Inauguration Uff Da

Well it happened. Inauguration day came and went. I was well aware of the fact after briefly checking my Facebook account. It was “lit up,” as the saying goes, by friends on both sides of the political aisle. I vowed to stay clear and avoid any “news” and was fairly successful at my attempt. For all matters, it seemed a grandiose day for the celebrants and a morose one for protesters. Thank God it passed peacefully. Congratulations and my condolences for everyone, depending on your outlook.

Then Saturday brought us even more fodder for the news channels. Women marched around the country in a sign of solidarity. I think this is great!! I don’t agree with some of their “issues” they are standing for (reproduction rights?) but the fact that we live in a country that women can, and are celebrated for, marching for what they believe in. (Just a side-note, it’s hard to pin down what they were marching for as their website leaves the door wide open to anything they are passionate on, but I digress.) Try that in Saudi Arabia, or Iran, or China. It’s a great country that allows the disaffected to make a show of power, recall the 9/12 Tea Party March in 2009 or the Occupy Wall Street movement. America is full of promise, seeing it allows anyone who peacefully gathers together to voice their concerns on which way the country is heading. It’s unfortunate any bad players take advantage and include “riot” tactics such as terrorism, vandalism and theft. Very unfortunate!

What way is the country heading? Good question! One would hope that we are getting closer to protecting our most innocent and vulnerable citizens, the unborn, but I’m not holding my breath. Third rail indeed! I’m not expecting too much change overall. The last presidency promised hope and change, and it’s a stretch to say they delivered any hope with all their change. It does seems that President Trump is going to keep his promise and repeal and replace, referring to the Affordable Healthcare Act. Not sure what he can do without the approval of Congress, which seems content with a shrinking presence in policy matters, but any change would be welcome. The ACA, or Obamacare if you prefer, brought me higher premiums, so high I had to switch to a high deductible insurance plan. Fantastic. (It’s tough to use sarcasm in print, so I’ll try to highlight it with yet another parenthetical. Sorry.) I won’t be shedding too many tears to see it go. I do hope, however, that we keep the good parts of it such as allowing our adult children on until 26 and not being turned away for pre-existing conditions. Both of those things are accepted by most as positive.

I think we also need to ensure that the 2 million people in the state marketplaces (numbers from Clark Howard) don’t have a lapse in coverage. I worked hard when we moved back to Montana to not have a lapse in coverage, even paying out the nose for COBRA coverage, so I empathize with their possible plight.

And a final thought. Two million votes is a small percentage, 1/66 or 1.5 percent, of the registered voters in America. A little perspective on this, that is equivalent to twice the citizens of Montana, not registered voters, but only 58 percent of the registered voters of New York City, not citizens. What does this mean? The Electoral College is still working at keeping smaller populated states’ suffrage rights intact.