WELCOME to the debut of “The Truth Is!”, a blog of reporting and commentary that aims to be informative, thoughtful and provocative. At least initially, the blog will have a strong heartland flavor by virtue of the connection of a number of us to Cowles family journalism. I am former editor of the Des Moines Register’s opinion pages. Another contributor, Michael Gartner, is former editor of the paper; he later served as president of NBC News. Another former Register editor who has agreed to contribute, Geneva Overholser, is director of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg school of journalism. Followers of the blog will have access also to the work of Herbert Strentz of Des Moines, a close Register and other newspaper watcher who once headed Drake University’s journalism school. Bill Leonard, a longtime Register editorial writer, will add insights.

“The Truth Is!” will be supervised by my daughter, Marcia Wolff, a communications lawyer for 20 years with Arnold and Porter (Washington, D.C.). Invaluable technical assistance in assembling and maintaining the blog is provided by my grandsons Julian Cranberg, a college first-year, and Daniel Wolff, a high school senior.

If you detect a whiff of nepotism in this operation, so be it. All of it is strictly a labor of love. —Gil Cranberg

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Gilbert Cranberg: Government Health Care With a Vengeance

The government shutdown is a protest against government health care, so why is the government’s most comprehensive health care program – its hospitals and medical clinics -- clicking on all cylinders as much of the rest of the government is shuttered? The fearless folks who brought the government to its knees simply wouldn’t dare to tamper with the health care services for veterans.

That benefit makes the Affordable Care Act so despised by right-wing Republicans look like nothing more than a band-aid. In-patient and out-patient care? Of course. Eye-glasses, walkers and hearing aids, too. Not to mention prescription drugs. Need to see a doctor? That can be arranged. You don’t need to be a war hero to qualify. Simply having worn a uniform gets you through the clinic door. Never heard a shot fired in anger? Just tell us the last four of your Social Security number, where it hurts and what you need.

In my experience, the Veterans Administration never makes you feel like a moocher for asking for medical help. Patients are treated with respect. Every time I go to the VA hospital or clinic I say to myself, “If this is government medicine, let’s have more of it.” 

Unlike Medicare, which provides health care-services through existing providers, the VA is the provider. It pays its own doctors for hands-on care. That should send the government-haters through the roof; somehow they don’t seem to notice, or pretend not to. That leering caricature of Uncle Sam peering up the legs of a patient? That’s not real life except in a VA facility. But the ad isn’t mocking veterans health care. It wouldn’t dare.

From the fuss being made about the Affordable Care Act you would never guess that this country has a mixed and vibrant health care system, in which the government plays a significant part. Uncle Sam is not the enemy. The enemy is the nay-sayers who shut their minds to the vast amount of good the government does.

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