Okay posts on printing and Self-Publishing are going to have to wait once again. It seems that the last post, We Sure Swallowed the Health Care Lie, I seriously stirred the pot. If you go back and read my post and the attached comments, you will find that sentiments are all over the place. The truth is we don’t know what to do about the corporate Godzilla’s wreaking havoc in our lives. We know who they are, and there is plenty of finger pointing to go around, but our backs are against the wall and there isn’t a rescuer in sight.

Does this sound a tad dramatic? It is, but unless we see the monsters for what they really are we won’t muster the will to fight them. Tracy commented on my post, and I quote, “I emphatically agree with you regarding your views on health insurance…perhaps because I, too, am self-employed and have been for 31 years. My Blue Shield plan just increased about 3 months ago by 22% and is going up another 18% in December (when I enter a new age bracket). I worked in the housing industry and my income is down 90% while my health insurance will have increased 40%. I have been charging my health insurance premiums since January of this year because I am afraid to cancel it because, as you stated, it will be impossible to get health insurance then. Something has GOT to change!”

Tracy’s example is representative of the trouble many of us are finding ourselves in; let’s look at the the history of the unholy trio: US Congress, Health Insurance Companies, and the Financial Industry; and discover the careful step-by-step path that led us into this unconscionable position.

• 1920′s Health Insurance created by Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
• 1929 estimated annual average health care expense for American families totaled $108.00.
• 1933 Federal Government passes Glass-Steagall Act wherein “banks, brokerages, and insurance companies were effectively barred from entering each others’ industries, and investment banking and commercial banking were separated.” Post by Kitty Wampus
• 1940′s saw the entrance of commercial insurance companies into health insurance  after seeing the success of Blue Cross/Blue Shield (source EHNet).
• 1960 Health Care expense rose to an average of 6.6% of a family’s annual income. It was no longer a luxury–it was now a necessity.
• 1973 the last year middle-class and poor Americans saw an increase in real earnings–only the top 20% saw gain–the bottom 80% has been stagnant for 36 years.
• 1980 congress passed Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control which broadened lending powers and banks rushed into real estate lending and speculative lending.
• 1980 Ronald Reagan elected president, took office 1981 (note: Regan didn’t start banking deregulation).
• 1981 Economic Recovery Act spurred a boom in real estate.
• 1982 Garn-St.Germain Act authorized money market savings accounts in banks and savings and loans. Seriously undermining their security.
• 1999 President Clinton, Republicans agree to deregulation of US financial system effectively nullifying all of the protections of Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.
• 2001 Health care insurance premiums risen three times more than wages. With company health care the average person paid $2,827.00 including premiums and deductibles. Health Reform.Gov
• 2005 Bankruptcy laws changed to protect banks at the expense of customers. Banks who encouraged consumers to participate in reckless free-spending credit card lifestyles feared to face the results of their own actions.
• 2006 Average spending on health care including premiums and deductibles rose 30% in five years to $3,744.00. For those without company sponsored group insurance the costs were even more. HealthCare.gov
• 2008 ushered in the biggest financial failing since the Great Depression. US Government offers bailout money to head off economic collapse. Banks promise to renegotiate home mortgages, instead raise credit card interest rates by double or more

So here’s the bottom line as I see it:

1. The way to unimaginable wealth is to create and market a product that becomes a necessity, like cigarettes and cocaine. The health insurance industry did just that. How? By allowing costs to spiral up. Since medical providers have had unrestrained ability to charge outrageous fees, i.e. the ten dollar dose of Tylenol, ancillary costs and services have skyrocketed too. Who now can afford treatment for even simple procedures without insurance? Furthermore, should a policyholder contract an illness or suffer an injury while covered, their options of changing insurance companies becomes impossible. Pre-existing condition clauses keep people stuck. Drop your insurance with a pre-existing condition and you may never qualify for coverage again.
2. The financial industry has manipulated the government into lifting all of the protections that were implemented to prevent the collapse experienced during the Great Depression. What happened? Is it any surprise that the country is experiencing a deep recession? It is okay with the CEO’s because they take their bonuses whether the company makes money or not. It is the workforce and small businesses are hit hardest. Big banks are recovering nicely because of bailout money, higher credit card charges, and tougher bankruptcy laws.
3. People like my commenter, Tracy, find themselves charging their rising
   

   New & Improved Card

   health insurance costs on credit cards that can, and do, double interest and fees without restraint. If she can’t find another way to pay those usurious interest rates and outrageous policy premiums she will lose everything she has.

4. Congress, the health insurance, and financial industries have us just where they want us. We have become slaves of the system just as surely as blacks were plantation slaves over 200 years ago. If you want proof, just try to get away without paying income taxes. Go to a hospital without an insurance card. Refuse to pay exorbitant credit card fees. Do all of those things and see what happens.

What’s next, debtor’s prison?

I’m not just talking through my hat, I was on a conference call with other Toastmaster District Officers last night . The subject of leadership was broached and I was surprised to learn that even in Toastmasters, good leaders are hard to find. I was surprised. Why? Because the purpose of Toastmasters is to create masterful public speakers and train dynamic leaders. He who would be a great leader and doesn’t possess persuasive speaking skills is doomed to fail, and vice versa, one with awesome  speaking skills and little leadership ability finds himself talking to an empty house. It is both or nothing.

Willingness, the Missing Element

So why would Toastmasters be concerned with finding good leaders when that is what they are all about? The missing element is willingness.

Where are the Good Candidates?

Every four years I hear the same thing over and over again, “Why can’t we have better choices? Can’t the Republicans and Democrats come up with good candidates? I’d vote if there was a real difference.”

Gaffes Enough to Fill a Book

I look at the hell that political candidates have to traverse to get elected and I wonder what makes them do it. Who in their right minds would want to be President of the United States? Think about it. If every word you utter is recorded, examined and held up to scrutiny, how well would you do? I don’t know about you, but if someone was recording everything I said twenty-four seven, it wouldn’t take long to fill a book with Ruesch gaffes, maybe two books.

Respect the Office

I could be wrong, but in the past weren’t our leaders given at least a little respect? I know for a fact that my father did not vote for John Kennedy, and yet when the President came to town he put all of us in the car and took us to wave at him as he passed by in his black convertible limo.  What was it my father used to say, oh yeah, “You may not like the man, and you may not like his politics, but you have to respect the office.”

Right Leader at the Right Time?

Why do I even bring this up? I found myself in front of the television set last week listening to the press conference our new President, Barack Obama, held to encourage congress to get behind his $800 billion dollar economic recovery plan. I was rooting for him. I’m praying that with his leadership the country will band together and solve this mess we are in. I truly hope that he is the right leader, at the right time, to make it happen. My logical-self says that the problems are too big, too ingrained, and the system too corrupted, but my emotional-self says let’s look on the bright side, be positive, and keep digging our way out, day-by-day.

He is Willing

Say what you will about the President, he was at least willing to do the job, and in this day and age,  that is really saying something.