I received an email from someone I served with onboard my ship back in the early 1970s.
Although he was an enlisted man and I an officer, we got along well and I admired his take-charge approach and competence as a boatswains mate.
Almost 30 years later, I found myself a .cc recipient of some of his emails (I was in a mutual friend's distribution list and he then included me in his distributions).
Most of his emails were innocuous (holiday greetings, congratulatory messages), some forwarded right-wing/conservative communiques and occasionally, a wing-nut outburst.
The latest outburst was a forwarding message regarding the evil Obama and his medical plan:
FOR ALL YOU OBAMA SAMA SOCIALIST LOVER, READ THIS ! DOWN WITH HIM AND HIS HEALTH CARE CRAP !
All caps is a dead giveaway.
The body of the forwarded message alleged that a professor emeritus from Indiana University, along with a Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama representative had determined the following:
MEDICARE
Look clearly at the 2014 rate compared to the 2013 rate.
For those of you who are on Medicare, read the following. It's short, but important and you probably haven't heard about it in the Mainstream News:
"The per person Medicare Insurance Premium will increase from the present Monthly Fee of $96.40, rising to:
$104.20 in 2012
$120.20 in 2013
And $247.00 in 2014."
These are Provisions incorporated in the Obamacare Legislation, purposely delayed so as not to confuse the 2012 Re-Election Campaigns. Send this to all Seniors that you know, so they will know who's throwing them under the
bus.
I googled the professor's name and sure enough, it was a hoax. At one site was a very good debunking - interesting enough, the header at the site says that it is by
'Conservatives who love America'. An excerpt from the debunking:
For the most part, increases in premiums affect Medicare participants of Part B. The report said, “Most beneficiaries will continue to pay the same $96.40 or $110.50 premium amount in 2011. Beneficiaries who currently have the Social Security Administration (SSA) withhold their Part B premium and have incomes of $85,000 or less (or $170,000 or less for joint filers) will not have an increase in their Part B premium in 2011.”
It went on to say, “For all others, the standard Medicare Part B monthly premium will be $115.40 in 2011, which is a 4.4% increase over the 2010 premium. The Medicare Part B premium is increasing in 2011 due to possible increases in Part B costs. If your income is above $85,000 (single) or $170,000 (married couple), then your Medicare Part B premium may be higher than $115.40 per month.”
TruthOrFiction.com has not found any evidence that the Social Security Administration has announced any future increases to Medicare premiums.
This is what FactCheck.org says:
Q: Will the new health care law raise Medicare’s basic monthly premium to $247 in 2014, as a viral message claims?
A: No, Medicare officials project the basic premium will be less than half that. But the law will eventually cause 14 percent of seniors with incomes over $85,000 a year ($170,000 for couples) to pay higher “income-related” premiums, up from 5 percent currently.
To conclude, it won’t surprise me a bit if Medicare and other health insurance premiums will increase as a result of Obamacare. However, I cannot verify the claims made by the circulating e-mail that Medicare insurance premium will more than double from 2012 to 2014.
So here is what I forwarded back to my former shipmate:
M---, with all due respect, please do some research before forwarding this kind of email which has no substance and appears to be typical misinformation attacking the ACA.
A simple Google search on ‘Professor Emeritus John W. Hill’ turned up several hits regarding this phony Medicare issue. E.g. http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/...
The ACA is not perfect – I would prefer at least a public option to control the insurance companies’ escalating premium rises for their programs. But at least it requires them to deliver 85% of the premium revenue to health care instead of paying their top execs unlimited multimillions of dollars in compensation – for doing what? I was disappointed that there was no public option, but it is essentially Romneycare repackaged. My preference is to get the private for-profit insurers out of the system and have single-payer financing. We all get old and sick and the current system (Medicaid) is a public option open only to those over 65. It should be expanded to cover more people and would do it more efficiently and cost effectively.
Your ad hominem attack on those who support Obama is likewise out of line. Just so you know, I support Obama (he and I are graduates of the same high school in Honolulu). The animosity toward him is blind and irrational and makes no sense to me. Whatever happened to respecting the office of the President? Was that only for George Bush?
Please take this in the spirit it was offered. If you cannot, please refrain from forwarding these types of missives to me.
Thanks,
AH
I will update what his response winds up being. Strangely enough, other addressees ranged from Obama and Al Gore to John Boehner, Fox News, Hannity and the DCCC. Pretty crazy.
