Courtesy of WWL .com: Jindal and Nagin cheer decision as massive economic boost Dave Cohen Reporting Louisiana will get nearly $475 million from the feds to replace the Katrina ravaged Charity Hospital. "It's going to be a huge boost to our economy. It's going to be a huge magnet to bring those high paying jobs we need," Governor Bobby Jindal said upon hearing the news. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin stated, "This is probably going to go down in history as one of the biggest economic development deals ever in the city's history." Jindal says the decision from a federal arbitration panel means the joint project between the Veterans Administration and state can move ahead full steam. "Getting this amount of money means we're not going to have to scale back," the governor insisted. "We expect construction to be able to start this year. They expect to be able to complete construction by the end of 2013." "We are getting ready to have a 70 acre biomedical district... with two state of the art teaching hospitals," Nagin said. He added the construction budget alone for the larger medical corridor is huge. "It's going to be at least two billion (in infrastructure), it's probably going to be larger than that." And when the hospitals open, Nagin says it gets even better. "It's thousands of jobs. Average pay is going to be around $95,000 - $98,000. This is huge. This diversifies our economy." Jindal says the impact will continue to grow over time. "This is only the beginning. If you look at what they have done in Houston and Birmingham, they generate hundreds of million dollars per year." He credits the state's congressional delegation for pushing for the creation of the arbitration panel, which unanimously sided with the state. Jindal points out that FEMA wasn't offering anywhere near the amount it would take to repair or replace Charity Hospital. "The offer on their table was $25 million," Jindal said. "We wanted what we were owed." FEMA later valued the damage from Hurricane Katrina at $124 million and offered to settle the matter for $150 million. Jindal says the next step is to appoint members to the board created by the LSU-Tulane agreement. James P. McNamara, who heads the Greater New Orleans Biosciences Economic Development District had a message for the project's critics. "It ends the debate. We now know where the hospital is going to be located," he proclaimed. "It's done. It's finished."
Having poor, sick, rioting people in the streets spreading disease and filth is a much better idea...
Having others pay for others is the filth. Especially when the govt. is dictating pricing and skimming off the top. Riiight. The govt. givith and the govt. will take away.
It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity. ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca What you fail (or refuse) to understand is that you're going to pay for it one way or the other. It's inescapable. You can either have your taxes pay for the healthcare or you can have your taxes pay for more prisons, paupers burials, etc. from impoverished people who feel forced to commit crimes to provide for their families or die from a lack of medical attention. Hoarding your money doesn't make the problem go away. Of course what that happens, we no longer have a lower class to provide services to the middle and upper class. Then you'll complain about having to walk into McDonald's and drop your own fries in the grease. What do you feel a fair solution would be?
I never post in FSA. but this healthcare issue is really important ..no matter which way you lean on the debate. Everyone has real strong polarizing opinions on the matter. Me?...I'm a doctor's son who spent four years in dental school (couldn't finish because of hand surgery) and I'm very familiar with the system and how it works. I'm also very familiar with the problem, because my health insurance company dropped me for making a basic legitimate claim (childbirth) which was covered by the insurer. I was diagnosed with diabetes outside of health care and I'm totally screwed...can't get coverage...have to pay nearly $20,000 just for the insurer to deny all claims based on pre existing condition. I have NO idea what the solution is. Universal health coverage, Public hospitals, Expanded medicare, etc. As familiar as I am with the current system there's one thing I am sure of... I don't have enough expertise or knowledge to even have a half valid opinion on the solution. But everyone else does. I think everyone else's opinion is just about forged in stone and it's based more on traditional Republican/Democrat theology than on actual truth. This debate has really become a referendum on Obama and the Democrats. I'm a conservative pro life Republican who gets sick to my stomach every time I hear Ideologues say..."Granted, reform needs to happen, BUT..." The Republicans have been in power my whole adult life either by capturing the Presidency or by controlling Congress and only now are they just admitting simple lip service to the issue. If you really want government out of health care...If you really believe that the private system is working, then let's start by repealing the federal law that obligates your employer to pay for the great majority of your hrealthcare and have you be burdened by the oppressive cost like I am. I wish that I could afford to take the medicines that are prescribed for me...I wish I could afford to test my blood glucose more than one day a week.
