Open email to Texas Representative Michael McCaul:
Dear Representative McCaul,
I have been following your newsletter for about six months. Nine times out of 10 you have taken a socialistic approach in resolving any problem. This is wrong. The United States has been a Republic since its founding, and in spite of movement to the contrary, there is no room for communist/radical socialism in this country.
The good news is that you you are right on target in handling the potential epidemic of Ebola virus in the US.
You have made three points, to which I agree wholeheartedly. These are as follows:
1. You have called on the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State to suspend all visas of individuals from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, until the outbreak of the Ebola virus is under control within these countries.
2. Any diagnosed patients [in the US] should be treated at one of the four U.S. biocontainment units, so our nurses and healthcare professionals are not placed in a situation in which they have not been properly trained for.
3., The [Obama] Administration should reconsider Ron Klain for the Ebola czarship. [He is not qualified].
Congratulations for finally coming up with something practical and reasonable.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Friday, October 17, 2014
Liberal Ideology with Respect to Ebola
I have previously written suggesting serious quarantine for control of the Ebola disease. In that essay, I touched on a liberal attitude which would be detrimental to actual disease control.
A Political Associate has further commented on my essay, particularly the aspect of liberal ideology and disease control. He said the following, as what he thinks is the Liberal ideology on the subject:
"Quarantine worked well and was accepted widely among the USA and the world, that is until AIDS came along. Suddenly the deviant behavior crowd was suffering and dying in great numbers. This couldn't be their fault, it was unfair and it must be the work of ... Republicans or some other evil crowd. Also if we quarantined this infected group, their deviant lifestyle would be affected. If we identified this crowd to protect the non-infected, they would be ostracized by society.
So we have developed a modern ethic on dealing with infectious/contagious diseases. The rules are like this:
Never publicly identify a person with the disease Never ask questions that would lead to an answer that allows the healthy to seperate Celebrate that the disease exist and normalize its constant threat to society Release those with the disease into the general population Pay for the care and treatment of the escalating and never ending population with the disease with government funds Wear colorful ribbons on your lapel to let other know how much you care for those with the disease Identify anyone who speaks truth of the disease and censure them Spurn and humiliate anyone who suggest quarantine as a control
So you see with Ebola, like AIDS, your antiquated quarantine idea just won’t work. We will only understand the disease by celebrating and embracing it. To understand and develop the right ethic we must all suffer".
I don't mind a little suffering to help my fellow man, but my unnecessary death from a communicable disease is not part of my reasoning.
A Political Associate has further commented on my essay, particularly the aspect of liberal ideology and disease control. He said the following, as what he thinks is the Liberal ideology on the subject:
"Quarantine worked well and was accepted widely among the USA and the world, that is until AIDS came along. Suddenly the deviant behavior crowd was suffering and dying in great numbers. This couldn't be their fault, it was unfair and it must be the work of ... Republicans or some other evil crowd. Also if we quarantined this infected group, their deviant lifestyle would be affected. If we identified this crowd to protect the non-infected, they would be ostracized by society.
So we have developed a modern ethic on dealing with infectious/contagious diseases. The rules are like this:
Never publicly identify a person with the disease Never ask questions that would lead to an answer that allows the healthy to seperate Celebrate that the disease exist and normalize its constant threat to society Release those with the disease into the general population Pay for the care and treatment of the escalating and never ending population with the disease with government funds Wear colorful ribbons on your lapel to let other know how much you care for those with the disease Identify anyone who speaks truth of the disease and censure them Spurn and humiliate anyone who suggest quarantine as a control
So you see with Ebola, like AIDS, your antiquated quarantine idea just won’t work. We will only understand the disease by celebrating and embracing it. To understand and develop the right ethic we must all suffer".
I don't mind a little suffering to help my fellow man, but my unnecessary death from a communicable disease is not part of my reasoning.
Quarantine for Ebola
Several hundred years ago society learned how to deal with human infectious disease. It established a system known as quarantine, which simply is that a person having the disease or suspected of having the disease is isolated from other human beings. This automatically eliminates the possibility of disease transmission from person-to-person..
The Ebola disease is typical of a viral disease that can be controlled by quarantine. Unfortunately, a segment of society has also developed an attitude, which we will call a liberal attitude, and which is best represented in the number of people who adhere to an ideology that West Africans, the hotbed of the disease should, not be quarantined. They somehow, in their lack of logic and recognition of experience on how to handle infectious diseases, have come to the conclusion that all West Africans should be allowed to travel, usually by airplane, exposing themselves and their diseases to other people in the process. This is obviously a ridiculous ideology to those persons experienced in medicine and science in general. These opposers to quarantine are usually educated people in disciplines such as psychology and social service,. Simply put, these people know nothing about how to control infectious disease. Left to their own devices, there would be no controls and the disease would subsequently become rampant leading to the deaths of millions of people, such as occurred in the European experience with the plague, before the development of quarantine procedures. Now, anyone opposed to quarantine in any of its forms is judged by me to be an ignoramus and a danger to society in general.
