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Hurray for revisionist history!!!
What nut-job blogger are you reading now??
"AND Just exactly what has that Department produced?"
They provide a services. Perhaps you forgot that when we pay for things, it's not always a product we're interested in, but sometimes it's a service.
But they have in fact produced much. They've produced some the most inovative scientific/technological breakthroughs of the modern era; nuclear waste processing technologies, particle accelerators/coliders, self-healing polymers, coal-gasification, carbon sequestration, nano-technologies, etc....
If it weren't for the DOE, we'd be getting a fraction of the kilowats from our economically splendiforous coal industry, we wouldn't be able to eat the fish from the missouri, and we'd have to hope that the 20 year old air force kids knew how to handle and keep track of all those nuclear missiles peppering our state.
They supply grants for research into alternative energy, account for our nuclear weapons and wastes, make sure infra-structure is compliant so we're safe, develop standards which facilitate commerce, develop policies to conserve energy, and of course are leading the charge to find more oil/gas and ways of extracting it.
The DOE was not formed to "lesson our dependence on foriegn oil". The DOE was formed because there were too many disperate and redundant agencies (Federal Energy Administration, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Federal Power Commission, etc....). And in the wake of oil shortages of the 1970's we realized we needed a more unified energy policy. In 1977, they all become one agency, and the government waste was cut in half.
It's perhaps been the most fruitful, useful, and best government investment we've ever made. Thank you Carter!!!
I can't think of a more pathetically ignorant effort to try to convince us how awful government is.
The people would do well to look into the size of the bureaucracy created whenever DC gets involved. Another item worth looking into is the level of graft involved in all the Federal programs. None of the current legislation takes into account the cost of administration of a government controlled “Health Care” system.
To get an idea of what a new Department of Health with unlimited powers would cost and what it would produce, we have (as one out hundreds of departments) The Energy Department and it’s costs and it’s production to look at. Check any department you desire and you will see results similar to those we see in the Department of Energy.
TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Congees gave us the Department of Energy 8-04-1977.
32 Years Later
The Budget for this "Necessary" Department Is at $24.2 Billion a Year.
They Have 16,000 Federal Employees
And Approximately 100,000 Contract Employees.
That budget gives us a cost of $208,620.68 per employee.
AND Just exactly what has that Department produced?
Can our distiguished reps in DC come up with a plan for the people and not for either Insurers or Providers?
As for St. A's and Mid Dakota. Even us good Catholics (now remove tongue from check) have had issues with the care and no longer seek their services. Misdiognosis, improper treatment, rude and genuinely unkind treatment to name a few of just my immediate families experiences.
In 2007, I needed an MMR shot so I could attend U of Mary (school rules). Since I have no health insurance, Mid-Dakota clinic wanted me to pay $150 up-front, and they will bill me for any additional costs for the MMR shot. I went to Burleigh county health dept (wouldn't that be like socialized medicine?) and got the required shot for $8.
In 2001,when I had health insurance, a doctor at Mid-Dakota clinic put me on 2 different hormonal medications and said I had to take them for the "rest of my life". They were $135 without insurance and around $70 with insurance. Here is it 2009-I quit taking those meds 3 years ago.No, I didn't consult any doctor. But after doing my research, I found a better way to solve my problems. With losing 65 lbs, eating healthier, going vegetarian and working out, 80% of my hormonal problems cured themselves- without any overpriced meds that have side effects. Why didn't that doctor tell me, back in 2001, that changing my lifestyle and diet would have been healthier and cheaper than just popping a pill?
And in 2003, another doctor from Mid-Dakota clinic told me that my Pap test came back "high grade precancerous" and I needed a cone biopsy. This would have been an overnight stay in the hospital, thousands of dollars of medical expenses. And I had no health insurance to cover it. I wanted a 2nd Pap test and a second opinion, and his nurse actually said, "Does the doctor know you are going BEHIND HIS BACK to get a 2nd opinion?". After getting 3 more Pap tests from 3 different doctors- they came back : normal, normal and low grade pre-cancerous. I had a 15 minute office procedure to remove the pre-cancerous spots. Again, had I trusted that doctor at Mid-Dakota clinic, I would have had a chunk cut out of my cervix and never be able to have kids again.
Let all be received as Christ? Really now....do you think Christ would turn away someone because they don't have health insurance as Mid-Dakota clinic does? And doesn't it make sense to pick the less invasive, the less expensive cure first? Why do these doctors push pills, push surgury and push the high cost answer to our medical problems when maybe, just maybe, there is a cheaper way?