Skip to main content

Sequestration Closes the White House

Image
By

Fortunately, the sequester did not incinerate Caribou Coffee, where I suck down several hot chocolates each week.  Luckily, Cleveland hasn’t passed a Big Government Big Edict against Big Beverages, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg rammed through last year in New York City.  Recently, a New York state judge refused to drink the mayor’s Kool Aid and ruled against the absurd, loophole-ridden government intrusion.  

Sorry, Mike.  I suggest that you console yourself with a beer, which apparently is much safer than soda since no restrictions were placed on sizes of alcoholic beverages that may be sold.     

I will try to crank out at a blog post now, but my heart is ponderous as I contemplate the plight of our nation’s children.   The barricades have been erected at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.  White House tours have been cancelled, yet another apocalyptic consequence of sequestration.  It’s not clear to me who was responsible for this.  The White House?  The Secret Service?  Personally, I think it must be George Bush’s fault and expect that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will soon declare this publicly. 

Sorry kids.

The Obama administration faults the GOP for failing to ‘compromise’ on what they describe as a balanced approach to our nation’s fiscal situation.  Let me elucidate the meaning of the word compromise.  It means surrender and cave.  The Dems want more revenue, aka taxes, although the GOP just consented to a gazillion or so dollars of tax increases on the wealthy, which took effect on January 1st.  Wasn’t that a compromise?  If the GOP cave again now, or should I say compromise, does any breathing American believe that they won’t be asked to do again and again?

One thing is for sure.  Both sides have only one issue on their minds – the 2014 midterm elections.  I predict that the GOP will retain the House and that the intransigence will persist.  Then, for the next 2 years, both sides will calculate every uttered syllable and act toward prevailing in the upcoming presidential election.  Remind me, why is the world laughing at us?  There’s something to be said for benevolent dictatorships.

Who can help to diffuse the hyperpartisanship and tamp down the political hyperventilating?   Who can cut through the Machiavellian maelstrom to bring sanity to chaos?  There is a singularly gifted individual has the requisite diplomatic skills to triumph in this mission impossible.  America needs Dennis Rodman now more than ever. 

Who’s going to break the news to our kids that the White House is off limits?  We may need to recruit professional counselors to manage their grief, but there may be a dearth of therapists who have been decimated by the sequester.  A spoonful of Haagen Dazs can help ease the bitter medicine down our youngsters' gullets.  (I mention the word gullet so I can justify this rant in a medical blog.)   Let’s give each of our neglected kids a milkshake to calm and comfort them, while this beverage is still legal.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Becoming a Part-Time Physician

By
Next month my schedule will change.  I will henceforth be off on Fridays with my work week truncated to Monday through Thursday.   I am excited to be enjoying a long weekend every weekend.  And while the schedule change is relatively minor, this event does feel like an important career moment for me.  It is the first step on a journey that will ultimately lead beyond my professional career.  It is this recognition that makes this modest schedule modification more significant than one would think it deserves.  As some readers know,   my current employed position has been a dream job for me.   Prior to this, I was in a small private practice, which I loved, but was much more challenging professionally and personally.   My partner and I ran the business.   Working nights, weekends and holidays were routine for decades.   On an on-call night, if I slept  through until morning, I felt as if I had won the lottery.   And w...
15 comments
Read more

When Should Doctors Retire?

By
I am asked with some regularity whether I am aiming to retire in the near term.  Years ago, I never received such inquiries.  Why now?   Might it be because my coiffure and goatee – although finely-manicured – has long entered the gray area?  Could it be because many other even younger physicians have given up their stethoscopes for lives of leisure? (Hopefully, my inquiring patients are not suspecting me of professional performance lapses!) Interestingly, a nurse in my office recently approached me and asked me sotto voce that she heard I was retiring.    “Interesting,” I remarked.   Since I was unaware of this retirement news, I asked her when would be my last day at work.   I have no idea where this erroneous rumor originated from.   I requested that my nurse-friend contact her flawed intel source and set him or her straight.   Retirement might seem tempting to me as I have so many other interests.   Indeed, reading and ...
69 comments
Read more

Personal Responsibility for Health

By
One of the advantages of the computer era is that patients and physicians can communicate via a portal system.  A patient can submit an inquiry which I typically respond to promptly.  It also offers me the opportunity to provide advice or test results to patients.  Moreover, the system documents that the patient has in fact read my message.  Beyond the medical value, it also provides some legal protection if it is later alleged that ‘my doctor never sent me my results’.  I have always endorsed the concept that patients must accept personal responsibility.   Consider this hypothetical example. A patient undergoes a screening colonoscopy and a polyp is removed.   The patient is told to expect a portal message detailing the results in the coming days.   Once the analysis of the polyp has been completed, the doctor sends a message via the portal communicating that the polyp is benign, but is regarded as ‘precancerous'.   The patient is advise...
3 comments
Read more