Help! The Affordable Care Act is not affordable for me!
Remember Mike Elk, the former lethargic Politico labor reporter? The word "lethargic" will forever be attached to his name because despite writing a grand total of five stories in fourteen weeks followed by several months of doing absolutely nothing, while being paid, he compained about the heavy work load at Politico. Nowadays Elk is writing about labor unions at his own Payday Report website funded by his Politico settlement. Unfortunately for Elk, money management doesn't seem to be his strong point since he now has his hand out for money to pay for ObamaCare which he claims he can't afford.
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Before we get to his ObamaCare woes, let us quickly get reacquainted with Mike Elk by reading his September 2015 complaint about how horrible his incredibly light work load at Politico was:
“The first couple months there I really couldn’t take the pace,” Elk says of his time at Politico. “At Politico, they want to be first with everything, and that’s how they define their revenue model. In addition to all the stories they write, they do these morning newsletters. [The newsletters] go out at midnight. So people come in. They work a full day. Then they go home. They try to write the newsletter before they go home. Then they have to edit the newsletter. It’s such an unpredictable schedule, and there’s no formal system at Politico for how to deal with working overtime. There’s no comp time, there’s no overtime.”
Keep in mind that from October 2014 until the end of January 2015 his work load was a mere five stories. After that he was paid to do absolutely nothing until August 2015 when he was finally fired. What first brought Elk to public attention was this hilarious quote just dripping with lethargy:
“I can’t work the kind of hours I did when I was 24,” says Elk, who is 28.
So now that Elk is back to a slightly less lethargic work schedule at his own Payday Report website, logging in about one story every three days, his big problem seems to be how to afford Obamacare. As with his crowd funded Florida vacation, Elk once again has his hand out to pay his Obamacare bill, Help Payday Afford Health Insurance – We Can’t Right Now:
Last week, I was sick with the flu and couldn’t go to the doctor. This is because Tennessee is one of 18 states in the country that hasn’t expanded Medicaid. While the Republican Governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam has attempted to pass Medicaid expansion, he so far has blocked by Tea Party conservatives in the Tennessee State Legislature.
The result is that I don’t go to the doctor when I go sick. Worse, as PTSD survivor, I am unable to afford therapy. Instead, I rely on a patchwork of support groups and friends for mental health needs. I wish it weren’t this way, but Payday isn’t making enough money yet for me to be able to afford health insurance.
So, as Payday Readers, I need your help so that I can afford to buy health care before open enrollment ends on January 3rd. Giving to our winter fundraising drive is the best way to do this.
So this message, posted on January 23, pleads for money before the open enrollment ends on January 3? Do I smell a scam here?
The best way for Mike Elk to reduce his Obamacare bill is to support repeal and replace in Congress. Until then he could cut his budget in other areas. For example, with coupons he could cut his food budget (please don't tell me he uses food stamps after his big Politico payout) by a couple hundred bucks per month. Since Elk is currently living in the Chattanooga area which has Publix stores, here is a link to a current deal to get himself a gallon of milk, hot sauce, and 8 pieces of fried chicken to stuff his face with for just $1.65. Oh, and while you are at Publix, Mike, you might look into getting a part time job there to pay for your ObamaCare.
Not only should you write about labor, you should try actually doing it.
