If this couple chooses not to put away an amount into an HSA and a serious illness or condition occurs, then they will be liable for $3500 and very likely they can get a payment plan with a hospital to pay that off.
All that is needed is for these people to take a little time and go over these plans with an insurance broker and then to visit a bank that administers HSAs of which there are many such banks.
There really is no excuse and as a Pastor you would do well to contact a broker yourself and get information for your families.
Actually, no. She (and the other girls) all went to Catholic shool in Queens. There is a sub-culture throughout all economic levels in our area that buys into the hip-hop, ghetto fabulous life-style. Middle class girls (mostly white) hooking up with boys from the projects (black) in high school and ending up with a ‘baby-daddy’ are too common around here. It’s a cultural phenomenon that has hit a half dozen ‘good’ families whom we know.
No one, it seems, has bothered to investigate their wealthy families. Is it possible that they are members of the parasitic trust-fund baby class?
Our current health system provides the choice to both purchase insurance and get the advanced heart treatment.
With socialized health care, neither will be a choice.
Ok now, tip your waitress gooooood!!!!
No one listens to Bush and his press conferences. Even as a conservative I find listening to him painful.
The region I live in is one of the poorest in our state. The average starting wage is minimum wage, which I think is now about $6.50 an hour. Waitresses are paid less than that and are expected to make up the difference in tips.
That works out to a take home of about 260 a week.
And your waitress can get catastrophic coverage for about $25 a week with a $1500 deductible. If your waitress wants to put another $30 into a savings account, a Health Savings Account (HSA), then the deductible will be prepaid in a year’s time and each year after that the HSA grows and collects interest.
I am sorry but there is no excuse for lacking a savings discipline and a catastrophic coverage plan. If you are a pastor you really should investigate what I have written you and attempt to find someone local who is knowledgeable and reliable.
The problem is not with catastrophic coverage and HSAs but the willingness of wage earners to learn about them or others to educate them. Everyone wants to get it for free and let others worry about how.
There are plenty of excuses. You might not find many of them to be good excuses, but there are plenty of them.
A family bringing in a total of 500 a week probably has the following monthly expenses out of a 2000 monthly income:
600-900 = Housing
200 = utilities
300-500 = transport
100 = car insurance
100 = gasoline
??? = child care
??? = food clothing fun
That’s it. That’s all there is.
Now, “should” they buy catastropic insurance. Maybe.
Maybe they’re willing to take the chance because of lack of funds.
He has had some low level press conferences and his weekly radio address. He needs to explain to every American loudly and clearly:
1. The President and the GOP lawmakers are NOT opposed to healthcare for the poor wee little chilruns. It was the GOP controlled Congress in 1997 who initially created the program.
2. He and everyone else are willing to re-authorize the SCHIP program tomorrow with a $5 Billion funding increase.
3. He is only opposed to the trojan horse attempt to use the chilruns as pawns to advance the left wing goal of Universal Healthcare.
4. The Frost family was already covered under the previous SCHIP bill which the President wants to renew.
Did you read the same article that I did?
bump that
????
The concern is to proceed cautiously in attacking the left’s new poster children for the schip.
One would expect to find an explosives belt someplace in their clothing.
Bingo. If they wanted to have kids, they should have thought about the insurance issue. She should have stayed at the job with insurance whether she liked it or not.
Animals still live in a state of nature. Humans live in a “civilized” world. heh. Hark back to John Locke and his views on the function of government.
When hubby’s grandparents left home to make their way in life, they had a baby/toddler and nowhere to live. They had no health insurance. They moved to a state where there were lots of jobs, and they took the first jobs available. They lived in a chicken coop. They would be jailed today for living that way with a child. But their child was fed, clothed, and sheltered, and they moved up the chain rather quickly. Who would be the first to report a family for living in a chicken coop?
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