okay, it was an easy one (health care) to get things started and ppl weren't actually responding to my previous blog post called "In Response...." but I'll take what i can get.
actually it's a little frustrating that ppl compose their responses and take the discussion in a whole different direction that i intended, but at least ppl are out there thinking about stuff!
here's the responses from FB when i posted:
Sheila Collins Ferguson
I couldn't fit it all in a little FB box, so here's my response to those friends who posted: No one should die because government rationing denies or delays health care, and no on...e should go broke because his business was shuttered due to socialist healthcare dictates.Read More
Jumpin Off the Bridge: in response....
6 hours ago · Comment · Like / Unlike · View Feedback (17)Hide Feedback (17) · Share
Kathi Doran Jeffrey
READ YOUR BLOG AND YOU RE RIGHT...COULD BE A WIN-WIN...GOVT NEED TO STAY IN IT'S ARENA AS DOES RELIGION.
5 hours ago · Delete
Jason F Kearney
"No one should die because government rationing denies or delays health care" This is statement is a total farce. Explain to me how the people without money or health care are getting their health care right now. Don't forget I'm on the front line. America is ruled by fear mongers. Our system right now is broken and it has the chance to totally fail. Fix it now or we will pay the price later.
5 hours ago · Delete
Paul Volpe
Was it a fear monger that said the system has the chance to totally fail?
4 hours ago · Delete
Jason F Kearney
Well check out emergency department visits in last ten years, overcrowding in the emergency departments increasing, aging of america, lack of primary care physicians, add a flu/pandemic or national disaster to the all ready overburdened system and you tell me what will happen. It's not fear mongering, it's fact. "I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room." George Bush
4 hours ago · Delete
Patrick Randolph
Interesting ....
4 hours ago · Delete
Jim Vinoski
Here are a few points to ponder: 1. Nobody has a right to my money to just make himself feel morally superior. 2. If you're gonna take aim at GWB, could you please first read about AIDS relief in Africa? Hmmm??? (Yeah, I know blindly parroting HuffPo is a lot easier.) 3. Government's gonna fix it?!? Are you frickin' kiddin' me? Uh, yeah, 'cause they're doing so well at everything else...
4 hours ago · Delete
Jason F Kearney
If you want to contribute to the discussion then help add some ideas how to take care of the situation. If you think the current system is good then I'm fine with that.
4 hours ago · Delete
Marisa Ellender Wittmann
You can't please all the people all the time. As with any election for office, no matter the outcome, half the people will be disappointed. With your argument, Bush's fund cuts affected science, and ultimately your family. Someone else will simply say that Clinton's or Obama's fund cuts affected them. It's a perpetual cycle. The healthcare argument is heated. I said in one of my posts "You can't invite millions more to the dinner table and expect the quality or quantity of the food to remain the same OR for only half the people to foot the bill." I am NOT anti-change and reform for helathcare, but a well-planned option needs to be discussed by people who are not slated to directly profit from this. It's why they don't allow referees to bet on the games. Greed takes over and those underfoot will simply get stepped on. The other thing that REALLY bothers lots of people is the "urgent need" to get this passed with minimal input from those who are not in agreement.
3 hours ago · Delete
Mark Schieber
I don't think that opposition to the proposed system is indicative of a lack of compassion. No one wants to see others suffer. Personally, I question how a system like this would sustain itself, particularly with our economy in the shape that it's in. I also don't believe that the government is able to administrate such a massive system. Medical ... Read Morematters are extremely personal, and people are understandably reluctant to welcome government involvement in them. I'm not demonizing anyone and I'm not even particularly political: I just don't think government health care can work.
3 hours ago · Delete
Mark Romer
Okay, here's the solution:At the federal level:1. Make medical insurance just as tax-deductible for individuals as it is for corporations.2. Reduce the cost of malpractice insurance and lessen the use of "defensive medicine" via tort reform. At the state level:1. Allow citizens / corporations to purchase insurance across state lines.2. Stop mandating what insurance policies must cover. Let the insurance companies offer a wider range of products that their customers can choose based on what is covered and how much the premiums are.At the personal level (here's the hard part):1. Financially support charities that assist the poor with their medical care.2. Be aware that not everything can be fixed. Accept that pain is part of life.3. Promote good citizenship so that today's children will grow up knowing they are expected to take responsibility for themselves.
