Sixty some years ago I delivered papers like many young boys
and girls. I had a fairly large route of
124 customers and delivered the Seattle Times every afternoon and in the
morning on Sundays. One of my stops was
the new Veterans Hospital on Beacon Hill where I left any extra’s I had for the
men there. I usually kept about 6 or 7 extras
for this stop. What I saw at that
hospital has had a profound effect on my life.
Many guys wandering the halls half dressed with wet pants mumbling to
themselves aimlessly sauntering around. These
were the same guys who had without a thought for their own safety had brought
our enemies to their knees in Germany, France, Italy and the South
Pacific.
I thought this is what a Veterans Hospital was, a place where they put the guys
whose families didn’t want them. Being a
young boy in the 50’s I knew someday I would be a veteran too and I vowed I
would never go to a V.A. hospital and to this day I haven’t. I have been lucky as I have been able to
afford outside insurance for all these years.
Many of my friends aren’t so fortunate and have to go to the V. A. for
treatment. Now we see that the
atmosphere hasn’t changed that much as far as the attendants are
concerned. The mentality that would lead
to making false appointment lists just to feather their own financial being is
no different than what I saw as abusive non attendance when I delivered
papers. It’s the mentality of Civil Service
and it permeates our government in all areas.
I’m not accusing every Civil Servant of this malaise but when they allow
it to happen on their watch they are just as responsible as the bad ones.
As the war winds down and we are inundated with the large
muster out that Obama is planning for our military we will have more and more
veterans who require these services standing in line, if not changed this
program will only get worse. It is
beyond a government’s ability to administer such a program when it is besieged with
bureaucracy. This should be in the minds
of every citizen as we are now faced with the ultimate test where all citizens’
medical decisions will be handled by bureaucrats rather than their own
doctors. With the advent of unionization
for government workers it is impossible to fire or even reprimand bad employees.
The answer lies in the public sector through outside
insurance programs and benefits for the medical profession not based on hours
worked but by personal achievement. Free
enterprise will always do a better job through competitive programs. The idea that a centralized medical system
with layer after layer of reports and repetition is better is nonsense. The V.A. should be turned over to a private system
that is paid on true performance of duty.
It should be run by trained hospital administrators and doctors who are
familiar with a medical program and understand their potential personal psychological
problems that come from working with badly injured and mentally impaired patients. The money that is being spent including the
fraud on Veterans care would more than cover the expense of a properly run
private program. We must wake up to the
fact that our turn is just around the corner with the total implementation of
Obama Care. Good luck to us.
