Shameful

Of all the things I have seen, the extortion of the elderly and their families has to be among the worst. Insurance companies terrify them into purchasing policies that are essentially worthless. Doctors ignore their complaints rather than investigating concerns. But among the worst of the worst is the housing and care industry for the very oldest among us.

My mother was hospitalized last week. She is scheduled for skilled nursing (rehab) for three weeks. Right now she can walk with a walker, but we have no idea what other things she can do for herself. She lives on social security from my Dad-just enough that she doesn't qualify for Medicaid. She has no savings-Merrill Lynch purged her accounts of that when they bought out BofA. She has no investments, no cache of jewels, no hidden wealth. And yet the cost of finding her safe living accommodations is over $3500 a month. That's more than my takehome pay after taxes. While my Dad was stationed in Sasebo and Nagasaki immediately after WWII, because it wasn't "wartime"

She can't live with us-our one working bathroom isn't accessible. The other one is a mess of leaky pipes that we can't afford to fix. We have no money. She has no money. There's no programs to help her or us. Oh...and on top of the $10,000 taken out of our checks we had to pay $600 more in taxes this week.

The Hits Just Keep On Coming

So we begin the year with my son's catastrophic ankle break. Two plates and 16 titanium screws later, he' still hobbled. My other son was hit when a guy in a big car ran a red light. My son had two witnessses and the police officer say it wasn't his fault but we had to lawyer up because the other guy's denying it. Last week my husband came down with pneumonia and then Friday I came down with acute brochitis. Later Friday my 84 year old mother calls 911 rather than me and ends up in a hospital half way across town because they're the only one that honors Humana. Seriously...could  I please have a break?

Ft. Hood-Deja Vu

I guess being a big military base and in Texas makes Ft. Hood a giant target. I have to wonder if things would have been different today, and back in 2009, if the Clintons had not actively campaigned to remove working weapons from all on base military except MP's. The Navy Yard shooting also could have been mitigated if the shooter KNEW there would be ten guns pointed back at him for every one he pulled out. 
The bottom line is this-we are training young men and women to shoot weapons and do so responsibly. Shouldn't we at least trust them to have them on their own base? Frankly from this perspective it looks like the Clintons were early adopters for hamstringing our military and making them ineffective. 

BTW, if ANYONE dares to say this guy was mad about congressional lack of action on immigration, I will go nuts. This is just the kind of drama ridden prop the Left needs to create to shove through another inane and costly bill like the poorly titled "Affordable" Care Act.

Our prayers go out to the men and women of Ft. Hood and to those who find themselves safer overseas than at home.