By Judy Seifert
(Contact / Staff Bio)
February 6, 2010 - 08:55 a.m. EST
State legislators should be ashamed of themselves!
It will be interesting, albeit a waste of time I fear, to see if Michigan lawmakers are able to come to the correct consensus when it comes to ending their health benefits.
The state’s House voted last week to eliminate retiree health care coverage – but only for those elected in the future – not for those currently in office.
Again and again I ask myself and others, why do they get to have what others do not? They work for us, remember? We should be the ones deciding who gets what and when. Not them.
What we have in Lansing is the fox watching the hen house – how stupid are we for allowing them to get away with it?
We - that is, citizens and voters - have allowed politicians to turn the work of public service into a profitable, lucrative and very comfortable career. They manipulate us. They maneuver their way around, twist it so that we actually believe they are good for us, that we need them.
I can rem-ember years back when the only legislation actually passed during several sessions was a pay raise – and for themselves!
How stupid are we?
They don’t have the right to give themselves whatever they want.
They don’t have the right to have health insurance and retirement packages, even a job, when so many others do not.
They don’t have a right to anything at all, really. They only have the rights we allow them to have as their employer.
Their sense of entitlement offends me.
They say this health reform is necessary in order to show that they share in our pain.
How are they in pain?
What have they had to sacrifice lately?
On a monthly basis, do they struggle with tough choices – can I afford a mammogram this month? Maybe I’ll wait a few more weeks and try to get new eyeglasses instead? Maybe I'll get my prescriptions filled first, then see what’s left over for groceries?
These are tough questions people ask themselves every day.
The fact that people have to even pose those questions and make life or death choices every day, every week and every month of every year, is in itself, criminal.
Shame on Lansing. Shame on us for allowing them to get away with it.
That’s it for me this week.
Bye.
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February 6, 2010
12:44 p.m.Report inappropriate content
Give yourself a BIG PAT on the back for that article. Our congress only thinks of themselves. They want us to take some crappy gov. health care. And they take the best of the best health care. People better take a look at other countries health care, then they wouldn't be so anxious to be like them.I say if you want to live like a communist, change your citizenship!! I don't see our governor making her way back to Canada soon.
February 7, 2010
4:31 p.m.Report inappropriate content
Judy,
I am disheartened to see how misinformed you are. I would like to correct you (and other readers) and let you know that lawmakers will soon be required to pay 20% of their health care - similar to rates that other employees in Michigan must pay. Frustration with the current state of Michigan's economy are understandable, but making assumptions about some false sense of "entitlement" among the legislature only makes a bad situation worse. Opinion stories like this one will only continue to divide a state that needs to stand together now more than ever.
February 8, 2010
10:23 a.m.Report inappropriate content
reader1001 would you elaborate as to what has changed to require the 20% co.pay.
Who is now paying this 20%?
Are you supporting changes that will require all employees that are being paid by the tax payer to contribute 20 % towards their health care?
So Opinion stories that you feel are dividing the populous need to have more information, it sounds like you can add some thing to these opinions.
Please feel free to add your expertise.
It would be refreshing to have commenter's that add to the discourse.
I do agree with Judy that to balance the books on the NEW elected officials is not right.But save it for YOU that are in office now.
I am sure you can remember the cry from the Republican's when the Democrats held office for years, was that we need reform on retirement and health care.
Well you guessed it,the minute the Republican's gained the majority they made it for the NEW elected officials would see the change. I will remind you of the change.
The change was from after 6 years in office you received heath care for life starting immediately when you left office to when the ex official was a certain age.
Now these self serving Republicans passed a law that this was only for the NEW elected officials.
Also Republican's made sure that you only had to have 6 years to be eligible for these perks.
I keep this change taped to my desk so I can read who was in office at that time that passed this self serving law.
And we have some of these ex Republican congressmen still living in Tuscola County that helped pass this law that were the New elected officials at the time . By the way, this law was changed in the early 90's
As you can see it all depends who's ox is getting gored.
There is plenty of blame to go around on all sides .
As you can see,this has always been a sore spot to me.
reader1001, This is all about humane behavior,is it not?
February 9, 2010
4:16 p.m.Report inappropriate content
WE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF OURSELVES. The elected officials in Lansing can only do what they do after we have elected them. The unfortunate truth is that the only way to get elected is to promise somebody/everybody something for nothing. The Seniors, union members, farmers, welfare recipients and every one of us only vote for the candidates that promise to give us a piece of the other guys pie and we are not collectively smart enough to understand that reduces the size of the pie for all of us. Want to know what is wrong in Lansing and Washington? Go look in the mirror, and as Pogo said, "I have seen the problem and it is us".
Whenever the electorate decides that the fix for any problem that we or our communities have is our responsibility and no one elses then you will begin to see a change. As long as we keep looking for someone else to take care of us the spiral of decline will continue.
Whenever any local project comes up we look for grant money - translation, "lets see if we can get someone else to pay for our project". Then the elected official comes to town; read Barcia or Brown, with a three foot by five foot facsimile of a check for $XXXXXXX.00 gets their picture taken with the local officials and tells us what a great job they are doing for our community by bringing home the bacon; and we all smile and vote them back into office and the merry go round continues. What we need to be doing is paying for our own local projects with local dollars and if we are not willing to fund them locally then we do without. We need to start voting not for the candidate which promises us something for nothing but for the candidate that tells us we are going to have to stand on our own two feet and take care of ourselves. Try that for a platform and see how many votes you get.