Let em die

Since the 'let em die' response to Ron Paul's suggestion that we should let people sink or swim when it comes to health care, there has been a lot of talk about charities taking the place of our Medicare safety net under a republican administration.

This leads me to ask several more questions ( not that anyone answers any of the ones I ask, lol):

Who are we talking about?

• the unemployed (employment based insurance is great until you get laid off and and can't find new employment or get sick in the interim)
• The elderly - hmmm no employment, living on fixed income, usually ss (unless that is also canned and the elderly are forced to rely on 'charities' for food and clothing)
• The disabled - see elderly above
• The working poor - How many corporations and small business either can't or won't provide health insurance for these 'part time' employees who make just over minimum wage)?
• Poor children - if Abortion and Contraception are made illegal, we are quite likely to see a lot more of these little guys

I would imagine this population would add up to a rather high number.

Who would finance the charities?

Without Medicare and Medicaid, wouldn't all these charities be overwhelmed with people needing medical care? Where would the money come from? There are just so many folks willing and able to support these organizations? It seems to me that they would have to turn people away despite any good intentions on their part.

Speaking about turning people away, what Charities are we talking about:

• Catholic Charities - Great unless you are Gay or Lesbian in which case they don't care if you live or die. Didn't they stop covering all employee spouse's health insurance so that they would not have to provide that service to GLBT employees in states where it was mandated? How charitable!
• Protestant Churches - Will it become standard to have to accept evangelical preaching just to get life saving medications? What if you don't convert? Would there be just so many allowances for medical needs before you are kicked out as a lost cause?  What if you are Jewish? Gay? (See Catholic Charities above)
• Salvation Army - OH you mean the ones who fired a Jewish worker for not signing a statement that she accepted Jesus?
• Community based Charities - Tax increases? If not, I ask again, where is the money supposed to come from?
•  Political Organizations - can you say vote buying? I knew you could!
• AH! I know! THE PRIVATE SECTOR! - we all know how charitable these folks are! All you have to do is look around at bank foreclosures, energy speculation and a host of other charitable work done by these philanthropists.

It seems to me that until and unless these issues are resolved, doing away with Medicare and Medicaid is just another way to say 'let em die!'

- addendum - I just found this article and enclose the link. It pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject but with a bit more solid information...daily kos - let them die