Quote Originally Posted by Belgarold View Post
Being poor does not mean you are a criminal. Being poor does not mean you are lazy.
I never meant to imply this. I'm sorry if anyone thought I did.

Many child molestors and criminals can afford health care. Most criminals can afford health care. Look at Bernie Maddoff, ruined countless lives, but he can "afford" to get Cancer and have experimental treatments.
I agree, and this is one area where there perhaps should be changes made. Why should convicted felons be "entitled" to better healthcare than honest working people? Yet if they don't get it their lawyers will have a field day with the justice system.

And even though conventional wisdom and the braying of talk radio and the corporate interests may differ, MOSt poor or those that cannot afford health care are NOT lazy. They are in Dr. BuzzCzar's situation, or circumstantially are unemployed or underemployed.
I understand this as well, and tried to say that, I thought. Working people, whether rich or poor, and even those who want to work but cannot, deserve better treatment than those who are only willing to work long enough to qualify for unemployment benefits and then quit, or those who are willing to live off the welfare system for their whole lives. I've seen these kinds of people. I've had people come into the office where I work, supposedly looking for jobs, and they are dressed in ragged clothes, with unkempt hair, and invariably say, "You're not hiring, are you?" instead of asking if we are. Then they want you to sign their paper for the unemployment office, so they can keep getting their checks.

And again, I know it's not a large percentage of the unemployed, it's not any one race or religion or even gender. But they are there, and they will leach onto any government handout or subsidy until honest taxpayers get so fed up that they want all the handouts and subsidies cut out.