Just Don’t Call It “Socialized Medicine”

October 13, 2013

This column was originally published on June 29, 2009. It seems apropos given the current arguments over Obamacare. The law was signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.

The words “socialized medicine” drives many Americans crazy. There is an overwhelming fear as if the mere thought of socializing medical care will destroy our nation. The AMA has done an outstanding job of instilling this fear. They started their campaign in the 1930s against Medicare (socialized medicine for social security recipients). AMA publicists included a phony quote from Lenin proclaiming “socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the Socialist State.” Is there any reason to anticipate a change in AMA philosophy? No.

Between the AMA, medical insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical companies there is one objective and that is to keep Americans hooked on the support of a system that makes doctors, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers very rich. In a June 29,2009 BusinessWeek commentary it was reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates their annual payments to doctors at $744 billion. Do you know a poor doctor? I am sure there are some somewhere in America but they are rare.

How much is spent on cancer treatments every year? Breast cancer was an identified illness at the beginning of the 19^th century (President John Adams daughter died from the disease). There is still no preventative drug for this disease. PSA screening tests for prostate cancer have recently been called into question but most doctors continue to recommend them. Doctors treat men for the disease even though the treated men are more likely to die sooner than those who have not been screened. It’s all part of a scam to treat people for cancer but not cure them. A wonderful money machine.

A doctor at the University of Vancouver in Vancouver, B.C. questions prescribing medication for high cholesterol. He backs his contentions with data that shows there is no longer life resulting for people who take statins to reduce the bad cholesterol. My doctor says taking the pills is the right thing to do. Of course it is a money maker for the pharmaceutical companies. Cholesterol lowering medications are Levacor, Zocor, Pravachol, Lipitor, Crestor, Simvastatin (a generic for Zocor) and more.

Are the medical insurance companies really earning extraordinary income? I did the research and found these astonishing net income amounts

– Aetna $1.831 billion USD (2007)

– Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield $3.095 billion USD (2006)

– Cigna Corporation $1.1 billion USD (2007)

– Kaiser Permanente $1.3 billion USD (2006)

– Regence Group $6.7 billion USD (2006)

As far as pharmaceutical companies are concerned look at CVS Caremark as just the tip of the iceberg. Their quarterly net income for the period ending March 31, 2009 was $738,400.

Do we need a complete overhaul of our medical care system in the United States? The answer is obvious. The question is how do we provide the needed care at a cost that everyone can afford?

Honest Election in Iran is an Absurdity

The idea that an election for the president of Iran would be honestly held is an absurdity. That nation has one man who controls every aspect of life there. He is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In terms of constitutional authority, Mr. Khamenei is plainly the most powerful man in the Islamic Republic; no decision can be made without his consent. It is Mr. Khamenei who will decide the person to be president of Iran. In the unlikely situation that the elected president makes no difference to him, then the results will be reported honestly.

If the goal of Mr. Khamenei is the destruction of Israel and the dominance of the Middle East by Iran than there is little point in negotiations with members of a government that has no final authority.

It is reasonable to conclude that President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, and others in the U.S. foreign affairs department know that Mr. Khamenei is the one person that must be part of any negotiations. So why the speeches and hand held out as a jesture of friendship? It can’t hurt and it just might prevent another war.

The First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice

by Rabbi Norman Cohen, Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles

The media are crowing about President Obama selecting the “first Hispanic Supreme Court justice”. I have news for the media.

We already have had a Hispanic U. S. Supreme Court Justice.

He was Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, U. S. Supreme Court Justice from 1932 – 1938, a Sephard Jew of Spanish ancestry. His father, Judge Albert Cardozo, was Vice President and Trustee of the famous Spanish-Portuguese synagogue in New York City, Congregation Shearith Israel. Young Benjamin was Bar Mitzvah in that synagogue, and as an adult was proud of both his Jewish and Hispanic heritage.

It is the oldest congregation in the Western Hemisphere, having been founded in Recife, Brazil ca. 1630 and moved to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1654. Its present location is at 70th St. and Central Park West. I spent some of my religious and social activity time there as a teenager in the 1950s, when the Rav was the famous Dr. David de Sola Pool.

One thing that surprised me there were the names on the memorial plaques…they were just like my Puerto Rican friends and not at all like my Jewish friends. Study of this history and culture has become a hobby of mine.

Most American Jews, who are of Ashkenaz origins, neither know of nor understand this important component of the Jewish people.

Jews were a major component of the populations of Spain and Portugal for 800 years (~ 700 – 1500 CE). Ladino, the “Sephardic Yiddish” based on pre-1500 Spanish, is still spoken by 200,000 Jewish descendants around the world, mainly in Mediterranean regions. 45 of the 50 most common Hispanic family names are of Jewish origin. All Hispanic given names ending in “el” are Hebrew phrases with reference to G-d. Like Gabriel, Emanuel, Rafael, etc. Many Spanish words and names of places are of Hebrew origin.

If you represented all Jews who were murdered in the Holcoaust by a crowded Dodger Stadium, those Jews whose family names were Gamboa and Graciano would fill a section of box seats. Gamboas and Gracianos are in Jewish cemeteries all over the world …. even in Poland, Canada, South Africa and Israel. That’s just two Sephardic-Jewish family names.

A recent analysis of the DNA of 20 statistical sample of men of Spain found that 20% have the Jewish genetic haplogroup, viz. they descend from Jews. The only way that this is possible is that there was already massive assimilation of the Jews of Spain in the centuries leading up to the Inquisition.

