Reply #56: Demand away then

[dcfirefighter]

I don't take it for granted - I realize that's why I come to work. My and my union demanding from my employer is an entirely different proposition than you and others demanding that everybody take a share in paying for your healthcare.

I get healthcare from my employer for being an employee. It just so happens that my employer gets the money to pay for my healthcare through taxation.

You are asking me, and others, to set aside a portion of our paycheck to pay for your healthcare. Personally, I'd rather pay for your healthcare than, say, a portion of a $100M military aircraft that won't do the job it's supposed to do, but I don't have that choice. As a point of fact, I'd rather just keep what I earned, maybe save up for a house one day, ON THE CONDITION THAT YOU HAD A FAIR CHANCE TO EARN YOUR OWN WAY. I recognize that many of the laws and privileges granted by our government mean that not everybody who is willing to work can find a job, much less on that pays enough to keep the kids in food, a roof over head, the heat on, and hope beyond hope, the insurance paid up.

I fear the solution (that I thought) you were proposing as potentially uncontrollable; upon clarification, I don't have a problem with any of your solutions.