Lansing Michigan Tea Party 2009

[prisoner_24601]

Yes, I went to a Tea Party today. It was pretty kickass. However, I realize that since most of my f-list doesn't share my fiscal conservative leanings, so this might not be the post for you, although you are all certainly welcome to post and disagree with me.



I just want to state before I show the pictures that:

1. I blame the Republicans just as much the Democrats for the out of control spending that's going on in Washington right now. George Bush along with congressional Republicans started this bullshit with their bailouts and overblown spending budgets and their reckless Federal Reserve policies. The Democrats (like Barney Frank - who ignored all of the warning signs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and Barack Obama seem hell bent on making the problem worse. I blame them all equally. I was so pissed at the first bailout done by GW that not only did I call all of my Representatives and bitch, I voted against my Democrat Senator and Republican representative in the 2008 election.

2. I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. I'm an independent who thinks that both MSNBC and FOX news are full of overblown talking head asshats, and gets her news primarily from NPR and the Wall Street Journal. Right now I'm pretty equally angry at MSNBC for marginalizing a legitimate protest as a handful of racist right winger loons, as I am at Fox news for trying to co-opt and cash in on these protest that have jack all to do with them.

3. I went to law school right across from the capitol building, and in the course of three years, I'd seen a lot of protests, but never one this large or active before. There had to be at least 5,000 people there (MSNBC claims 7000 - I think that's probably a bit high).

Anyway fun protest picture time. And what would a protest be without a giant pig? Actually, it makes for a great place to meet up with people in that big of a crowd, because seriously, you cannot miss the giant freaking pig. I kind of wonder where the giant pig gets stored. Like maybe just sits in someone's driveway, being all large and pink and obnoxious and driving the neighbors crazy.



Some questionable fashion choices. A part of me thinks it takes a lot of confidence to show up in public in a tricorn hat and coat. A part of me is sad that he didn't come entirely in costume with pants and a wig to match.



Definitely the scariest thing I saw all day - old people in mohawks, which apparently was a theme. I have no idea what the hell that was about, but the crowd was too loud to ask.





Some people angry with our Governor (there was a lot of that actually). Given how messed up Michigan has gotten during her eight years in office, I really don't blame them.


Another sign directed specifically at our Governor.



Some people angry with the Federal Reserve giving out cheap money and devaluing the dollar. There were a ton of people protesting this (including myself).





Bailout frustration.



People angry with the president and congress.



People angry about the debt that's going to be passed to the next generation.









Heh.



And my favorite sign of the day - one that I think sums up how I and a lot of other people felt:

Comments

[fezastwin.livejournal.com]

Just think, on top of all this the baby boomers will be starting to retire soon.

There's no way Social Security and Medicare will be able to keep up when that alone hits.


We are well and truly screwed.

[prisoner--24601.livejournal.com]

I know. And if we add universal health care as a third entitlement, as well as stuff like cap and trade (which is basically going to be a consumer tax in disguise), I just don't know how the hell we're going to pay for this as a country without raising taxes significantly in the future.

That's why I get annoyed with the people who act like the protesters are idiots and say things like "Obama just cut taxes for everyone with his tax credit, morons!" Sure taxes aren't bad now, but there's no way that only a very small percentage of rich people (the $250,000 + crowd) are going to be able to pay off all of this debt we're running up. Taxes are going to eventually have to go up for everyone to pay for all of this stuff.

I want people to be taken care of, I really do, but I really don't understand how the hell we're going to pay for all of this stuff without crippling the economy or putting a huge debt burden on our kids.

[kosiah.livejournal.com]

Taxes going up... I don't know about you guys, but we pay $500 pre-tax a month for the privilege of health insurance that also comes with $30 co-payments. When I made about 1/8 of John's income, we still paid $400/month pre-tax for our contribution to our health insurance. The current system does not work. Health insurance shouldn't be a privilege in the first place.

[prisoner--24601.livejournal.com]

Oh I agree that there needs to be a fix for health insurance, because the way the system is now is so horribly broken. Personally, I'd rather that the whole goofy system of coupling employment with insurance be taken apart, as well as some kind of highly competitive private insurance system. I'd rather pay the five hundred bucks out of pocket a month and be able to take my money to a better provider, than give it to a government who's fucked up the public school system, can't respond to national disasters like Hurricane Katrina, and in general piss money away on all kinds of stupid shit.

What I am afraid of, is that in order to control the outrageous cost of providing universal health care, the government is going to have to ration health care. (http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/kausfiles/archive/2009/04/17/new-dem-health-care-pitch-we-ll-deny-treatments.aspx) The only thing that I can imagine worse than an HMO bureaucrat making these calls, is a government bureaucrat making them.

Governments by their vary nature are bloated and wasteful - which is why I think that the less involved they are in stuff, the better it is for everyone involved. Plus, I really don't understand how the hell we're going to pay for this, on top of two other entitlement programs that are about to fiscally implode (just wait until the baby boomers start drawing social security), all of the bailouts, the war spending and the stimulus spending. It just blows my mind that right now, with all this debt, people think it would be a good time to create a third entitlement program.

Finally, while I agree that health insurance shouldn't be a privilege, I also think that providing insurance is not the government's job or role. The government is there to do stuff like provide for the national defense, make roads, have courts systems, etc... I'd rather see reforms in other areas like education, which would help people get jobs so they could afford to buy their own insurance.

[kosiah.livejournal.com]

I don't see how we can reform the current system where the insurers are also inefficient, bloated, and corrupt, without giving citizens an option not to use them, which would hopefully make them less inefficient, bloated and corrupt -- or simply cease to exist in their current form. They are far worse than the government in my opinion, because the for-profit model for healthcare doesn't breed efficiency, it breeds a climate where sick people aren't insurable.

As for rationing, look at the other examples. Even countries that have healthcare rationing have a better standard of care than we do.

[prisoner--24601.livejournal.com]

As for rationing, look at the other examples. Even countries that have healthcare rationing have a better standard of care than we do.

I've seen lots of conflicting evidence about this, studies that have talked about quality of care, long wait times for even simple treatments, etc, and honestly I'm not sure what to believe. I think that sometimes Democrats romanticize the European, Japanese, and Canadian health care systems while the Republicans overly demonize them.

I was reading an article in the Economist about Japan's universal health care system, and while Japan thought it was fantastic, 50% of their hospitals are on the verge of bankruptcy. I also worry that places like the Mayo Clinic will become inaccessible to average middle class Americans because some government bureaucrat decides that it's not worth the cost. And every single doctor, nurse and health care provider I've ever talked to, regardless of their own personal political beliefs, thinks that universal, government provided health care is a bad, bad idea. I can't tell if they're just looking out for their own best financial interests or if they know something the rest of us don't.

So I guess I don't know. I find the health care problem in this country totally confusing, and I can't really claim to understand how it works or what should be done. However, I have seen how the government wastes money elsewhere. I also know that if we do create an entitlement of state sponsored, universal health care and it turns out to be worse than what we have now, there's absolutely zero chance of it ever getting dismantled.

I'm extremely wary of creating another government entitlement program while the two we already have haven't been fixed and are hurdling towards financial implosion. Maybe if the government could get their shit together when it comes to Social Security, and prove that it can actually handle our tax dollars effectively, I'd be more inclined to give it a chance.

At any rate, the people in power disagree with me, so really, what I think is pretty irrelevant. I expect that within the next year or so, we're going to have a universal health care entitlement whether we like it or not.