Quit Playing 'Keep Away' With My Medicare!

We used to play 'keep away' with Bacchus all the time. When he grabbed the bone or the ball, however, the game was over. He had it, he was keeping it and that was that.

I feel much the same way about my Medicare! It's an imperfect system to be sure, but I need it and sorely resent Congress playing games with it in the health care debate. Not Medicare in of itself, understand, but Doctor reimbursements. On top of already ridiculously low reimbursements they are facing another 21% cut!

The Republicans are fighting the Democrat's attempt to add $200 billion to the deficit, according to an AP article in the Spokesman Review, in order to eliminate more huge cuts in payments to Doctors. It's one thing in this mess of a bill I would support!

The Republicans claim it's payback to the AMA for supporting the bill. The Democrats say "It's the right thing to do." I have little doubt it's both.

With all the areas in which deficit cuts can be made, this should not be one of them. Unless, of course, the idea that seniors are expendable is true. I, of course, resent that assumption. Remember none of them will have to live under Medicare.

Let's look at reality here. I have a Doctor who accepts Medicare patients. She advertises for new patients every week in the local paper. With all the seniors in the area needing a Doctor, one might wonder why. My guess is it's the way she handles her practice. When I go to see her I have 15 minutes. Period. I've learned to deal with that though I often have more than one issue I'd like to discuss. Fifteen minutes. Check the watch. Uh, that's it. Next time.

Most of us have better things to do with our time than to keep running to the Doctor. Especially if you live some distance away, as I do. So ailments I can live with get back benched. In the back of my mind is the nagging thought, "I hope it's an ailment I can 'live' with."

Here's the thing. I can go in and find no one other than myself in the waiting room. I then leave after my fifteen minutes, or less, and still no one occupies the waiting room. Why couldn't I have had twenty minutes and saved myself another trip? Is it because with the ridiculously small reimbursement she gets for that office visit, fifteen minutes is all it pays for? I would guess so.

You know what I would like to see? I'd like to see this handled separately from the overhaul. But then I'd like to see a lot of the issues handled separately from the overhaul. There are too many variants to be lumped together. The bill may pass but it will fail.

So may my health and well being. Unfortunately, unlike Bacchus and his Booda Bone, I may have my Medicare now, but two players are trying to take it away, each in their own way. I guess the next game we try will be 'tug of war'!

"Failure Is Not An Option"

Have we really come to this? Both the President and the Attorney General have stated, unequivocally, that Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and his co-defendants will be found guilty and executed. What an appalling statement.

It's not just the fear a lot of Americans have about these terrorists being brought to New York City to be tried in Federal Court. It's what the rest of the world is seeing. The reason behind this faulty exercise is to showcase how wonderful our justice system is. How the United States is the shining beacon on the hill of fairness.

Well, perhaps at one time. Whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Even the most heinous of criminals, those we know are guilty, are given that right. So what about these self admitted terrorists? They've already confessed. Because there has to be a trial in a death penalty case even when one confesses. However, with those admissions having been obtained while they were under duress, how will it muddy the pool of evidence?

How can they possibly seat a jury of their peers? Or does that go by the wayside? What if no Muslim is in the jury pool? Would that be reason for appeal? Then add to it all that I've written in previous posts. It's a difficult situation now made more difficult.

It seems we're at a point where we see a decision not being made because Obama is "thinking things through" or a decision being made, credited to an underling, that has provoked a horrendous backlash. The underling, Mr. Holder, is bearing the brunt of the decision.

The troops in Afghanistan are bearing the brunt of the "thinking things through" mode. Now the delay in troop deployment is being extended while an exit strategy is being examined. I'm to the point I want to hear no more about how poorly the Bush administration handled Iraq. Obama is doing no better in his war of necessity.

Yesterday I stated my lack of regard for anything Sarah Palin including the opinion she is not nor ever will be Presidential material. I'm beginning to wonder the same about the man who currently holds the office.

Passing On Palin

I'm going on record. I am not going to buy nor read Sarah Palin's book. She is coming to the Coeur d'Alene Fred Meyer store December 10th on her signing tour. I will be no where in sight.

I must admit I considered going with my handy Flip video but have even decided against that. I just don't like the woman and do not, for the life of me, understand why this vacant, ill spoken woman gets the press she does. She appeals to ordinary Americans? She's one of us? I guess that makes me something other than ordinary.

I've been listening to all the hype until I'm to the point of not turning on the tube unless it's for the BCC. They seem to be the only real news broadcast out there any more and even they are over dosing on Palin. Did you listen to any of the Oprah interview? Was there anything other than whining? Is there anything in the book that has not yet been revealed? I'll pocket my $30 and take a chance.

