Dr Oz took advantage of an appearance on Fox to show that he is as full of it as one of Trump's diapers. He went on a tirade about disabled and/or elderly people receiving help to stay in their own homes instead of taking up space in a nursing home. Needless to say, there was more nonsense than facts in his bloviations:
And I'll tell you the part that's really bothering me. When you get those home care services, which that's the#1 job here in Manhattan and in New York State, it's the #1 job in the entire state by a factor of 2, not being a TV anchor or on Wall Street.
Just how many news anchors does he think there are in New York? At least, he's not pretending to live in Pennsylvania anymore.
It's providing social support to your family; basically, you're carrying groceries upstairs. How is that possible? Here's the catch. That's a jobs program because what you're really saying is, instead of being unemployed, we're going to Medicaid it. That's what they call it. We're going to Medicaid it. We're going to put it on the federal taxpayer dollar. They're going to get all that money to pay for these folks.
What Oz is complaining about is a program that has been around for decades in every state. Disability rights groups sued state after state to get them to begin addressing these types of home health care services. Most states love it because it's a win-win scenario. The disabled and/or elderly people who need these services get to stay at home, maintain some independence, and be a part of the community.
The alternative to these programs would be placing these people in institutions, such as nursing homes, which can cost five or more times as much.
More freedom and independence and a better quality of life for less money. What's not to love?
But Oz wasn't done making a fool out of himself yet.
And then here's the part that really gets me: the unions are getting involved. They're beginning to unionize these workers, and that actually becomes a rapid sucking sound out of the federal treasury into union coffers, which then go to pay for political action committees to support their candidates, which generally do not appear on your show.
So, Oz is mad because they're not saving enough money by keeping people out of institutions, but he expects people to work full-time caring for the person, and he wants them to do it for nothing. That is why the caregivers are unionizing. They can't be effective caretakers if they can't take care of themselves. Oz might be applying for the job of Scrooge early this year.
If Oz were even remotely intellectually honest, he would admit that union dues cannot be used for political purposes. Members pay extra, separate from their dues, to pay for any political action committees. But honesty, much like intelligence, is not a requirement to work for the Trump administration. If anything, it's frowned upon.
