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Both sides have their media - each pointing out faults of the other. They preach to a ready audience ready willing to believe whatever is put before them. This is why it is important to do our own homework as citizens, and vote with more than just hate or disappointment. This Friday, MSNBC's Rachael Maddow show presented a piece on the hypocrisy surrounding the health care mandate. You need to see this as it is based on through research not mindless accusations. The essence of the report was that the idea for the health mandate originated with the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The bottom line was that it was conceived as an alternative in opposition to the proposed Clinton Health Care plan. Republican leadership fully backed the mandate to include a penalty up through 2009. What changed in 2009? You guessed it - the Democrats introduced their health care plan with the mandate thinking that the Republicans would support the plan with the mandate - their idea. Note that President Obama did not want the mandate but went along looking for the middle ground, which we now can see looking back that there is none. Latinos require affordable health care and the mandate is the tool to make it affordable. The whole controversy or a mandate is flawed though well implemented by the right, which can take any position and aggressively market it. It is flawed because most of us already have employer-provided health care so those folks would be incompliance with the mandate. A March 2012 study by the Urban Institue concluded that "The “individual mandate”—the requirement that individuals either have health insurance coverage or pay a fine—is both the best known and the least popular component of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). If the ACA were in effect today, 94 percent of the total population (93% of the nonelderly population) or 250.3 million people out of 268.8 million—would not face a requirement to newly purchase insurance or pay a fine." Those 40 million or so that don't have it - well most don't have it because they choose not to - they just can't afford it and if they are employed; work for someone that does not offer it. That leaves a small percentage that choose not to have it - very small. These are the folks that would be mandated and it is not like they will be told to pay for the most expensive plan. They will be able to chose a basic plan that is less expensive or pay the penalty if they feel it would be cheaper, which is unlikely. So all this Latino to help you understand with facts that you will get what you vote (or if you don't even vote) for. A president that has fought to ensure all have health insurance or a presidential-wanna-be that wants to repeal the whole health care act, and has yet to provide us details of what he would put in place - the same guy that used that mandate in his state, and whose only argument today is that it is not for the Federal government to use a mandate. Think about the logic or lack thereof in that. Inform others of this video. Vote informed and do vote Latino. Read the study report under Key Documents at TPL"s www.theprogressivelatino.com