Sen. Cruz of Texas, in his recent newsletter, has proposed a temporary flight ban on non-US passengers traveling from Ebola-afflicted nations.. This is the right direction, but does not go nearly far enough. A better proposal would be to ban all commercial flights to and from countries known to have a large number of Ebola cases. For the liberals, this does not mean the natives of those West African nations cannot be helped by US technology. Private charter flights and military flights would be allowed.
Let's also see what Pres. Obama's newly appointed Czar plans to do with respect to quarantine. If he is anything like the political hack of the CDC which we have recently heard on television, we can expect no practical controls and look forward to millions and perhaps billions of deaths around the world from Ebola.
The Ebola disease is typical of a viral disease that can be controlled by quarantine. Unfortunately, a segment of society has also developed an attitude, which we will call a liberal attitude, and which is best represented in the number of people who adhere to an ideology that West Africans, the hotbed of the disease should, not be quarantined. They somehow, in their lack of logic and recognition of experience on how to handle infectious diseases, have come to the conclusion that all West Africans should be allowed to travel, usually by airplane, exposing themselves and their diseases to other people in the process. This is obviously a ridiculous ideology to those persons experienced in medicine and science in general. These opposers to quarantine are usually educated people in disciplines such as psychology and social service,. Simply put, these people know nothing about how to control infectious disease. Left to their own devices, there would be no controls and the disease would subsequently become rampant leading to the deaths of millions of people, such as occurred in the European experience with the plague, before the development of quarantine procedures. Now, anyone opposed to quarantine in any of its forms is judged by me to be an ignoramus and a danger to society in general.
Sen. Cruz of Texas, in his recent newsletter, has proposed a temporary flight ban on non-US passengers traveling from Ebola-afflicted nations.. This is the right direction, but does not go nearly far enough. A better proposal would be to ban all commercial flights to and from countries known to have a large number of Ebola cases. For the liberals, this does not mean the natives of those West African nations cannot be helped by US technology. Private charter flights and military flights would be allowed.
Let's also see what Pres. Obama's newly appointed Czar plans to do with respect to quarantine. If he is anything like the political hack of the CDC which we have recently heard on television, we can expect no practical controls and look forward to millions and perhaps billions of deaths around the world from Ebola.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Veterans Administration
Open Email to Congressman Michael T McCall:
Dear Congressman McCall,
I have read your recent newsletter on the Veterans Administration.
You said, "In response to the scandal, I have requested both VA Inspector General and FBI criminal investigations, both of which are now underway. The House also passed commonsense legislation that I sponsored, the VA Accountability Act, which allows VA to fire or demote senior executive employees at the VA for no other reason poor performance or neglect. Across our country in small and big business alike, people know, Do your job, or you’ll lose it. Unfortunately the bureaucracy in Washington functions differently."
You also said, "Here in Texas Governor Rick Perry has enlisted the help of local health care providers willing to see veteran patients outside of the backlogged VA medical network. I commend him for being proactive on behalf of Texas’ 1.7 million veterans. Similar legislation that would allow veterans to seek care outside of the VA system if they cannot schedule an appointment with a VA doctor in a timely manner, or if they live far away from the nearest VA health facility, is working its way through Congress. Allowing Veterans to seek care outside of the VA network would help eliminate the backlog and offer a more convenient alternative care option for our veterans."
I agree with all of the above, but I would go further. I would sell off the VA hospitals to private industry, so that the VA owns no physical assets. I would supply all veterans with "free" health care cards that they could use at any healthcare facility in the US and possibly abroad. In effect, the VA would become more of an accounting firm with respect to healthcare.
We should also not forget that the VA has the responsibility to supply other benefits to veterans, such as subsistence during periods of education. The Congressional oversight committee should be looking at that, as well as the health aspect.
Dear Congressman McCall,
I have read your recent newsletter on the Veterans Administration.
You said, "In response to the scandal, I have requested both VA Inspector General and FBI criminal investigations, both of which are now underway. The House also passed commonsense legislation that I sponsored, the VA Accountability Act, which allows VA to fire or demote senior executive employees at the VA for no other reason poor performance or neglect. Across our country in small and big business alike, people know, Do your job, or you’ll lose it. Unfortunately the bureaucracy in Washington functions differently."
You also said, "Here in Texas Governor Rick Perry has enlisted the help of local health care providers willing to see veteran patients outside of the backlogged VA medical network. I commend him for being proactive on behalf of Texas’ 1.7 million veterans. Similar legislation that would allow veterans to seek care outside of the VA system if they cannot schedule an appointment with a VA doctor in a timely manner, or if they live far away from the nearest VA health facility, is working its way through Congress. Allowing Veterans to seek care outside of the VA network would help eliminate the backlog and offer a more convenient alternative care option for our veterans."
I agree with all of the above, but I would go further. I would sell off the VA hospitals to private industry, so that the VA owns no physical assets. I would supply all veterans with "free" health care cards that they could use at any healthcare facility in the US and possibly abroad. In effect, the VA would become more of an accounting firm with respect to healthcare.
We should also not forget that the VA has the responsibility to supply other benefits to veterans, such as subsistence during periods of education. The Congressional oversight committee should be looking at that, as well as the health aspect.
