ARGUENDO AD NAUSEAM
Intransigence? Incompetence? Insanity?
From the article:
1. Conservative-libertarians such as I are not against government per se, we are against TOO MUCH POWER concentrated in ANY one location, be it Government, Industry, the Enemedia, the Church, a Demagogue, or any particular Pressure Group.'
2. Don't you REALIZE that MEDICARE has been the single greatest factor driving up Medical Costs to their present astronomical levels?
One of two versions of a character who shall remain nameless –– I don't know whether the real or the false, and don't particularly care, since I respond to the MESSAGE more to the person –– posted the exact message claiming the AMA and most other known organizations in the medical community support Obamacare at several blogs.
I responded to this character, both versions of whom are equally obnoxious and unwelcome here, with these words:
'And what would make you think sensible people would trust the AMA and the insurance Industry anymore than they trust any OTHER enormous power bloc?
'What you and your "cohorts" –– and too many RINOS in power –– don't not understand is that conservative-libertarians such as I are not against government per se, we are against TOO MUCH POWER concentrated in ANY one location, be it Government, Industry, the Enemedia, the Church, or any particular Pressure Group.'
_________________
I can't understand why everybody does not comprehend that government by its very nature is THE biggest MONOPOLY imaginable.
You CAN change your job. You CAN change your location . You CAN shop in a variety of stores. You CAN eat in a variety of restaurants. So far, you CAN change your doctor and, except in cases of dire emergency. you CAN choose the hospital in which you are to have a surgical procedure and the surgeon who will perform the task. You CAN choose among different rehabilitation facilities, and you CAN choose any nursing home you like from a wide variety available in your area. HOWEVER, you haven't a prayer of a chance of changing your GOVERNMENT. –– And please don't give me the usual balderdash about "working through 'the system' and using the ballot box" to effect change. That and ten bucks might buy you a decent hamburger these days.
Right NOW the vast majority of us still have FREEDOM of CHOICE to a high degree when it comes to obtaining medical care. Once Obamacare sets in that blessed freedom is very likely to be taken away for good and all.
I have had VAST experience with our system of healthcare for myself and several loved ones over six decades, and have NEVER found it unsatisfactory or unmanageable, EXCEPT during my father's final illness when MEDICARE forced our local hospital ––– where my parents had made voluntary contributions of time, money and service for decades, including my father's stint on the Planning Committee for the large addition that was to double the size of the place ––– MEDICARE forced them toto DUMP my father into the STREET, because he had outlived his lifetime Medicare Benefit Days.
Never mind that he was blind, incontinent, incoherent, and weighed only 65 pounds after three months in in the place. we were forced to take him home in that miserable condition. Mercifully he died only four days later.
When I tried to register a complaint with the "Social Worker" who had been put in charge of my father's case, she looked at me from her fat face with eyes as cold as stone, and said in abrasive, uncultivated accents, "Face it, Mr. FreeThinke, no one here gives a God damn about your father, so you might as well save your breath."
NICE, eh?
That was GOVERNMENT talking –– not our family physician who had been a family friend for many years. He and Dad had served together on the Board of deacons at our Church. With tears in his eyes, he told mother and me, "I'm so sorry, but because of government policy, my hands are tied. I could lose my privileges to work at this hospital and my license to practice, if I tried to defy their orders."
And THAT, ladies and gentleman, occurred in the summer of 1976 –– THIRTY SEVEN years ago.
And YOU believe that GOVERNMENT can do a better job of administering health care than a system run by private hospitals and private physicians?
Don't you REALIZE that MEDICARE has been the single greatest factor driving up Medical Costs to their present astronomical levels?
And you want even MORE government control?
I'm astonished and deeply distraught at the height, depth and breadth of utter FOOLISHNESS that pervades the thinking in our country today.
I responded to this character, both versions of whom are equally obnoxious and unwelcome here, with these words:
'And what would make you think sensible people would trust the AMA and the insurance Industry anymore than they trust any OTHER enormous power bloc?
'What you and your "cohorts" –– and too many RINOS in power –– don't not understand is that conservative-libertarians such as I are not against government per se, we are against TOO MUCH POWER concentrated in ANY one location, be it Government, Industry, the Enemedia, the Church, or any particular Pressure Group.'
_________________
I can't understand why everybody does not comprehend that government by its very nature is THE biggest MONOPOLY imaginable.
