Obamacare and the V.A

As the shut down of the US government ticks closer and closer due to the inability of law makers to make a deal, I realized what I have always known:  both the White House and Congress don't give a damn about what "We", the American people, want.  Lets look at the two main sides to this fiasco.

Republicans don't want Obamacare to go into effect, not only because (according to ALL recent polling) "We the People" don't want it, but because Republicans will oppose Democrats on every issue simply out of a misplaced sense of duty to their party.  By doing so, they have put themselves on the wrong side of the issue because "We the People" blame them for the seemingly inevitable government shutdown.  As for the Democrats, they are responsible for what will be (if fully implemented) the largest tax increase in US history. As for me, I am pissed at the Republicans for not staying out of the way, and just letting the Affordable Care Act fail on its own, which it will do, even if it gets funded.

However, Obamacare is not going to be a good thing.  Since it was signed into law in March of 2010, no one has been able to tell the American people what it is.  The supporters all tell us how great it will be, but can't tell us why. They say it will insure everyone, by forcing everyone to have health insurance or else they will be penalized, not "taxed" as the lobbyist said to the Supreme court.  Nowhere in the law does it ever say "tax".  I'm not going to get into how this will hurt a still fragile economy, or how only Democrats voted for it.  I am only going to compare it to the other universal healthcare nightmare that this country has had since 1930, and still can't get right: the V.A.

In 1930, President Hoover consolidated several government agencies that all dealt with veterans' affairs into one, and it has been disorganized and poorly run since.  As of January of this year, 800,000 vets are still waiting on benefits. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/11/va-veterans-benefits-backlog-ptsd-soldiers/2384429/)  That is .003 percent of the population of the United States.  As for those who do have benefits, these benefits are sub-par for what heroes should receive.  There was a story several months ago of a V.A. hospital cutting costs by closing the cafeteria on the weekends.  However, they were unable to provide food for the patients of the hospital on the weekends.  There were reports of amputees having to leave the hospital to get food because there was no food there.

In my family alone, I have three close relatives that have had horrible care from the V.A.  One in particular was during the Vietnam War (just watch  Born on the Fourth of July to see conditions).  The man had x-rays taken that showed what appeared to be a bulging disc after experiencing back pain. When the doctors opened him up, there were no bulging discs, but the doctors removed ALL the discs any way and fused the lower vertebrae because that is what the chart said to do.  Now the man has a bad back and it took a private practice doctor to diagnose the true problem 30 years later.  Two other victims of poor V.A. medical care happened within 2 years of each other in the early 90's.  One man was told by his doctors to take aspirin to prevent a possible heart attack, but it was never put in his chart by his doctors.  He went in for bypass surgery, never was told to stop taking them, and bled to death on the operating table.  The other man went in for gallbladder surgery and contracted a staph infection and died within 5 months of the procedure.  Compensation was never paid to any of these victims or their families.

If the government is unable to take care of a very small part of the population's healthcare adequately, and the government won't listen to its people (where 57% of the population oppose the implementation of Obamacare), then the government is unable to provide adequate healthcare to the entire population of America through Obamacare. The reality of Obamacare will be ugly and inadequate.

 
  

America as I See It

When I woke up this morning, it was like any other day.  Problem is, right now in this country: that's not a good thing.  We have a government that on the whole is more concerned with rhetoric than with actually getting anything done. The right won't give an inch and neither will the left.  With this being my first post I'm not going to get into everything I believe in just yet, but here is a short run down.  America is the greatest country on earth. A form of amnesty is a good thing. Same sex couples deserve the same rights as straight couples. The welfare program as a whole is destroying this country. Trickle up economics is a joke that only dumb people get.  Peace through strength is a great foreign policy.  These are just a few of my opinions. I will be posting every Monday and Friday about these topics and much, much more.  I look forward to the discussion so bring your "A" game.