Socialized Medicine-A Good Idea?

I have a very simple illustration that every American can engage in to determine for themselves if they want a government run health care system. All I would ask is that they try to call their local VA clinic, and see how many times the phone rings before someone answers it.

I am a pharmacist for Wal-Mart, and in the private sector we are taught to acknowledge customers even if we are busy by simply saying, "Can you please hold? I'll be right with you." I called the VA clinic today and the phone rang, no lie, over 150 times!!! I asked if I was interrupting a lunch break, or if they were short handed. A doctor there told me that they are always short handed. When I told her how many times the phone rang, she said, "Anytime you want to volunteer here and help us answer the phones, you are more than welcome. Right now we have four lines coming in." Four lines! That's it! What a debacle!

I did three 5 week rotations at the VA Clinic in St. Louis, MO., and I can tell you it was the same story there as well. Government employees have such job security that there is no fear of being fired for doing a poor job. Also, there is no incentive to work hard when you work for the government. Only in the private sector is there a concern for customer satisfaction because they want people to return, and they will only do this if the service they receive is friendly and fast. Common sense, as Voltaire said, is not so common, is it?