Monday, April 19, 2010

Talking with Americas Future...

In my day job, I listen. That's mostly what a doctor does. I do prescribe medicine and treat illness but more often than not my ability to read between and under the lines is what helps me out from day to day. I also talk to my patients, and I am scared by what I am hearing. Kids don't care anymore. I know that adults have been saying that for 50 years but honestly these kids care more about their phones and their TV then this country. I just spent a few minutes IMing with a motivated young man who is not sure how to go about changing this nation or his friends. By glancing at his Facebook pace, I really got to see Social Media in action, and he thinks that he is not doing enough. We both agreed that the path our Nation is on is scary and we are not sure where we are headed. I encouraged him and anyone else, stand up, and speak out. Know how and why Congress and the President is spending your money. That's right its your money if you pay taxes - its not their money till you send it to them. Call Congress, ask questions... And heaven forbid maybe we all need to drink a little more "tea from parties". The same old same old pork earmarks won't do - not with my hard earned money. Nor should it do for yours... Learn about how America works and if you don't understand - ask a friend, facebook a question, or tweet your query to the world... there will be answers.

Lets take back this land I love - the home of the free and the brave.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

How do we engage the unconcerned?

I've had a really great week. Its been a busy week, a hectic week, but overall a good useful week in the life of this country doctor. I've had sick patients and well patients and patients that made a trip into the office just to ask my opinion about the new health care bill signed into law. But mostly this week, I've been proud to see one of my nurses become a Grandma to her first grandson and I watch my youngest daughter learn to make her e's without them looking like some sort of deformed monsters.

While I have been living life, I still have been busy annoying Congress... see that SGR that I keep talking to y'all about was up to be renewed again for like the fourth time this year. And it actually was the second time that doctors worked for 24 hours with a 21.2% pay cut but medicare CMS promises that they will go back and pay us all the right amount. Pardon me, if I am not to comforted in Government promises after having to right out my IRS check this week. I have to pay them on time but they can just decide to not pay me for two weeks while Congress is debating on whether or not doctors are a worthy group to pay. Pardon me, but if the federal government is going to hand out money like lolly pops at my office then why are they so DAMN tight with fixing the FLAWED formula for Medicare Physician repayment. I mean, they have payed for half of Wall Street and GMC, so why cannot we fix the physician payment formula since the President has screwed us all with his health care plan.

I know, that according to the AMA and the AAFP, I am supposed to take hold of the health care bill and be a proud provider in this new system, I am not. If I wanted to be a socialist I would move to Moscow. I disagree with the government mandating any purchase of a product and can see no way that this is going to do anything other than raise the cost of insurance for those of us with private insurance. I disagree with $500 million dollars being cut from medicare. I disagree with forcing the states to take millions more onto their medicaid roles when many states cannot pay the medical bills that they have. Yet, I have always agreed that health care needed reform. We pay our specialist too much and pay too much for procedures. There is not enough incentive to go into primary care and we are letting to much of that care go to under trained nurses who often end up acting like doctors. There is a time and a place for a nurse practitioners care but it is not in running their own clinic and being called Doctor cause they have a PhD in nursing that just confuses patients.

Did you know that we in the US have one of the most expensive health care systems in the world and we get as a society some of the worse care? Japan does worlds better with less cost, but then they don't have quit as many law suits. I think Congress failed to realize that there can be no meaningful health care reform without torte reform.

But, anyway... you have probably gone to sleep reading this by now, but the original question was how do we get the uninvolved involved? Why do most Americans care? As long as they have money to pay their bills and a job, most Americans don't seem to care. But as the jobs numbers showed today with 24,000 new unemployed I think maybe the time has come that more and more Americans will listen... So stand up and speak out. Whatever your opinion is at least lets get it out there... for the first time in years, we as a society are not totally dependant on the major networks to give us our news and information. The more we talk and the more information we share, the more we can hope to get the uninvolved interested.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

America in Trouble...

Its been a while since I got to set down to a computer and have a chat with myself. That's my own private joke at how I have come to look at this blog, but between school spring break and my new involvement in the TMA physician's leadership college, I have had a busy few weekends. Oh, yeah plus Easter and being on call...

