A big "WTF?" shout out to the Bushies

I was going to continue being amusing and cute. But, dear readers, a couple of events have dampered my gentle spirit today.

First: I have just read in the NYTIMES that the bushies have submitted a proposed budget that would eliminate the Civilian Community Corps and cut back the Americorps program. For those who don't know the history. These are programs that started back in the 60s with Kennedy's "war on poverty." At the time, it was called VISTA (volunteers in service to america) and it was a domestic wing of the work done internationally by the Peace Corps. The CCC is a group of 18-24 year old volunteers who are stationed in five "base camps" and are given specialized training in disaster response and can be dispatched in response to any sort of disaster -- from hurricanes to floods to fires to terrorist attacks. They help clean up, they help rebuild, they work as case managers for displaced persons, they work in shelters, they help normalize life for people whose lives have been turned completely upside down. They work for a poverty level stipend, and at the end of their term of service receive a tad less than $5,000 to be used for and only for educational purposes. In addition to the work that they are dispatched to do in the day time, they are also required to find additional special projects to benefit the community they are in -- from painting schools to starting literacy programs to establishing community watch programs. The whole goal is to help people and communities bounce back from that which is beyond their control as well as to reduce overall poverty. It is a cost effective program, it is a huge benefit to communities and volunteers. It costs just $27 million a year -- much much much less than the millions and millions of dollars wasted on greasing the palms of private contractors every year. Of course, this means that the bushies want to kill it. Which is earning them a big ol' What the Fuck? shout out from the superbongo today.

My second event has to do with crime and the huge disparity between the insured and uninsured in this country. Last night, I was paged into the local emergency room to assist with a patient who had been shot and assaulted. I was told that the "other woman involved was dead" at the hands of the four gunmen. The patient was uninsured and not a native of this country. The bullet entered the center of her chest and exited out the side under her arm, then went into her elbow, destroying it. Doctors had stitched up gashes on her face (it looked to me that she might have been struck with the gun as well as shot) and they put a bandage over the "entry" wound - and bandaged up the elbow. They didn't sew up or bandage the exit wound. I don't know if x-rays were taken. My first information was that she was going to be admitted. Later, while being examined for possible sexual assault, the nurse was informed that her discharge had already been written up. At no point prior to my tasks or during the examination or prior to the discharge being written up, was this woman offered pain medication.

I'm pretty sure that if I had been the patient, pain meds would have been offered immediately and I'm pretty sure I would have been admitted "for observation" if nothing else. Health insurance is a grand thing. Don't kid yourself into thinking that we have a society that is altruistic enough to do anything beyond the absolute minimum to those without it. It was certainly a wake up call for me. I like to think that humans are evolved beyond boiling everything down to money. All the same, I'm so glad the old folks insisted I get an education so I can have insurance too.