I love this country, there are a lot of things to love about it. When I used to travel internationally, I would kiss the ground when I got back.
What I don't love about the country now is what is happening with gas prices and what is happening with health care.
Both of these problems seem to me to tie right directly back to someone in a middle man position controlling prices and making us all suffer. The first inkling I got of this was ENRON and the way they drove up electrical prices and a few men got very very rich. Then we have the Internet where any company connected was lavished with money until someone started realizing you cannot sell potential, and you can't eat it either. Then bubble pops and we all see our retirements flushed down the toilet. Then the home loan debacle started, and if you could mark a "x" on a piece of paper, you could buy that mansion you always wanted. Hey, the mortgage would not adjust for five years, so who cares. Again, we see not just a market crash, but the very people who did it were bailed out and I am sure they are on to the next thing. These people operate behind the shadows and operate as though they are doing something good, when in reality, the are ruining our country.
Gas is really making me mad. It seems like someone sneezes in the world, and gas prices go up. What really chafes me is the fact the oil companies are allowed to charge more for gas that was produced at a lower cost. A few weeks ago I was standing at a pump and watched as the price changed by ten cents while I was filling up my car. I remember in the old days the prices would not change for weeks. Over the past two years, our gas prices have gone up by something to the tune of 200% or more. Our president doesn't seem to care, and congress won't do anything save hold hearings which have no outcome.
Now, today, we get informed our health care premiums are going up by 35%. I am still trying to process that and we are wondering if perhaps we just pay for services if this might be cheaper than the $23,000 medical bill we are staring at in 2012. We are the only western country to have our healthcare managed by corporations and I believe this middle man is killing us. We need, as a people to get beyond the blatant manipulations of corporations and say enough is enough. We need to stop sayin "I got mine, so the hell with you.".
Something has to happen. We as a people have become too complacent in our lives, and something needs to happen. I don't know if there is a perfect answer, but I do know that I am a person who cannot afford to have anything raised and every time I turn around, there is something increasing which I cannot do without. Right now is not a good time for any entity to be looking at increasing anything, because I think we are tapped out. It is getting to the point where one is choosing to put food on the table or gas in the car. This is not the country I thought we lived in.
We need to unite together and start making a difference. Instead of tearing apart, we need to come together and work out some viable solutions, because believe me when I tell you that today it's people like me, but tomorrow it is going to be people like you who are cast aside. If we let this happen to ourselves, I guess in the end we get what we deserve and we will all be in the same boat, and our boat is taking on water really fast.
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