All of My Political Eggs in One Post

...so you can skip right over it if you want!

On the way home from IKEA yesterday, we heard Jim Philips and all of his callers (it's so rare that they are all united on a single idea) ranting about this column from the Sentinel. In short, the members of the Florida Legislature don't pay anything towards their health insurance for themselves or their families.

After listening for the whole drive home, I too was incensed. And for once, I was so upset I actually said something! Here's most of the letter that I sent to my State Senator and my State Rep:

Every day recently, the local news has featured stories on multiple state and local public works that are going to be under-funded or shut down due to the lack of money in the state budget this year. And yet somehow you can justify not paying into your health insurance plan?

As a full-time employee of Company X, I have some of the most reasonable insurance going. Yet even I pay about $30 per week out of my paycheck, which covers insurance for only myself. [insert personal accounts of people I know of who don't have insurance here] Each of these people are Florida residents. Don't you care about them?

I find it morally reprehensible that you and your fellow State Senators do not have to pay for health insurance for yourselves and your families. Please consider changing that policy. A mere $100 per month per Senator and Representative could certainly fund necessary programs within the state, and can hardly be considered a hardship.

Today, I heard that $1 million was cut out of the state foster care budget, which has lead to an agency in Seminole County not having enough money left for one single adoption. I started thinking maybe I should e-mail my two new "friends" (who, by the way, are both republican... go figure!) every time I see one of these stories on the news. You know - "Hey Paula/Hugh - Just thought I'd let you know about yet another group of Florida Residents who have had to suffer while you continue to enjoy your free health care. Kisses, J-Mo"

As for the national political theater, here's a commercial for my candidate of choice. I wonder what it's like to live in a country where your President gives you hope for the future, and whose speeches give you goose bumps.