After spending a good deal more than 9.5% of my family’s income on health care this year, with a good-sized chunk of that amount going to a health insurance plan that’s gutted its benefits since I first enrolled, I’m now ready to enter the ranks of the uninsured. I don’t see the existing reform as a source of hope for me, nor do I see any alternative the Republicans suggest as hopeful, either. I see both parties pandering to lobbyists and that’s not going to be good for anyone.

I don’t care about being able to keep the doctor of my choice. I can’t afford to see the doctor of my choice. I already take my kids to a school clinic for their immunization shots and if I plan to travel anywhere exotic, I’ll see the county health office about getting my inoculations there. Otherwise, I’m not able to go to the doctor. I have to use that money to pay off my debts – house, car, college loans, credit cards. At least canceling my insurance will get me some extra money to pay those off faster.

This is the problem I face: I’m poor, and I’m living in a land that rewards the rich. It doesn’t matter who I vote in, within a matter of days or weeks the poor sap is going to be surrounded with lobbyists that will turn him to their way of thinking. If that doesn’t happen, no problem: they’ve already got their hooks in everyone else.

Without health care reform, I’m still faced with a choice of paying lots of money for an insurance policy that does nothing or not paying for any insurance and taking the attitude that we go when we go and that’s that.