3 hours ago · Delete
Jason F Kearney
Largest government run health care system in the world. The VAMC. Medicare and Medicaid large government run health care sytstems. I have a friend who works at the VA and his patients complain they don't want the government ruining their health care. They don't want "socialized" medicine. Not to realize that they already are on government run health care. My point continues to be >how to cover those that don't have health care now. The Walmart worker who walmart only works 32 hours so they do not get benifits. How is this person to afford health care with the current system for a family of 4. They are working and can't afford health care. The system is sustaining itself right now by charging those that do have health insurance more money. The charges are set up for those that do have insurance to pay for those that don't. Look how much insurance monthly payments have increased since 1994. Who remembers the days of $5 dollar co-pays for everything. Those days are long over.
3 hours ago · Delete
Kristine Wright Kalish
How many of you are living on the frontlines with no insurance, a chronically ill sick spouse and living at poverty level...Because I am, and It took a lot for me to finally get on a state sponsered health plan so I could get treatment for Darren. Now we have to wait 10-12 weeks to be seen by a primary care doctor and 15 weeks to get into the ... Read Moredentist. Fortunately, we went to the ER to get his immediate needs take care of. In Colorado, it's a lot easier if you just change your name to Fernandez or Gomez, then you get all the care in the world. I don't care what they do to healthcare as long as it is something. Although I am glad to at least have some coverage, I don't understand why healthcare is dependant on your job. Everyone says your taxes will go up but at my last job I paid $400.00 a month for insurance which was 1/3 my check every 2 weeks. Why not expand and better Medicaid and pay on a sliding scale? Why not have a public option? If we slimmed down congressional perks...
3 hours ago · Delete
Kristine Wright Kalish
I know I am having to declare bankruptcy because of medical bills. I know I got denied a better job because of medical bills on my credit report. I know Medicare/aid had over a billion or something in fruad and I know there are a bunch of slackers on disability. If Obama actually went line thru line in the budget and cut the fakers off SSI, we ... Read Morewould have lots of money to insure everyone. Preventative care is most urgent. And obesity...how much are we subsudiziong people who can't control their eating habits and cost healthcare. Smokers too. Want to be fat and smoke then ride your motorcycle without a helmet, fine. I just shouldn't have to pay for your bad choices. Tax junk food. make those who have poor choices pay a higher preminum
3 hours ago · Delete
Kristine Wright Kalish
sorry to go off, I have been on the phone a lot dealing with doctors. kinda had my fill of "healthcare"
2 hours ago · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
for those that don't know him, Jason is an MD (so is Patrick who merely said "Interesting...").
41 minutes ago · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
i know this touched off more "nerves" today as it did yesterday....not sure if ppl went to read my actual response on my blog....Mark did and in response to him, i want to say that I read a whole book (3 years ago and now i cannot remember the title) that listed many instances of how the funding in the Bush years was "rationed" for scientific ... Read Moreresearch...i will have to do more research to respond to your request for more instances b/c right now i cannot remember it all and i don't have much time at the moment....but maybe this weekend when i'm on vacation i might have some time...
38 minutes ago · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
ah, quick search of amazon and found it: Undermining Science: Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration by Seth Shulman (gotta love the Internet!)
34 minutes ago · Delete
Cecelia McNamara Spitznas
Haven't read the book but can say they sure tried to dabble in what we were doing and certain kinds of research was off limits; not just stem cells. People weren't put on scientific advisory councils because of what they knew but because of their politics. If you didn't want the death penalty for drug kingpins, if you were for needle exchange for drug abusers because it stops AIDS you were not an advisor at my Institute. From what I can tell that kind of monkey business is over. And it wasn't just the administration. Some congress people tried to defund some studies -mostly concerning prostitution (because we wouldn't want to treat prostitutes, heaven forbid). Fortunately they were overruled.
Yesterday at 7:03pm · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
i was hoping you would chime in cece since you are right there in dc and probably have a better knowledge of the funding issues than me (and probably most my friends too).
Yesterday at 7:40pm · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
oh and for the record i agree with both sides of the "alleged" argument that ppl shouldn't die b/c A, B, C, etc....i'm kind of anti-death no matter what precipitates it, but i'm also not naive enough to think humans can alter it's course.
Yesterday at 7:42pm · Delete
Colleen Brown Lyon
Love your blog. It's a temple of peace-- smart thoughts and wise quotes. I'm impressed. Speaking of jumping off a bridge, the lemmings who follow Rush and Beck et al are causing grief about the Obama address to students next Tuesday, calling our school demanding that their children be let out of any classroom that is airing his message of study hard, graduate and help America stay on top in this global economy. What the hell, people!
