In 1973, 23-year-old Joseph Riddick watched his best friend get killed in a drive-by shooting. He was convicted of the murder by an all-white jury based on the testimony of a single eyewitness. No physical evidence was presented at the trial, and he was given a life sentence.
Despite the witness recanting their testimony, it took 45 years to overturn the conviction. With the help of multiple activist groups, the Indiana native was finally released in 2018. A crowd of surviving friends, family, and supporters were there to greet him when he was finally released from Indiana State Prison. Little did they know he was being released from a physical prison into a financial one.
The Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare was signed into law in March 2010. The federal statute introduced an individual mandate that requires all individuals to have health insurance. Obamacare is largely accepted to be a leftist attack on the middle class. Forcing hard working Americans to solve the free-rider problem themselves, instead of pushing costs onto the unemployed, impoverished free riders themselves.
Of course, Joseph Riddick did not know any of this. He was lucky enough to come from a world where Nixon was president. When every American could get a fair shot by working hard. Leaving prison as a free man, he felt that he didn’t owe anybody anything.
Unfortunately, according to liberal America, everybody owes the government. Riddick, now 71, suffers from arthritis and type 2 diabetes. He can’t afford health insurance but is still forced to pay a penalty under the individual mandate. The amount of money being paid out by the state for his wrongful conviction puts him into a tax bracket he can’t afford. The money is used to pay for the enormous legal fees incurred during his fight for freedom and he has no access to it. Riddick told Paperslop that “according to the government, I’m about the richest man in Indiana”.
The past three years of freedom have been incredibly difficult for Joseph. His health has deteriorated to the point that he is unable to work. Thanks to Obamacare he’s taxed like a millionaire even though he doesn’t have health insurance.
Left with few other options, he’s been buying insulin illegally to keep himself alive. He confided to Paperslop that he wants to go back to prison. “This is not an America I can afford to live in anymore”. Joseph’s story is all too common. He is living proof that the Affordable Care Act is not as affordable as its name suggests. Proof that our justice system works but federal intrusion into our healthcare system does not.