OBAMACARE - AND MY PLAN B

As a practicing physician (not a "provider") for over 56 years, I know what works - and what doesn't work - for my patients and for me.  That is what has kept me eager and effective in my work.  OBAMACARE is just the latest challenge to that work.  OBAMACARE is a monstrosity that will fall of its own stupidities within the next three years: a gaudy Christmas Tree of wants with no attention paid to the true reforms needed in the U.S. delivery of health care. 

But we must survive the next  three miserable years.  Herewith, my personal Plan B for survival in practice. 

• My greatest value to my patients is my TIME. 
• Decades ago I decided to maximize my professional time by integrating my work with that of highly trained Registered Nurses.
• This has allowed me to accept all insurance programs, regardless of the often - insulting levels of payment, except for those programs that require a prior referral from a less qualified physician, impinging on the patient's right of choice of physician.
• This has also allowed me never to have "closed my practice" to new patients.
• The only condition I place on patients in return for my continued interest and efforts on their behalf is that they be equally interested in their own care.  I work with patients, not for patients; and those who are not equally engaged, cooperative and compliant with my instructions find themselves discharged from my care.
• I offer my "best efforts " and personal devotion.  I never guarantee my work or the outcome of that work.  And I never take personal or financial risk for the outcome of that work, a stance that would put me in a conflict of interest with the patient and which thus would be unethical. 

Some of the coming demands of medical practice under OBAMACARE will place the above approach under great strain.  But that approach will not change.  Contrary to the posture of too many of my medical colleagues who, in the last two decades when ordered to "JUMP", have supinely responded "HOW HIGH?", my response will continue to be "SEZ WHO?". 

View the video at the end of this message. It's very eye opening.

Obama has no liking for Cruz, the least reason of which is because Cruz is Republican.  Here are a few other factors: Cruz is academically superior. Cruz graduated cum laude from Princeton. Not the case for Obama. Cruz graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. Not so for Obama. Cruz's mental prowess has been recognized by Allan Dershowitz (who by all accounts is a bigger liberal than Obama) who said that Cruz is one of the most brilliant legal minds that he has ever seen. His actual quote was that "Cruz was off-the-charts brilliant."  Not so Obama. Cruz clerked for the Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, Justice William Renquist, one of the most coveted positions for any young lawyer right out of law school. Not so Obama. The liberal tin horns in Washington along with the liberal media try to tout Cruz as some kind of nut.

Perhaps Obama and the other libs don't like him because he worked on the Florida lawsuit for George W. Bush against Gore. Perhaps it is because Cruz is a Baptist. Perhaps it's because Cruz ran his Senate campaign as a Republican and still garnered 40% of the Hispanic vote in Texas. Perhaps its because Cruz is against same-sex "marriage." For whatever reason, Obama seems jealous of Cruz's legal successes. What has Obama done in the legal profession?  Obama was not a professor at the University of Chicago as many of his supporters dishonestly tout, but was a "guest lecturer", an enormous difference. 

This brief video of Cruz's father is amazing-- it is a must watch. Indeed, every true American should have an opportunity to watch this.

Ted Cruz is a Texas Senator. His Dad may have just established himself as one more reason for Obama to dislike Texas. Please take the time to watch this and to pass on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0Ym4Xt0T6fM

NOW HEAR THIS: 

Please follow regularly the offerings posted on the ACD site, for which a Link is now provided from this website.

The togetherness out of the family,

The learning out of education,

The service out of patriotism,

The Golden Rule from rulers,

The nativity scene out of cities,

The civility out of behavior,

The refinement out of language,

The dedication out of employment,

The prudence out of spending,

The ambition out of achievement or

God out of government and school.

Fought and died for our country.

Just look at the Seniors with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts as they stand at attention with their hand over their hearts!

YES, I'M A SENIOR CITIZEN!

I'm the life of the party
..... Even if it lasts until 8 p.m.

I'm very good at opening childproof caps
..... With a hammer.

I'm awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.

I'm smiling all the time because I can't hear a thing you're saying.

I'm sure everything I can't find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.

I'm wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that's just my left leg.

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

Yes, I'm a SENIOR CITIZEN and I think I am having the time of my life!

Pope Francis is a surge of fresh air flowing through the window that Pope John XXlll opened with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's.  It's unfortunate that Pope Paul VI and his followers in the subsequent decades placed a heavy drape over it for so long.  The result has been the avoidable diminution of the Church and of the Roman Catholic Faith in the lives of so many in the world. 

