Health Care and and average wingnut

I was amazed this week (well not really) when a Facebook friend broke his finger and then fixed it with a Popsicle stick wrapped in tape. He never mentioned how the break happened but he did post pictures, so I will assume the break was legit. My friend has no insurance. He owned a small business that recently went under, so I am guessing that that is when his insurance was canceled. I am not 100% sure what kind of wingnut my friend is but I am 100% sure his politics are way out there. Just two weeks ago he posted a rant and some links to sites that purport that the government has been taken over by communists. Going in the sites was like drowning on dry land, it didn't make any sense but it was an awful experience anyway. Now those of you who know me know that I can get a little outspoken when I see this sort of thing, but this time I didn't say a word, I wanted to see what his friends would post. I knew that because of who this guy is and that other folks like him would be posting I was expecting to see some crazy stuff posted, I was not disappointed. I did expect someone ANYONE to point out that this is exactly what health care reform was about: if you don't have insurance then you could expect to have some sort of help, and then I figured that that person would get shouted down. I was very mistaken, not a single defender of health care spoke up, and the following posts went up unanswered.

The first wingnut to post makes a snide remark that this is how everyone will live if there is health care reform...ok...that is the exact opposite of reform but also tame and expected. But that was just the primer for wingnut number two, a more vocal and misinformed person who should be used as an anecdote for the state of paranoia that the 'typical' American has been infected with. Person number two starts this little gem:

"...if this Commie Health care bill passes, you will pay $16,000 per year ($8k ea)... and still need the Popsicle stick."

That one is not to far off, according to the media matters website it would be $5300 for individuals and $15,000 for families. The person in question did not have insurance so $15,000 may be close for his family. This ignores the fact that current averages for health insurance is over $7000 per year per person (Google it if you want a citation). So I guess the argument is that reform would not be effective. OK I will go with that, this is a reasonable argument to make, health care reform may not actually reform more, stagnate the market. Fine, a debate can be had with this. But the writer cannot stop there, no, the need to spread the crazy is way to strong. Here is the next post:


"It is when you have a family of 4 ---- that's when they will charge for 3 and give you the 4th ^free^...$24,000.00 per year on a basic plan."

What? Where does this stuff come from??? The only thing I can find with a delta between health care and $24000 is that this is the amount that if an insurance costs this or more it is subject to a huge tax. This is the Cadillac tax that people talk about. Oh but wait! There's more crazy to come:

"Oh and you will go to jail for not paying... So, [sic] you'd be in jail with a popsicle[sic] stick for a cure. URGGGGGGG!!" then " And anything beyond a bad fart will be out of pocket!!!"


OK so at this point I have a headache. How do you fight this much ignorance? These people receive a flood of information that is complete bull but these people are more than willing to eat it up. Information Lemmings waking right off the cliff of stupidity. Of course there is one more post that is really the cherry on top and what I think is the real reason that we will not get health care reform:

"Oh yeah--- Unconstitutionally - they will pull funds right out of your bank account without your consent...your assets will be SEIZED. ~All for someone else's healthcare ~"

So I have already heard this one before, it is basically some conservatives who may or may not know what they are doing not being able to read legalese. There is a provision to allow pay roll withdrawals if you want to have them, and after it talks about that it says very clearly that it is not mandatory.

There are a few more posts but the main stupidgazim is over at this point and dies down.

Now many reading this will not be surprised by this series of posts, you have probably witnessed essentially the same arguments put up whenever health care is mentioned. What I would like is for someone to help me understand where this comes from. Specifically why people will believe this stuff without bothering to look any of it up? Why is it so easy to believe the unbelievable? And God forbid if someone points out how wrong they are. They dig in and defend the indefensible, as if they were married to these ideas. I will post again soon a debate I had with another wingnut friend about a posting that they did involving a video that Glenn Beck posted to YouTube using information that he stole from a conservative blogger, the person posting on facebook making the mistake of telling everyone to CHECK IT OUT!!! LOOK UP THIS IF YOU DON"T BELIEVE IT!!! etc... and I did just that. Then I am the bad guy when I point out the silliness. But anyway that is for another day....



Goodnight and don't let the wingnuts bite