My thoughts about the healthcare debate

This post is long, but after participating in several discussions on this topic (mainly on, uh, Facebook status updates), it seemed good to just jot down my thoughts on this topic in one place. I’ll start off with my disclaimers. First, I only keep up with the news a very tiny bit, partly because I hate politics, and partly because I used to work at a newspaper and I might still be burned out from being forced to keep up with the news, so my opinions aren’t 100% informed. Secondly, I’m a Republican, and I’ve had regurgitated ideology crammed down my throat for most of my life, but most of my ideas now are my own. (i.e., I am not a parrot.) Thirdly, I don’t currently suffer from any physical ailments, so I mostly view the current healthcare debate from a taxpaying standpoint.

My main beef against government-run healthcare isn’t against healthcare but against government. I don’t like the government to be involved in the finer details of my life. Build me a road, protect me from terrorists, and make sure restaurants serve me well-cooked food in a sanitary environment, but otherwise, please leave me alone, Uncle Sam. Perhaps this is a bit too idealistic, but I really think if the Church at large did her job, and if people in general just helped each other out more like they’re supposed to, we wouldn’t have so many people without healthcare coverage. Plus, I think the danger of having healthcare ingrained into a government system is that, unfortunately, people will take advantage of the system.

When I was in my early teens, my dad was unemployed for about a year and a half, and to my knowledge, my family did not take government assistance (food stamps, etc.) of any kind. This was back in the late 80s during one of the economy’s hiccups. One thing that majorly helped was that my mom had a job at a hair salon, so her wages and tips certainly helped feed us. My dad didn’t stay on his butt all day. He constantly did research to look for job leads, and he sent out a steady stream of resumes. I remember bill collectors calling us, and I remember money CONSTANTLY being an issue in EVERY area of life, but I don’t remember being destitute. One thing that I’ll always remember was that our church gave us a “pounding,” an old-fashioned term for a ton of free food. They loaded down our car with all this non-perishable stuff that stocked our pantry and fed us for quite a while. (I think that was the first time I ever ate pasta salad.) My point is that this is a great example of people helping people who are in need. This is something that the Church is supposed to do. (See Acts 2:42-47.)

Fast-forwarding about 12 years, there was a time in my life when I was pretty needy. I had just come out of a psychiatric hospital, I had no health insurance, I needed to quit my job due to stress, and I needed some medication. MHMR was a huge* help, and they referred me to the local welfare office so I could get a green card (I think that’s what it was called) so I could get my prescription filled. So, I sat in the welfare office, filled out the application, and was denied on account of my one-year-old car, a gift from my parents, being too new. (I think their reasoning was that I could sell my car to make money to buy meds with.) I walked away with the realization that welfare wasn’t for me.

That’s not a slam against welfare or the people who genuinely need it. I was clinically depressed, and I had all sorts of issues, but I was an able-bodied person who was perfectly capable of getting off my butt, finding a job, and earning a decent living. After I did so, the therapists were right -- a less stressful job did help me get my mind off my issues. From what I can remember, I was able to buy the meds after I came into some money. And when I needed one-on-one therapy, I was referred to a counseling center that only charged what I could afford to pay. (*As a side note, I disagree with the MHMR counselor who basically told me that I would suffer from depression and need medication for the rest of my life. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve dealt with depression medicine-free since 2001. I don’t consider myself a depression patient anymore, and God has helped me overcome it and deal with it if it comes back.)

Back then, what stank was my attitude. Basically, I was a moocher. I didn’t pay my bills, and I tried to get away with other people paying my way for me as much as possible. If the government was willing to pay for my life, shoot, I was gonna take it.

Throughout the years, people with similar moocher mentalities have given me bad advice, and I’m finally wise enough to not take it. One lady told me that if I were strapped for cash, what I should do is go to the grocery store and write a check for $100 cash. The check would bounce, but the cash would tide me over until my next paycheck. (Yes, she was advising me to write bad checks.) Another friend told me I should have applied for food stamps when I was working a job that barely paid me enough to live on. Well, OK, the job really didn’t pay enough. She said I could have eaten really well during that time, because I was basically living on just tuna, popcorn, and eggs. (But yes, she was advising me to get help from a government program that exists to feed families with growing children who need the nourishment.)

