[Vision2020] Re: Schools and VA Hospitals
Sunil Ramalingam
sunilramalingam@hotmail.com
Mon, 08 Sep 2003 16:18:21 -0700
<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV>
<P>Rather than read these letters, I'm waiting for the graphs.<BR><BR>Sunil</P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: "Mike Curley" <CURLEY@TURBONET.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: curley@turbonet.com
<DIV></DIV>>To: vision2020@moscow.com
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: [Vision2020] Re: Schools and VA Hospitals
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2003 16:46:43 -0700
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Oh, Jack, what puerile and spurious reasoning you've
<DIV></DIV>>used this time. Let's look at the supposedly clear
<DIV></DIV>>analogies you espouse. In the VA Hospital situation, Lad
<DIV></DIV>>Hamilton assumes (apparently) that there is a larger
<DIV></DIV>>system of (non-VA) hospitals available; that those
<DIV></DIV>>hospitals are capable of absorbing the VA patients; that
<DIV></DIV>>there is more adequate staff at those hospitals; that the
<DIV></DIV>>doctors, nurses and other skilled staff are better at those
<DIV></DIV>>hospitals; and that there would be administrative savings
<DIV></DIV>>by getting the US government out of the hospital business.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>You claim that is analogous to the school situation.
<DIV></DIV>>However, the private/parochial system is a small fraction
<DIV></DIV>>of the size of the public school system; the
<DIV></DIV>>private/parochial system is unable to absorb anything but
<DIV></DIV>>a small fraction of public students; there is no evidence
<DIV></DIV>>that public school teachers are less skilled than
<DIV></DIV>>private/parochial teachers; there is no clear
<DIV></DIV>>administrative savings (especially considering that the
<DIV></DIV>>mandates and goals differ widely); AND, schools are
<DIV></DIV>>funded and significantly controlled at the state and local
<DIV></DIV>>level rather than by the Feds. There is also no wait for
<DIV></DIV>>"treatment" and there are not two tiers of students.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>There is a separate issue regarding the number of public
<DIV></DIV>>school teachers who are union members and the impact
<DIV></DIV>>that would have if they were to suddenly become
<DIV></DIV>>private/parochial school employees. Regardless, there
<DIV></DIV>>simply is no reasonable analogy between VA Hospitals
<DIV></DIV>>and public schools however you might wish there to be.
<DIV></DIV>>I've always found your arguments to be based on reason
<DIV></DIV>>and fact. I don't think this one has much of either.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Mike Curley
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>On 7 Sep 03, at 15:16, John T. Wenders wrote:
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Date sent: Sun, 7 Sep 2003 15:16:52 -0700
<DIV></DIV>>To: jwenders@uidaho.edu
<DIV></DIV>>From: "John T. Wenders" <JWENDERS@UIDAHO.EDU>
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Schools and VA Hospitals
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>> > Lewiston Tribune
<DIV></DIV>> > Date: 08/22/2003
<DIV></DIV>> > Section: Opinion
<DIV></DIV>> > Page: 6A
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Don't close some VA hospitals -- close them all
<DIV></DIV>> > Ladd Hamilton
<DIV></DIV>> > Closing Veterans Administration hospitals is a lot like
<DIV></DIV>> > closing military bases. No one in Congress wants to do it,
<DIV></DIV>> > no matter how good the arguments for closure might be. The
<DIV></DIV>> > VA is now asking Congress to let it close a number of
<DIV></DIV>> > veterans' hospitals and some other services that it says are
<DIV></DIV>> > no longer needed -- either because the aging veteran
<DIV></DIV>> > populations are moving around or to accommodate a trend
<DIV></DIV>> > toward outpatient care.
<DIV></DIV>> > The VA has a typically bureaucratic name for the
<DIV></DIV>> > process: Capital
<DIV></DIV>> > Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES), but Sen.
<DIV></DIV>> > Ron Wyden of Oregon calls it a job killer in his state.
<DIV></DIV>> > Three of the proposed closures would occur there, one of
<DIV></DIV>> > them in White City, a small town that would lose 400 jobs.
<DIV></DIV>> > In an angry letter to the VA, Wyden said that in many
<DIV></DIV>> > communities across the country the potential loss of
<DIV></DIV>> > hospital care and beds is an issue ranking right up there
<DIV></DIV>> > with the national economy: "You are talking about a huge
<DIV></DIV>> > veteran population, and they basically have no place to
<DIV></DIV>> > turn."
