Voting Apathy

The voting turnout is down in most constituencies. The government and the banks they are supposed to oversee have let us down to the point of bankrupting us. I wonder if the politicians are starting to realise that they are not speaking for the people anymore. They bicker among themselves. Try to score points off each other’s failings without recognising or addressing their own shortcomings.

Power corrupts. Not everyone succumbs to the fawning praise of peeps who want them to okay this or deny that. But many do. It is well known that many prominent politicians have milked the system for all it’s worth. That’s our tax money they have been relishing. Not only that. The system is systemically and institutionally corrupt.

If you think that the disclosure of fiddling expenses was bad, think again. There have been monumental wastes of money in the public sector and unless you are in the know you won’t have heard about it. There are computer systems that never saw the light of day. Contractors hired to do jobs for utilities’ that overcharged for their substandard work and employed workers from the Republic of Ireland who got paid by us and disappeared home to sign on the dole every Wednesday. Nice work if you can get it.

When a job went wrong and the public sought recompense those same contractors joined the government departments in litigation.

It is no wonder the majority of the population have decided not to vote. Faced with the same old, same old, they have chosen unanimously not to vote at all. Is anyone paying attention to this?

The latest think tank idea is that we pay for visits to A&E and for 

x-rays and other essential treatments on a sliding scale. Sliding scale … now there’s a thing! In 2006 the House of Commons Health Committee concluded that;

“As Professors Donald Light and Joel Lexchin stated:

Every study we know of done in Europe or North America documents again and again over the past 15 years that co-payments and other charges contradict the goals of a good health care system, harm patients, save little money, and generate little revenue”.

Pity no one was listening then and they certainly aren’t now. Car parking charges have been introduced at Causeway Trust.

This information will give you an idea of how much money is being made from the misery of sick people and their distraught families and it is well out of date now.              

Hospital parking spaces and income:

Total Parking Spaces Income from Staff Parking (£) Income from

Visitor Parking (£)

378,720 15,130,961 62,755,934

Figures provided on a voluntary basis. 80% of NHS hospital trusts responded.

Source: Estates Return Information Collection 2004/05.

My mum has Alzheimer’s. Because of the widespread use of generic medication from the cheapest source she is confused that her pills come in all shapes, sizes and colours. My own meds are currently from Spain but they come from all over. Everywhere except Britain that is. We can’t be certain we are taking medication that is actually what it says on the prescription anymore. But the powers that be are concerned that we are living longer and putting an increasing burden on the state. There wouldn’t be a state if not for the blood, sweat and tears of generations of hardworking, dedicated and patriotic people who paved the way for us. I am often ashamed that they sacrificed so much for a future that is driven by greed. Shame on us!