Friday, June 01, 2012

The Romneys, a case study in the need for Obamacare.

Electablog finely pointed out just why we need Obamacare, by example of the life of Ann Romney.

... 
Then I got thinking: What if Ann Romney weren’t Ann Romney? What if she were a mother of six with a history of MS and cancer and suddenly thrown into the free market to purchase health care? 
...

(Photo: Buzzfeed)
You see, Ann Romney has not had an easy life. She continues to deal with the impact of Multiple Sclerosis as she moved around and deals with day to day life, including campaigning with her husband. As well, she has had to face the impact of breast cancer. These are not light or easy issues on her own.

So we all want to give her and her family all due consideration as they have had to deal with concerns no one should face. As LOLGOP (at @LOLGOP on Twitter) notes, this probably helped Mitt appreciate the need for action in Massachusetts. Though, he's since forgotten, apparently.

What is different about what happen to the Romney family, compared to the lives of thousands of other families is that they are rich and connected. When Ann Romney had deal with a pack of kids, then MS, then cancer, she was not alone.

Things they don't have to worry about affording or acquiring:

  • ANYTHING


Yep. That's it.


Want a doctor, anywhere or anytime?
Paid and on call. 
Trouble moving around?
Someone's been hired to help. 
Have a preexisting condition?
How much extra will that cost? And how much do I tip you on top of that?
Need a special car elevator to make life easier?

We'll just rebuild the whole mansion to make it fit in better.

When you are rich, famous, powerful, and/or connected, a lot of problems are not problems.

The problem with these not problems is most all of us are none of those things. And when things are real bad, we are alone scared and forgotten.

I am genuinely happy Ann Romney has persevered through her travails. I am glad she has her hobbies and family. But they seem to have both, Mitt and Ann, blithely forgotten about us, poor, the scared, and the uninsured. We need Obamacare. We need more than that, but so far all Romney and the GOP offer is less than Obamacare. That's no good, unless you have the wealth to not need it. Most of us do.

That is not the leadership I want, or that we need.


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