Then there are people who try to beat and cheat the system. My mom is originally from Mexico, and she’s a very nice person, so unfortunately, people have tried to take advantage of her very nice nature. For instance, she caught a Spanish-speaking immigrant friend trying to collect Social Security by lying to a government agency. And she’s overheard Spanish-speaking women advising pregnant women from Mexico to immigrate here to the U.S. so they can have their babies for free. OK, I love America, and I appreciate my half-Mexican heritage, but I don’t want to pay for some moocher illegal immigrant’s baby with my tax dollars.

So, those are my basic concerns about government-run healthcare. I’ve got friends who’ve lived overseas and have a very interesting perspective about government healthcare. They say it’s awesome and cost-effective. And I’m sure it is, in the European countries they’ve lived in. But there aren’t illegal immigrants from Mexico who are trying to have their babies for free in Germany or England. There aren’t scores of lethargic, dangerously overweight people who sit in front of their computers and eat all day in Australia. The U.S. is a very generous country, and unfortunately, there are people who take advantage of that generosity. In my opinion, government-run healthcare in the U.S. would be subject to moochers, system-cheaters, and people who may have even brought on their health problems themselves.

Why would we have to bring the government in at all? In my opinion, the Church just needs to get off her butt. Christians, if you see someone in need, please be willing to help them out. Maybe give someone a “pounding” every once in a while. I know of one church in Arlington that had a free health fair recently where they gave out free health screenings, etc., to the public. It would be awesome if we’d have more of that. And there are lots of Christian doctors and nurses out there. Maybe they could volunteer their time once in a while to offer free services. As the Church, aren’t we supposed to be the hands and feet of Jesus? Are there supposed to be any needy among us? (See Acts 2:45).

I realize that there are, unfortunately, certain cases in which a person’s health needs are so severe that it would be appropriate for the government to step in. But couldn’t we just reform or expand Medicare and Medicaid -- like many politicians have been trying to do for years -- instead of mandating a blanket government program which would include severe cases, head colds, moochers, and frequent flyers alike?

I think the moochiness of some and possibly the laziness of others has ruined healthcare in this country for those who genuinely need it. (Not to mention the greediness of insurance companies and drug companies.) And now the politicians want us to fix it with our tax dollars. But I’d much rather my budget be more freed up to contribute to “poundings” instead of pay for new healthcare taxes. That is my opinion.

Consumer ramblings: fast-food salads, etc.

Lately, I’ve been craving fruits and vegetables, and if I eat out, I order salads. I’m not exactly sure why, though. Either I’m becoming more health-conscious in my old age, or I’m turning into my mom. :) So, in case you’re curious about what it’s like to order fast-food salad, I offer the following observations and opinions. (Disclaimer: I’m not a vegetarian, so the salads I tried had meat in them.)

Boston Market
Their Chicken Caesar Salad was the most expensive fast-food salad I’ve tried so far. (9 or 10 bucks for a salad and a soda is expensive to me.) But it was delicious. It came with a mini loaf of cornbread. My receipt had a coupon for a buy one-get one free meal, which I should have redeemed, but two weeks was kind of a short life for a coupon.

Potbellys
One of the many cool things about this restaurant (I ate there, didn’t take it to go) is that you can turn pretty much any of their sandwiches into a salad. (I think you can do the same at Subway, but I haven’t tried it yet.) Their Wreck Salad (includes various lunchmeats) was delicious, and it went pretty nicely with a milkshake.

Jack in the Box
I’ve tried their Chicken Bacon Club Salad (with crispy chicken) on a few different occasions with a few different results. The first time, I ordered from a location in Dallas that isn’t in a very good neighborhood. I went through the drive-thru, and they asked me to pull up to the front to wait for my order. It was about a 5-minute wait, but the salad was fresh, there was a lot of it, and it came with two beautiful strips of crispy chicken on top. There were a lot of bacon bits, and it was fairly filling.

