Here's how that Obama thing is working out for us

Well, I told you all about how the President responded to my letter a while back. All smoke and mirrors, but nothing real.

At the time, I was upset that with all this great economic stuff happening, our family qualifies for nothing. And, as I pointed out in my letter, it was on the backs of hard-working Americans like my hubby and I that our economy would recover. Well, I now have proof.

First up: Obamacare. Our deductibles have now DOUBLED. For those who don't know what that means, I'll tell you. The amount we have to spend out of pocket before the insurance will cover anything is now twice what it was last year. For our family, this meant we had to spend $2500. I realize that some families pay more. But for us, that's a lot.

Then, because our insurance plan is a small self-funded program, they also increased our co-percentage from 20% to 30%. So... we now pay 10% more for our health care.

But oh, no, it does not stop there. Because they also no longer cover dental expenses, other than... wait for it... one cleaning a year. And that isn't even fully covered, as attested to by the $40 bill I just paid my dentist for said one cleaning a year. Which means, the $1100 of dental work hubby needs will be completely out of pocket.

And no, I am not done yet. Additionally, our family's prescription out of pocket expenses have also increased. We've gone from a $5 copay to a $10 copay, PLUS many drugs are no longer covered.

My estimate, based on what we've spent in the first quarter of this year, is that our family's medical expenses will INCREASE by at least $5000.


Moving on to TAXES.

I just finished our taxes. I won't tell you exactly what we make, but we are, by Obama's definition, middle class Americans.

Our actual income went down by $5000. Our taxable income went down by $4200. BUT... our total tax went UP by $1.

And okay, it's only $1. But did ya get the point about our income going DOWN? Yet we get the privilege of paying more taxes.

I dunno... I realize it's simple math. But so far, actual cash down the drain, we're out $10,000. Now maybe that's not a lot of money to some people, but for us, that's a lot of money.

Yes, the economy is bad, and I'm willing to own that it's not all Obama's fault. But I look at his healthcare reform, and all the promises he made with that, and you know... I'm glad that for some people, their costs got to go down, and others may even get coverage. But I'm the one paying for it. Some people are getting more tax breaks, and I say, great! Except I'm the one paying for it. I'm still paying a higher interest rate on my mortgage and can't refinance, because guess what? We are now officially underwater on our mortgage. But hey, we still have the money to pay it, so it's all good right?

I know Obama says that he's running again, and yippee for him. I just pray that either a.) he will stop playing these smoke games and deal honestly with us, or b.) we'll actually get someone in office who will. See, I don't mind giving money to help others. I really don't. But I do mind being promised better and getting worse.