Month: August 2019

First, I encourage everyone who wants to post more racist, white trash comments to continue to do so. Sincerely, I do. It saves me the trouble of finding out who you are slowly. I assure you there is no limit to the number of times my finger can press the Unfriend button.

Second, just to be clear, anyone pretending mass shootings can only be treated as a mental health issue is full of shit. And they know they are full of shit, because they come out of the woodwork to defend NRA sales pitches whenever a white supremacist sprays a machine gun into a store or church, but they don’t address mental health any other time. You know what does address mental health, all the time? Obamacare. Obamacare requires by law that mental health services be provided equally with physical health care. So the next time you ask where was the mental health care for these killers, understand that it is available, and that availability is currently under attack by President Trump and Congressional Republicans. So the question is, why are Republicans trying to eliminate the mental health care access that you say would have stopped these shootings?

I am absolutely not blaming everything on mental illness. I’m not the one making ANY mental illness excuses for these killers. I think the whole mental illness to explain mass shootings is absolute bullshit. The rate of mental illness is roughly the same across all developed countries, but we’re the only country who has mass killings as often as we do. No other developed country even comes close. And if you are concerned about your deductible, you should be. The ACA limits are set annually by the federal government, and the Trump administration is increasing how much people have to pay for care. The 2019 cap was 7% higher than the year before (the largest increase since the law took effect) and Trump wants an additional 2.5% increase in 2020. The deductible would be $8,200 for a single person, which is still cheaper than pre-Obamacare prices, but is exactly the kind of price hike that Obamacare was designed to eliminate. Additionally, the Republicans have reduced the amount of subsidies the government provides to insurance companies, and insurance companies raised prices to compensate, which makes all insurance more expensive, whether you use Obamacare or not. Make no mistake, the Republicans are increasing deductibles for purely political gain. So if you have an issue with the price of insurance, you need to remember that when you vote. Obamacare saved Americans and our government a LOT of fucking money. Attempting to eliminate it has cost us badly.

To prevent mass shootings, focus on gun laws — not mental health.