Before you go any further, read this...

Dictionary.com defines a redneck as:

1. an uneducated white farm laborer, esp. from the South.

2. a bigot or reactionary, esp. from the rural working class.

It goes on to say that redneck is A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist. This term is generally considered offensive. It originated in reference to agricultural workers, alluding to how the back of a person's neck will be burned by the sun if he works long hours in the fields.

While I can't say all that fits me to a tee, a lot of it is pretty damn close.

You see, I lost both my parents before I turned 12 years old. I bounced around in a couple of foster homes before moving in with my uncle when I tuned 15. By age 17, I was on my own. I dropped out of school half way through 11th grade so I could go to work full time. Three months after my 18th birthday, I got behind the wheel of a cab for the first time.

I've learned more about life in 28 years in a hack than any philosopher ever could know. I've had multi-million dollar businessmen, celebrities and pro athletes as well as crack whores, drug dealers and murderers in my cab. I refuse to be an airport jockey or one of those guys that only stages at the hotels, so unfortunately, I have to deal with more of the bottom feeders of life than I do the upper crust.

It is the dealings that I've had the bad apples that has made me what I am today...

The Redneck Cabbie.

You see, to escape the madness of the city streets, my mind drifts off (not while I'm driving) to a quiet country town. A place where everyone knows everyone, and a man's handshake is as binding a contract as a person needs. A place where friends gather to down a couple of cold ones and listen to music that you can actually understand the words.

A place where young men don't walk around with their pants falling down over their ass, and young ladies don't have to dress like sluts to draw a man's attention.

I think you get the picture. I know, boring as whale shit to most city folks. I'd be living in a town just like that if it weren't for the fact that there's just not much demand for my line of work in most small towns.

This blog will reflect these feelings. If I seem a little bitter now and then, its just because that wonderful little town is nowhere in my near future, and because the life expectancy of someone in my line of work doesn't extend much past retirement age, all I can do is dream about it.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Clinton health plan for Americans only

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally would not be covered by her proposed universal health care plan.

The New York senator said she supports basic health services for illegal immigrants, including hospitalization and treatment of acute conditions. But she said the magnitude of the nation's health care challenge means her universal coverage proposal would not cover the 12 million people living in the country illegally.

Full Story

This perplexes me...

On the surface, this sounds great. I have supported some form of universal heath care for a while now. And now, the "liberals" leading candidate says that this heath care would only be available to Americans. If you were to accept this at face value, you'd have to say that was fairly reasonable.

What scares me is if Hillary and a few more liberals get voted into office, who's to say that the millions that are now in this country illegally would eventually become legal? There was nothing in this story that said anything about her heath care plan being available only to citizens.

There's no doubt that something needs to be done to get more, if not all, Americans covered with health insurance. I also feel that it should be a personal responsibility, not that of business owners. Unfortunately, like auto insurance, a great number of people would not participate unless it was somehow mandated.

Ms. Clinton's plan seems to be the the most workable. Question is, how much other liberal garbage will we have to swallow in order to achieve this?

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