It's all over the news. The Supreme Court of the United States has made some really big decisions in June. But that's not the only history made in June. In the wake of racist fueled church attacks in South Caroline, confederate flags are coming down. There is a lot of positive going on in the United States lately!
One that made a big difference for us is their decision on the tax subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Otherwise known as Obamacare. They decided to keep the subsidies in place. If your income is low enough, the state pays for part of your health plan premium if your plan is from the exchange. The part they pay is based on income and you have to report changes in income. The assistance you get is considered income for your taxes for that year. We probably qualify for a larger amount now since Josh is making less then when he was on Unemployment. But I continue to pay the higher amount of the premium to reduce what will go to taxes. We would be in serious financial trouble without that subsidy. There are millions of Americans like us.
That's not even the big "WOW" of historical decisions this month. Same sex marriage is now legal anywhere in the United States. That's like "grande finale of the 4th of July fireworks" big! That's "my team won the championship" big! That's "my baby has just been born" big! That's "NASA having a conversation with a Martian" big! That's "you've been drafted by your favorite team" big! That's "I'm pregnant" big! That's "you won the lottery jackpot" big! That's................well............ a huge deal.
But it shouldn't be. It's bullied couples wanting to be treated equally. Their marriage won't effect strait marriages. Unless you have some gay friends. Then you'll need more wedding gifts. We still need to work on preventing GLBT workplace discrimination. We also need to make it easier for GLBT couples to adopt all those kids created because their state doesn't believe in birth control. But this is a long-fought for victory and I badly want to hug every gay friend I have ever had.
I'm also happy to hear about the recent push to take down the confederate flag from some government buildings. It belongs in history museums. Because it's history. It's a part of our history we shouldn't forget. Because we learned a lot of lessons from the Civil War. But when you fly it today you are trying to keep it in the present. We are not the union and the confederacy anymore. It's been a very long time since we have been divided in that way.
Maybe as the confederate flag comes down, we can stop being against each other simply because of home state. Maybe this can open the doors to real compromise. We are called the United States but we haven't been united since 9/11. We want to be united again. But we haven't found something to actually unite over. As the flags come down, maybe the slow process of uniting can begin again.
"Divide and conquer". We are divided. That makes us easy to conquer. We are stronger when we stand together. Other countries laugh at us because we aren't the super power we claim to be. The super power we used to be. We have become weak. We can't be a super power again until we unite.
No comments:
Post a Comment