The second time, I ordered from a location in Irving, at the drive-thru, where they also asked me to pull up elsewhere to wait for my order. (I’m not sure why it takes so long to take a pre-made salad out of the fridge and slap some chicken on top of it, but whatever.) This time, they accidentally gave my order to another customer, but they apologized profusely, and I got a free soda out of it. The salad wasn’t quite as fresh for some reason. I ordered the same salad a third time from the abovementioned Dallas location but didn’t have to wait long for it, and it was fresh and delicious. It had cucumbers in it this time -- very tasty.

Just as a side note, although Jack in the Box isn’t the most efficient at the drive-thru, they are my friend. They have a huge variety on their menu, so you can choose from greasy stuff or healthy stuff, cheap or expensive, and they’ve got locations all over the Metroplex.

McDonald’s
This is the first fast-food chain that I ever heard of that served salads. (I think they introduced them sometime in the 80s.) The first one I tried was at a Dallas location (somewhat near the abovementioned Jack in the Box), a Southwest Salad with crispy chicken strips and tiny tortilla chips. It was in kind of a medium-sized bowl, and it included beans and corn. It was very spicy, almost unnecessarily, but tasty.

Then, from an Irving location, I tried a Chicken Bacon Club salad with grilled chicken strips. The salad wasn’t very fresh this time. I’m not sure what the deal is with these two Irving restaurants and not-so-fresh salads -- maybe the Dallas restaurants have fresher produce markets nearby or something? Anyway, it was overall tasty. McDonald’s is usually efficient at the drive-thru.

This isn’t really related to salads, but I’d also like to say that McDonald’s McCafé serves a hot mocha that, in my opinion, is tastier than Starbucks caffé mocha. A "small" cup from McDonald’s is almost a dollar cheaper than a "tall" cup from Starbucks, too, even though Starbucks’ "tall" seems slightly larger than McDonald’s "small."

Wendy’s
This was probably the fastest, most efficient drive-thru experience I’ve ever had, and this salad was the most filling of any of the ones I’ve listed so far. I ordered the Southwest Taco Salad, which is basically a bowl of their chili that you dump on top of a huge bowl of salad and then add little bits of tortilla chips and dressing. (I’m pretty sure this was modified from their Taco Salad that was on the menu about 10 years ago; it was just a large salad with a bowl of chili and a bag of regular-sized tortilla chips.)

Tom Thumb
Technically, I wouldn’t classify a grocery store as a fast-food restaurant, but if you run to the deli, grab a salad, and then run to the express lane to pay for it, I think that could be considered fast food. Tom Thumb has several salads available, and with their reward card, you pay like between 4 and 5 dollars. I’ve tried their Chef Salad, which is pretty large and has strips of ham and chicken, from what I can remember, and one or two hard-boiled eggs. It comes with a fairly large serving of dressing. It’s yummy and mostly filling.

The only downside would be that their salads don’t come with plasticware or napkins, so you’d have to get those from somewhere else (like if you’re on your way to work and sneak into the breakroom en route to your cubicle).

Mexican taco salads and alternative
The abovementioned salads, unless otherwise indicated, all cost between 5 and 7 dollars, and they didn’t always stick to my ribs. (I’m not one of those petite chicks who gets full after just a few bites.) But if you get a Taco Salad from a Mexican fast-food place, it’ll probably be much cheaper and much more filling.

This is actually how I got the idea for salad meals in the first place. My mom used to order Fajita Salads from Rosa’s Café, which offers beef or chicken. I’m not sure if this chain is in the Metroplex at all. Anyway, their salads come in a huge edible bowl with refried beans on the bottom. Instead of salad dressing, you top it with salsa.

Taco Bueno’s Beef Taco Salad also comes with an edible bowl, but it’s smaller and doesn’t have beans on the bottom. It’s still delicious, though. I’ve seen ads for $3 salad bowls from Taco Cabana that I haven’t tried yet, but I’d imagine this salad is something between Rosa’s and Taco Bueno’s.

If money is tight for you but you’d like to try a salad meal at home, here’s my mom’s recipe for tuna salad. Drain a can of tuna and mix it with a bowl of lettuce, tomato, Miracle Whip, and Bacos. Maybe also add a dash of pepper, and voila, you’ve got about two servings. Enjoy. :)