Vote your fears on health care, not caravan 'crisis' hyped by Trump and Republicans

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

President Donald Trump and his allies would like the midterms to be a vote you cast based upon dread and anxiety. All his energy and much of the Republican Party's message have centered on playing to what GOP consultants see as your worst fears: A caravan of lepers coming to invade. Innocent men branded as sexual harassers. The government taking away your health care.

And there’s evidence this has worked for them. Film a TV commercial, set it to ominous music with dark shadowy figures, and exploit the biggest fear you can create. The 2010 campaign was about fear of death panels ready to sentence your grandmother to die. Didn't happen. In 2014, the government was going to let Ebola kill usall. That didn’t happen, either. All of this was an offshoot of the Republicans’ original Willie Horton formula in 1988, designed to scare the public into thinking the Democrats were set to parole dangerous criminals.

I’d love to tell you to vote your hopes, not your fears. That’s how we will build a better country.

But if you are inclined to vote your worst fears, you should vote on the things you really have to fear, not what you’re told to fear. Don’t start with scary commercials but what politicians have actually promised to do if they win. One easy place to look for that is health care.

The Republicans, for example, have proposed shrinking Medicare and Medicaid by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Chief White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both recently reiterated the party's desire for such cutbacks.

Now, that’s not an abstract fear. Medicare pays for health care for seniors, and Medicaid is the primary payer for more than six in 10 nursing home residents.

Before Medicare, Medicaid and other help for the elderly, more than half of seniors had no health insurance and 35 percent lived below the poverty level. Growing old couch surfing your relatives or living in your car, unable to afford to care for yourself —now that’s something to fear.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/11/05/losing-health-care-scarier-than-trumps-caravan-election-sideshow-column/1847778002/?fbclid=IwAR0B7V1N16DiqaTNLUKLgTKzTb8KxSrL1nb1Qai8abUyQVDKlzXCPFWEGGc

[redstatebluegirl]

1. I have a sil with stage 4 ovarian cancer.

She has health insurance but is still in danger of losing their home. She has a 12 year old son and a 9 year old daughter. Why should these kids lose their mom and their financial security as well?