You CAN change your job. You CAN change your location . You CAN shop in a variety of stores. You CAN eat in a variety of restaurants. So far, you CAN change your doctor and, except in cases of dire emergency. you CAN choose the hospital in which you are to have a surgical procedure and the surgeon who will perform the task. You CAN choose among different rehabilitation facilities, and you CAN choose any nursing home you like from a wide variety available in your area. HOWEVER, you haven't a prayer of a chance of changing your GOVERNMENT. –– And please don't give me the usual balderdash about "working through 'the system' and using the ballot box" to effect change. That and ten bucks might buy you a decent hamburger these days.
Right NOW the vast majority of us still have FREEDOM of CHOICE to a high degree when it comes to obtaining medical care. Once Obamacare sets in that blessed freedom is very likely to be taken away for good and all.
I have had VAST experience with our system of healthcare for myself and several loved ones over six decades, and have NEVER found it unsatisfactory or unmanageable, EXCEPT during my father's final illness when MEDICARE forced our local hospital ––– where my parents had made voluntary contributions of time, money and service for decades, including my father's stint on the Planning Committee for the large addition that was to double the size of the place ––– MEDICARE forced them toto DUMP my father into the STREET, because he had outlived his lifetime Medicare Benefit Days.
Never mind that he was blind, incontinent, incoherent, and weighed only 65 pounds after three months in in the place. we were forced to take him home in that miserable condition. Mercifully he died only four days later.
When I tried to register a complaint with the "Social Worker" who had been put in charge of my father's case, she looked at me from her fat face with eyes as cold as stone, and said in abrasive, uncultivated accents, "Face it, Mr. FreeThinke, no one here gives a God damn about your father, so you might as well save your breath."
NICE, eh?
That was GOVERNMENT talking –– not our family physician who had been a family friend for many years. He and Dad had served together on the Board of deacons at our Church. With tears in his eyes, he told mother and me, "I'm so sorry, but because of government policy, my hands are tied. I could lose my privileges to work at this hospital and my license to practice, if I tried to defy their orders."
And THAT, ladies and gentleman, occurred in the summer of 1976 –– THIRTY SEVEN years ago.
And YOU believe that GOVERNMENT can do a better job of administering health care than a system run by private hospitals and private physicians?
Don't you REALIZE that MEDICARE has been the single greatest factor driving up Medical Costs to their present astronomical levels?
And you want even MORE government control?
I'm astonished and deeply distraught at the height, depth and breadth of utter FOOLISHNESS that pervades the thinking in our country today.
"Face it, Mr. FreeThinke, no one here gives a God damn about your father, so you might as well save your breath."
ReplyDeleteThe words that nursing home social worker spoke to me when the facility was trying to force me to leave Mr. AOW there and go medically bankrupt: "Isn't there a pool of money we can get?"
Those who haven't fought the health care system don't have a clue as to what a hardship such a battle is!
BTW, I kept hearing the following over and over again back in 2009-2010: "Get this or that piece of equipment. Medicare will pay for it."
ReplyDeleteMr. AOW didn't have Medicare at that time.
"I'm astonished and deeply distraught at the height, depth and breadth of utter FOOLISHNESS that pervades the thinking in our country today."
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I am no longer astonished. Our federal government has turned into a vast bi-partisan money-wasting enterprise, yet foolish, naive people who should know better continue to look to is with childlike credulity.
Also, thank you for the personal story. The left has become particularly adept at leveraging such stories, it's time sensible people fought back with similar stories from the other side.
-- Hermann Warheit
The Fraud and corruption go hand in hand with Obamacare, as usual.
ReplyDeleteThe costs for medical insurance is going completely out of control and will spiral up faster than the inflation rate.
Yes, AOW, there is no doubt that government control fosters PERVERSE INCENTIVES - meaning that everyone involved quickly gets "big ideas" as to how best he can milk and "game" the system to personal advantage.
ReplyDelete"Government" after all is a huge, impersonal, heartless, mindless, conscienceless, monolithic bureaucracy with the deepest pockets imaginable -- a virtually inexhaustible source of treasure -- or so people tend to think.
This plays into my understanding of the emergence of Crony Capitalism, Corporatism, State Capitalism, Fascism, Statism -- whichever you want to call it.
Once Big Government started to interfere with the practices of PRIVATE businesses -- it started, I believe, with TR -- corporate magnates in the business community felt compelled to develop ways to COMBAT Marx-inspired "Progressivism" in order to protect and defend their interests.
