Sad email I got from my McCain supporter friend! I feel bad for his brother so what do I say??

[CherylK]

http://politicomafioso.blogspot.com/2008/05/obamas-lobbyist-http://obama.senate.gov/issues /health_care/hypocrisy.htmlhttp://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=107493&src=109

I hope this is not the change he has been talking about. Im sure you will just ignore this. I also noticed that Obama was a big part of the Illinois heath care for kids and the disabled. This may be the most flawed system in the United States. This is same service that just sent my brother a letter stating that he is not disabled and will stop recieving medical care. This letter was sent even though my brother has had epilepsy since he was five, takes about 300 pills a month, has had brain surgery to stop the seizures from killing him, and now needs another surgery. His medication cost about 800 a month along with his doctors visits and hundreds of thousands in surgery. Thanks but no thanks to any health services he would be offering all of us Americans. Now its gonna cost thousands of dollars to fight this with a lawyer. So to say alot of his ideas are not flawed is a joke! So you can poke fun all you want at Mccain, but at this point, I would say it is our best option.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. What I would say...

"If you stupid fuckers hadn't fought universal health care 15 years ago, your brother wouldn't be nearly in the financial mess he is now."

[CherylK]

6. I can't be that mean! I wish I could be but I can not!

:evilfrown:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Sure you can.

Consider it tough love.

[sandnsea]

25. That is not mean

Goddammit, that's what these idiots need to be told.

His brother gets "socialized" health care for years, and then he blames Obama because the feds won't fund it???

He wants socialized health care, he just doesn't want to pay for it.

[NMDemDist2]

2. I'm not getting two things here

how is Obama responsible for the IL health care system and

how would McLame be better?

[merh]

8. Wouldn't the disability he seeks be federal, within the realm of the

Social Security system.

If it is SS, folks get denials all the time, that is their perverse way to cull the herd, folks with real disabilities will keep applying, the others will drop the efforts.

[Radical Activist]

3. He should tell you exactly what agency the letter is from.

It may not be a state agency at all.

There are big problems with the Illinois budget right now that have nothing to do with Obama. Blaming it on Obama is unfair.

[GodlessBiker]

4. I'd say, "Thanks, I'll continue to poke fun at McCain. Now, take your pills."

[ihavenobias]

5. Well

That link doesn't seem to work.

At any rate, refer him to OpenSecrets.org where they broke down how much money each candidate has and where it came from.

Point out that while Obama has 96% of his money from individual donors, McCain has less than 82% (where does the rest of that money come from?): http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00006424

I don't have time for a long response right now (I have a lot more to say WRT lobbyists and the differences between McCain/Obama), but I'm sure others will help you. Generically speaking, he'd be insane to vote Republican if he thinks it'll benefit people with special/medical needs. Historically speaking Republicans ALWAYS want to cut or eliminate those programs...I thought that was common knowledge?

[Subdivisions]

9. Ask him what mcsame's healthcare policy would be. n/t

[billyoc]

10. Don't tell him anything. You shouldn't be trying to convince voters in Illinois to vote for Obama.

McCain can't win Illinois. There are only 48 days left until election day, talk to people in swing states.

BTW, the guy is full of shit anyway.

[merh]

11. that's Rush's lying message of the day

liberals have destroyed Illinois and Michigan so they cannot be trusted with the nation. Part of his lying has been to blame obama for the retirement, health care systems in Illinois.

BTW - as far as I know, long term disability isn't awarded by any state, I believe it would be SS that does that and that is the federal system.

[dhpgetsit]

12. Tell her Obama had nothing to do with

the failure of the health care assistance program, and try to get her to watch Sicko.

Get her behind the universal health care movement.

Don't blame yourself if she insists on continuing to chug the Cons' Kool-Aid.

No doubt about it we are in for a tough fight, and the corporations are going to hold onto our throats with all the power they can muster. But we will stand together, strong and determined.

[PsN2Wind]

13. I thought being a Repub

was all about self-sufficiency and not depending on the government. Tell him to vote for McCain but that his unfortunate brother will be dead long before the Repubs propose anything that will help his brother. Tell him to ask Harry and Louise what he should do.

[Brewman_Jax]

14. Tell him that he got what he voted for

stop whining and get a job!

Nice and kind does not work with these people.

[SheilaT]

15. I likewise immediately thought

that disability is federal, meaning Social Security. Once again I suspect that since we don't seem to see the exact wording of the letter, there's some very important information being left out.

