Why the hell does the VP need an ambulance with him

[proud2BlibKansan]

at all times? In all this hunting story hullabaloo, we find out the injured man got medical attention right away because Cheney has an ambulance on hand 24/7.

First of all, if Cheney is that friggin ill (physically, I mean) then why the hell is he serving in office? It's not like he needs the job or he won't be able to pay his mortgage.

What other job is there that a person would be able to continue working even though they need an ambulance close by? What employer is willing to take that risk?

And how much is this stand by ambulance costing us taxpayers?

This just really makes me mad. :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Kagemusha]

1. He's serving because Bush wants him there.

There's really not much else to it. And the cost is rendered irrelevant. Compared to the war in Iraq it's nothing anyway. The US doesn't run on the cheap.

[Maru Kitteh]

29. Don't you mean that the other way around?

Bush is there because Cheney is really doing well and enjoying his presidency by proxy?

All of the power without all those tiresome handshaking and speechifying?


It does piss me off that one of the people doing everything in his power to destroy healthcare in this country has a 24/7 ambulance at his disposal using my tax money. It's not the worst thing he'd doing with my money but it's on the list.

[Chiyo-chichi]

2. and if he is that friggin physically ill then why the hell

is he firing shotguns?

[rodeodance]

11. He is not ill. And in some ways he speaks to those

who have had heart atachs. Your life is not over. Of course--He does have extraordinary health care to help him in his journey.

[Maru Kitteh]

33. He must be ill. Well people are not accompanied by an ambulance

everywhere they go every minute of the day, prez, vice or otherwise.

On edit: after looking it seems the prez does have a constant ambulance presence but I don't think there's ever been a vice who had a personal ambulance that accompanied him 24/7. With Cheney's med history it's pretty easy to figure why he wanted one though. I still think it's an arrogant pompus waste of money.

[FreedomAngel82]

39. So why the ambulances??

Or is that all lies or what? :shrug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Yeah good point

[Dr. Jones]

3. Cheney has a history of serious heart problems

but I think overall the "big guys" have an ambulance on site just in case something happens. Heck, after Bush's spills on his bike and his choking on pretzels and all (nah, he wasn't drinking!), one can see the need.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. And who pays for it?

[Atman]

4. Cheney needs an ambulance with him when he takes a dump...

...the man is NOT in good health! I mean...just look at him!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. Atman, if you were right, wouldn't he need a psych with him instead?

On the other hand, the TLC and bubble that the Bushistas and Chenyites live in surely show just how out of touch with the real world they are.
They are princes of darkness in a world where health care is quickly becoming out of reach for more people. They are catered to and served by servants, where most people suffer from paycheck to paycheck.
They are insane, evil and very smart about maintaining their power.

[leftofthedial]

6. the medical team is there to mix his special "meds"

every hour, on the hour, he must drink a fresh concoction of a human infant heart, a philosopher's brain and the liver of a Muslim who has been tortured to death. This elisir is all that keeps the demon from escaping and leaving deadeye dick's empty husk behind. Since all the ingredients must be absolutely fresh, he keeps a torture and murder squad as well as a medical extraction team and a large blender with him at all times, no matter which undisclosed location will be the location of his nightly bath in virgin's blood. It's the least that taxpayers can do to preserve the preciousl life of this fine, brave Murkan.

[katmondoo]

7. The ambulance has always been with him from the beginning

in 2001.I saw it at a fundraiser at a Disney Resort before 9/11. I went to protest and managed to sneak into the Yacht Club where the event was held. So many Secret Service men in black I did not show my true intent. It was scary.

[rodeodance]

13. it goes on air flights with him also. Yes--saw an article about this.

Local heath care not sufficient.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Ah but the rest of us peons get to depend on

local health care.

What a slimy rich bastard.

[FreedomAngel82]

40. Or none at all

[rodeodance]

8. cause he is a "Dead man Walking" (pouching from the movie title)

[Sydnie]

9. and how many regular people have to wait for help

if he has an ambulance tied up everywhere he goes? As you said, how much is that costing us? Do the EMT's have to get a security clearance to be on call for him everywhere he goes?

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. Sounds like it is the same ambulance and crew

They fly it all over the country wherever he goes.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. It cost a lot, but it has been a fixture at both

President and VP since at least the 70's or so.

It is considered a requirement by the SS

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. So Gore had one too?

That's funny. I heard Gore in person a couple times and I certainly don't remember any ambulance nearby.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

41. It was there, nearby

[AngryAmish]

12. Vice Presidents always have a medical detail

Throughout the states they Secret Service pre-screens emergency medicine doctors to be on the detail of vice presidents. (I think - a knew a guy who was designated so whenever Gore was in his city.)

[rodeodance]

14. but his ambulance flys with him on his trips. takes a few planes for

Dick when he goes on trips.

[AngryAmish]

18. Ohhhh, that is f'd up

My bad.

[Sydnie]

26. Oh, he takes his own. I thought they might give the business

to a LOCAL company and stimulate the economy. Silly me. They must fly it in the same transport that they fly his convoy of limos.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. HOW MUCH DOES THIS COST??????

