Being Republican means not caring what happens to other people

Well, that obviously isn't completely true.  As a Republican I am supposed to care deeply about a fertilized egg, and actually care more about that egg than the woman carrying it.  But once that egg is born and in the open air, I am not actually responsible for helping him or her.  That little infant is on their own. If their family is poor, or abusive, that, politically, is not my problem.

As you can tell, I have been having a rough time of things lately.  The news that the ACA might be overturned which would make the Republican happy, has pushed me into a bit of a funk.  I am once again reminded that Republicans found it offensive that we get everyone into some kind of insurance plan.  That act offended them.

Torturing Muslim suspects didn't offend them, but making sure that everyone could purchase insurance, not be denied based on a pre-existing condition, and not be kicked off if they got too expensive?  Conservatives found that to be offensive.

I have no idea how to operate in that moral world.  It makes absolutely no sense to me.  It scares me greatly, I have to say, at a personal level because I know that we are one layoff away from losing healthcare, and one major illness away from bankruptcy.  It is that simple.  And if Republicans get their way, that insecurity will continue well into retirement, because they don't want me or SOF to be guaranteed coverage.  At any level.  And, while the condition is not threatening or dangerous, a pre-existing condition makes us uninsurable outside a group plan.

And Republicans want us to be insecure about that.  They are cheering news that the ACA might be overturned and that hated "mandate" be struck down.  They want to go back to the environment where we are all one major illness away from bankruptcy, and one layoff away from being uninsured.

All, by the way, as the Republicans push their budget bill before Congress.  It won't pass--thank the Lord--but it reveals their priorities pretty clearly.  Turn Medicare into a voucher system so that I, as an 80 year old, will need to negotiate and shop for health insurance--and hope--fucking hope--that we have enough retirement to account for rising costs.  Because if we don't, then we are done.  And, of course, the same budget proposal wants states the option of handling Medicaid completely as they want.  If we stay in Oklahoma, I predict that means the bare minimum.

All while they absolutely and stridently insist that no rich people be even troubled by this sacrifice.  No tax increase for them.  No problem for their retirement.  No, the sacrifice has to be for those who are at the bottom of the heap.  And, of course, those low-information voters who don't realize that their middle class won't protect them from ruin and illness.

But that's the beauty of being Republican.  If I choose to go that route, I don't have to care about what happens to the poor and needy.  That is their responsibility, not mine.  My responsibility is to get as much as I can, because I am the only one who matters.

Yeah, I know.  I need to really think about a news fast.  But just because I don't read my twitter feed, blogs, or the news doesn't mean this reality will go away.  Nor will the fact that not caring is the hallmark of modern conservatism.