Supporting Our Troops

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mehrenst @ Feb 18 2007, 10:31 PM) [snapback]392644[/snapback]</div>

Saw this on the news last night. NBC did a preview of the article with video to accompany it (I'm sure it's on MSNBC...)

And once again, not only does the funding piss me off, but hearing the same phrase I've heard ad nauseum from this administration since 2001...

"We were not prepared..."

In this case, they were not prepared, didn't expect, to have so many casualties. Duh. Of course, the war was only supposed to last six months...

Yeah, I was pissed off too.

 

What?!? But we put yellow ribbon magnets on the back of our Canyoneros! What more do they want?!?

 

I've told this story before, but it bears repeating here: A friend of mine in Fargo is a veteran. He went to the VA hospital for a flexible sigmoidoscopy. The procedure was performed by a physician's assistant. There was no MD present. The guy botched it and my friend wound up in the emergency room and nearly died. I had the same procedure performed at a private hospital and it was done by an MD specialist in gastrointestinal whatever.

I fail to see how sending troops into war improperly prepared, without adequate material or planning, and then bringing them back to third-world-quality medical care qualifies as "supporting" them. Our servicemen and servicewomen are nothing but cannon fodder to the shrub and his cronies, to be thrown into the gutter when they can no longer fight. The government is the soldier's worst enemy, and the peace movement is his/her only friend.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Feb 19 2007, 12:18 AM) [snapback]392694[/snapback]</div>

Obvioulsy you are not in favor of universal health care then - none of you by the posts here - because take the VA system and multiply it across the country.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Feb 19 2007, 07:39 AM) [snapback]392765[/snapback]</div>

Once again you prove you have absolutely no knowledge of the health care system. The problem isn't Big Gummint playing doctor. The problem is the program is woefully underfunded. Given enough funding, it would be a wonderful system. It's just that since Neocons hate America, they're not willing to give it the funds it needs.

 

I think the problems with our current health care system began in the 1960s and 1970s when existing and upcoming doctors were against all regulatory intervention and their associations lobbied heavily against any changes. Those doctors and upcoming doctors during those decades had the belief that they 'deserved' to make as much as possible and wanted no restrictions. What they didn't foresee was that the insurance companies would usurp their 'right' to unlimited fees and grand lifestyle. Doctor's attitudes were quashed by insurance companies who put huge profits before the doctor's rights. The doctors' associations essentially 'gave' their power to insurance companies in the 1980s. Now the 'old' doctors who were so greedy are retired and the newer doctors are at the mercy of the insurance companies who tell them 'no longer than 20 minutes per patient' and 'we'll only pay you a lowered portion of your billing'. This puts the newer and existing doctors in an untenable situation of which they had no input or choosing. The sooner we as a nation face up to the fact that a single payer health care system is in our future the sooner the middle man insurance companies will be eliminated and patients will get better care and doctors will once again be able to practice the medicine they went to school to learn. It's too bad the patients and newer generation of doctors are being screwed so badly by the lack of foresight of the older generation of physicians.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mehrenst @ Feb 18 2007, 10:31 PM) [snapback]392644[/snapback]</div>

Read the WaPo from this past weekend - even they have issues with Jihad jack murtha - if the dems want to retreat in defeat from iraq stand up and make it a binding vote about funding the war, not this "slow bleed" strategy jihad jack has hatched to try and wrestle war powers from the President. tell me, does he still want to redeploy forces nearby to Okinawa :lol: he must be some asset for the Dems - maybe a concusion grenade or two came toooo close. either way i honor his service to country then, now i think he borders on ......

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Feb 19 2007, 02:56 PM) [snapback]392906[/snapback]</div>

A single payer system may be in your future, it is not in mine either way. And from my perspective, i hope it happens - we will opt out and do private health care for those that want it the way it is supposed to be practiced and paid for. I will be a lot better off.

Hey, you can always move to Canada if you want socialized medicine - on your way up there you will have to dodge all the Canadians heading south for good and accessible health care :lol: i dont see too many Americans heading north for health care do you? The least the Canadians could do is take care of all those un-insured Americans - heck they should open their borders for our un-insured the way we do the the 11-15 million Mexicans who get free health care here :blink: oops, did i go there?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Feb 19 2007, 04:39 AM) [snapback]392765[/snapback]</div>

The b-man spouts his verbal diarrhea again! Obviously you still have the habit of imputing views to other people which are the opposite of their actual views. Do you eat through your a-hole? Because you certainly sh*t through your mouth.

