Conflicted...

I'm getting a lot of flack lately...yet again. This time it has nothing to do with my parenting skills. This time it's my political beliefs. Surprise, surprise...

So a huge decision was made by the House of Representatives today. A decision that leaves me torn. I'm a democrat. I have been since I was old enough to be registered as one and probably even long before that. But lately, I've been looking at my political beliefs and while you'd be very hard-pressed to find anyone as socially liberal as me, I'm actually pretty moderate when it comes to fiscal matters. Which is why I am so torn right now. As a liberal, I believe in gay rights, and equal pay. I'm pro-choice although it has never been an option for me. I am for animal rights, women's rights, child's rights...just civil liberties in general and I don't believe that anyone should be denied health care for any reason. But at what cost to the American tax payer?

I believe that some people cannot work, but I also believe that some people choose not to work for no good reason. I am choosing not to right now for medical reasons and I chose to maybe not go back to work so I can care for my children. But some people, well, they have no excuse. I'm a liberal, but I'm also live in a low-income home and am currently on medicaid for my pregnancy and Smasher is also on medicaid. We couldn't afford not to be on medicaid regardless of whether both The Hubby and I were working or not. The difference is, we don't go out very much, if at all. We try to watch our money and spending very carefully. We don't spend our money on frivolous things and we make sure we have what we need. We get by. I get angry when I see people on government assistance going out to bars or spending their money on fast food and restaurants all the time. It really just ticks me off. Why should people who do work hard to provide just the basics for their families or just work in general have to pay for those who REFUSE to work? It's not fair.

Now, I can see where it will help a lot of people. For instance, children, who are completely innocent in all this, will receive the care they need. I know of a lot of instances where I couldn't have afforded to take Smasher to the doctor without medicaid. But I also know that this bill passing means that a lot less doctors will probably taking on medicaid/medicare recipients, which would mean my children. We can't afford to pay the fines that are going to be placed on us for not having insurance, but we can't afford the insurance either. What does that mean? I agree that something needed to be done to combat the raising medical cost and somebody needs to keep the insurance companies in check, but I don't necessarily think that the bill that passed tonight was the best option. I don't know what is, but I'm not sure this was it. I guess only time will tell.