Video: Indian Health Services and Congress
posted at 8:48 am on September 2, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Yesterday, I wrote again about the disastrous single-payer health-care system run by the US government for Native Americans, Indian Health Services. Naked Emperor News put together the following video which details not one but two deaths caused by IHS through incompetence and underresourcing, and shows various members of Congress from both parties assailing the shameful performance of IHS. Why hasn’t Congress reformed its own government-run IHS before attempting to “reform” the private sector?
This goes beyond the details of the health-care overhaul requirement. This should never have been allowed to fester as long as it has, and Congress under the leadership of both parties has ignored it for far too long. Before this Congress arrogates to itself the power to dictate the reordering of the private sector, it needs to fix the embarrassing program it already runs for some of the poorest people in the US. Ignoring the disaster of IHS while scolding the private sector over tonsillectomies would qualify as a sick joke under any other administration other than Hopeandchange.
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Pass the firewater and the red pill, kimosabe.
Fletch54 on September 2, 2009 at 8:52 AM
If anyone has ever been to Cherokee, NC you can surely testify to how deplorable the government treats the Cherokee nation. They deserve better, and so do we!
SouthernGent on September 2, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Life under ObamaKennedyCare…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C7Wfu9N7OE&NR=1
D2Boston on September 2, 2009 at 9:01 AM
If they had their way, we’d all be living on a reservation.
TXUS on September 2, 2009 at 9:03 AM
This should make anybody angry. Particularly the part where that whore from Illinois is demanding the public option because it is so much better than the current system.
highhopes on September 2, 2009 at 9:08 AM
The attention to the Indian Health Services won´t fly with the Democrats – can´t there only be one minority race (blacks) in America that is treated as second class citizens and discriminated against?
And most people will think when they hear “Indian Health Services”, they are wondering about all those people in Bombay and Bollywood or the tech help guy they talk to when their computer is broke.
albill on September 2, 2009 at 9:09 AM
Wait a minute here guys…………you mean to tell me Congress is suppose to be a “watch dog” on these things? I thought they just were a bunch of Community Organizers with their hands in Lobbyist pockets and then trying to run for Prez to steal more of the people’s money. News to me!
Cinday Blackburn on September 2, 2009 at 9:10 AM
My nephew whose mom is Indian was diagnosed at an Indian clinic with a fractured tibia last summer, & when they said it would take at least a week to get a cast for him, they took him to a private doctor, who said it wasn’t broken. He was good as new in about a week. Good thing he never got that cast.
jgapinoy on September 2, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Give them time. First step is to make everybody dependent on big government. Second step is to limit mobility by forcing everybody into tiny little cars that can’t go very far without a recharge to repopulate the cities. Third step is to start installing fences and barbed wire.
highhopes on September 2, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Reforming IHS and addressing long term issues related to Native Americans earns politicians NO POLITICAL ADVANTAGE.
Taking control of the health care sector, education, the internet, energy, etc. provide gains in policital power.
That’s why they could care less about IHS. Never have. Never will.
DrStock on September 2, 2009 at 9:10 AM
I think the word you were looking for is misdiagnosed. Beyond that the word malpractice comes to mind because it’s only the second-largest bone in the body- easy to see a fracture on an x-ray.
I’m fighting the VA right now but am thankful I do not have to rely on them for my medical care. The IHS appears to be much worse than the VA and I didn’t think anything could be worse than the DMV mentality of the VA. I can only imagine what the inside of an Indian health clinic is like.
highhopes on September 2, 2009 at 9:16 AM
These are Senators from North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alaska, and Arizona, and a Governor from South Dakota. They know a little something about Indian Affairs.
It’s all the other nincompoops in Congress who just think they know everything about everything (coughJanSchakowskycough) that continue to let the IHS problem fester. This is a big part of the problem – know it alls in Congress who know better than their counterparts, and more importantly, know better than the American people what is right for them.
Red Cloud on September 2, 2009 at 9:16 AM
State seizure of healthcare- $5 Trillion over the short term.
Kickbacks to special interests-$60 Billion.
Being able to control the population- Priceless.
highhopes on September 2, 2009 at 9:19 AM
That’s why they could care less about IHS. Never have. Never will.
DrStock on September 2, 2009
Government already owns them. Now they are fixated on a part of the America they don’t yet own. Once they own it they will show it the same level of concern as they do IHS.
