Letters
Letters to the editor, Dec. 24
TBO.com
Published: December 23, 2011
Supporting our nursesPublished: December 23, 2011
During the course of ER admissions, scheduled surgeries and other inpatient stays at Oak Hill Hospital, my husband has never received anything less than the best of care from all the health professionals who have worked with him.
Regardless of the reality that the ratio of nurses to patients is less than optimal, the care he has received has never faltered, been compromised, or been less than excellent. He has always been treated with respect, dignity and compassion. Even when the nursing staff has been stretched beyond what could be considered optimal for both themselves and patient benefit.
Nurses are often the health care professionals who have the most "one on one" time with patients. Nurses experience the miracles and joy of being part of the heal process as well as understanding too well, the sadness of losing a patient no matter how hard they and other medical staff work for the patient.
They're rare and special souls, these angels without wings, we call nurses. Often under the most adverse circumstances they provide care with courage, strength, grace and compassion. Their work and dedications not only helps the patients, it helps the doctors better care for their patients.
Yes, one of the goals of hospital administration is to be financially responsible and ensure the fiscal health and viability of the institution. However they need to also be guided by this one ultimate truth: Patients in your hospital entrust their lives, into the caring and capable hands of the nurses, doctors, lab technicians, therapists and other health care professionals who make Oak Hill Hospital the facility it is.
Seeking to improve the bottom line financially at the cost of creating a work environment that potentially jeopardizes either patient care or the well being the nursing professionals is not a sound or healthy choice, in either the short or long term.
Nia Diebel
Spring Hill
You've got to be kidding
The House GOP's inability to work for America and Americans is now truly out of control. Our local U.S. Congressman Rich Nugent is again showing his total lack of understanding of U.S. security and concern for District 5 constituents, still treating us like his subjects and operating only to his own personal benefit.
The House GOP has shut the government process down again, this time using a tax break for 160 million Americans, wage earners, as hostage to Wall Street and big corporate America lobbyists.
The issue is not the 2 percent reduction in payroll taxes which everyone believes is appropriate, rather their desire to maintain big oil subsidies by approving/funding the Keystone XL pipeline and to further reduce benefits to those 160 million Americans and their families.
Following recent news that America is finally starting to come out of the "great recession" which began in 2007 as a result of adding $6 trillion to the national debt during 2001-09 via two ill-conceived wars and two revenue reductions, the House GOP wants to ensure the recession is restarted solely for their perceived political benefit, again at the expense of 160 million Americans.
The Keystone pipeline has little benefit to America. Keystone officials suggest it will create 20,000 jobs, or 5,000 per year for 4 years during the building phase.
Independent estimates suggest that it may actually reduce total jobs in the areas transited by the pipeline. At any rate, after 4 years, any pipeline jobs end. More importantly, we don't need Canadian shale oil. Huge shale fields are in development in North Dakota. Over the past three calendar quarters the U.S. has been a net exporter of petroleum products.
Last month we exported 400,000 barrels of gasoline. This excess capacity will only increase as new fuel efficient vehicles replace older vehicles. We just don't need to further subsidize big oil, which is now making obscene profits off Americans, primarily those Americans impacted by the payroll tax.
With the House's approval rating at 9 percent it long past time to recall Nugent. He has consistently voted against legislation that would benefit retirees, military personnel and American families. He has consistently whined that the U.S. Senate has been obstructionist. This shows that it's really the House which is dysfunctional and out of touch with mainstream America. It's long past time to get him out – recall and elect a representative who has the best interests of district constituents and America at heart. This is a national security issue and we need to treat it as such.
Ted Laven
Dade City
Lame stream media
The lame stream media refer to last week's vote in the House of Representatives on the "Payroll tax-cut Bill" this way. (G.O.P. muscles tax-cut bill through), (Defiant Republicans pushed - ), (Passage on a largely party line vote).
I don't remember rhetoric like this when the "Stimulus Bill" or "Obamacare" were passed. Do you? Every time Democrats pass a bill it's great for our country, but when Republicans pass one it's muscled or rammed or something of that nature. How biased can they be?
Until Herman Cain dropped out of the race, we saw daily stories about unnamed accusers without one shred of proof. We've seen stories about a 20-year-old painted rock. We have seen every Republican candidate get an anal exam by the so-called main stream media. Have you seen any stories about Obama's connection to anarchist Bill Ayres? How about Obama's church?
Why can't Hawaii produce a valid birth certificate? How did he get a Connecticut Social Security number never having lived there? Why is all of his school records sealed? Who paid for his education? Where is this sorry excuse for a media on these questions?
Why do they not question this administration's way of computing the unemployment figure? Since when did we not count people who have given up looking for work? Are they still without a job? Why doesn't the media question that? The real unemployment figure is around 14 percent. Why can no one report the true figure? Even the Republicans and Fox News don't dispute the "official" administration figure.
Why is there little or no coverage of "Fast and Furious," "Solyndra," and "M F Global" among others? Why is Fox News the only network who will cover these stories?
Are you angry? I am! What has happened to fair and balanced reporting? Where is the unbiased reporting of the facts? Is there any professional ethics any more? What is happening to our country?
Mike Flavin
Spring Hill