Yes, I do advocate universal health care. I also advocate shutting down the VA hospital system and providing veterans with health care in real hospitals. You would seem to believe that since this one government agency is incompetent or corrupt, or maybe just underfunded, that the government is incapable of doing anything. You are entitled to that opinion. But don't assume that anyone else holds your opinion, and don't imagine that you can extrapolate anybody else's opinion based on your own.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbermanmd @ Feb 19 2007, 03:10 PM) [snapback]392908[/snapback]</div>

Why don't you leave talks about medical issues to people who actually know something about the medical field?

Canadians don't come to the U.S. in great quantity for health care. And I can see why.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Feb 19 2007, 04:31 PM) [snapback]392961[/snapback]</div>

Is not the VA system a govt based health care system? Underfunded? How much will your universal health care system cost us - more then we are paying now?

So you think the govt is capable of providing you with world leading health care - name ONE govt agency that works well? If they cannot even deliver the mail you are willing to trust them with your health.

If you want Hillary making decisions about your health care thats fine - have two options - one for people who want the govt taking care of them, and another one willing to pay for private care. I will opt for the latter.

And you are going to shut down the VA system! How are you going to shift all that care to the remaining hospitals and healthcare facilities? What of the huge amount of people you are going to throw out of work? I dont think you have enough hospital beds either - and what of special needs of wounded veterans best handled at facilities with decades worth of experience doing so. In one sentence you truly enlighten us as to your lack of insight into this issue.

And quick, name some real hospitals in Canada - leading facilities where people from all over the world come for world leading health care. What are you going to do to maintain the excellence in medical research and development that is here currently? How are you going to fund R & D of medicines and equipment and procedures? How are you going to fund the rapid and expensive shifts in technology? how are you going to determine future trends if you take the marketplace out of it?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mehrenst @ Feb 20 2007, 02:50 AM) [snapback]393171[/snapback]</div>

The only slow bleed is Jihad Jack Murtha's cortical capacity. Redeploying to Okinawa - come on admit the guy is losing it. Legislating one year rest in the US after serving one year in combat - what is that?

The Dems should just stand up and be men - call for a real binding vote to defund the war - that is their only option to stand by their conviction of being pro- terror - I mean anti-War. They did it in 1975 with Vietnam - and they did not seem to care about the MILLIONS of Cambodians that were slaughtered. I am sure they would not care a nickle about the millions of Iraq's, Kurds, etc that would be enveloped by the Killing Fields II - a Democratic sequal to incompetance in political management. I will hold them responsible when the terrorists come back here and kill more of us - something they have not done since 9/11.

 

No one cares about proving anything to a doberman.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Feb 20 2007, 07:56 AM) [snapback]393205[/snapback]</div>

The only thing you are proving is how void of reality the liberal democratic points of view are.

You need not prove anything to me - actions speak loudest - like a NON-binding vote on Iraq - that speaks volumes. Not trying to defund the war - incompetance, yellow bellied blabber mouth Democrats - at least Murtha has some backbone - not a lot of brain power thought.

Woof Woof - at least dobermans bite, Democrats are toothless :lol:

 

LOL, you of all dogs are commenting on the intelligence of others! Thanks for making my day .

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Feb 20 2007, 09:31 AM) [snapback]393233[/snapback]</div>

trying to elevate this conversation - and get back to the op - how do you support the troops? do you support them by calling for totally cutting their funding off :lol: or perhaps you support them by calling for them to be redeployed to Okinawa like Jihad Jack Murtha :lol: or perhaps you support them by wanting them to retreat in defeat with their heads between their legs :lol:

No, seriously, how do you support our troops who are in harms way today?

 

From the topic of the post, how about giving them adequate health care? when they come home? Holding the VA hospitals and services to the same standards as regular hospitals and adequately funding them?

I'll admit, you bring up a good point - we can't just close all the VA hospitals, there's no room in the public system for that large of an influx of patients. However, the government should fund the VA as well as individual hospitals are funded. It's their duty to ensure that the conditions are sanitary and safe, and that trained medical professionals are on hand to do what they are supposed to do. That need is not being met right now. You can quibble all you want about it, Berman, but the fault ultimately lies in the hands of the Republicans - They controlled congress for what, 12 years? and the past 7 of those have been with Bush in office. They have had every chance in the world to fix the medical system, and haven't.

There are government agencies that run smoothly and work decently well. The problem is, you don't hear anything about them. news doesn't sell when it's good news. Who would buy a paper whose main headline is "good job, as usual"? No, instead they print the garbage they do - "Social security will be bankrupt in 5 years!" will get a lot of people reading the paper because they depend on social security.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Feb 20 2007, 10:49 AM) [snapback]393292[/snapback]</div>

There you go again..... it must pain you to knowlingly not support US troops in harms way - or it should!