Last Friday, Chris Rock was interviewed on Bill Maher's show Real Time, and the subject of health care reform came up.
When Maher asked if he saw health care reform the prism of race and as a civil rights issue, Rock said no. He sees health reform as a “people rights issue.” Rock also recounted his family’s experience with the health care system
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The fundamental problem in our budget really does boil down to Medicare. It's the main budget concern that trends so far out of line with inflation. Hell, I was shocked when I looked at the numbers of what we spend on Medicaid, which should be included as a safety net. We don't have a handle on health care costs, and while there are great aspects to recent legislation, I fail to see that cost is one of them.
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Probably. I'm sure there's some argument to be made about systematic disenfranchisement, too.
It's funny that today's "silent majority" is generally poor and a minority. I wonder how Nixon would feel about that.
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That said, a few mitigating factors:
Most households 40-50 years ago were single-income. It's much more common now for wives, even kids to work.
It used to be that you could get a job at an assembly line out of high school, work for 20-30 years at a good salary, and retire with a strong pension. That obviously isn't the case anymore; the U.S. economy relies on higher education and services now, but we're still going through growing pains on that front.
The cost of housing and food has generally decreased over the last 40-50 years. Health care and higher education, notably, have risen faster than inflation, but the point is just that cost of living has to be considered here.
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