These sick monsters take health care AWAY from the poor, make Medicare so complicated our senior citizens don't understand it, generally treat us like peons, but HE GETS HIS OWN PERSONAL AMBULANCE?????????????????? And tax dollars pay for it? ? ?

Please tell me I am misunderstanding this.

[pitohui]

15. hasn't he had 4 or 5 heart attacks?

cheney is not in the office for his health, he is the office to prop up his halliburton stock options, at which he has done an amazing job, never forget, prior to 9-11 halliburton was making plans for bankruptcy

[MADem]

16. He has had at least five attacks, but even the monkey has a medical

team with him at all times. The word "ambulance" can be misleading...nowadays, when they go out via surface vehicle, they tend to use these bigass SUVs with tinted windows, which are configured for whatever purpose (medical, comm, etc.). So it ain't just him that gets this sort of treatment...

[LiberalEsto]

17. Why? In case he shoots someone.

And didn't it come in handy this weekend?

[librechik]

19. It cost my dad $750 each trip to be transported by ambulance

when he was so ill near the end. I used to book ambulances for patients going to nursing homes. I imagine a standby ambulance costs in the neighborhood of 3 to 5 grand a day (conservatively)

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. And the health care budget was reduced

[Greybnk48]

20. As the Brits say, he has a "dicky ticker."

[f-bush]

21. to give you clue as to cost...

six years ago my son needed an ambulance for a .3 mile ride to the hospital, between the call and delivery of my son I'd say it was a 30 minute event at the MOST, that cost $1,200.00

So let's say inflation since then is 30% that would cost 3120 an hour 250000 or so a day 7.5 million a month, 90 million a year!

[jmowreader]

37. That's what it costs YOU for an ambulance

If Cheney has one of his own, the price goes down considerably...

Let's first assume he has a real ambulance, not a Suburban with some medical equipment in the back. (That would be cheaper.) According to the first EMS website I came across (City of Tulsa), a fully-stocked ambulance "can cost" $125,000. Cheney needs an armored one, so let's say his ambulance costs $200,000 if it's a Tulsa ambulance.

The nice thing about equipping an ambulance for a guy that fucking old is that it doesn't have to be prepared for anything like the ambulances you and I might need. It doesn't need pediatric equipment or pediatric drugs. It needs to be set up to haul one old guy with a bad heart. Let's roll that back to $185,000 because of this.

In this ambulance are a driver and two attendants in the back. If we're being generous and paying them $50,000 each because of the nature of their jobs, first-year expenses for Cheney's ambulance are $335,000--assuming, of course, that Cheney got a brand-new ambulance the day he took office. After that first year, figure $150,000 for crew costs and $50,000 to replace perishable items--$200,000 a year to keep Cheney alive.

Okay, if we're getting Cheney's ambulance from Halliburton we probably ARE paying $90 million a year for it...but if the government is running the service we're not trying to turn it into a profit center, so it's not outrageously expensive.

And look at it this way: how bad of shape would we be in if Bush had to preznit all by himself?

[f-bush]

44. ok but...

first of all, I think old Dick is most of the problem with this admin...would love to see him have a major coronary with an ambulance around.

Also, shrub by himself would self-destruct!

[northzax]

25. ever since Reagan was shot

and it took ten minutes for the ambulance to get there from GW Hospital (despite being ten blocks away) the President travels with an ambulance at all times (one way to tell that a convoy is the President's is the Bus) and now I guess the VP does as well.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. You know I can understand the prez having an ambulance

in his entourage. But not the VP. Did Gore have one?

[Stephanie]

31. I've heard that he has an operating room in the Naval Observatory basement

And that's what all the blasting was about a few years ago - they were building Cheney's personal operating room.

[LiberalEsto]

35. For him? or

for his experiments?

mwah ha ha

[Coexist]

36. because re-animation fluid is tricky stuff

and liable to need replenishing on a moment's notice.

[FreedomAngel82]

38. And why is he out hunting???

[GalleryGod]

42. Clinton Era Mantra: What's this Cost? What's THIS Cost ?

Quite Frankly this Preznitwit and this Repug Congress has presided over the largest expansion of the Federal Bureaucracy in History:puke: :argh:

Do We ever hear about it !

Nope.

[rpgamerd00d]

43. FOLKS, LISTEN UP - this is SOP for ALL PRES/VPs

My best friend served on Secret Service detail when he was in the Army (EOD).

Having medical/ambulance within FEET of a President/VP has been done for YEARS, and frankly, is something important to have "just in case".

Economies can crash on the death of a Pres/VP.

Just get over this fact. Its not just Cheney, its all VPs and Presidents.
Has been for years.

[proud2BlibKansan]

45. And they fly in the ambulance and crew?

He can't use local EMTs?

[xxqqqzme]

46. I wondered the same last night

in a similar thread. First I hasd read of it...R these medics also SS or is THAT a completely different set of trailers? Why the hell is this man holding any power at all?