The road to America's hell is paved with good regulatory intentions

-

Read the headline and, if you wish, read the article.  Then I'll tell you why the Government is so wrong on this one.



South Dakota Wrongly Puts Thousands in Nursing Homes, Government Says

By Matt Apuzzo
The Justice Department said Monday that with few alternatives available, thousands of people were held unnecessa...

Oh the horror!  People in South Dakota are being imprisoned in nursing homes rather than being allowed to live out their golden years in the comfort of their homes surrounded by loved ones.  Something clearly must be done about this.

Now let's talk about what's wrong with this story.  We have bureaucrats in Washington D.C. applying a national standard of care for senior citizens to a situation in South Dakota.  Make sure the rube doctors are giving the best care possible.  That sounds appropriate right?

Except that it isn't always.  The standard of care for seniors is to try to promote home and community based care and keep them out of nursing homes.  But how do you do that if there is no home and community based care?  

  • South Dakota does not have a surplus of medical professionals
  • Thanks to the oil industry, SD's unemployment is almost zero 
  • People can make better money in jobs related to oil than they can changing the diapers on a senior citizen
  • In suburban communities you can get from patient to patient in 20 or 30 minutes, in South Dakota you may be looking at 2 to 3 hours
  • Typically with home support, you have family members available.  States like South Dakota are famous for the emigration of young people away from there, so family members are often not available.

Look at the subtitle to the headline - "The Justice Department said...that with few alternatives available, thousands of people were held unnecessarily..."  On it's face, the Justice Department's own statement proves the stupidity of their position.  People are put in nursing homes because there are few alternatives and Washington thinks it is unnecessary.  

This is the typical liberal/regulator attitude of "By God these people are better off with no medical care than being put in a nursing home!"

So what we have here is a combination of bureaucrats in Washington locked in an ivory tower away from reality thinking they know what is right for everyone - with one size fits all policies - and liberal media that buys into the idea that if the Federal Government says it is so, then it must be so.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gun Control thoughts

-
Thought #1 - In my opinion the most effective form of gun control is a gun in the possession of someone who respects the weapon and knows how to use it, and who also respects life and living things. Here in Montana, I like to say there are 5 guns for every person in the State.  I have no basis for that statement but guns are popular and easily obtained.  You would think, after hearing President Obama's speech this would be a recipe for routine massacres, yet that doesn't happen out here. Why is that?  Probably because people who own guns are raised from an early age to respect guns as a tool not a toy and educated on the proper use.  They also respect life and other people. The result is that in the 18 months I have lived here I can recall 2 instances of death by gun. Thought #2 - Unlike the "Right to Privacy" or the "Right to an abortion" or other rights people claim to have (and do for the most part), the "Right to Bear Arms" is explicitl...
Read more

War in Iran cheat sheet

-
Let's provide some clarity about issues that have been raised regarding the War in Iran.   1. The President's action is not illegal or unconstitutional. That's the opinion of Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), who said the War Powers Act "...has not been violated..."*1   The text of the War Powers Resolution, passed in 1975 requires: The President notify Congress before initiating action. The President provide briefings to Congress within 48 hours of action being initiated. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said those things were done. The position of both the Trump Administration and Sen. Fetterman was bolstered by video that surfaced from 2011 when then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the Obama Administration did not violate the Constitution or the War Powers Act when it launched military operations in Libya.  Pelosi claimed the limited nature of the action justified her position, saying it would be different if there were "boots on the ground."  The Obama...
Read more

What the Republicans should do to address the problem

-
 In the previous post, I talked about how I think the Republicans are in trouble going into the 2026 elections.  Now let's talk about what I think they should do about it. Start by recognizing there is a problem.  I've heard Republican officials and some pundits say "well these were Blue states so its not surprising Democrats won."  I'm sorry - a Democrat AG candidate won after it was revealed he wished death on a legislator and the legislator's two kids.  I don't care what color is assigned to the State of Virginia - Republican Red or Democrat Blue - that shouldn't happen unless Republicans have a problem. After we admit we have a problem, look at why Democrats won.  In the New York Mayor's race, and the Governor races in New Jersey and Virginia, the winning candidates promised to fight President Trump.  We need to give people a reason to ask - why would you oppose what Trump is doing?  In NY and NJ, candidates promised to fix higher costs facing...
Read more