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Don’t buy all the myths; government does work

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
(Updated 3:00 am)

Mary Bonaccorsi’s letter (June 24), which praises Medicare coverage, is about as contrary to popular myth as one can get. “Government can’t run anything properly,” the myth goes, “Just name one thing they can!”

Yet my 89-year-old father-in-law, like Ms. Bonaccorsi, says Medicare has been a blessing to him and has never let him down.

Every day my mail comes without fail and when I go to the post office I am helped by friendly and efficient workers.

Every month like clockwork Social Security deposits a check for my disabled sister out of those same funds we talked about giving to the Wall Street whizzes four years ago. Just think what Bernie Madoff would have done with that.

My country is defended by the best military in the world, thanks to our government. My house is protected from burning down by the efficiency with which our local government runs the fire department, and every time I ride in my car, I do so on roads paved by my government.

The well-lobbied health care industry is now mounting a fierce campaign to frighten us into preserving the status quo. Don’t buy their myths.

Bill Yaner
Jamestown

Comments

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J D R

June 30, 2009 - 8:21 am EDT

I thought Walter Reed was where the Brave Soldiers - well partial soldiers 'cause they're missing body parts -

I thought Walter Reed was where the Brave Soldiers who stood behind Apple Pie and Dick Cheney and are currently missing body parts -

... let me try again

I thought Walter Reed was where the Brave Soldiers who stood behind Apple Pie and Dick Cheney and are currently missing body parts were being regularly visited by Rummy ..

...Rummy who was assuring these Brave Soldiers who are currently missing body parts after having stood behind Apple Pie and Dick Cheney and saved therefore America from those Weapons of Mass Destruction were all being both honored and well taken care of by Americans.

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 8:28 am EDT

'Dick Cheney', 'Rummy'...where's 'Ronnie'?

Walter Reed is government run health care. Deplorable. But then again nanny staters want equality, not quality.

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 8:32 am EDT

... so you want a militia .. which is what what the constitution calls for (two year limits on standing army) .. with the properly associated expenses back-charged to America?

Sure would cut down on STUPID wars ..

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 8:34 am EDT

Sure would cut down on STUPID wars .. but then that would not support our Government Supported Business Class, would it .. which is also unconstitutional, but hey .. they're "producers" .. we have to support their general welfare, huh?

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 8:41 am EDT

I want to point out that Walter Reed IS government run health care and is what's in store for the rest of us if...no... when, the socialists are successful in implementing it.

It has nothing to do with 'Rummy', 'Dick Cheney', or militias.

Nanny staters want equality, not quality.

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 8:46 am EDT

I argue the real nanny staters are the Exxon types that expect you and I to pay for protection of their equipment and personnel as they go into Iraq to help extract oil they sell at a profit, subsidized by us.

Of course you may disagree.

Perhaps Walter Reed should be funded by the Exxon's .. would that work for you? It would seem only fair.

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 8:50 am EDT

You seem incapable of addressing my point head on. I'll try again...

Walter Reed is typical government run health care and provides those of us who care to look a glimpse of the track record of how it will operate.

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 8:56 am EDT

I totally understand your point.

Either the Dr's at Walter Reed are insensitive asses .. or they are doing the best they can with the budget they have. I believe it's the latter.

First world Internationally, MOST government run health care systems do an adequate job - at least as good as the USA's "private" system .. and they do it at half the cost. I'm not arguing FOR a government run health care system, but the reasons you cite are not valid.

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 9:06 am EDT

"they are doing the best they can with the budget they have. I believe it's the latter."

And when government run health care is implemented on a national level,budgeting or asshole doctors will be no problem... Got it.

(I'll bet Ronnie was an advocate of 'single payer' health care, but it was kept from us by the right wing media, huh)

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 9:15 am EDT

I'd also argue that 'asshole doctors' will increase a thousandfold in government run health care as they will become the medical equivalent of DMV workers.

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 9:58 am EDT

No.

