Health Care Reform

Why do I feel like reform and "change" that we voted for is being hijacked? I hope the President puts Congress in its place next week when he addresses them. They are acting like a bunch of unruly children. It's time for the gloves to come off. Bipartisan is a nice idea but I don't see it working.
Now is the time to give directives. We sent a message on Election Day. It's time the message was heard.
We need a public option. Without it we are at the mercy of the health insurance companies and it sends them a message that they can lobby and buy their way into the government. Enough of that! We've had it and it doesn't work.
Our congressman have no incentive to vote for change because change in health care won't affect them. They already have excellent health care. The only way to get their attention is to threaten them with the loss of their jobs. If they don't vote for health care reform with a public option, we won't vote for them come election day.

It happens again

A GOP staffer working in the office of TN State Senator Black sent out a racist picture via email depicting President Obama as a spook http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/16/tennessee-gop-staffer-ema_n_216085.html. I just sent an email to the Senator condemning this action and calling for the firing of the woman who did this. The staffer's "apology"? She sent the picture to the "wrong address". TN must be so proud.
Below is my email:
Dear Senator Black,
I read today that Sherri Goforth, your executive assistant sent around a racist photo thinking she was making a joke.
Her only "apology" was that she hit the wrong button; she didn't mean to send it to everyone.
Are you kidding me? The fact that she considered it okay to send at all speaks volumes.
Your office needs to make a statement about this condemning this action and firing this woman for committing this despicable act.
Our President deserves respect. Yes, we are free in this country to express our viewpoint but not from a public office. If she harbors those kinds of feelings she needs to keep them to herself - as well as grow up and join the 21st century.
I think I will write about this in my blog today so others will know as well. Yesterday I commented on the Republican from SC who made a comment about Mrs. Obama. Your office now joins the ranks of one harboring clueless individuals as well.
joy
Email the Senator with your own thoughts at: sen.diane.black@capitol.tn.gov
This is not okay. I am sick over this.

President Obama and ASU

I watched President Obama give the commencement address to the graduating class of 2009 last night. Was that the greatest speech ever? The ideas were wonderful, but probably not something that hasn't been uttered before to a graduating class.
No, what was great was that he addressed head on the thought that was on every one's mind [that ASU had refused to honor him with an honorary degree] and made it into the theme of his speech, turning it into the most positive, most eloquent, and most gracious speech I have heard in a long time. The crux of it was that we are never "finished', that we must always strive to do more, to be better individuals, and to leave a lasting legacy.
I felt proud, inspired, and happy to be able to call this man our leader.

Arlen Specter - new clothes, same old tired ideas

I have to admit I was at first heartened to hear of Arlen Specter's defection from the Republican party and his new affiliation as a Democrat. Then I watched him vote. What I interpreted is that he changed parties solely to win the Senate seat in PA when it comes up for re-election. He claimed to be more in line with the Democrat's agenda but so far I'm not seeing it.
To vote against the changes in the bankruptcy law was a big give away to me. He is just a Republican in Democrat clothing and I think it's time he retired. We already have one Joe Lieberman. We don't need another.

ASU still clueless

Apparently, now, in an attempt to show good will, ASU has announced it will name [or was it rename] a scholarship in President Obama's name to show honor instead of awarding him their honorary degree when he speaks at their commencement in May.
Sorry, ASU. That won't cut it. You still look like idiots, as far as I'm concerned. Now you have compounded it. You just don't get it, do you? Not only are you insulting our President, you are also insulting all of us. This is the President of the United States. He is everyone's president, Democrat and Republican. By refusing to correct your mistake in the only way acceptable [giving him the damn degree, already], you are insulting the whole country. Our President isn't good enough for you?
ASU will forever be known as the university that couldn't. Questions will always arise as to what motivated this huge gaffe. Was it racial? Was it political? Was it just plain stupidity from a second rate school?
I'm sure there were people before this error who had never heard of ASU and that was OK. Now ASU [and by association, Arizona] will always be known to one and all as the school who dissed the 44th President of the United States. Don't you know this will be on national news all over again when he speaks there on that day? Nice going.

ASU refused to give President Obama an honorary degree

President Obama will be speaking at commencement for Arizona State University next month. Usually when people speak at these occasions, they are honored with an honorary degree from the school. Not this time. ASU has refused to do so.
What the hell were they thinking? Or maybe they weren't. It's all over the news feeds. I am so embarrassed by this. Their reasoning was that he hadn't accumulated a big enough body of work yet to deserve that honor.
Really? Being president of the United states of America wasn't good enough for them? How many people do they actually know who have done that? Is there something else he should have included in his resume?
Like maybe being a best-selling author? Because he did that.
Being a Senator? He did that.
Graduate from Harvard with a law degree? He did that.
Be the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Oh, wait, he did that.
Be the first African -American to become President? Seems to me he did that, too.
What did he leave out?
I'd like to know. Maybe he should refuse the great honor of speaking at a school known mostly for partying so he can stay at home and see if maybe he can add to his paltry list of accomplishments so that the great ASU will deign to honor him with their honorary degree.
I'm glad I never attended ASU. I would be tempted to send my degree back.

Nursing shortage cools

Looks like the recession is hitting the nursing market as well, especially for new grads. Hospitals in their wisdom are treating health care like just any other business and cutting wherever they can.
I'm sorry, I know they have to be profitable but a hospital, or any place that takes care of patients, is NOT like any other business. We are not moving cars along an assembly line. These are people. The wrong paint color on a car doesn't really matter in the scheme of things. The wrong medication or a delay in treatment can be life-threatening. There is a big difference. We need people who know medicine in charge of the big decisions. People who aren't trying to please those higher up or who aren't grovelling in an effort to keep their own job. People who have the gumption to put a stop to pinching pennies when it endangers lives.
President Obama said he likes and admires nurses. When he overhauls the healthcare system, I hope he looks at how the money is being spent there just as he is doing in other areas. Being efficient won't matter if patients suffer because of it.

Overhauling our healthcare system

Today in Washington, President Obama will hear the voices of doctors, patients, business owners, and insurers [why aren't nurses mentioned? Don't they have a say in this too?] in order to formulate a plan to revamp our health care delivery system. Reportedly, our country spends $2.4 trillion a year on health care. Yet, I understand that an estimated 48 million [that's million] Americans still don't have basic coverage. The goal is for coverage for everyone in some form.
A lofty goal, indeed, but one whose time has come.

Thank you, President Obama

Like many Americans last night, I tuned in to President Obama's address to both houses of Congress. I had high hopes for that speech and I wasn't disappointed.
As I expected it would be, the speech was filled with hope and promise, encouragement and comfort, but also a call to our better selves. The President not only laid out a plan for him and our leaders but called to each American to do their part. When was the last time you heard your President ask parents to pay attention to their children? It's been a long time coming.
I was also interested, as a nurse and as a consumer, to hear what plans he had for the health care industry. I think his plans are good [streamlining health records by taking them into the digital age, curing cancer, etc].
Addressing education will also help healthcare because some of our problem lies not with a lack of health care students but with a lack of health care teachers.
Targeting the high cost of health care will also be a big boon to the economy because that is something that is going to get worse fast if we are not proactive. The Boomers are going to need lots of care very soon and it's not free. Whether it's private insurance, Medicare, or out of pocket, someone is going to have to pay for it.
All in all, the President nailed it with his Address.
As for the Republicans, what can I say? Same old, same old. They really need to buy a clue.