David's country is taking shape.

The lazy and sheep like media types in this country have been beating us over the head over the past few weeks about the shortcomings of the ACA. (Obamacare)

If you believe everything you hear from these folks, people are being kicked out of their current plans left and right, and the "evil government" is making the health care system worse, not better, here in America.

Every day we hear a new story about some poor ordinary Joe who will be kicked out of his current health plan, and was subjected to "sticker shock" when he saw how much he will have to pay for one of the Obamacare plans.

These anecdotal stories make for good sound bites and echo chamber nods of approval, but this is far from the norm. I suspect that they all know this but they also know that  "passive consumers" won't question them or do a little research.

If they did, they would realize that behind some of these stories are folks like Ian Hodge.

"For Ian Hodge, 63, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the issue is all about getting the same care from the same doctors. When he learned his policy was canceled his reaction was “surprise and disgust,” he said.

Hodge said he tried 10 times to get information about a new policy on Oct. 1, the day the online federal exchange went live. He’s still trying to figure out his options, he said in a telephone interview.
“The website is not very clear,” Hodge said. “I’m concerned about being able to get affordable health care that’s at least as good as what I had previously.”New Coverage 

Hodge and his wife Sara, who also is 63, paid $1,041.85 a month for a plan offered by Highmark, he said. They like the care, their hospital and the doctors, and they worry they won’t be able to keep them under a new plan. 

“I had heard the repeated assurances by the president and people who work for him that if you have health insurance, don’t worry, you’ll be able to keep your health insurance,” Hodge said in a telephone interview. “Well, that’s clearly not true. I wasn’t allowed to keep my health insurance.”

So, this is just an average Joe getting screwed over by Obamacare.  Or is he?  Let's do some digging on the Google.  

The first thing I find is a LinkedIn profile describing Ian as an Independent Financial Professional with a degree in Political Science from Penn.  OK, a degree in Political Science doesn't necessarily mean you aren't an average Joe.
The next thing I see is information about Ian's home, valued at $481,500 on a three acre lot.  That's nice, but nothing extraordinary.

Next, I found an article from 2012 about a political flap about Ian's appointment to the township planning commission.

Manheim Township Commissioner J. Michael Flanagan wondered out loud during Monday's meeting whether the appointment of township resident Ian Hodge to Manheim Township's planning commission was politically motivated.

and later,
Flanagan said during Monday's meeting that Hodge, a frequent critic of township spending in recent years, donated money to Heck and Kling's campaign last year, when the duo were running for commissioners' seats as a team.
Ok, it seems like Ian is politically active.  That doesn't mean he can't be an average Joe.

Then I found a website of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County.  On this page are listed the 2013 Republican Committee endorsed candidates.  And near the bottom is our friend Ian, now running for Manheim Township Commissioner.  

Ian is not an average Joe.  Ian is a Republican candidate for local office.  That has some relevance to Ian's quotes in the Bloomberg article.  I don't know about the facts Ian quotes, but his surprise, disgust, concern and worry could be politically motivated, don't you think?  Couldn't Ian's run for office have been mentioned in the Bloomberg story?  This is journalism missing the mark, at the very least.

But, then I kept looking.  This isn't the first time Ian has been quoted in a news article.  In Lancaster Online from September 24, "Thousands of Highmark insurance customers in Central Pa. face cancellationsManheim Township man must shop for new policy

Hodge, of Manheim Township, said the letter surprised him. "They're canceling my policy," he said. "That's not something that was supposed to happen under Obamacare."

That article doesn't mention his run for office either, even though it is a local media outlet.

One could naively think that Mr. Hodge just happened to be contacted by two media outlets for his views.  I like to think Mr. Hodge has been contacting reporters, pushing his story.  Evidently, when a reporter is offered a money quote out of the blue, he or she may just run with it.  And that's why I like to Google news articles."

I am not mad at the right. They are doing whatever they can to win the propaganda war. There is a lot of money and power at stake. There is the potential for such a large fundamental shift in how health care services are delivered here in America, that I am quite sure some people are going to do everything in their powers to make sure that it doesn't happen.

You would think that journalist in this country would be talking about the poor children who are going to go hungry because republicans saw fit to vote to cut the food from their dinner tables. The candy and goodies that they get from trick or treating tonight can only go so far. At some point mommy and daddy will have to go grocery shopping. (Did I mention that taking food from children will also hurt the economy ?)

The beauty of being an elected politician who earns over $170,000.00 per year is that you will never have to worry about depending on the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) program or any other program that the government has to offer. This makes it easy for you to look down on the little poor people from your D.C. bubble and tell them how pathetic they are because they haven't been as fortunate as you are in life.

I will leave you with the words of republican representative, Steve Fincher:

"quoting a Bible passage, "Anyone unwilling to work should not eat."

It gets worse.

"Fincher, it should be noted, has collected millions in farm subsidies. Assistance is good enough for him, a person in power, but far be it from the little man to receive their meager SNAP benefits in order to feed their families." [Source]

Kids, don't eat all the goodies tonight. I suspect that you will need some of them soon.