You probably expect me to rant about the anti-woman, anti-choice, stupid, short sighted, overstepping, lame-ass, audacious, and downright sexist decision made by the Supremes in the Mr. Hobby Lobby case.
And you would be totally right in thinking I could rant my pants off about it, but I’m here for another, altogether different rant. . .
What the fuck is up with businesses being expected to provide health care insurance for their employees? I’m serious – why on earth should a business provide insurance at all? Whether or not their employees have health insurance is none of their business – professionally or personally. As a small business owner, I cannot see why I should be required provide it to my employees – it has nothing to do with my business or their work.
I know I sound like a Libertarian (props to you, my Lib pals), but I’d like you to think about this for a minute – objectively. Businesses started providing health insurance as an extra benefit to their employees. Benefits are like bribes and dessert – awesome and unnecessary. A healthy workforce works harder and better and often the insurance was a total necessity because of the dangerous nature of the work. Somehow this benefit turned into a worker’s right, no matter what the work, and that’s where it all falls apart for me.
Do you consider good health and access to healthcare a universal human right? Do you believe our children have the right to free public education? Me too. I think this healthcare thing comes under the same umbrella and should be provided by the same people who bring you public schools, highways, bank regulation and wars – our less-than-stellar government.
Which brings me to the super-secret agenda: the Supremes think so too. This shitty Mr. Hobby Lobby decision is the first step to building a case for socialized medicine in the US. By codifying a business’s right to have an opinion, religion and values (hence my use of “Mr.” if you didn’t make that connection) that are at odds with the good of the masses, it paves the way for unbiased, opinion free healthcare for all of us.
Frankly, I think Mr. Hobby Lobby can and should do whatever he likes with the benefit they are required to provide. They shouldn’t be forced to provide it anyway and sadly, their “win” isn’t a win at all considering the mess it may cause. Unless, of course, I’m right and the Supremes have a larger, smarter person in mind to provide health insurance – Uncle Sam. I’m not holding my breath.
