PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care needs unmet

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It seems to me that the OP article was nothing more than a pretext to go off about the evils of government programs for the purposes of propaganda.

[natty bumppo 297]

It seems to me that the OP article was nothing more than a pretext to go off about the evils of government programs for the purposes of propaganda.

"pretext to go off"? what ... facts abandon you?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Its not hard to comprehend what I said Natty.

[natty bumppo 297]

Its not hard to comprehend what I said Natty.

that's why an example of what the gov't has done is being ignored.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It hasn't been ignored. Its been discussed over several pages - and what has come out of that is that we should apparently use the Native American experience of healthcare as a reason why public healthcare would be a bad thing.

I get that - but its so incredibly simplistic an argument as to be effectively useless.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Natty - If people weren't seeing what they wanted to read here I imagine they wouldn't be using a false comparison for the purposes of propaganda and which has nothing to do with the reality of proposed healthcare reforms.

so ... the "proposed health care reforms" have what to do with the OP, the plight of the tribes, and government broken promises?

let me guess ... continued broken gov't promises to be expected

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I find it hard to believe that people do not learn from the past. How the government has treated Native health care for decades is a bellweather that a less desparate person would not ignore. I reported on Native health issues in the early 1970s when I was in my late teens, early twenties, for a publication called Akwesasne Notes. I remember Native women being sterilized without their knowledge and people dying from a lack of proper medical provisions. It was not at all uncommon for internal wounds to be packed with gauze and left to bleed out because the right surgical instruments weren't available.

My boss, who is also my cousin, is half Native. She had a miscarriage soon after visisting a IHS clinic where the nurse, after examining her for complints of cramping, confirmed that all was ok. By the time, she got home, she was all bloody and had to be transported back to the clinic by ambulance. I've seen such incompetence in remote areas of Third World countries, but that sort of thing should't happen here. The federal track record for squandering money, wasting resources and providing less than adequate service is legend. Why anyone with half a brain wants MORE of this is waaaay beyond my ability to understand.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Sofiyya

[natty bumppo 297]

It hasn't been ignored. Its been discussed over several pages - and what has come out of that is that we should apparently use the Native American experience of healthcare as a reason why public healthcare would be a bad thing.

I get that - but its so incredibly simplistic an argument as to be effectively useless.

yet you keep posting about the wonderous benefits of gov't sponsored health care and how the tribes are a poor example ....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You know Natty, sometimes I think you deliberately play dumb just to keep a back and forth going.

[natty bumppo 297]

You know Natty, sometimes I think you deliberately play dumb just to keep a back and forth going.

isn't that why you keep posting?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You know Natty, sometimes I think you deliberately play dumb just to keep a back and forth going.

isn't that why you keep posting?

Is what why?

[natty bumppo 297]

You know Natty, sometimes I think you deliberately play dumb just to keep a back and forth going.

isn't that why you keep posting?

Is what why?

must be ...

[Ban Hammer 13,342]

I find it hard to believe that people do not learn from the past. How the government has treated Native health care for decades is a bellweather that a less desparate person would not ignore. I reported on Native health issues in the early 1970s when I was in my late teens, early twenties, for a publication called Akwesasne Notes. I remember Native women being sterilized without their knowledge and people dying from a lack of proper medical provisions. It was not at all uncommon for internal wounds to be packed with gauze and left to bleed out because the right surgical instruments weren't available.

My boss, who is also my cousin, is half Native. She had a miscarriage soon after visisting a IHS clinic where the nurse, after examining her for complints of cramping, confirmed that all was ok. By the time, she got home, she was all bloody and had to be transported back to the clinic by ambulance. I've seen such incompetence in remote areas of Third World countries, but that sort of thing should't happen here. The federal track record for squandering money, wasting resources and providing less than adequate service is legend. Why anyone with half a brain wants MORE of this is waaaay beyond my ability to understand.

apparently the old adage of you can't lead a horse to water applies in vj

[AlHayatZween 2]

Is obama's plan going to fix the core problems of the current system? Probably not - its only real focus seems to be on getting more people covered. Not a bad start but it does have the wishy washy smell of compromise about it.

Agreed.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

any thoughts on the story - like how it relates to government provided health care?

Apples and oranges, they simply are not related. Mistreatment and ripping off Native Americans is government SOP, has been for the better part of 200 years, even before we had a good old USA.