Get Off Our Backs!

I have an insiders view as to why the country is in such a mess. Why am I on the inside? Well because my life literally depends on how well the country is managed. When times are bad, as they are now, it becomes more difficult to pay for the medicines that keep me alive. When the economy is booming the story is obviously different. I am 51 and completely dependent on the government to cover my $3,000.00 a month drug cost, plus $1200.00 a month in Social Security Disability payments. I also receive $653.00 a month from a pension. I live in San Francisco with my partner in an apartment in the mission district that we’ve shared since 1992. He also depends on the government to keep him alive with basically the same resources as income. His medicines cost more than $3,000.00, plus $100,000.00's of dollars in hospitalization alone. We both had a long work history and paid tax into Social Security to qualify for (considered by the government) a pretty decent monthly payment. It has always been difficult to navigate the financial twists and turns of managing a life threatening illness as well as managing the illness itself, but now it’s almost impossible. Though I depend on credit cards to make ends meet, I’m besieged by the government with requests for bank statements, accounts, and other records. It doesn’t matter that the debt I carry at 19% interest costs me more than $60.00 a month, but what does matter is the $12.00 I got in interest for the entire year of 2006 from a Washington Mutual bank account that I opened for the free checking. In 2005 I opened the free account. In 2004 our garage was flooded and we lost a lot of valuable memorabilia. We received $5,000.00 insurance payment that I put into savings to qualify for a credit card with a very low interest rate. The $5,000.00 was gradually spent during 2005, mostly on medicine. I never reported this account because I have no money in it now. I was wrong for not reporting this oversight. The government should get off the backs of sick people it’s not money well spent. It’s obvious to me why we’re in a mess.