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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Reparations By Way Of Health Care Reform

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Legislation: Still believe in post-racial politics? Read the health care bill. It's affirmative action on steroids, deciding everything from who becomes a doctor to who gets treatment on the basis of skin color.

IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For Failure

President Obama is on the record as being officially opposed to reparations for slavery. But as with other issues, you have to sift through his eloquent rhetoric and go beyond the teleprompter to get at what he really means.

His opposition to reparations is based on the fact they don't go far enough. In a 2004 questionnaire, he told the NAACP, "I fear that reparations would be an excuse for some to say, 'We've paid our debt,' and to avoid the much harder work."

Never mind there are those who thought we apologized at Gettysburg and that an African-American president is a recognition of the hard work that has been done.

At a press conference with minority journalists last fall, candidate Obama was pressed for more detail on his reparations position. He said he was more interested in taking action to help people who were just getting by. Because many of them are minorities, he said, that would help the same people who would benefit from reparations.

"If we have a program, for example, of universal health care, that will disproportionally affect people of color, because they are disproportionally uninsured," Obama said.

This may be a goal of Obama's health care plan: the redress of health care disparities on the basis of race and the punishment of those believed to be responsible, such as greedy doctors who perform unnecessary tests and procedures and greedy insurance and drug companies lusting for profits.

In his health care plan published during the campaign, it was written that Obama and Biden will "challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care by requiring hospitals and health plans to collect, analyze and report health care quality for disparity populations and holding them accountable for any differences found."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeated this when she addressed the NAACP this month, saying: "It is a moral issue for our country to reduce health disparities, whether in diabetes, asthma, heart disease, cancer and HIV/AIDS."

The racial grievance industry under health care reform could be calling the shots in the emergency room, the operating room, the medical room, even medical school. As Terence Jeffrey, editor at large of Human Events puts it, not only our wealth, but also our health will be redistributed.

Under the Democrats' plans, if a medical school wants to receive contracts and grants from the federal government, it must operate under a quota system and be able to prove it. On Page 909, the House bill states: "In awarding grants or contracts under this section, the (HHS) secretary shall give preference to entities that have a demonstrated record of the following: . . . training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds."
Jeffrey points out that in the name of eliminating "disparities" in health care, under the House version of the bill, payment to providers under the public option becomes a sort of Pavlovian reward and punishment system.

"The secretary," says Section 224, "shall design and implement the payment mechanisms and policies under this section in a manner that — (1) seeks to . . . reduce health disparities (including racial, ethnic and other disparities)."

Everyone deserves the best health care and doctors. That will not happen under a plan that emphasizes affirmative action and leads to rationing.

As the case of the New Haven, Conn., firefighters shows, reverse discrimination is wrong and dangerous.

Whether it's that firefighter coming up the ladder, or the brain surgeon about to remove that tumor in your head, everybody wants that person to be the best regardless of race or ethnicity — and not admitted by quotas and promoted by political correctness.

That's what all Americans are owed.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Youre comparing the President's health care bill to reparations? Is there just no assanine idea you wont post on here? Ridiculous...

Anonymous said...

It's quite sick how you would morph the President's statments to fit into your twisted view.
"If we have a program, for example, of universal health care, that will disproportionally affect people of color, because they are disproportionally uninsured," The president was rebutting calls for reparations while making a common sense statement.

Thing is, you might have a valid point when it comes portions of the bill, but your credibility is already shot after we have seen your true colors.

Anonymous said...

What is "sick" is the continued notion that blacks deserve special treatment in this day and age. MLK had it right-not by the color of skin but by the content of character. Too bad that fueling racism is such a lucrative cottage industry for the Jesse Jacksons,Al Sharptons and Jeremiah Wrights--they are keeping blacks stuck in the victim mode. Sorry Liberals, the race card has been overplayed this time.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who believes they deserve special treatment must first admit that they are inferior. Every group that has ever gone not just to America but any country has faced discrimination and over came it by becoming productive citizens of that country. As far as slavery blacks sold blacks into slavery and the sad thing is it's still going on today in Africa !

Anonymous said...