The result was the beginning of today's Corporate State where Business and Government have formed an unholy PARTNERSHIP that regularly conspires against the best interests of the public to ITS own advantage.
Fiendishly bad ideas breed deadly conditions.
The same thing happened with Medicare.
Forty years ago I paid thirteen dollars a QUARTER for Blue-Cross and Blue Shield's' Executive Coverage. The school where I taught paid the same amount on my behalf. Thirty years later I was paying upwards of TWO-HUNDRED DOLLARS a MONTH for coverage with a FIVE-THOUSAND DOLLAR DEDUCTIBLE. Just a few years later -- the year before I became eligible for Medicare in fact --I was paying upwards of SEVEN-HUNDRED DOLLARS a MONTH for the SAME limited coverage.
I put the blame for this absurd escalation in rates squarely at the feet of MEDICARE. Before that partial government takeover rates were affordable and costs were manageable. Prudent people really COULD look after themselves, admittedly not without hardship, but it COULD be done.
The Forces of Evil have worked things out so that today NO ONE can afford to meet his own medical needs without heavy assistance of one kind or another.
And they call that "PROGRESS?"
Well, Screaming Eagle, let's not make blanket statements, because I happen to know at least ONE person whose rates will be CUT dramatically once Obamacare goes into effect.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the "new" rates are to be subjected to means testing.
Obamacare is, of course, a socialistic scheme to REDISTRIBUTE wealth more "equitably."
Imagine going into a department store, where prices are determined by your net asset worth and level of income. That would mean, of course, that every store would have full access to your NAV, credit rating, real estate holdings and contents of your bank accounts and portfolio. CENTRALIZED COMPUTERS owned and operated by the Dictocrats in Washington, DC would automatically calculate the price you as an individual would be required to pay.
CASH, of course, would be outlawed, as would the possession of gold, silver and precious stones.
And THAT, dear friends, is EXACTLY where we are headed. Obamacare is just a giant step toward the TOTALITARIANISM the Marxists have always dreamed of forcing on this once-free, once-Christian society.
These fiends do not want to HELP you, they want ABSOLUTE CONTROL of your life in the GUISE of "helping" you.
OY! VHAT A DEAL! YOU SHOULD BE SO GRATEFUL. --- NOT!
You may call him a “Community Organizer” but to me, hés a Community Destroyer. He has destroyed State against State , Party against Party, Citizen against Citizen, and the Races against Races. . America as we knew is, no longer exists. He tells one lie and follows his lies with another lie . The hatred is contagious and he is the Chief Carrier. It is a travesty to call him Commander in Chief .
ReplyDeleteObama is the first ́snottý president America has ever produced.
He is not only locking our Veterans out of THEIR OWN memorials but now denying death benefits to the families of our fallen soldiers. What kind of low life does that? And what kind of LIBERAL FREAKS would support that? I am heartbroken for my country. I he has turned me against ALL liberals, because of their support for him. I no long speak to some of my friends and relatives because of their support for him. This is what this man has done to Americans. And progressive liberals are just too stupid to understand.
We have some very intelligent conservative posters on this board who understand politics extremely well.
Understand that I am not insulting ALL Liberal Americans, what and who I am insulting is ignorance. And unfortunately, the kind of people who post the "socialism = liberal" cliches we see in on these here blogs alone are here in far greater numbers on the left. IMHO
Sir you are absolutely spot on. This is a brilliant piece that if the Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and LA Times amongst others had the nerve to print people might read it and hear. Or perhaps if a cable news media picked this up and had the nerve to call it like it is and tell this true portray people would hear.
ReplyDeleteI truly hope that liberals pass by here and any other person who really does not know or understand the depths of government control and medicare defrauding the American people - to read this posting and learn what they should be knowing.
Though a bit off topic, forgive me, but I believe still relevant - I have 9 children. One is deceased. He like my youngest son is/was Autistic. However he was a savant unlike my son now who is functioning at a different level.
My son was notorious for sneaking out of the house. We had to nail window shut and have indoor bolt locks you could only open with keys. This is typical for may with Autism as children. Fortunately my son now never had this issue. To the point, the snuck out of the house 3 days before Christmas in 1995 unbeknowst to me because I was back in the kitchen and was grounded in his room for mis-behavior. (He kicked the wall because I would not let him go out in the snow storm) Anyhow, unfortunately he snuck out because I did not have the doors bolted due to waiting for my then husband to return home and there was a guest in the home waiting for his return. Somehow my son snuck out and was hit and killed by a drunk driver. I won't bother anyone with details.