The care at Walter Reed is provided as a line item in either the DoD budget or the Veterans budget (I forget which) .. and it is "limited" by Congress. Congress - both R's and D's and right or wrong - has decided that the care provide at Walter Reed is adequate. Suks for the soldiers.

The care for provided the rest of us by, e.g., BCBS, is simply billed as needed. Over the years, BCBS has a history of where the actual costs are and they raise the rates to the rest of us (except you) to cover their actual expenses.

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 9:59 am EDT

you can speculate and rationalize all you want, but that's how it works Neo .. and you know it.

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 10:17 am EDT

And the DOD and Veterans administration are run by who?...Congress, you say?...

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 12:52 pm EDT

DoD:

Dr. Robert M. Gates - Secretary of Defense ... Civilian.
William J. Lynn, III - Deputy Secretary of Defense ... Civilian.
Admiral Michael G. Mullen - Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff ... U.S. Naval Academy, 1968
General James E. Cartwright - Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff .. commissioned second lieutenant, Marine Corps, 1971

Eric Ken Shinseki - Secretary of Veterans Affairs .. United States Military Academy, 1965
Dr. Gerald Cross - Acting Under Secretary for Health .. Medical degree earned 1977; joined the U.S. Army in 1978
Patrick W. Dunne - Acting Under Secretary for Benefits .. U.S. Naval Academy, 1972
Steve L. Muro - Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs .. U.S. Navy 1968 to 1972, including two tours of duty in Vietnam

Slackers all .. right?

Still, they WERE all appointed by the President .. with the advice and consent of the Senate .. and they work for them, not the BCBS which theoretically has the unlimited ability to raise rates every year.

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 1:06 pm EDT

Surely you jest, sir. You expect me to believe that Walter Reed is a civilian institution and not funded and run by the government?

I'd laugh if it weren't so pitiful and pathetic.

Walter Reed is government run health care and affords those of us with at least one functioning brain cell a glimpse into what's in store for the country when Obamanation is fully formed.

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 1:44 pm EDT

At the risk of sounding like truman .. surely you're not that dumb or dumber, but sometimes you're are a bozo. You may believe what you want. I NEVER said Walter Reed is a civilian institution, not funded nor run by the government.

"Walter Reed is government run health care and affords those of us with at least one functioning brain cell a glimpse into what's in store for the country when Obamanation is fully formed."

You may speculate all you want .. but sometimes you're are a bozo, and that is not speculation.

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 2:00 pm EDT

It is not speculation. There is a record there to look at. Ignore it if you choose....or give me another list of irrelevant names.

J D R

June 30, 2009 - 3:47 pm EDT

We can agree that any Federal Health Care system that is hog-tied like the VA, will be like the VA, which we can further agree is a horrible system.

But it is only horrible because there is a budget limited by crappy politics .. we seem to have money to fund the initial tanks and boots to clear the way for Exxon but apparently we don't have the money do do right for the people that steer the tanks and fill the boots.

It doesn't have to be that way.

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 4:59 pm EDT

I'm sorry, but where is the track record that you can point to that makes you believe THIS government program will not have budgeting problems and be immune to crappy politics and not be hogtied like the VA?

The record is there for anyone who is willing to look at it, and the record shows that government run programs (especially ones of this grandiose scale) is fraught with waste, cronyism, corruption, and inefficiency.

And no, "It doesn't have to be that way"...but it always HAS been that way.

Also, I'd like to know beforehand, when government run health care is implemented and waiting time for surgeries and a shortage of QUALIFIED doctors are the norm, who do I see about getting my money back and returning to the system we have now...Bawnie Fwank?... uncle ted?...Hussein Obama voters?...who is going to say "this just isn't working and we need to abandon this government run health care boondoggle and return the trillions of dollars to the taxpayers who were forced into this by a false prophet who promised them everything, but delivered nothing but more government and less freedom"?

Beachwalk

July 1, 2009 - 12:28 pm EDT

And the winner is neocon by knock-out.

J D R

July 1, 2009 - 5:20 pm EDT

Whatever, beachwalker.