UPDATE:
Here is his response:
AH, nice to hear from you, and your comment "My attack on Obama being out of line" that says it all, and the mindset of a Democrat. In the mind of a Democrat, it is all right if they have an opinion, but no one else, as in the main stream media. First Amendment rights do not matter to Democrats, come to think about it, nothing of the Constitution and its Amendments do the Democrats like until they feel it serves their needs.
I have a question for you AH, this type of government and the path we are heading down is obviously not why you joined the Navy? It certainly was not to defend against enemies foreign and domestic as in our oath? In earnest, is this the path you want for a Nation built on the very principles of the Constitution and later the Amendments to go socialist/Marxist? I read your note, it is not up to me or any other American to pay for someone else's health care, home, car, phones, schooling and the list goes on!
One would think even democrats realize that socialism/Marxism will not work here, as it has failed everywhere else in the world. This is the legacy of this President and most liberal democrats. Your party was high-jacked under Roosevelt and the New Deal just for awhile. Then along came Kennedy. I have hanging on my wall, proudly displayed in my living room, his Inaugural Address of January 20th 1961, when he states, "Ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country" that is a good democrat. Though he wavered in his sexual prowess and wonder lust, Jackie ended that a nation forgave him.
Kennedy understood the Constitution unlike Obama, who the liberal media claims is a scholar (NOT). Though Kennedy a Democrat, his fiscal policy was conservative, freedom of enterprise, policy and choice. Then along came "Slick Willy" Bill and his wife, who under a Republican Congress and probably one of the biggest paper chase shifting policies this Country has ever known survived two terms.
What happened to the Democrats and their party to go socialist? They ignore everything the Constitution stands for! How can you support a man who mentors were and still are Jeremiah Wright a socialist/Marxist, Bill Ayers a terrorist, though not in close association at present that we are aware of?
Those of us who respect the Constitution, Amendments and the rule of law as defined by the Constitution despite those in Washington, remind them they work for us, not the other way around. How convoluted does one have to be in mind, spirit and thought, to think it works the other way around. What is there not to learn about that lesson?
On the lighter side, I have been pretty busy in my life, retired twice, got terribly bored. Built a company from the ground up and sold it. Retired again for three years, now I will retire again soon, after serving my Country again working for the Department Of Defense in Fleet Equipment, Facilities & Services on a major Army Depot. That is what I call "Not asking what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country."
The American people have learned a valuable lesson in Obama, in so many different ways, come November 2012, too the misfortune he has caused this Country, he will be but a horrible memory.
I have to go to work and I replied back that I would get back to him after having time to consider each point. Where to start....
UPDATE 2: Thanks so much for the comments - great points all around and a keeper for future wingnut responses.
So here's my reply:
I will address your points in order.
I did not say that your attack on Obama was out of line. What I did say that your attack was on people who support Obama – big difference. You of course can disparage Obama or any other public figure as long as it’s not libel or construed as supporting physical attacks. I disagree with Obama on a number of issues that boil down to him not being assertive enough to pursue progressive policies and bring those who have caused financial ruin to our country’s economy to justice. But my hope is that as a lame-duck second termer, he will pull out the stops.
Why I joined the Navy had nothing to do with the merits of a socialist or capitalist system. As you say, the Constitution and the oath require simply that office-holders swear to protect the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. It does not say to protect only a capitalist system, a Republican system or any other system but a legally elected system. FWIW, I joined the Navy via NROTC to get an education and if possible graduate to Naval Aviator training. Unfortunately, my visual acuity deteriorated while in college and that was no longer an option so I served my active duty obligation and got out.
Where did I say that you should help pay for someone else’s health care, home, cars or phones? Your forwarded letter was a hoax, will you at least admit that? Obamacare was structured to rein in the abuses of the insurance industry (rescission of coverage, denial due to pre-existing conditions, uncontrolled premium increases). It allows parents to keep their young adult children under their coverage. No insurance works if you allow free-riders and the penalty tax or fee or whatever you want to call it is to make sure that these free-riders pay for their own coverage. The concept is to have a diverse pool of insured to spread risk, hence the need to have everyone in the pool. Medicare is very successful given its size and the fact that the pool of insured is elderly, the highest consumers of medical care. It takes only 3 cents of every dollar in premiums to administer Medicare, a single-payer system, compared to the typical private insurer who skims 15% off the top for administration, salaries and shareholder dividends. I am through supporting that kind of system.