The reason I bring this up is not to garner sympathy, but to make a point about BIG GOVERNMENT. When he died I was in shock. I assumed the Social Security Office was shut down for the holidays. So, I waited until December 27th to report his death to them. Four days later. The woman was disgustingly cruel to me. She hollered at me for not reporting it immediately. I told her I thought the office would be closed and that was why I waited until after December 26th - reporting on the 27th. The point was I was following procedure and reporting his death not collecting and hiding his death. She told me I broke the rules by not reporting it the next day and that if I did not immediately return the check when it arrived on Dec. 30th (won't deliver on the 1st if a weekend or holiday nor on the 31st, which is considered the eve of the new year) I would be prosecuted and jailed.
I told her calmly that I was letting them know of his death and that I would wait for the mailman and have him take the check and return it and I would mark it in front of him to "return to sender," also, that I never had plans to keep it or cash it as I know that is against the law.
She stated coldly that will due. At this point I was so distraught I told her Madam, my son of only 8 years-old just died, you could have a little more compassion, please. She told me that was not her business, she had a job to do and personally she and the government did not care. All their concern was for is the money. So I said not even an I am sorry for you loss and her answer was, we don't care. We want our money back and if we do not receive the check we will prosecute you for theft.
So much for BIG GOV. I have loathed it since and your post is just living proof of the truth that many do not want to face. I had to learn that through the death of my son, you sadly had to learn that through the death of your father.
Will anyone ever wake-up or do they need catastrophes to figure out the BIG GOV is just rotten to the core, like a bad apple, you have one and it spoils all the rest!
Excellent posting. Thank you!
Now I’m not saying you have to like ABC, CBS, MSNBC or CNN—I really don’t care whether you do or not. Like I said, I don’t watch a lot and maybe NONE of mainstream news. I have that they all of them to lie, distort, edit statements, edits videos, misrepresents, and disinforms.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Late Night TV shows (Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Maher etc.) that push their liberalism propaganda, the fact that they continue to exist, proves there are a lot of stupid people in America.
But Fox News is on a whole other level when it comes to news coverage. I find them to be “Fair and Balanced” YES I do. Hence why I get my new from watching them.
ReplyDeleteTuesday’s White House press conference was PATHETIC!
As were the Questions from the White House press corps are As of this moment, not a single tough or challenging inquiry about Obamacare was mentioned!
Hey Jerkoffs on the left and the right, but especially on the left, maybe you should have asked about Obamacare and the Shutdown!
That White House Press Corps is shameful. I don´t know how they can look themselves in the mirror in the morning.
Reporters should do (their) job well if they don't want to be ridiculed as the stooges they are.
These people make me want to throw up.
Or were they on strict orders not to ask?
It’s very easy to realize where and who you speak of. Some people live to ridicule others who do not agree with them, even fish with EIGHT LEGS.
ReplyDeleteWe all knew you progressives were idiots But we didn’t know the extent of it. . Obama’s approval rating is hitting rock bottom at 37%.. And what we didn’t know was if you are ignorant or if you lied... Pick one, or is it both?
George W. Bush did not have the liberal media letting him off of the hook either
If George W. Bush had allowed Benghazi to happen and went before the UN and lied about it and sent his people out to lie for him he would have been lynched to a tree right there and then by you simpletons. And the same with Eric Holder and his "gun running"
Could you imagine George W. Bush with a rating like Obama has?
At no time during Obama’s admin did the liberal media report on the facts when it came to Iraq, the deficit, the events in 2008
BHO has been given a 100% free pass and still has a 37% approval rating!
Aside from playing golf Obama is a horrible President, Obama spends more on military than Bush, runs higher deficits than Bush did, has more on food stamps then all that and the Dems hated Bush. The list goes on, and that is why Obama's approval rate will keep sliding. People wanted to like Obama, just like they wanted to like Bush, but after repeatedly screwing everyone over people slowly drop their support, and that's what has been happening to Obama for years!
Wpuld you like to Obother and Millie the Mooher dragged into a courtyard, chained to a post and machine-gunned to red jelly, Common Man? Is that your favorite fantasy?
