Friday, March 5, 2010

Stealing Your Health


Yesterday, we spoke in this space about the high costs of health care in this province.

Today, we focus on one of the hidden costs, one of the little over-runs that politicians will not be rushing to discuss in public.

"e-health" is all the rage.

Every jurisdiction in the land is pouring millions of tax dollars into the belief that all of your health care info should be in cyberspace and available at a mouse click to anyone who needs it asap.

Fair enough.

Trouble is, kids, corruption abounds.

"e-health" and e-anything is the new cement.

Used to be that when a new highway was being built somewhere, all you had to do is ask, "Whose cousin got the cement contract?"

Now, the game is the same, only the players and the sticky stuff have changed.

Charges laid against three linked to e-health project

Former top bureaucrat, MD consultant among those accused of corruption

In BC, the e-health caper is worth $259 million.

We Three Little Pigs have been hit with 16 charges of influence peddling, fraud and such.

In Ontario, the Auditor-General concluded $1-billion of taxpayer money had been mismanaged on that province’s e-health system. David Caplan resigned as health minister on the day the review was released last October.

Will The Falcon resign?

Not on your stethoscope.

Mr. Falcon stressed that the allegations stem from events that took place long before he took over the Health portfolio.

But they did take place on somebody's watch? Could we have that sucker up front and centre for an axplanation, please?

Not likely.

So...

In addition to all of the inefficiencies in the sytem, we now know that one of the reasons that our health care eats up so much of the budget is plain old-fashioned theft.

Yes, that's very healthy, thanks.

And has the Premier demanded answers on this misuse and abuse of public funds?

Seacrh me. I've been out of town for a few weeks.

Was that right between the Crosby goal and the closing ceremonies?

Old Movie


The fact that abortion is the hot-button issue that may scuttle President Barack Obama's attempt to bring home health care reform in America is appalling - and frightening.

God, guns and glory...our good neighbours are tetched.

The fact that 50 million of their fellow citizens are a cough away from a catastrophic health issue because they have no money or insurance just doesn't seem to be important to most Americans, who would rather scream hysterically about SOCIALISM or COMMUNISM or the evils of abortion.

The USA is the most backwoods, backward regime among all the so-called Western Democracies, an imperialist nation hunkered around false, comforting pieties.

It is beautiful and it is exciting and it is flat nuts.

Smudgit


There's nothing particularly wrong or offensive about the latest Jim Flaherty/Stephen Harper fiscal game plan.

The only problem is...can you believe this kind of starry-eyed optimism?

Cut the federal deficit from today's $54 Billion to less than $2 Billion in 4 years?

What are these guys smoking?

Why It's Still Difficult to Trust Politicians


Darrel Dexter is the Premier of Nova Scotia.

To maintain his standing in the province as a practising lawyer, he must pay $3,119 annually.

That's his choice.

The only problem is that the Nova Scotia/Canadian taxpayer - that's you - has been paying Dexter's fees for several years.

Dex has the gall to insist that that's O.K.

No, baby, it's not O.K.

Did you have a mother?

Did she teach you Right and Wrong?