Hospitals

This weekend I had to put my elderly mother into a local hospital for a swollen finger. First we spent 5 1/2 hours at an emergency room at another local hospital before they decided they didn't know what to do and transfered her, by ambulance, where she needed to be for surgery and treatment.

I've had my fair share of time in the original hospitals emergency room and it has always been an ordeal. Never have I gotten treatment within 3 hours, sometimes it's taken 9. In the end I think that hospital is a sorry excuse for a healthcare facility.

I am eligible for treatment at the Veterans Hospital here in Houston. I remember when I was originally medically retired from the service the place was a shambles. Getting to see a doctor took days, sometimes weeks. To get a doctor that spoke and understood English was an even longer wait. Wards were a nightmare with conditions that you'll occasionally see in movies that want to show the treatment of veterans in a bad light. At the time the movies were accurate. In the last several years the place has had a complete transformation into an excellent healthcare facility and even though I have the opportunity to purchase civilian health insurance, in the event I could not, I wouldn't hesitate to go to the VA.

Once we arrived at the hospital where she recieved treatment it was incredibly efficient, friendly and professional. I look back a few years when I was in for surgery in the same hospital and it was exactly the same then. I was immediately placed in the ER room, not the waiting room. Blood was drawn within minutes, vital statistics were recorded and a treatment plan, including surgery was established within an hour. I was taken to a private room and given all the amenities a hospital can provide. The next morning I was prepped for surgery and introduced to the surgeon. At that time I admitted my morbid fear of general anesthetic and, once warned of the dangers and drawbacks of a local anesthetic, was provided that option. Being awake during major surgery is an experience but it was better than being put under, for me at least. After my surgery I was wheeled to recovery and soon thereafter I was back in my room and being treated like a king. I was there a couple of days and even though it was a hospital, couldn't have been better.

My mothers treatment was almost identical. Once she was transferred by ambulance she was immediately taken to a private room and provided everything she needed. The nurses were outstanding in their professionalism and the care they showed to an elderly woman. Her surgery was the next morning and she was given the best of everything. She was even given a stuffed bear for companionship and a special pillow for her arthritic neck. This is above and beyond the call of duty in my thoughts. Tomorrow she goes for her follow-up surgery to close the wound and she's scheduled to be discharged in the evening if all goes well.

I know it's not much, but the good people at that hospital will be receiving a letter from me expressing my gratitude for their efforts. I wish more hospitals were like them.

Gas Prices

This morning my car had between one quarter and half a tank so I thought I'd better fill it up for the upcoming week. The fill up took the same amount of time but when the receipt printed it was $50 instead of the $20-$25 I was paying not long ago. Price per gallon was $3.709 for regular unleaded gas of which 20 cents is state tax and 18.4 cents is federal tax.

I decided to do a little research because I could remember when all the media talked about for weeks at a time during the Bush administration were gas prices. This was 2005 when we were busy waging two wars and the media were really bashing Bush on any issue it could.

Image from RushLimbaugh.com

As you can see from the chart, the spike on the left is the amount of media coverage on gas prices under the Bush administration and if you look near his index finger you can see a tiny bump that reflects the amount of media coverage under the Obama administration. (Thanks Rush). But this isn't about the media being anti-Republican, it's about gas prices.

I've seen quite a few of the Democrats blaming oil speculators lately for the high prices. After all, oil is a commodity that is public traded. I've personally traded in oil futures and while nobody I know would invest in something when they think the price will go down it doesn't reflect the incredible prices we're seeing today. I've seen others blame "Big Oil" for gouging people at the pump. Let's put that to rest right now, "Big Oil" is making the same 9 cents a gallon it always has. OPEC has actually lowered the amount of oil it puts on the market lately. While this does help keep the prices high the amount of oil on the market right now is huge and who could blame anybody for trying to make a buck? The fact is that if OPEC were to open up every pipe they have to the maximum capacity we don't have the refining capabilities to make much of an impact. There hasn't been a single refinery built in 29 years!

