When I found out this news last week, it threw me over the edge of the precipice upon which I was precariously perched.

Kennedy supports the MA mess wholeheartedly along with his buddy, Deval Patrick. Neither of them care about the adverse effects this law is having on far too many hard-working MA taxpayers.

Enter McDonough, one of the architects of this bloodsucker the state dares to call “health care reform” – a man who thinks we should be all rah, rah, sis, boom, bah about having money that we need to pay our bills stolen from us to subsidize those who get the insurance for free while we go into debt and still have no insurance.

This theory is ridiculous on its face if anyone could possibly conjure up a laugh at what is truly happening to people under this law. Once the fancy words and spin have been removed, only the truth is left and it’s not pretty.

When I called Kennedy’s office this past summer to voice my concerns about the insurance being unaffordable as well as the penalties, I was harshly told by an aide,”It’s the law. If you don’t buy the insurance, then you’ll pay the penalties.” And she hung up the phone.

As a result of that treatment by his aide combined with my previous knowledge that he supported intimidating/coercing people to purchase a specific product (collusion) that they could not afford, the respect I had for Kennedy disappeared in a heartbeat. He’ll have to do better than that to win me back.

Deval Patrick had the nerve to tell me on the March 13 statewide NPR call-in that even if ten people are being hurt by this law it’s not good, but it’s a success because MA is doing something. (This is the Cliff-notes version of his response to the question I asked him: How can you call this a success when at least 300,000 residents are being hurt?) I mentioned that response to U.S. Rep. Chris Shays’ aide during a conversation this morning about a health care bill he is co-sponsoring and his aide was stunned.

To top that insult, try calling his office. His aides can’t respond in a meaningful way to our concerns. You tell them you are being adversely affected in a big way by this law and ask what the governor is going to do about this, and without fail, they tell you what a great success this insurance law is. Patrick has them well-trained.

Our state reps and senators march in lock-step with their leaders, DiMasi and Murray (and Moore) despite the numerous calls and pleas of their constituents to stop the mandate. These reps and senators know very well that far too many low-to-middle income people are suffering under this law but far be it from any one of them to attempt a resolution. In fact, they don’t even have a clue about the many harmful aspects of the law, the enforcement of the penalties, etc.

They don’t respond to letters, and in my area, not a one of the three reps has bothered to respond to a petition sent to each of them by City Council nearly six weeks ago, which reminds me, Deval Patrick has this same problem. A letter with very specific concerns and exhibits was hand-delivered to him in Pittsfield, MA on January 31, 2008 – put right into his hand and acknowledged by him and the radio broadcaster who also received a copy.

To date, Patrick has not responded. Weekly phone calls have been made to his office as well as a personal visit but nothing. Oh, he sent it to the Connector. Gee whiz, how is it that the most powerful man in the state can’t get a reply from the Connector? Sounds more to me like Patrick dumped the letter into a black hole. If he truly wanted a response from the Connector, so he could, in turn, respond to a concerned taxpayer, he would have had this within a day.

As soon as I saw Patrick standing behind Obama my red alert went up. Obama was well aware that people in MA were worse off than before this law – paying penalties they can’t afford and still no insurance, and he said as much many times. Suddenly Kennedy was standing behind Obama next to Patrick, and now we have McDonough partnering with Kennedy so they can advise the next president on universal coverage and national health reform – not true Universal Health Care – just universal coverage, i.e. mandated health insurance that does not deliver quality, affordable, guaranteed care EQUALLY to all citizens of this nation.

Seeing this cabal that is rapidly forming tells me that the MA scam is going to spread across the country. This is a crowd that supports the health insurance companies and big pharma and cares not one iota about the low-to-middle income workers who are the backbone of this country.

This is indeed sad. As a middle class person paying a full 20% of my income into a system that is likely to increase my premium 8 to 12% per year, I am also getting dangerously close to the precipice. Where can I go to get out from under this thing? Should I move to New Zealand? (as far away on the planet that I can think of).
This is not just an insurance company or government problem. It is an entire medical care delivery and cost problem that involves doctors, hospitals, drug companies, device makers, insurers, governments officials, and the public itself. It’s a culture wide phenomenon that has let something rise at 2 to 4 times the rate of inflation and still turn a blind eye to the root causes. The causes are known. What to do about them is known. There is no mystery. The research, the books & reports, the people. They’re all out there, ready to tell anyone who is willing to listen. Only ignorance and the influence of big money in government and media stands in the way now.
My faith in the USA is going down rapidly by the day, alas. Please, go read “Overtreated” and other books and reports like it. It’s not that hard. Please hammer on the doors of government. Please don’t assume that just because you’re covered on the job doesn’t mean you’re not getting hurt. Look at your municipal budgets being swallowed up by this thing. Look at businesses leaving the state or closing their doors, quietly, one at a time. Please challenge your myths about what medical care and is not. Or they will do it to you as well.

Glad to hear someone else mention leaving the country. My sister and I have been discussing this lately. We don’t want to spend the rest of our lives in a country that is run by bureaucrats and elected officials who, for the most part, have no moral compass.

MA government should be ashamed to treat hard-working taxpayers like criminals for not being able to afford to comply with this law. Actually, I don’t feel like a criminal. They are the criminals.

I agree with you, Glenn, that the health-care crisis in this country is a culture-wide phenomenon. Unfortunately, we live in a corporatocracy and the lobbying money jingling in our politicians’ pockets is more important to them than the oaths they took to work for the people.

I was just informed by someone in the know that Deval “Together We Can” Patrick is not the peoples’ governor. He’s interested in the polls, grooming himself for a job in Washington with Obama and his book. Not that I hadn’t already figured this out but it’s always good to hear that I’m not over-reacting.

We have an enormous economic problem in this state, a dire need for jobs and an over-budget, failing health insurance plan that is hurting people as it falls apart, and all he can talk about is his nationwide book tour.

Here are some words of wisdom from Ghandi:

“One who uses coercion is guilty of eliberate violence. Coercion is inhuman.”

“Coercion cannot but result in chaos in the end.”

Whoops! I’m guilty of not proofing what I wrote before I hit the submit button. Should be:

” . . . guilty of deliberate violence.”