GOP Congressman clueless about Surgeon General

RandFan

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RandFan
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Earth calling Chaffetz, we don't have a Surgeon General at the moment. See congresman, it's like this, there are enough votes to seat Obama's nominee to the post but the NRA doesn't like the nomination so they won't allow a vote. Odd that you don't even know that there is no surgeon general.

Hopefully that answers your question.

HuffPo said:
Republican Congressman Is Unaware There Is No Surgeon General To Head Ebola Response

“Why not have the surgeon general head this up?" asked in a Wednesday appearance on Fox News. "I think that’s a very legitimate question. At least you have somebody who has a medical background whose been confirmed by the United States Senate.”


“It begs the question, what does the surgeon general do?" he added. "Why aren’t we empowering that person?”



President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as the nation's top doctor in late 2013, but his nomination has stalled in the Senate ever since. The reason? The National Rifle Association has been pressuring Republicans and conservative Democrats to oppose him over his positions on gun control. Murthy has advocated for an assault weapons ban, and in 2012, he tweeted that gun violence is "a health care issue." That didn't sit well with the NRA's chief
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The problem is that Obama does not understand politics. It's the job of a politician to cater to lobbyists. Right or left wing, they bought and paid for their legislators and they have a right to get value for their investment.

Government of the people, by the people and for the people sounds good but in reality it is just a platitude. Besides, whatever is best for special interests like the NRA is in the best interest of the nation.

It's unfortunate that our founding fathers didn't set up an oligarchy and we would have to listen to politicians lies to us. We could then let the lawyers who work for special interests write their laws transparently instead of pretending that the laws are written for us. I suppose a pretense of democracy keeps the pitch forks at home.
 
Well, they did set up something closer to an oligarchy with Jeffersonian democracy, and then Jackson changed it.
 
Fair point about not knowing there is no surgeon general. However, what do you think about the sterling qualifications of the new Ebola czar?

A former chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden and also to then-Vice President Al Gore, Klain is currently president of Case Holdings and general counsel of Revolution, an investment group. He has clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court and headed up Gore's effort during the 2000 Florida recount and was portrayed in the HBO movie "Recount" by Kevin Spacey. He could not be reached for comment on Friday.
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Hey, if the guy was played by Kevin Spacey....
 
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RandFan said:
Earth calling Chaffetz, we don't have a Surgeon General at the moment. See congresman, it's like this, there are enough votes to seat Obama's nominee to the post but the NRA doesn't like the nomination so they won't allow a vote. Odd that you don't even know that there is no surgeon general.

Hopefully that answers your question.

The problem is that Obama does not understand politics. It's the job of a politician to cater to lobbyists. Right or left wing, they bought and paid for their legislators and they have a right to get value for their investment.

Government of the people, by the people and for the people sounds good but in reality it is just a platitude. Besides, whatever is best for special interests like the NRA is in the best interest of the nation.

It's unfortunate that our founding fathers didn't set up an oligarchy and we would have to listen to politicians lies to us. We could then let the lawyers who work for special interests write their laws transparently instead of pretending that the laws are written for us. I suppose a pretense of democracy keeps the pitch forks at home.
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So, essentially, Obama is too stubborn to appoint someone acceptable? Are there no other doctors cum administrators out there to fill the bill?
 
marplots said:
So, essentially, Obama is too stubborn to appoint someone acceptable? Are there no other doctors cum administrators out there to fill the bill?
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No, he's having a hard time finding a doctor who will say that guns do not kill people.

IXP
 
IXP said:
No, he's having a hard time finding a doctor who will say that guns do not kill people.

IXP
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Still waiting for doctors to start yabbering about much larger killers, like heavy-handed socialism slowing down the economy in the exact same way corrupt nations with massive kickback problems do, and technology lagging years, then decades, behind where it should be. Like interest compounding the wrong way, this outweighs everything else, "lifesaving-wise-wise".

Hell, I'm still open to the actual idea that the second amendment is working as intended -- providing a final check on the government, which, if it falls into dictatorship, will also end up killing far more (both directly and indirectly as above) than with.
 
Beerina said:
Still waiting for doctors to start yabbering about much larger killers, like heavy-handed socialism slowing down the economy in the exact same way corrupt nations with massive kickback problems do, and technology lagging years, then decades, behind where it should be. Like interest compounding the wrong way, this outweighs everything else, "lifesaving-wise-wise".

Hell, I'm still open to the actual idea that the second amendment is working as intended -- providing a final check on the government, which, if it falls into dictatorship, will also end up killing far more (both directly and indirectly as above) than with.
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:dl:
 
marplots said:
So, essentially, Obama is too stubborn to appoint someone acceptable? Are there no other doctors cum administrators out there to fill the bill?
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Acceptable to whom? Do all appointees have to be acceptable to the NRA?

Republicans are too stubborn to allow someone who is qualified for the job to even be voted on.
 
I don't want the NRA dictating to their puppet congress critters that we need only pro-gun people in offices not related to the discussion on guns. But to the NRA and gun-huggers in general, everything is related to guns so to them it makes sense.

The Surgeon General is going to sway the debate, how? By saying that "Guns Kill"? The resounding cry from the huggers would be "Yeah, we know. That's why we like 'em!"

I can see them spending their hard-earned money trying to sway appointments to AG, to the Supreme Court, etc... But the Surgeon General. This is just stupid partisan-as-usual politics.
 
Brainster said:
Fair point about not knowing there is no surgeon general. However, what do you think about the sterling qualifications of the new Ebola czar?

Hey, if the guy was played by Kevin Spacey....
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Political pay back appointing cronies is a real problem. The cluster **** that was Katrina was in large part due to a Bush crony. It sucks.
 
Spindrift said:
Republicans are too stubborn to allow someone who is qualified for the job to even be voted on.
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No. Reid could get a vote if he wanted one. He doesn't want one, because he doesn't have enough support, because there are enough Democrats who won't support that nominee. And Obama is indeed too stubborn to advance an alternative candidate.
 
Beerina said:
Still waiting for doctors to start yabbering about much larger killers, like heavy-handed socialism slowing down the economy...
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"Socialism" is a word that is easily equivocated. Could you define your usage of the word for us?

In any event, I've seen no evidence for your proposition. *Nations highest in HDI (including GDP) and Economic Freedom are those that provide social services (to a point, SIME/DIME studies show there is a point of diminishing returns). Correlation does not imply causation but it would be nice to at least have a correlation that moderate levels of social services harms economies.

*sorry to those who have been done this road with me before. Until I get some substantive data and argument to rebut it I'm going to keep bringing it up.
 
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