Yesterday at 10:12pm · Delete
Jim Vinoski
One more bit of snark, then I'll get serious: based on the original post the people on the left have been clogging Facebook with, I thought we were firmly in "smug, self-important, pointless prattling mode;" hence my earlier reply. My apologies for my misunderstanding.A quick logic point: several "appeal to authority" fallacies run through this... Read More thread: "I'm on the front line." "He's an MD." "She's in DC." Well, the good Dr. has already shown his inability to draw proper public policy conclusions, and the good lady in DC is guilty by association of massive failure. Pay that attempt to shout you down no mind, good people.The good Dr. made our point for us, but missed it: patients in the VA know they're in socialized medicine. They don't want more of it because they've lived its hell.Last point, then I'm done: the good lady in DC works with people who've put this country trillions (!!!!!) in debt. Never mind the arguments for Obamacare: we can't afford it. Ever.
10 hours ago · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
to be truthful, as of this moment, i haven't closely read all the responses on this thread. i only added the comments about the docs and ms. dc (who is also a doc but not an m.d....she's my cousin) to give some context to the discussion. I was waiting for the weekend when i had more time to ponder all these things. Actually, from reading Dr. ... Read MoreJason's comments, i think he is responding to me like I was in support of the right-wing version of the "nobody should die" posting clogging up FB (from BOTH sides of the "aisle").
11 hours ago · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
jim, if someone is a scientist in dc, why does that make them "guilty by association"? even if they are a scientist employed by the govt, why does it make her guilty? trying to i'm trying to understand the logic in that one....i'm sure there are conservative scientists (or maybe that is an oxymoron?).
11 hours ago · Delete
Marisa Ellender Wittmann
"i'm sure there are conservative scientists (or maybe that is an oxymoron?)." This statement is a big part of why rational discussions go out the window. There are many degrees to the term conservative as there are many degrees of liberal. There will always be the extremes on each end as well as the ultra-squeaky wheels that get media attention. Someone can be more/less left/right depending on the issue at hand. One very loud member of your group does not always represent the majority.
September 7 at 12:52pm · Delete
Cecelia McNamara Spitznas
Here is a link to the National Institutes of Health Budget page. http://www.nih.gov/about/budget.htmNot only am I guilty by association but every scientist at a University who receives federal funding is also "guilty". And there's not just NIH funding. There's also NSF who funds basic science research. The fact is that ANYONE who attended a ... Read Moremajor university & took a science class, or medical school benefits from the knowledge produced by this process; It shows up in the curriculum you're taught and/or provides funding for the actual research and training programs provided by federal grants to train clinician scientists. There generally would not be MD/Ph.Ds without these kinds of funding programs (unless they were saddle with extreme debt which they could not pay back on a scientist salary). And even if a specific professor does not get federal money if anyone in their department gets federal money the U gets a share of it to "administer the grant". Many get more than 50%.
September 7 at 3:40pm · Delete
Cecelia McNamara Spitznas
And after the research is completed those test tubes or computers or whatever has been given as a grant to the University stays there. So chances are Dr. Peabody gets a grant to study mitochondria and 5 years later his laptop has been recycled to some grad student's dissertation project. If you want to know what's funded go tohttp://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm... Read MoreIn most cases there is nobody private who has the money or the interest in funding these projects. In many cases there is not even an advocacy group to raise awareness about the needs of certain populations (ie drug addicts). Even if there was would you want a Jerry Lewis Telethon for every disorder out there? Also how would you decide what projects to fund? The NIH has established a WORLD CLASS peer review system whereby its grantees review and rank applications for scientific merit. It is a huge undertaking and VERY WELL administered. Yes your tax dollars go to support that.
September 7 at 3:55pm · Delete
Cecelia McNamara Spitznas
And I must say the peer review system is cheap relative to if you actually paid private professional reviewers for the actual time it takes them to do reviews. NIH does pay for travel and the actual time people are at the meetings. That is a fraction of the time reviewers spend reading the applications and completing the written reviews. Here is ... Read Morea list of some of the accomplishments by NIH funded researchers. I only wish I was worthy of being associated with some of these things...http://www.nih.gov/about/almanac/historical/chronology_of_events.htm#twothousand
September 7 at 4:08pm · Delete
Sheila Collins Ferguson
this is wierd that i don't get updates on this post on my own wall...i just re-visited this after many days and saw more activity. To Marisa's last comment, I was being "catty" onthe oxymoron comment and perhaps it does come off irrational. I'm just kind of puzzled at how ppl have drawn some of their conclusions here on this post that do not seem... Read More very logical to me and I was "firing back" at my friend, Jim, in a joking way, but it didn't really come off that way....debates online are quite difficult when you can't really get a good "read" on ppl's tone.
2 seconds ago (sept 11 at 9:13 pm)
Sheila Collins Ferguson
and to my comment on conservative scientists, i think i read that the new head of NIH is an evangelical...so it seems that it is possible to believe in God and science (this is again being sarcastic....).
2 seconds ago (sept 11 at 9:21 pm)
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