But one cannot understand the  promise that this new pontiff brings to the Laity, the Body of the Church, by merely reading the "racy" media accounts of his long (over three sessions) interview with fellow Jesuit Antonio Spadaro, held in August, 2013.  Abortion. Contraception. Homosexuality.  Nothing has changed - yet - regarding the Church's teachings on these subjects. What has changed is the proper emphasis on the person who may be involved.  As my father said frequently - and as Pope Francis paraphrases - "There is a God in every man".

But let's look at these Church teachings.  Here I insert my firm opinions, well articulated in the Category in this web-site (Abortion, Morality and Ethics) under Catholic Church, "What's Wrong,( or Right,) With the Catholic Church.".

Abortion, the intentional killing of a human being from the moment of conception, is a non-negotiable Wrong - unless legitimately performed to save the Life of the mother.

Contraception was foolishly equated by Pope Paul VI and his followers with Abortion and thus "threw the baby out with the bath water".  Here I refer only to contraception practiced by two committed married persons in the discharge of their duty to bring into the world only those children whom they can reasonably raise. In this case, THE CHURCH HAS NO JURISDICTION.  Similarly, and only in the above context, the related "Unitive Function" of sexual intercourse is ridiculous.  Perhaps, in time, Pope Francis will address this self-inflicted wound of the Church.

Homosexuality is now being identified scientifically as a biologic occurrence, in the womb and possibly in the DNA, and not a "Choice".  Here the Church does not have a few centuries, as it took with basic Astronomy, to get it right. 

In any case, please read this insightful interview in the original, as offered herewith, whatever your religion or faith.  

HAVE YOU NOTICED A WORD USED MORE AND MORE COMMONLY THESE DAYS?

You think the war in Iraq was costing

us too much? Read this:

We have been hammered with the

propaganda that it was the Iraq war and

the war on terror that is bankrupting us.

I hope the following 14 reasons are

forwarded over and over again until

they are read so many times that the

reader gets sick of reading them. I also

have included the URL's for verification

of all the following facts.

1.
$11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare

to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at:

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8

2.
$22 Billion dollars a year is spent on food

assistance programs such as food stamps,

WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at:

http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

3.
$2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on

Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

4.
$12 Billion dollars a year is spent on

primary and secondary school education

for children here illegally and they

cannot speak a word of English!
Verify at:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt....0.HTML

5.
$17 Billion dollars a year is spent for

education for the American-born

children of illegal aliens, known as

anchor babies.
Verify at

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

6.
$3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to

incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/%20TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

7.
30% percent of all Federal Prison

inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at:

http://transcripts.CNN..com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt...01.HTML

8.
$90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on

illegal aliens for Welfare & social

services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at:

http://premium.cnn..com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01..HTML

9.
$200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed

American wages are caused by the illegal

aliens.
Verify at:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI

13.
In 2006, Illegal aliens sent home

$45 BILLION in remittances to their

countries of origin.
Verify at:

<http://www/..rense.com/general75/niht.htm>

14.

The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration:

Nearly One million sex crimes committed

by Illegal Immigrants In The United States .
Verify at:

http: // www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

M
The total cost is a whopping
$ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS

A YEAR AND IF YOU'RE LIKE ME,

HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING

THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY; IT IS

$338,300,000,000.00

WHICH

WOULD BE ENOUGH TO STIMULATE

THE ECONOMY FOR THE CITIZENS OF

THIS COUNTRY.

Are we THAT Stupid?
YES,

FOR ALLOWING THOSE

IN THE U.S. CONGRESS

TO GET AWAY WITH DOING THIS YEAR AFTER

Regarding the "Accident Cascade"...or whatever the correct term...

Once again, we're in the post-event hand-wringing period following the tragic Navy Yard incident.  But, as engineers know from the above -referenced term, "accidents" are rarely that.  On examination, they turn out to be the nearly inevitable consequence of prior acts and decisions. 

And so it is with these gun-related incidents.