Equality = shared misery among non-elites.
SKYFOX on September 2, 2009 at 9:19 AM
My main concern with the public option is the en masse transference of gravely ill people who are privately covered at their own great expense. Cancer, heart disease, etc. Certain conditions are expensive to treat, hence the expensive insurance! It would be ridiculous to not switch to a government program! At whose expense now, and I’m not talking about money. When the government then chooses to demonize the, what will be, large amount of Dr.’s who refuse to accept Obamacare Insurance – the ultimate payment will be by the patient who receives sub-par care in a now ultra-crowded patient pool. I am not an evil person, and I hate when the spineless Democrats portray people who don’t want to ‘pay their fair share’ as heartless. Screw them! I paid thousands a month for health insurance for my business and you know what? When my dad needed heart surgery I knew he would be treated quickly, with a great doctor, and it would be paid for. That bill was hundreds of pages long and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In short, I’d rather pay too much for private health insurance than pay for a gravestone.
Fishy.Gov on September 2, 2009 at 9:20 AM
More on Ta’shon Rain Little Light:
Her story via YouTube: Native Americans Against Obama- Ta’Shon’s Story
Original Associated Press story, via Indian Country Today:
Nope. Ta’shon is living up in Cinderella’s Castle today, bless her soul.
Loxodonta on September 2, 2009 at 9:23 AM
It is good to see the Indian Health Service getting the attention it deserves. It’s sad that it took a threat to the rest of us to get it in the open. I would like to see some of these governors take some initiative in this area.
It is never a good idea to give the man with the biggest gun in the room control over anything besides that gun.
Choose_Freedom on September 2, 2009 at 9:25 AM
I’m sure there is some provision in the filthy liar’s plan that says the gravestone is covered by the government as part of those “end of life” services.
highhopes on September 2, 2009 at 9:30 AM
When I was in high school so many years ago, in the southwest US, I had a Navaho teacher who would tell me about how life was on the reservation. Some of the stories were truly horrific. He thought about making a snack with some of the food he received from the government, but decided against it. The reason you ask? Because he thought we all might get food poisoning. Ever since this teacher I have had zero faith in the government to do anything other than tax you.
I later had this belief reinforced when I lost my job and was forced onto the public health care system. The doctor told me that he could fix me if they had the right equipment, but since my case was so rare the hospital didn’t deem the things cost effective so they were never purchased.
txaggie on September 2, 2009 at 9:33 AM
The state government is somewhat limited in what it can do since the tribes are considered sovereign nations and the only entity that can deal with them is the federal government. Think of it like the governor of Texas trying to get better health care for the border towns in Mexico.
txaggie on September 2, 2009 at 9:37 AM
Not to put too fine a point on this but state government may be limited but how many billions in health care iniititives does the State Department pump into third-world hell holes whose governments don’t even like the US?
highhopes on September 2, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Wowza…..have any been to ABCnews and MSNBC this morning?
The two networks, it seems, who turned down anti-BarryCare ads has been hired by AARP. The five inch tall banner has Soros written all over it.
Limerick on September 2, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Which is exactly why I distrust the government to do anything. If we were to spend even a fraction of the money we spend on $%^@ like the NEA, Planned Parenthood, or NPR the government might be able to take care of its duties better for the Tribes of America.
txaggie on September 2, 2009 at 9:46 AM
The state government is somewhat limited in what it can do since the tribes are considered sovereign nations and the only entity that can deal with them is the federal government. Think of it like the governor of Texas trying to get better health care for the border towns in Mexico.
txaggie on September 2, 2009 at 9:37 AM
I realize all that but they have the bully pulpit. They can get creative with their own medicaid programs and they can put the pressure on the federal government. The governors should be the leaders for all in their state. If they want something corrected in their state, they should push until it happens. True leaders do not complain that there is nothing they can do, they find a new way to do it. As far as the Texas comparison goes, we do have a responsibility to those within our borders and putting pressure on the Mexican government may help those in Mexico but they are in another country whereas the Indians are Americans and it is our taxes and government that have put them in the hole they are in (please don’t take this to mean I think the feds should control anything).
By the way. Nice to see another Ag.
Choose_Freedom on September 2, 2009 at 9:55 AM
I just do NOT get this reservation stuff. Native Americans fight the US Government to maintain a hold on land and, presumably, to be left alone. Now some Native Americans are willingly let theselves becomes wards of that same government they fought. Stockholm syndrome?