Friday, June 13, 2014
FBI Investigation of VA
The Washington Times says that the FBI has opened a criminal probe of the Veterans Administration following the publicized scandal concerning inefficiencies in that agency.
This sounds to me like an exercise in futility. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is an agency reporting to Pres. Obama. You can be sure that Pres. Obama does not want the VA investigated, and he will call the shots on what the FBI will do.
If you want to take a more optimistic viewpoint, assume that the FBI does a good job in investigating and collects information, some of which is usable for criminal prosecution. That information must then be passed to the Justice Department, of which Atty. Gen. Eric holder is in charge, and we well know Eric holder's record in prosecuting any person connected with the Obama administration or any of its agencies. In other words prosecution will go nowhere.
This sounds to me like an exercise in futility. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is an agency reporting to Pres. Obama. You can be sure that Pres. Obama does not want the VA investigated, and he will call the shots on what the FBI will do.
If you want to take a more optimistic viewpoint, assume that the FBI does a good job in investigating and collects information, some of which is usable for criminal prosecution. That information must then be passed to the Justice Department, of which Atty. Gen. Eric holder is in charge, and we well know Eric holder's record in prosecuting any person connected with the Obama administration or any of its agencies. In other words prosecution will go nowhere.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Hospital Care for Veterans
The Washington Times says 57,000 veterans await initial visits to Veterans Administration Hospital Facilities.
This will always be true when with a government-run operation involving two factors; no competition and run by bureaucrats.
Which then brings me back to my initial recommendation, which is that the Veterans Administration should sell off all of its hospitals to private industry, and supply each veteran with a free health care card for service at any legitimate private or public hospital. The Veterans Administration can then do the accounting to pay the hospitals, in the same manner that Medicare now pays health care provider facilities.
This will always be true when with a government-run operation involving two factors; no competition and run by bureaucrats.
Which then brings me back to my initial recommendation, which is that the Veterans Administration should sell off all of its hospitals to private industry, and supply each veteran with a free health care card for service at any legitimate private or public hospital. The Veterans Administration can then do the accounting to pay the hospitals, in the same manner that Medicare now pays health care provider facilities.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Veterans Health Care
Open Email to Sen. Brian Schatz:
Dear Sen. Schatz,
Thank you for your email concerning veterans health benefits.
You said you are supporting bipartisan legislation to improve operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Your bill will make VA executives more accountable, cut wait times, and help make way for a major new VA medical facility on O'ahu that would double VA clinical services on the island,
I agree completely with the first part of your statement. US citizens, through their federal government, have an obligation to supply Healthcare Services to veterans of quality and availability at least equal to that for the general public.
However I disagree completely with your plan to establish a new VA medical facility on Oahu. In no case should the federal government own property for services which can be supplied by facilities of private industry. Not only do I disagree with the construction of a new medical facility on Oahu, but I am also suggesting that the Veterans Administration dispose of all medical facilities by selling them off to private industry.
To properly handle the health needs of veterans, the Veterans Administration only needs to supply each veteran with a health card indicating that the Veterans Administration will pay for any medical treatment given to the veteran at any legitimately authorized institution; private or public hospital. By this mechanism, a public market will be created for supplying healthcare to veterans. If the facilities are presently insufficient, the civilian hospital group will expand to accommodate the influx, because they are guaranteed payment which reduces their risk.
Simply stated. The federal government should not build new medical facilities for veterans. It should sell off existing facilities to private industry. It should supply each veteran with the health care card stating that the Veterans Administration will bear the cost of any medical treatment given to that veteran by a legitimate supplier, which would include essentially every hospital and hospital chain in the US, including Hawaii.
Dear Sen. Schatz,
Thank you for your email concerning veterans health benefits.
You said you are supporting bipartisan legislation to improve operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Your bill will make VA executives more accountable, cut wait times, and help make way for a major new VA medical facility on O'ahu that would double VA clinical services on the island,
I agree completely with the first part of your statement. US citizens, through their federal government, have an obligation to supply Healthcare Services to veterans of quality and availability at least equal to that for the general public.
However I disagree completely with your plan to establish a new VA medical facility on Oahu. In no case should the federal government own property for services which can be supplied by facilities of private industry. Not only do I disagree with the construction of a new medical facility on Oahu, but I am also suggesting that the Veterans Administration dispose of all medical facilities by selling them off to private industry.
To properly handle the health needs of veterans, the Veterans Administration only needs to supply each veteran with a health card indicating that the Veterans Administration will pay for any medical treatment given to the veteran at any legitimately authorized institution; private or public hospital. By this mechanism, a public market will be created for supplying healthcare to veterans. If the facilities are presently insufficient, the civilian hospital group will expand to accommodate the influx, because they are guaranteed payment which reduces their risk.
Simply stated. The federal government should not build new medical facilities for veterans. It should sell off existing facilities to private industry. It should supply each veteran with the health care card stating that the Veterans Administration will bear the cost of any medical treatment given to that veteran by a legitimate supplier, which would include essentially every hospital and hospital chain in the US, including Hawaii.
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