While the BP gulf disaster was a terrible blow to the ecology it has to be compared to the nuclear meltdown in Japan to gain some perspective. Anytime humans are involved, accidents are inevitably going to happen. Some of these will be catastrophic, affecting hundreds, thousands or millions of people either directly or indirectly. This is the price we pay for not living in caves any longer. The Obama administration correctly halted all offshore drilling until it could be ascertained the accident was a freak happening and not a process defect. However, since that time, there has been ONE permit for offshore drilling issued. We are forced to purchase more foreign oil than ever before. During the interm when offshore drilling is banned China has teamed with Cuba to do the same deepwater drilling that BP was doing prior to the spill just off our shores. Obama also invested billions of dollars of taxpayer money in Brazilian and Columbian oil companies instead of investing in American oil companies that both provide energy and much needed jobs.

I think you have to understand the Obama administrations views on oil. Obama's Energy Secretary Steven Chu wanted to "figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” which at the time were over $7 a gallon. Immediately after taking office in 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, canceled 77 leases for oil and gas drilling in Utah. Last summer President Obama needlessly instituted, not one, but two outright drilling bans in the Gulf of Mexico. After rescinding his outright offshore drilling ban, President Obama has refused to issue any new drilling permits in the Gulf, a policy that the Energy Information Administration estimates cut domestic offshore oil production by 13% last year. Interior Secretary Salazar announced that the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast, and the Pacific coast will not be developed, effectively banning drilling in those areas for the next seven years. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced new global warming regulations for oil refineries. Interior Secretary Salazar announced new rules making it more difficult to develop energy resources on federal land.

I live in Texas near Houston, Energy City. The amount of people who made a living in the oil and related industries here are huge. But so many of these people are out of work due to the Administrations policies that it's disheartening. There is no good reason that we should not be developing our own energy and putting these people back to work.

Government Shutdown

Our country is deeply in debt and is growing deeper every single day to the tune of 14 trillion dollars as of this post. To put this another way, if you were to save over your lifetime 1.4 million dollars it would take you ten million lifetimes to reach that amount of money. The US Census says that as last year there were 308 million citizens in the United States. If every man, woman and child in the US were to be held responsible for this debt the bill would be over $45000 per person just to get us out of debt. That's right now. Interest on the debt, just like an unpaid account, just keeps going up. You've seen what happens when you max out your credit cards and just pay the minimum? Same thing, the debt grows and anything you throw at it is just eaten. But the sad fact is that as of now, we're not trying to pay down the debt, we're trying to increase the debt amount.

I routinely watch the Sunday morning political shows. I think it's important to know what is happening with our government. Last week the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, was on telling us how incredibly important it is to raise our debt limit. The Democrats and Republicans are both telling us they want to tighten up spending. The question would be, Do you want to tighten before or after your spending spree? Somehow I can't help but feel that if you increase spending 100% and cut back 10% of that number it's not a cut but an overall 90% increase.

I'm a proud Independent, I'm not a Tea Party member, but I do admire some of their principles. Debt isn't good for your family, debt isn't good for our country. That our representatives decided to spend away money they don't have and borrow from my kids and grandkids is rediculous. The American people have routinely said we're worried about the vast amount of debt our country is incurring. It's up to our representatives do fix it, now.

A Little About This Blog

Many of my posts will be political in nature. I am not affiliated with any political party. I am a proud Independent. I will vote for the best candidate regardless of party. I feel that suborning yourself to a system that might or might not have the best ideas on any specific issue is tantamount to herd mentality and is intellectually lazy.

On many issues I am fiercely conservative, on others I am incredibly liberal. I beat on Bush when he was making mistakes, I beat on Obama when he does the same. Whoever comes next will get similar treatment. It is the duty of Americans to demand the best from their representatives and replace them when they govern against the will of the people.

I will often use the vast network of political pundits and various television talking heads to evaluate issues. If I borrow from them I will always try to give proper attribution to the author, if I fail to give attribution it is an oversight and not plagiarism. Occastionally if I find an outstanding piece I will provide a link to the authors site so you can enjoy their work and form your own thoughts on the issues. I will never tell you what to think. I will give you the best facts I can and my opinion on those facts as viewed through my own thoughts and experiences. It's up to you do think on your own.