It's hard for me to take her seriously as a family values person when her own family is somewhat dysfunctional. I don't blame this on the family as much as a mother whose ambitions out weighed motherhood. It's hard for me to take her seriously as a help to Republican candidates when she goes into an area, as she recently did in New York, without knowing the issues nor the constituency. Personality alone won't cut it in the end when the Democrat wins!

I find it especially hard to take her seriously when, as Maureen Dowd quotes from her book telling of Palin going into labor one 4th of July while kayaking, "I so wanted a patriotic baby that I paddled as hard as I could to speed up the contractions, but she held out until the next day."

This super hero of a woman belongs in a comic book. I can just see her in figure flattering tights with cape flowing behind her, fighting for the American underdog. Can she succeed in her fight against political corruption and media bias? Dang it, you betcha! Just not in the White House.

This Guy Isn't A Young Santa!

Forget the beard. Gifts you get from this guy would be better left unopened!

Okay. I'm over my vacation thoughts and am back in my "what can they possibly be thinking" mode. Like the pussy footing around the Fort Hood Massacre in attempt to make it something other than what it was. An Islamic act of terror.

My worry today, however, is the inanity of trying the September 11 terrorists and the mastermind behind it in our civilian courts, in New York City yet! Whoever made this decision is mad. Quite mad. Everyone involved in making it. All of them.

Look at the lead time they have given jihadis and jihadi wannabes already within the country to plan! I do not for one minute believe we can out think these people on how they might breech security.

I envision the entire city grinding to a halt. I envision several possible scenarios. Either the feds will close down the entire city for the duration of an open ended trial or everyone entering the city will have to pass through check points. Can you imagine the nightmare of that alone? Have you ever traveled to New York City? You have airports, bridges and tunnels. Can they all be adequately protected? At what expense?

Then there is the already faltering economy of the city. It would die. Who in their right mind would want to vacation there during that period? There goes tourism. Broadway. Restaurants. Shopping. Attractions. Not to mention services denied people who live there.

What New Yorker in their right mind wants this going on in their backyard?

Then there is the trial itself. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed wants to be his own attorney. That means he has the right to see every bit of classified information we have! That's just dandy. Especially if he happens to be acquitted or sprung by "friends". He could also be assassinated by those same friends to martyr him as a recruiting tool. Or they could cause mischief in other parts of the city, or country for that matter, while all eyes and security are focused on the trial.

Come on. You know how the media is going to act. It's going to be a circus. Like Michael Jackson's trial a few years back, or O.J.'s. And guess what? They both got off! It will only take one juror to deny the death penalty, no matter how strong the evidence. Then, if convicted at all, we'll get to support them for the rest of their lives.

It's time for Obama's apology tour to stop. We are at war. We have no obligation to bear our souls or anything else to anyone! They tell us this is to showcase our justice system to the rest of the world. To show them we're good people and fair. Who thought that up as a necessity? I'll buy into it when the countries these men came from do the same.

Let's change the meaning of "politically correct" to mean we do something that makes sense for this country rather than placating those who hate us!

Right Within Our Own Borders

Though out of the headlines for the moment, the issue of a Palestinian homeland is still at the center of any hope for Middle Eastern peace. Looking at the map and seeing the dwindling territory from what once was theirs made me realize we have a not so different situation right here within our borders.

It has caused a great deal of bitterness between the Hopi and the Navajo for many were displaced from lands on which they had lived for generations. I haven't made a study of all aspects of it but it has been going on since the 1800s. The rancor remains.

What's interesting to me is how it affects the daily lives of those who live there. It's a strange entanglement because it's hard to find a pure Hopi or a pure Navajo yet, as in the case of our friends, they'll fight over who and where potters can dig their clay!

Many Hopis and Navajos have married one another. Utes and Paiutes and Apache come into the mix not to mention whites. Our friends' daughter is married to a native of Tonga. How's that for blending blood lines?

So what do we have in the end? Indians. American Indians. Any lineage other than that is blurred!

Over time things have gotten complicated. These Indian nations are considered sovereign. They have their own government, their own police and they subsidize their own people with proceeds from coal and oil operations as well as their casinos. The thing is, we also subsidize them. It's all tangled up in treaties from years past I guess but the reservations for the most part have become welfare states.

They live differently than we do. Many live in abject poverty. In many parts of the reservations you can't get a cell phone signal. How novel. They don't have yards with well groomed lawns and kids on swing sets. They view life differently. Most of us don't really understand their culture. Sound familiar?

We travel that country often, yet I never get used to seeing cows and horses, sheep and goats and dogs lying dead and bloated along the roads. This isn't wildlife road kill. These animals are their bread and butter. It's just - different.

I've often wondered if it would be better to mainstream them into our society. After all, with all the inter-marriage they, being the first peoples, are the most American of all!

It is sad to me that these people harbor anger among themselves. It just doesn't seem right.