<DIV></DIV>> > A deputy director of the American Legion has declared
<DIV></DIV>> > that "we
<DIV></DIV>> > can't see how closing a hospital can solve any problems when
<DIV></DIV>> > we have 100,000 veterans standing in line waiting for
<DIV></DIV>> > appointments."
<DIV></DIV>> > It's true that closing a VA hospital won't solve any
<DIV></DIV>> > problems. But
<DIV></DIV>> > closing them all might. The trouble with the VA's "enhanced
<DIV></DIV>> > services" proposal is that it does not go far enough. The
<DIV></DIV>> > veterans would get better care, without excessive standing
<DIV></DIV>> > in line, if the VA took itself out of the hospital business
<DIV></DIV>> > and let the veterans go, at the VA's expense, to the same
<DIV></DIV>> > hospitals that treat everybody else. The present system
<DIV></DIV>> > provides two levels of care -- one for veterans whose only
<DIV></DIV>> > option is a VA hospital and another for the general
<DIV></DIV>> > population. In much of the country the general hospital is
<DIV></DIV>> > better. VA hospitals are chronically short of staff and
<DIV></DIV>> > often a dumping ground for marginally skilled physicians.
<DIV></DIV>> > The veterans deserve better. America needs to support
<DIV></DIV>> > its troops
<DIV></DIV>> > not only when they are overseas but after they are mustered
<DIV></DIV>> > out and facing the ills we all are heir to. -- L.H.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > -------------------------------
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > A very amusing article. In making a case for privatizing
<DIV></DIV>> > veterans health care, Hamilton also, by the same logic, and
<DIV></DIV>> > inadvertently I'm sure, makes a case for privatizing the
<DIV></DIV>> > government schools and going to school choice via vouchers.
<DIV></DIV>> > Hamilton makes an excellent case for hospital vouchers when
<DIV></DIV>> > he says:
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > "The veterans would get better care, without excessive
<DIV></DIV>> > standing in line, if the VA took itself out of the hospital
<DIV></DIV>> > business and let the veterans go, at the VA's expense, to
<DIV></DIV>> > the same hospitals that treat everybody else. The present
<DIV></DIV>> > system provides two levels of care -- one for veterans whose
<DIV></DIV>> > only option is a VA hospital and another for the general
<DIV></DIV>> > population. In much of the country the general hospital is
<DIV></DIV>> > better. VA hospitals are chronically short of staff and
<DIV></DIV>> > often a dumping ground for marginally skilled physicians."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > The parallel between the Veteran's hospitals and the public
<DIV></DIV>> > schools is obvious, but completely missed by both Hamilton
<DIV></DIV>> > and the LMT. Given the LMT's continuing blind support for
<DIV></DIV>> > more public school spending, and it's unrelenting bashing of
<DIV></DIV>> > charter schools, home schooling, and vouchers, Recall that
<DIV></DIV>> > LMT editorial writer Jim Fisher tried to blame the Ruby
<DIV></DIV>> > Ridge disaster on the Idaho Legislature because it refused
<DIV></DIV>> > to regulate home schooling, thereby making the state
<DIV></DIV>> > attractive to home schoolers like Randy Weaver. In this
<DIV></DIV>> > context, Hamilton's statement is absolutely amazing.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > With a few word changes, one could truthfully re-write his
<DIV></DIV>> > passage:
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Don't close some Public Schools -- close them all
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > "The students would get better care if the government took
<DIV></DIV>> > itself out of the education business and let the students
<DIV></DIV>> > go, at the government's expense, to the private schools that
<DIV></DIV>> > treat others. The present system provides two levels of care
<DIV></DIV>> > -- one for students whose only option is a government school
<DIV></DIV>> > and another for those that go to private schools. In much of
<DIV></DIV>> > the country the private school is better."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > But don't hold your breath waiting, the LMT's support for
<DIV></DIV>> > government schools is one of secular religion, not logic.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Jack
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > --
<DIV></DIV>> > John T. Wenders
<DIV></DIV>> > Professor of Economics, University of Idaho
<DIV></DIV>> > Senior Fellow, The Commonwealth Foundation
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Mailing Address:
<DIV></DIV>> > 2266 Westview Drive
<DIV></DIV>> > Moscow, ID 83843
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Voice: 208/882-1831
<DIV></DIV>> > Fax: 208/882-3696
<DIV></DIV>> > Cell: 509/336-5811
<DIV></DIV>> > Alpine, AZ: 928/339-4342
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > www.uidaho.edu/~jwenders
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
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