I'd like to add....

My last post has been on my mind all week, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down, sort my thoughts, and blog. I've been too busy working to get a chance earlier this week. Everyday this week and next, I'll be working both my regular job as well as promos for Guinness and a couple other modeling jobs. I am very very grateful to have this opportunity, but I'm also too busy to enjoy blogging and reading my usual bogs. Oh well, like with everything in life, when it rains, it pours and I'm just going to dance in the rain!

OK, back to business. I've been thinking about my previous post all week and I've come to two conclusions.

1. Rush Limbaugh was wrong. So are many other pundits, on both sides, and their nasty words and name calling really detracts from the issues. I know why they do it. It fires people up! It fired me right up, but it also clouded my ability to process my thoughts.

2. I always have and always will feel very mixed emotions when it comes to national health care. In theory, I don't like it. It makes me feel angry because I regularly witness people who are all too happy to take a handout and live a complacent life. My husband, on a daily basis, deals with people who make it a living to work the system, and it is infuriating! But, then there are the families who don't want the handout. They need the help. Perhaps they've been affected by the auto industry crisis? The husband lost his job, has no other skills. Maybe the wife didn't attend college or left her career to raise kids and now isn't going to find a job so easily? Their child gets sick, or one of them is diagnosed with an illness. Should they go bankrupt? My heart says no, but my brain says, this example is way too few and far between from my experiences. In addition, I'm already paying for the uninsured! I know plenty of people who could afford to purchase a plan and choose not to. Instead one person I know has a new boat and just renovated her kitchen! She's employed full time and isn't offered a plan through her job, but can purchase a private plan. Or another family I know. They just go to the ER every time they need to see a doctor! They just put a down payment of 20% in cash on a new home..... I know too many people like this to hop on board the health care proposal. I think something needs to be done, but I haven't seen a solution I like yet.

The point I should have stressed in my previous post is that I work full time and have benefits. I pay for my benefits and I pay dues to a union. I did not have a choice on the union. If you work here, you're in it and paying dues each month. What makes me want to scream is that I pay for my benefits and they don't cover birth control. They paid for my two surgeries due to endometriosis. They pay for facials at my dermatologist. But they will not cover the birth control pills I need to prevent another costly (to them) surgery! I'm not asking for a handout. I'm asking for this to make sense. When the union renegotiated our contract last fall, my insurance cost and co-pays went up. I am not upset about that at all. I am grateful for my job and my health care. However, not one of the MEN representing me in the union mentioned it might be a good idea to consider offering a plan which would cover the birth control pills. Funny thing is, I hate taking it. If I didn't need it, I'd use another method to prevent pregnancy because the pill affects me negatively. (TMI??? I hope not!)

I still fear the GOP is heading into dangerous territory. And, as a Catholic, I will admit, I do not agree with my church's stance on birth control. Most Catholics my age do not adhere to the church's birth control policy (something like 93% I was told when I converted in 2007). I think the separation of church and state should be protected. I think it gets sticky when someone like me or a non-Catholic works for a Catholic institution, and they don't cover birth control. I cannot figure out how this benefits anyone. If the employee pays for part of their coverage and pays the co-pays, why can every medically necessary and preventative medication be covered? I think it should be covered and everyone can make their own decision whether or not they'd like to take it. I feel this way about most issues- personal choice and personal responsibility trump all things!!!!

I feel like this is a really good thing though, to think about these issues. To sometimes get angry and question. I am a Republican. However, I don't have to like everything the party represents. It'd be great if I did. It'd be even better if a candidate or third party emerged, who embodied more of my socially moderate beliefs! Until then, I'll have to take the good with the not so good and sometimes get mad. If you don't ever think and question, you stop evolving. Eventually, you stop using your brain for anything other than thinking about lipsticks and what's for dinner. ;)

On that note, please stay tuned for an upcoming post on, what else, lipstick! I need to lighten the mood around here, and have been really into bright lipstick this season. I'm excited to share with you some fun new colors that are flattering on almost everyone.

Have a great weekend!