Anyway, my thoughts have been decidedly grim these last few days despite having had some of the best times in my life. I was at the TMA meeting this weekend and I am honored to have represented Overton Co. as a voting delegate to that body and to have been selected to the 4th class for the Physician's Leadership College. I have a great group of people to work with. However, I have already seen the difficulties faced by modern medicine, and getting different medical specialist to agree. Its not unlike the difficulties in getting a poultry producer and an dairy farmer to agree, and since I have experience with that sort of thing I might do alright in this TMA adventure. I met and Karaoked with some great doctors, and had a ball, in between wrestling with issues like the SGR and health care reform.

You see, I am still very unsure of this bill that Congress rammed down the throats of America. Now we have Government in health care (which they already cannot run - look at the SGR problem as of April 1rst all doctors that take Medicare took a 24% pay cut and if it is not fixed by this week it becomes LAW!!!) and government in car companies, and government in banks, and government in energy laws (by the way thank Obama when your grocery bills go up next year due to his CAP and Trade laws!!!) and I am sorry but I was raised that if you wanted something you earned it.

Call me old fashioned but I have worked for what I have since I was 14 years old. I bought my first car, and paid for it all myself. I worked three jobs and owned one of them to put myself through college. Where is this drive in young Americans? I know - its not there... they want the change that Obama promised them... well, changing America into a socialist Marxist nation is not what I had in mind... Thank you very much...

I am pleading with anyone that reads this; become involved. If you don't like my view point at least get involved enough in our nation to have an opinion of your own that does not come from biased bought and paid for Katie Couric. Vote... Call Congress, Elect new officials. Find people who will do the jobs that "WE THE PEOPLE" send them to congress to do...

And I have one more rant before heading off to bed, if we tried to impeach Clinton for having, no lying about oral sex, why can't we impeach Obamma for spending more money then our children can ever repay? Why can't he be held accountable for making it illegal for our military to use the words Islamic fundamental for fear they might "hurt the feelings" of the terrorist that attack and kill AMERICANS on our own soil? Why can't he be held accountable for signing away our nuclear superiority and tying our hands with meaningless treaty's that make us - the USA - look impotent to the other worlds nuclear powers? Why can't he manage to have more than a week's worth of conversation with Israel and not piss them off? and Why oh why did America elect a Marxist Socialist as President? Don't we already give enough of what we make to the less fortunate? Why do they get to sit and do nothing while I work 80+ hours a week...

I know we are just a small group of people in Tennessee, but Paul Revere was just a man with a small group of friends and see what he did. Lets stop ignoring the political environment in which we find ourselves and take bake Washington...

And did you know that our President has declared April as NATIONAL FINANCIAL LITERACY MONTH... he wants us all to learn to balance our check books, not to buy risky products, avoid credit card debt, and MOST IMPORTANTLY he wants us to AVOID DEBT. I want you to know that I nearly laugh myself silly and cried at the same time when I heard that... The man that has single handed put this country in deeper debt then ever before - so much so that we are at an ECONOMIC CRISIS - wants us the America people to not have debt. Maybe he should practice putting his money where his mouth is...

And FYI ... the percent of appointed government officials that have experience in the field that they are a Presidential appointment too is at an all time low. With Reagan it was at 52-54% of his appointed officials had previous work experience, and it was in the 40's% with Clinton, and now with Obama the percent of his appointed people that have previous experience in their appointed job is at 8%... Gotta love this...

Friday, April 9, 2010

Learned a lot. Been in class all day. Hope to be to a real computer soon. Learned a little more about the health care bill today. Maybe not as bad as I thought.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Upset with our President, are 't you? First, he campaigns on the platform to change America and tell Joe Plumper that he doesn't want to punish his success but he wants the same success for all Americans whether they have earned it or not.

Now he wants to saddle us with TEN Trillion dollars in debt to pay for six years of health care reform that the American public was up in arms about. And now he has signed a nuclear arms treaty that days even if we are attacked as long as the county has followed this new treaty we won't fight back. Israel os barley speaking to us and Korea is making all kinds of noise. Why can't we impeach him?

Just a thought...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry