Sixty-Five

Sixty-five is the magic number. I have a Medicare card. Yes. I have been without insurance for 17 years. I consider insurance companies another form of organized crime. Therefore, I have refused to give them any of my money. I have paid for my medical needs, which included a major surgery and the spin-off from a broken back, and I am way ahead of the economic game.

There are those who are attempting to cut back on "entitlements." Certainly, I believe our health-care needs can be provided with simple, basic, good medicine, without all the expensive toys. MRIs and CAT scans have their place but not with the frequency they are currently used.

I am one of the 99 percent. I have paid into Medicare for forty-seven years, and I will continue to pay into it. If the government had put a lock on Medicare and Social Security revenues, as President Clinton suggested, our nation's finances would have a different complexion.

The last President Bush drained our nation's funds into the pockets of the wealthy and gave them tax deductions galore. In the name of "terrorism," this president began two wars and created a staggering national debt, in the neighborhood of $14-to-17 trillion.

Now the wealthy 1 percent want to keep their "entitlements," lower taxes, and cut Social Security benefits. I hope everyone realizes that $4.6 trillion of the national debt is owed to Social Security.

I support the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. It is time to level the playing field, and I celebrate being 65 and having Medicare.