No Matter What The Government Says About Universal Healthcare...

I Think WE Will All Ultimately Regret The Day....


Just for fun this morning...

I want you to think of a single important product or service you can get for free or for an artificially reduced price which is as good a value or performs as well as the best--or even the average--similar product(s) or service(s) delivered at the true cost and/or fair market price?

Got any ideas?

Let's ignore silly consumer products like cell phones or music CD's...I'm talking about IMPORTANT stuff...necessary stuff like LIKE HOUSING and TRANSPORTATION.

For instance, if someone gives you a car for free, wouldn't you agree that it's probably not gonna be a shiny new Lexus (unless you're on a TV Game Show like Wheel of Fortune)?

Most likely it will be a clunker and even more likely if it runs at all it won't be reliable.

Don't get confused...I'm about to talk about government supplied health care but I have to lay out some fundamentals...so bear with me for a moment longer here...

Now think about things the Government "gives" the public or "manages" on behalf of the public.

In the transportation category I present for your consideration the Amtrak Passenger Rail System ... a GOVERNMENT RUN train system which has never turned a profit in any single year in it's ENTIRE EXISTENCE and is constantly cutting service and coming back to Congress looking for more money under threat of shutting down.

One of the main problems, other than being government run, is that in areas other than in the Northeast corridors between large cities, Amtrack doesn't actually GO ANYWHERE anyone wants to go to.

For instance, if I want to go down to Miami and stay for a week, looking at the Orbitz Website I can pay the airlines $557 round trip, and by leaving at 5 PM Sunday I'm in Miami before 11 PM.

About SEVEN HOURS one way including the time to drive to the airport and park and go through security. The round trip schedule is equally time efficient.

Now...what about taking the GOVERNMENT option called AMTRAK?

On Amtrak I have to first drive from Knoxville to Atlanta, then pay $639 round trip, and then instead of riding a train to Savannah or Jessup Georgia--places within 250 miles that have Amtrak service--I have to ride a train to WASHINGTON, DC...then turn around and head back south toward Miami.

And how much of my time does this epic Government managed sojourn take?

Going south takes TWENTY SEVEN HOURS...not including the three hour drive in the car to get to the Atlanta station.

...and the return north takes THIRTY FOUR HOURS (including the drive time back from the station to Knoxville.)

Doing the math and using the current gas prices of $2.85, I can DRIVE the 881 miles between Knoxville and Miami in a little over 13 hours at the round trip cost of $220.

Why in the world would I use Amtrak--unless I was afraid of flying--considering these transit times and the cost exceeding going by air.

Isn't it insane that Amtrak charges $82 more than the cost to fly, and takes over five times as long to get there?

Now let's think about GOVERNMENT HOUSING for a moment.

Ever drive through a government housing project?

I'm not trying to be a racist, but regardless of race, sex, or national origin wouldn't you agree that 99% of buildings in 99% of the neighborhood occupied by GOVERNMENT HOUSING are complete and total HELL HOLES?

I know that living in GOVERNMENT HOUSING is probably at least a little better than sleeping in a GOVERNMENT RUN HOMELESS SHELTER, but just barely.

I know most of us recognise that the PEOPLE that reside in GOVERNMENT HOUSING are probably at least half of the problem, but a private landlord would hardly put up with the physical conditions found in most GOVERNMENT HOUSING and you know what?

If a private landlord did let their own privately owned and managed property deteriorate to similar conditions, most likely THE GOVERNMENT would step in and force them to fix things else close them down.

But I say the GOVERNMENT runs housing like they run transportation...like CRAP.

Now I'm going to ignore the coming financial insolvency of the current GOVERNMENT supplied retirement system called SOCIAL SECURITY and government run elderly and indigent health programs called MEDICARE and MEDICAID--all of which are hemorrhaging money and cutting benefits as we speak--and talk about...

GOVERNMENT RUN VETERANS HOSPITALS.

Have you or anyone you know ever been to a VETERAN'S HOSPITAL (hereafter referred to as a VA Hospital) in your town?

Yes?

No?

You may or may not realize that if you live in Georgia THERE IS NOT A VETERAN'S HOSPITAL in your town unless you live in Atlanta (Decatur), Augusta, or Dublin.

Looking at the VA web page for Georgia , there are only an additional 21 "Outpatient Clinics" in the entire state.

You know what this means to a "Retired Veteran" who is forced by government mandate to get his healthcare benefits from THE GOVERNMENT VA facilities.

From what I saw while we lived on St. Simons Island ( a place where over half the retired men were Veterans) the older Widower Vets that couldn't drive themselves had to ride in a van driven by volunteers once or twice a week on a 4 plus hour trip covering over 200 miles to the VA hospital in Augusta to get treatment.

By "treatment" I mean important stuff like Cat Scans and X-Rays and Dialysis and stuff.

Of course they could go to a local doctor and hope that the procedure was covered by Medicare, but to get Medicare to pay they had to get pre-approval from a GOVERNMENT official before they could go to the local doctor which ment that they had to WAIT FOR MEDICAL CARE.

"Sorry Mr. Wilkins...just stop having that heart attack and fill out these ten forms and we'll get back to you next month..."

Of course they could just go to the doctor and pay out of their own pocket, but doesn't that undo the so called BENEFIT of having free GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE in the first place?

A classical bait and switch program--tax your ass off while you're working and then make obtaining the benefits painful if not virtually impossible.

...

Now let me ask you this question...

If the government can't manage to run an efficient and convenient healthcare system for a few million retired veterans--people that worked their entire military careers believing they had the healthcare benefits coming when they needed then...

HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN MANAGE AND FUND A NEW PROGRAM TO TAKE IN AN ADDITIONAL 39,000,000 BENEFICIARIES AND ULTIMATELY AN ENTIRE POPULATION OF 300 MILLION PLUS?

Are you STUPID, RETARDED, OR JUST ON DRUGS?

Go ahead if you don't agree with me and cheer this GOVERNMENT POWER GRAB on and keep voting for it.

Then you will have to excuse me for LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY when about twenty years from now you find your ass rotting off and some bureaucrat tells you that you can't have a bottle of Iodine and a pack of band aids because you're too old and you drank and smoked and most likely brought the disease on yourself...

SO YOUR BELOVED FREE GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE PROGRAM WON'T PAY.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it...Dammit.