And yes, as someone else said, if being a Republican is all about being self-sufficient and not depending on the government at all, then why is this guy complaining?

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Ask if his brother has private health insurance and when he says 'no', ask if he believes his

brother, with his prior and current medical conditions, will be able to get private health insurance for the $2500 a year McCain will give as a tax credit. Obama worked on health care plans for children in Illinois to off-set Bush's cuts to SCHIP. How is this the 'most flawed system' if his own brother had received benefits since age 5?

[tpsbmam]

17. A number of retorts:

1. At least there is a system and he was involved in creating it, even if it is flawed in the way it's currently operated, at least in the case of one bureaucrat who denied a person coverage who clearly needs it. The prescription discount plan this person is eligible for is partly thanks to Obama, who co-sponsored the bill.

2. This is a regular practice in every state system and in our Social Security Disability system. People who desperately need coverage are almost universally denied -- it can take sometimes years to get approved, even for people like this young man. (Send him this article: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-flrxdis0913pnsep13,0,3371474.story -- Applicants endure hardship while waiting for disability benefits to be OK'd.) It's terrible, it shouldn't happen but it does....and it does both in every state and nationally. It's not Barack Obama's fault -- it's EVERYONE's fault. Check out this article also (Portland, Oregon): http://www.oregonlive.com/special/index.ssf/2008/08/getting_disability_payments_ca.html
More than 762,000 Americans sit in an unprecedented backlog of disability claims. Delays have hit all-time highs -- the result of shoestring budgets, bureaucratic incompetence and poorly executed reforms. (A person cited in this article has been fighting for 6 years!)

3. This is happening more and more across the country because the Bush administration has cut back do drastically on funding for these programs and to states that programs are downsizing drastically. And states can't afford to make up the difference due to the economic mess Republican policies over the last 8 years have created. And the Bush administration wanted to privatize all of this -- look where he'd have been then given the market meltdown!

4. There is no reason to take thousands of dollars to fight this with a lawyer. If he's fighting SS, lawyers are limited in the amount that they can take when they join the fight. I don't know for sure, but I assume it's the same in IL.

5. Why blame Obama? McCain voted against reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, Obama voted to reauthorize it. McCain repeatedly voted against health care bills to benefit our troops, Obama voted for them. McCain has voted consistently against programs and funding for programs that help people with disabilities: housing, health care, job training, and so much more. McCain is for SS privatization, Obama opposes it. (Have ya seen the stock market lately?)

What is so difficult to get about all of this?

[CherylK]

18. Thank you for this!

This is exactly what I was looking for!

:toast:

[tpsbmam]

23. You're welcome! n/t

[Gato Moteado]

19. brain surgery and 300 pills a month to treat epilepsy?

jesuschrist, what has our healthcare system become? the doctors and the pharm companies with their cut-them-open-and-then-get-them-addicted-to-pills-for-the-rest-of-their-life policy is what is killing these people, not anything obama did.

maybe surgery and pills are necessary at some point, but i would look at other options before ever letting a doctor cut open my skull and make me take that many pills.

[tpsbmam]

22. It's necessary sometimes. Epilepsy can kill -- some people

with intractable generalized tonic-clonic seizures can actually die from seizures. It's rare, but it does happen. And there are sometimes underlying causes of epilepsy that can be fatal if not treated aggressively, including with surgery.

[Gato Moteado]

24. that is probably true.......

....but it seems surgery and pills are the first resort for practically every malady these days. for me, they would be a last resort.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. With severe epilepsy it is the only choice

truly

[CitizenPatriot]

20. suggest he write a letter to compassionate mccain

who had no problem getting his 68000 a year in disability, 28,000 in social security, along with 200-300000 yr senator pay and the 23 million from lobbyists per year.

This from the "small government stand on your own two feet" man.

Hmmm....

There are links you can go to to calculate your payment for health insurance under mccain versus obama. I am not clear entirely yet on mccain's policy (surprise surprise - he has never spoken of it) but I read he would tax us ono the "benefits" of our employer sponsored health plans-- meaning not just what they pay for the policy. It was pointed out that no one would be able to pay for srugery even with health insurance at that rate.

hard to know how people can be so unaware -- do they want to vote in their best interests? If so, why not do the research and share that research with others who may have similar concerns?

[radfringe]

21. many states are having their fed funds for health care cut

thank a repub

[Greyhound]

26. Disability claims are routinely denied, I took an ex through this mess a

few years ago. You are forced to hire a lawyer and sue for the benefits you have paid for and are entitled to.

Welcome to Amerika.