8:56, you and I agree. Which is why Obama was talking AGAINST any special reparations and instead focusing on fixing the problem for EVERYONE. Joe is the one saying he just wants to fix things for blacks. And as black man, I will tell you that alot of us don't listen to Sharpton or Jackson; that should have been evident by the way Obama's rise pissed Jackson off ("wanna cut his nuts off"). And few of us had even heard of Wright until the election.

It's too bad that the media focuses on the people who can shout the loudest and say the most controversial statments because they miss the true work being done in the trenches by blacks and whites to improve our communities across the country. Most blacks I know are working just as hard as the next man; I guess you can blame the liberal media for your skewed view of Black Americans.

Anonymous said...

9:34 Youre obviously not a black man

Anonymous said...

9:47 stop making excuses for your lack of achievement get off your a$$ and make your own way ! your weak !

Anonymous said...

9:47 You mean "you're" weak? I am employeed. Always have been. And am more than likely more successful than you can ever aspire to be. Why don't you try making an intelligent comment. That or atleast a complete sentence.

Anonymous said...

1:37 I so glad you have a job that statement alone says it all. Your problem is you have welfare mentality as far as wanting something for nothing.Not only do want the low hanging fruit you want someone to pick it for you.

Anonymous said...

As expected, start a conversation regarding bogus claims used to stir the pot, and you'll usually end with childish rants and rage. As they say in the data processing world, "trash in, trash out".

Anonymous said...

Today, I read on the delmarvanow.com how a Hagerstown, Maryland man was holding a sign that read, “Death to Obama.” “Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids”. Of course he was “Detained”. This is horrifying to say about any president.

Some people are full of “Hate”. They make comments about history they know nothing about. Sure, stronger tribes in Africa sold weaker tribes into slavery. But, under strict conditions that America did not hold up too. The conditions on the ships that transported the slaves to America were not fix for dogs. The treatment the African slaves endure during slavery was horrific. And, some of the condition African American live under today is deplorable. Should the descendants of these African slaves receive reparation? Of course. Will it ever happen? Of course not. So the question we need to ask one another is, how can we all just live together in peace? Because, if we do not come to an amicable agreement to this problem of racism in this country, we are going to “explode’ with hate against one another. The PEOPLES Revolution will begin. Then the lies and deceit will flourish.

This health plan that some folks is rambling about is truly about nothing. If Congress wants to past this health care plan, they will pass it no matter what some of you have to say. Why? Because, the American PEOPLE keep voting for these fools under false pretense. And, these fools keep diappointing the American PEOPLE. Don't forget Bush and Chaney created this mess way before Obama took office. So, we ned to stop hating Obama and each other.

These Obama hating rally going on around this country needs to stop. I’m tired of it. And, it makes me want to stop coming to this blog. We truly need to understand what Martin Luther King Jr. and other great leaders from the past really said. But, Martin Luther King Jr. said, he hope that when his children were grown, they would not be judge by the color of their skin but by the contents of their character. If Americans citizens keep sounding off at one another this will never happen.

When my brother gets ready to leave my house, he gives me a huge and say, I'll see ya later Sis. Once he gets to his vehicle and opens the door, He'll hold up a peace sign with his fingers. Then he would say, “Peace in the Middle East”. We needs to be say, “Peace in the U. S. of A”.

Anonymous said...

5:27 You must be kidding reparations from whom ? The stronger tribes that sold you into slavery ? Another lie from your mouth is that Bush and Chaney started this whole mess I assume your speaking about the economy let me educate you . Bill Clinton regulated the lending practices of banks forcing them to lend to people who could not afford them you also had Chris Dodd and Barney Frank over seeing this area of the economy while receiving sweet heart loans from Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac both of these gentlemen reported all was well just before the recession while ignoring President Bush's warning a year prior to the collapse. Even a closed minded person like you can remember the record breaking economy of the Bush years until what happened ??? The democrats took over Congress that's what happened deal with your party !!!

Anonymous said...

10:04am,
I am a free born American whose an Independant voter. Not a slave. My African ancestors were sold into slavery. And, their descendant deserve reparation. But, we are not going to loss sleep over that. I will say this to you, I do not need to be educated by the likes of you. My life and my universal education has shown me this government and many governments in the past has disappointed many Americans. And, they will probably continue in the future. As a Independant, I will not vote for a donkey or an elephant.

May peace be unto you.

Enjoy your weekend.