==

Where is the track record that you can point to that makes you believe THIS government program will not have budgeting problems and be immune to crappy politics and not be hogtied like the VA?

1 - We don't yet have a government program .. so to what should I compare?

2 - If Congress, if Statesman, if members of this blog, if the boyscouts and camp-fire girls .. if the Leaders of this land would stop sniping there might actually be discussion and decent ideas brought forth. We as a country are so freaking divided over absolutley nothing there can't even be discussion. Let's solve that problem first, the rest will fall in line - and you first, Mr. Honorable Mention to LBJ.

3 - Related to the above .. and as a poignent example, when we were blasing head long into Iraq, and the problems with Walter Reed first surfaced, where was the outcry for correction from the Semper Fi Supporters of the Military that we needed to address this situation. I await your link.

truman

June 30, 2009 - 11:26 am EDT

Lil' neo conman, just what does anyone at Butner know about Walter Reed? You simply can't tell the truth about anything conman, because truth has a liberal bias. True?

neocon

June 30, 2009 - 12:37 pm EDT

truman, truman, truman...my mama taught me not to poke fun at 'special' people, but most of your posts are downright adolescent in nature and I find it hard to picture you as a mature adult in charge of all his facilities.

You're somewhat entertaining, but I feel guilty about laughing.

left-wing conspiracy theorist

June 30, 2009 - 6:15 am EDT

If I didn't know any better, I would think there are those among us who expect the government to provide fully-funded services and infrastructure improvements without having to bother with the inconvenient details, such as actually paying for them.

danagain

June 30, 2009 - 6:41 am EDT

You got it. Just Google "Peggy the Moocher". Not to worry, the woman at the Food Lion paid her own money for her cigarettes and soda pop.

left-wing conspiracy theorist

June 30, 2009 - 7:15 am EDT

Who does 'Peggy the Moocher' think she is? To benefit properly from a Welfare Administration, you have to do it like Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and our friends at KBR and Halliburton. What an amateur!

As far as the lady at Food Lion, I will assume I know as much about her as you do, because somehow I don't see you striking up a conversation with her. Maybe she was the only one in her social circle with access to a car, and she was using WIC vouchers from several mothers to (gasp!) feed their children. Or, to hear your probable explanation, she obtained all those WIC vouchers by selling crack, and intended to sell the Baby Formula on the black market, using the proceeds to buy more crack, in a very profitable enterprise. It's hard to say...

LinzyM99

June 30, 2009 - 9:09 am EDT

Exactly!!!! I dont know why people are such haters about Food Stamps and WIC. God forbit we feed babies!! I have never lived off any kind of government assistance, not even unemployement, and I still dont hate on Food Stamps and WIC. That money goes straight back into our economy anyway.

danagain

June 30, 2009 - 6:10 pm EDT

Don't go overboard Linzy, I never said I hate food stamps and WIC and never said I want that baby to starve. People toss the word hate around too much these days.

I just found it interesting that the woman found the cash to pay for cigarettes and soda pop. I do know she is a smoker as I saw her light one up in the parking lot and get into her car, exposing the baby to tobacco smoke. Nice, now taxpayers may have to pay for that baby's health problems from tobacco smoke exposure.

Perhaps if she quit her smoking habit, which is getting quite expensive these days with new govt taxes on smokes, she would have some extra dough to feed her baby without govt. (taxpayer) assistance. What a concept.

truman

June 30, 2009 - 6:26 am EDT

Mr. I agree with your comments. And please ignore the early morning "doom and gloom" rantings of lilbean, sawdust, johnson, and dumb dan. They represent a small segment of the anti-tax, anti-government, ignorant right-wingnut bunch that constantly post on this site morning, noon, and night, day in and day out! All they know about anything would probably fill a hollow tooth. So sad.

truman

June 30, 2009 - 6:35 am EDT

Mr. Yaner, lil' neo conman did not post in time for me to include his name in my list of right-wingnuts! He resides at Butner, I believe, and is obviously as crazy as a "March Hare!"

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