ReplyDeletet wouldn't help a thing if it happened. Old Bush, the Clintons, Young Bush and Obother are all working for the same team. The team that wants to take away our sovereignty and establish a New World Order.
Dick Wilde
These reports of rudeness to grieving or caring relatives are distressing. Unfortunately I suspect that private insurers are incapable of equivalent heartlessness. Some people are just arseholes.
ReplyDeleteFreethinke: the cost of your bluecross rose far faster than inflation, but maybe the amount that bluecross would expect to pay out at a customer's end of life rose faster than inflation too? Can you think of any expensive treatments that you might expect to receive that were not available in 1970? Are you sure you're comparing like with like? Also, towards the end did they charge their older customers and smokers more?
Hello, Jez,
ReplyDeleteMy point was that once our government became involved as the primary provider of medical care for the aged, medical costs for ALL of us began to rise precipitously far beyond the rate of inflation, as you rightly said.
There's been a lot of talk about charging smokers more, but I've never known it to happen, and I've known lots of smokers. I admit I've never done research on that, however. Personally, I think the idea is outrageous -- a form of discrimination -- certainly a cruelty -- and aren't discrimination and deliberate cruelty things we are supposed to eschew? ;-)
To be fair Medicare has changed since my father's final illness in 1976. It no longer has a "lifetime cap" in benefits.
This may not be a good thing for the country, however, because despite what our Democrats would have you believe, we are rapidly approaching bankruptcy, and the ever-escalating cost of medical care is one of the causative factors.
Being a certain age does not confer any special virtue on me or anyone else, I'll grant you, but it DOES give a sense of historical perspective younger people could not have unless they get it second hand from the history books.
FYI: I'd be the first to tell you there have been lots of things wrong with our medical system, but I do not believe that greater "socialization" of care is apt to do much to improve the situation.
"Equality" is a lovely goal, but getting an equal share of a services bound to be far more limited and markedly inferior to those we already have is an unattractive prospect at best in my never humble opinion.
Whatever advances there have been in technology medical and otherwise have been offset by a steep decline in quality of life here in the states.
The last really heartening news I can remember from the medical community was the development of the Salk vaccine against polio, and that was a nearly a lifetime time ago.
I'd like to know more about medical care as it is today in Britain. Perhaps we could continue this conversation? I had a minor medical crisis while visiting your country in 1976, and remember getting very god care -- from a PRIVATE physician whom I paid directly out of pocket. I did not think the cost was exorbitant. When the problem arose, my hosts wouldn't even consider attempting to use the National Health Service, which was theoretically available to me as a visitor, because it would take so much time to get treatment my visit could be spoiled. The private doctor, who had a wonderful old fashioned office full of brown leather, brass fixtures and charmingly tatty oriental rugs, saw me immediately and resolved my problem expeditiously. He was like a character from an old black and white film, very pleasant, but no-nonsense, quiet, and very efficient.
It may sound odd, but that "crisis" remains one of my favorite memories of that trip.
I wonder if care like that is still available in Britain today?
I know what you mean about a crisis forming a memorable highlight. I think it is often the way: as the memory of discomfort and fear recedes we can still recall the other emotions. I recently broke some bones, and while the pain is already difficult to remember, though it was significant, the memory of the thrill in discovering the beauty and intricacy of the affected joint's anatomy remains fresh.
ReplyDeleteI have availed myself of both private (through insurance -- I have never paid directly) and NHS services, and I see no evidence that the medical attentions offered by the latter is in any way inferior. (Admin is another matter!)
I don't think the guiding principle of a service such as the NHS is / was equality. I think one of the things that was clear to post-war Britain was that stepping over the needy and letting them suffer costs us all. Many Americans agree, but would argue for charity in preference to universal coverage. I don't object to that on any ideological grounds, but I do think it impractical and inefficient compared to universal coverage.
I tend to think that smokers enough duty on tobacco to offset their various extra costs, but if insurers should be allowed to discriminate against just one vice, it should surely be smoking. It's just about the most reliable health indicator there is.
It's true that there haven't been any great medical "stories" since Polio, but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been any progress since the 50s: the problem is that steady and gradual progress isn't a good story. Infant mortality, for example, is less than a quarter what it was in 1960.
It's not easy to compare the benefits to the increased costs. No-one wants to put a price on a human life. I expect the rarity of infant death has profoundly changed us. The type of grief which was commonplace to your grandparents' generation, would be now utterly extraordinary.