You seem to be of the idea that this country is headed toward socialism, that is far from true. In fact, it is unfortunate that we have not incorporated more truly social programs like solid safety nets for the sick, the poor and the old. Our education system for the average person is in shambles, unaffordable. Our Congress spends its time trying to overturn a legally enacted healthcare law (33 times) while making zero attempts to get a jobs bill with teeth passed. If anything, it is on a fascist course with corporations and the very wealthy controlling our Congress, courts and Executive. That along with the disparagement of knowledge, the hyper-Christianity and intolerance for other views is alarming. As is the acceptance of big lies and the failure of traditional media to step-up and call them.
Speaking of socialism, are you aware that the military is the largest socialist organization in this country? That is a good thing, in my opinion. Salaries and compensation are much more level and equitable (the CNO makes less than 20 times a seaman recruit compared to the average 300x the typical private CEO makes over his lowest paid employee. It is diverse although from a social status perspective, it has a way to goes as it seems the predominate reason people join these days if for the pay and benefits. You won’t find many people of means serving in the military these days. If you need housing or medical care, you get it. There are free recreational facilities and special retail stores. When you retire, you get a guaranteed pension for life adjusted for inflation. Where in the private world do you get this – and is it so bad?
BTW, I could make the case that we could privatize the military, discontinue and revoke all veterans benefits but clearly that would be insane. The question is, why is this type of system accepted as effective for the military, but is bad in the rest of the US?
And why does the military get a free pass in budgeting discussions? Obama has signed off on the largest military budgets in peacetime history! We have over 700 bases across the world including some 67 years after WWII. These things cost money and should be subject to the budget balancing equation that Republicans are so enthusiastic over. We have a fleet of useless F-22s that 1) should not have been built and 2) should be grounded for safety reasons.
John Kennedy was a flawed figure. He accelerated our involvement in Vietnam, was mislead by some of his key advisors (as has Obama). He also raised the top tax rates to 70% and the corporate rate to 48%. We as a country seemed to function just fine at those tax rates. In fact, our current overall tax rates are the lowest in 30 years.
Clinton likewise had his character flaws. He also signed off on NAFTA which has done damage to US manufacturing. However, he presided over one of the largest job creation periods in history, balanced the budget and left a budget surplus. It took the misguided tax cuts and 2 protracted wars of his successor to rapidly undo that.
The only Socialist in Congress is Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. I like the guy – he advocates for the average citizens of this country, not for the ultra wealthy and corporations. Democrats run the gamut with the Blue Dog caucus little better than the typical Republican. For the record, I am independent, liberal and progressive.
It’s my view that Democratic administrations have been far more respectful of the Constitution and the rule of law. Guantanamo, expansion of extraordinary rendition, the patriot law – those are the brainchild of Republican administrations and they spit in the face of the spirit of the Constitution. The DHS bothers me, I feel we are allowing this particular agency to subvert our right to privacy and besides that, it is a costly department to maintain.
The fact is that the Congress does not work for the average person but for whoever finances their reelection. The solution is to severely limit contributions with public financing for national elections. That’s not likely to happen with the upholding of Citizens United and the equating of corporate money with free speech. Our lawmakers are beholden to those contributors.
I am happy that you have had an active, productive life. I wish the same for everyone but we all come from different places and circumstances, have different talents. Sometimes it takes help from our fellow citizens to make it through a tough stretch, get educated, get over an illness or injury or a disaster. If we all took the attitude that you have to be totally responsible for whatever happens to you, then the fires in Colorado and flooding in the Midwest should be the sole responsibility of those communities. Obviously, that can’t be allowed to happen and I am happy to pay my taxes as a gainfully employed person to help as long as there is the understanding that it is necessary for all of us to pay some of it back through the system of taxation. I am irritated that corporations who gain so much from the use of infrastructure financed by the public get to shelter taxes or get tax credits while shipping jobs overseas.
You can characterize Obama as ignorant of the constitution but the facts are clear. You don’t get to be a professor of law, editor of the Harvard Law review by being incompetent. As far as his being socialist, he actually is right of center and shares more with Mitt Romney’s and George W. Bush’s fathers in his outlook. That plays well with independents and undecideds. The far left and far right voter bases will vote as expected (or stay home) but IMHO the key undecideds will decide the election.
Vote your convictions and I’ll vote mine.
Best,