There are organized groups of b’nai anusim —- descendants of Jewish victims of Inquisitions in Spain, Portugal and Latin America who were forced to convert, or who hid and abandoned their Jewishness out of fear of persecution —- who are clamoring for acceptance as Jewish returnees.

It is estimated that a significant fraction of the Hispanics of the Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico are of Jewish ancestry and don’t know it.

But the media would not think of, nor recognize, Benjamin Cardozo as a “Hispanic”. They want a “genuine” Hispanic, certainly not one who was also a Jew.

—

August 8, 2009: A Daily Kos article on Cardozo is an interesting addendum to this article. A Poll at the bottom of the article indicates that 59% of those participating believe that Cardozo was the first first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.

The End of the American Empire?

As horrifying as the thought may be the theory of “manifest destiny” may have been correct in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Just as the evolution of man himself perhaps the nation we built was just going to happen no matter how badly or well we managed things. After all our founding fathers really weren’t different than many other men of their time. George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all had their own personal issues. Other people of that time could certainly have stepped into the roles those men played. History books support this understanding.

“What’s good for GM is good for America” was a mantra of big business throughout the 20^th century. General Motors (GM) was founded on September 27, 1908. Just one hundred years later the company found itself asking for government aid to stay in business. It isn’t just GM that has faced serious decline; many other companies that had been considered permanent parts of America have seen their life end or seen their fortunes fail dramatically. U.S. Steel, Circuit City, Zenith, A&P are all examples of companies that either no longer exist or are significantly dwarfed from their previous size.

Apple, Xerox, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and DuPont are examples of companies that have turned back from potential failure. Ford Motor Company has faced collapsed on more than one occasion and returned to success.

So the question asked by Jim Collins (author of How The Mighty Fall) to 12 U.S. Army generals and 12 social sector leaders was: Is America renewing its greatness or is America dangerously on the cusp of falling from great to good? The response was a great debate.

When you consider how the United States has coped with the world since 9-11-2001 it is easy to see where the nation has failed at what most of us thought about our nation. We are the only super power in the world. Russia invaded Georgia and has thumbed its nose at America. Iran and North Korea have been successfully doing what they want without regard to the American government. However, America was stunned but not defeated by the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States went forward to defeat its enemies.

No superpower nation has withstood the test of time. Is the United States riding the crest of a wave? There are many indications that this is the situation now. General Motors may be an early indicator or maybe not.

Right now we lack the FDR or Abraham Lincoln to lead the way. History has shown that a new leader will appear. I can’t believe it’s all over.

A New Political Party

For the first time in many years we now have the opportunity to start a new political party. The statistics support this possibility.

This data from Rasmussen Reports dated March 1, 2009.

“Currently, 38.7% of Americans say they are Democrats. That’s down from 40.8% a month ago. It’s also the first time the Democratic total has slipped below the 40% mark since the Republican convention bounce last September. … In March, 33.2% of American adults say they are Republicans. That’s down from 33.6% a month ago. … A growing number – 28.0% – say they’re not affiliated with either major party.”

On This Week on ABC television it was reported that a survey showed that only 21% of registered voters consider themselves Republicans.

The Republican Party has become a regional party that has lost another senator (Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania) and has no Congressmen from the Northeast in the House of Representatives. The west coast is dominated by Democrats and so is Michigan and Illinois. No wonder the Democrats have a majority in the House. The largest population centers, with the exception of Texas, are represented by Democrats.

The Democratic Party is almost totally dominated by labor unions and “liberal left” special interest groups (think ACLU, Sierra Club). Moderates, who swing from Democrat to Republican based on candidate positions rather than party affiliation, are choosing the Democrats because the Republican Party has been taken over by “right wing” and “Christian conservatives” that do not want to tolerate any dissention among their membership.

Republican Party activists are primarily focused on just a few principles that the majority of American do not consider primary to their well being. Those views are:

1. Reduced taxes.

2. Smaller government.

3. No abortions.

4. No gay marriage.

5. No gun controls.

6. Support for White Christian values.

With the views of each of the primary political parties so divergent, this seems to be the time for a new political party. This would not be a party built around one individual but instead a party about ideas that that are more in line with the growing number of independent voters. Those “middle of the roaders” who are not comfortable with either the Democrats or Republicans. This is a party that would hold some of the value of both Democrats or Republicans but would look for leaders that reflect the growing numbers of people who want a more moderate, more inclusive political party.

This may not be doable because political parties need financial backing. That backing would destroy what most of us want. A government that cares about most Americans.

The First 100 Days

All the political talk shows are focused on Barack Obama’s first 100 days. Everyone has an opinion about his performance as president. Even the president himself has given an opinion about how he has done. The 100 day thing is the equivalent of the usual 90 day probation that most people must survive to hold on to a new job. The difference is America can’t discharge him even if he is doing a poor job. Unless he has been found guilty of a crime, Barack Obama is our president for the next four years.

Recalling eight years ago to George W. Bush’s first 100 days I cannot remember that there was any considerable discussion about his performance. CNN had a group of people that graded President Bush. His grade was mostly around a B. Of course no one knew that 9-11-01 would determine the course of his presidency. That was an incident that occurred 234 days into the Bush presidency. It was the September 11 event that impacted everything about President Bush’s presidency.

Like President Bush, President Obama is just another president impacted by unplanned events. In the 20^th century Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson all saw their presidencies significantly impacted by events beyond their control.

The only thing we know about President Obama is that he is willing to take action that might affect the future. He knows that the first 100 days is just the warm up.