• Yes, the Second Amendment refers to the rights of individuals, not just to "militias", and must be safe-guarded.
• No, that does not mean that anyone can own a gun, just as not anyone can drive a car.  There must be reasonable and relevant regulations...like background checks at gun shows!
• Yes, persons with psychiatric illnesses require a heightened degree of confidentiality, given the uninformed and continuing general bias toward  those illnesses.
• No, physician - patient confidentiality in these cases should not prevent the physician or other involved care-giver from notifying the proper authorities and the potential target when there is evidence that the patient is or may be a danger to a third person. 
• Yes, psychiatric patients who might formerly have been institutionalized can and should be released and treated in the community.  But the contingent promise...that there would be adequate community support and treatment...was never kept.
• No, it should not be so difficult to effect an involuntary commitment for whatever time is needed to diagnose and properly treat a patient who could be a danger to himself or to another. 
• Yes, the HIPPA law was needed to reduce inappropriate sharing of medical information,
• No, the application of that law often leads to ridiculous outcomes, certainly not consistent with the legislative intent.
• Yes, our veterans often return with medical needs that must receive first priority from our society.
• No, that is not now the case.  Please review the recently published book by Andrew Basevich entitled "a Breach of Trust", reporting on the loss of connection between the people and their military defenders.  REINSTATE THE MILITARY DRAFT, for a two or three year period, depending on whether the individual can pass a high school graduation level exam.  What a boon that would be to the many boobs wandering out there.
• Yes, we should not have a society that is a gun-toting armed camp.
• No, we should not block the use of designated armed defenders in schools and in public places. 
• Yes, the military needs contract providers, given the penchant of our soft society to starve those services.
• No, effective background checks should be the sole responsibility of the military or other formal branches of government.  

I could go on.  But why don't you add your own proposals, unaffected by the inevitable self-serving political calculi engaged in by our "leaders". 

And while you're at it, remember: "IN A DEMOCRACY, THE PEOPLE ALWAYS GET WHAT THEY DESERVE".

Once upon a time.....when our politicians tend to apologize for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country.

THE FOLLOWING ARE INTERESTING IDEAS CULLED FROM MEDIA ARTICLES.

Complete citations are omitted.  Given time constraints, I had to choose.

• "The Man Who Was Treated For $17,000. Less".  Message: self-pay.  Cut out the middle man.
• Voting Rights...and Voter Fraud: two sides of the same coin...and of equal value.
• "Speaking The Truth Does Make A Difference", by Charles Krauthammer.
• Anything trying to "explain" ObamaCare".  Good Luck. Prediction: train-wreck within three years.
• Another train-wreck: our public education "system".  "The D.C. Voucher Example", WSJ.
• "The Reality Of Feel-Good Government". "After nearly 20 years and billions of taxpayer dollars, AmeriCorps has little to show". WSJ.
• "The IRS Attack On Political Speech". "The Targeting of conservative groups is part of the relentless assault by campaign-finance scolds on the First Amendment'.  WSJ.
• Most publications highlighted in American Center For Democracy.
• "Same War, Different Country", by Thomas L. Friedman.  "The Arab awakening: Will it be Hobbes, Khomeini or Jefferson?" NYTimes. 

THE U.S., SYRIA, RUSSIA, and the "world": Now begins the Kabuki Dance called "diplomacy"...while Putin has Obama's "liver with a nice Chianti".

Clueless in Strategy.  Immobilized in Tactics. What an embarrassment!

"Is anybody there?  Does anybody care?"

GS

SOMETIMES - NOT OFTEN - I HATE IT WHEN I'M RIGHT.

While observing and living through the societal chaos of the mid-and later-1960's, I predicted that we would have to endure the "progress" of two coming generations: (expletives deleted).  Sad, but true.

• Ignorant of basic facts;
• Stupidity regarding common sense;
• Total self-absorption: alleging "connection" but assuring isolation within their gizmos;
• Amorality producing immorality.

Just a few recent examples of the results will suffice:

• The irresponsible trend away from vaccinations of children, producing new epidemics of measles and whooping cough;
• The trending parental refusal to track the lack of school progress by means of standardized testing;
• The trending elimination of the study of Cursive in school, and of many other basic subjects;
• The imposition of discipline on parents for disciplining their children;
• The tolerance of chaos and gross misbehavior in classrooms, with parents attacking teachers for attempting otherwise;
• The glorification of pets over people, including people in the womb;
• etc., etc., etc.

TO OUR BLACK BRETHREN:

This is important, to your Race, and to our relationship.

ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING.

"Shamed into war? That's just pathetic, by Charles Krauthammer, in the Washington Post recently and in The Day (www.theday.com) Saturday, August 31, 2013, Opinion, pA6.