WashJeff on September 2, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Government already owns them. Now they are fixated on a part of the America they don’t yet own. Once they own it they will show it the same level of
concerncontempt as they do IHS.Equality = shared misery among non-elites.
SKYFOX on September 2, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Johan Klaus on September 2, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Actually you hit it on the head. The common use of ‘sovereign nation’ really doesn’t apply. They are considered wards of the state. Having Uncle Sugar as your foster-father should be a lesson to everyone.
Limerick on September 2, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Loxodonta on September 2, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Thank you for posting this. Sending to everyone in my email. I suggest everyone do the same!
milwife88 on September 2, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Just as an aside, the Dakotas have two of the most successful, conservative and popular Governors in the nation; Mike Rounds and John Hoeven. Can anyone shed any light on these guys as far as Presidential politics goes…my guess is that they might be players…sort of a Jimmy Carter out of nowhere situation.
joepub on September 2, 2009 at 10:24 AM
You’re most welcome. If you search Google News Archives for Ta’shon Rain Little Light, you will find that her poignant case is one of far too many horror stories about America’s nationalized health care system for Amerindians.
Loxodonta on September 2, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Olympia snowe
this is off topic but it has to be posted here. She is going to cave and side with the libs on healthcare. Burn her phones at her offices. Pick a zip code or a town in Maine, call her office saying you represent a group of seniors and let her know she’s out if she votes with the libs. Better yet, take a page out of alinskys rules for radicals and say your moderate democrats against the bill. Stop her now before she caves! Call now!!
texaninfidel on September 2, 2009 at 11:22 AM
Indians were put on reservations so that they didn’t bother the people who moved in. That had the unfortunate effect of isolating them from the rest of society and preventing the assimilation that would have made their lives easier. It is still going on, except that they are staying in primitive and impoverished circumstances by choice. As I said yesterday: A reservation is not a prison camp. No one is required to stay there.
mchristian on September 2, 2009 at 11:23 AM
You’d like to pay for improvements, Ed? And you’d like to make your countrymen pay for them? Your readers?
Kralizec on September 2, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Just as an aside, the Dakotas have two of the most successful, conservative and popular Governors in the nation; Mike Rounds and John Hoeven. Can anyone shed any light on these guys as far as Presidential politics goes…my guess is that they might be players…sort of a Jimmy Carter out of nowhere situation.
joepub on September 2, 2009 at 10:24 AM
This SoDak native can tell you that it’s quite easy to be a popular governor in either state when you:
a. Run off large numbers of your young people due to lack of lucrative opportunities.
b. Have the Feds take care of large numbers of the rest of the population (like, oh, the Lakota are experiencing through the IHS).
Besides, George McGovern and Tom Daschle tried being bigger personalities than their job titles allowed, and the SoDak electorate rewarded both accordingly.
BradSchwartze on September 2, 2009 at 11:51 AM
My protest sign says: “Fix the IHS before forcing it on the rest of U.S.”. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to educate because most people don’t know anything about the IHS.
You really have no clue whatsoever, do you?
Oh Mercy on September 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Why do the Indian’s have their own health care system run by the US government?
No more than that. Why?
WitchDoctor on September 2, 2009 at 12:00 PM
After seeing this, I’m disgusted calling myself an American. Fix & fund the health care we’ve promised the native people. Do it NOW before another little girl has to die.
Jeff from WI on September 2, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone pushed for taking the NEA’s money for a year or two and spending it on fixing real problems on reservations?
tom on September 2, 2009 at 1:03 PM
Hope and Change … What a Joke
BigMike252 on September 2, 2009 at 3:12 PM
Why do people trust the government?
Why?
Why?
Mojave Mark on September 2, 2009 at 6:16 PM
SKYFOX on September 2, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Johan Klaus on September 2, 2009
The tone of my statement should have made it obvious that by “concern” I meant “contempt” but thanks for the clarification. Sorry if my wording was too subtle. Usually I’m as subtle as a nine pound hammer.
SKYFOX on September 2, 2009 at 6:37 PM
Speaking as someone with some Cherokee blood, the reservation system is the problem. Time to close them all and everyone become Americans.
Hucklebuck on September 2, 2009 at 7:02 PM