President Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination to run for reelection at the Democratic National Convention. Then he promised America pet unicorns, leprechaun servants, and monkey butlers, if only we please (please!) vote for him again.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain while 23 million people are out of work, the national debt has passed $16 trillion, and one in seven Americans are on food stamps.
Okay, maybe Obama didn’t promise us mythical creatures to do our bidding, but he sure as heck offered up quite a few myths. Like free heath care for everyone! Free college for everyone! No more oppression for women! No jobs being shipped overseas! Happy happy joy joy!
The Free Health Care Myth
The truth is that health care is neither a right nor a privilege; it’s a service. I know it’s shocking, but doctors don’t want to work for free any more than anyone else. What if we all expected our mechanics to work for free? This is the real world, and part of living here is paying for things that we receive.
The Free College Myth
Same problem as with health care: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. If you receive a good or service (like medical care or a college education), someone provided it to you. If you didn’t pay for it, someone else did. There’s only so much a doctor or a professor can do for free. They have their own bills to pay. I’ll say it again, because it can’t be said enough: If you didn’t pay for it, someone else did.
The Oppressed Women Myth
I have never, ever, not even once, been denied access to health care because I’m a woman. Since I’ve started using it a decade ago, birth control has never been banned. So long as I’ve been willing to pay my bills, I’ve been seen by whatever doctor I wanted to see. Silly doctors, wanting to be paid. It’s not like we have programs that allow poor people to receive health care ... oh wait, Medicaid. Never mind.
But -- glass ceiling! Women deserve equal pay! Newsflash: If women deserve equal pay to men, they’ll see their paychecks cut. Because when all things equal are considered, it’s actually women that make more than men. Unless they work for Barack Obama, because he pays his female staffers 18 percent less than their male counterparts.
The Overseas Jobs Myth
The president referenced several times that Mitt Romney sent jobs overseas, rather than employ Americans on U.S. soil. Then he said Mitt had no foreign policy experience, which made me giggle, because with all the jobs he’s supposedly sent overseas, you’d think he’d be a foreign policy expert.
Obama also failed to mention that he’s sent more jobs overseas than Romney ever has. But math is hard, so maybe Obama decided to give himself an incomplete. It’s happened before.
The Bottom Line
Obama delivered a speech full of platitudes and nice ideas. If he can get my unicorn to me by November 6, I might even consider voting for him.
Image via Alex Wong/Getty
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Comments 75
Rightside I have no idea who comes to your country to practise but I'm sure its not just Canadians
You're absolutely right - we get the best from every country.
I respect your status as a "proud Canadian", but that doesn't change the fact that you are CLUELESS about not only the American healthcare system, but also our economy and the impossibilities of providing "pretty free" healthcare to 300 million people. That's why it's impossible to find value in your opinion of what goes on in this country. Just like my opinion of your healthcare system should mean little to nothing to you.
Rightside, I'm sure you get the best from your country as well.
I am not clueless about your health care system(or economic system, I think most people worldwide are privy to the state of your economy) I'm empathetic. Maybe you have good health insurance but there are many people who don't. I never claimed to know everything about the health care system (or lack thereof) in the US. I have a sister who lives in NY state with her American husband, his best friend is an OBGYN and I'm quite aware of some the issues you have.
Our health care isn't federal but provincial by the way and maybe there isn't a way to provide "free" health care for 300 million people but there are other countries all over that world that seem to manage just fine. Maybe its a lack of prioritizing, who knows.
It doesn't bother me at all that you don't value my opinion. I'm just content to know that if my children get sick, or my husband or anyone of my family members that they can go to any hospital, anywhere, anytime and not have to worry that they won't be seen because they don't have money or proper health care. My whole point was that I honestly truly wish every American could have the same privilege. Why is that such a bad thing?
Our health care isn't federal but provincial by the way and maybe there isn't a way to provide "free" health care for 300 million people but there are other countries all over that world that seem to manage just fine.
Actually, there are only two counties with higher populations than the US (China and India, respectively), and neither have managed to successfully offer quality care to all their citizens. Next in line after US is Indonesia...also failing. Next in line is Brazil, who is successful, but with a population of roughly half the US. So, population IS an issue, and there are no similarly population countries that are doing "just fine".
I'm just content to know that if my children get sick, or my husband or anyone of my family members that they can go to any hospital, anywhere, anytime and not have to worry that they won't be seen because they don't have money
You can do that here, too....Emergency Rooms cannot turn away anyone who seeks medical attention.