IL-14: Left Trying to Redefine Socialism and Distinguish “Democratic Socialism”

Lauren Underwood

The last three weeks of the campaign to determine which Republican can challenge AND WIN against Lauren Underwood depends on nominating the right candidate out of two

It’s the last three weeks of the primary campaign, and in the race for the 14th district Republican nomination, the field of seven candidates has effectively been whittled down to two — State Senators Jim Oberweis and Sue Rezin.

All empirical polling data and the spending patterns of the candidates point to an Oberweis-Rezin showdown over the final three weeks of the primary campaign. The other five candidates, including flush-with-campaign-cash Ted Gradel, are at this point playing spoilers with their campaigns of conservative platitudes but no record to prove they can actually implement conservative policies since they’ve never served in elective public office.

Marco Rubio and Jim Oberweis

And make no mistake, the general election in November is Congresswoman Lauren Underwood’s to lose.

History alone, particularly no Democratic incumbent member of Congress seeking reelection in Illinois in a presidential election year has lost to a Republican since the 1992 John Cox-Don Manzullo general, shows the last time an Illinois Republican successfully flipped a Democratic seat with the Democrat seeking reelection was 28 years ago.

With U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the presidency appearing, after this past weekend’s lopsided Nevada caucus victory, an inevitability of a Sanders presidential nomination on the first ballot, in spite of the panic many Democrats expressed since Saturday, the Left is working to redefine “socialism” and distinguish it from something they call “Democratic socialism” or “social Democrat”.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who’s openly backing Jim Oberweis in the 14th, tweeted the following brief video yesterday, but notice how a local Indivisible community organizer responds to Senator Rubio’s video, which tips the hand of the Left going into the general election particularly with Bernie Sanders atop the ticket:

Some might think that the lie of the definition of “social democrats” will not work here in the United States of America, but we live in a country where marriage has been redefined and the number of genders has grown beyond what the Bible teaches of God making only two genders, man and woman, into over 100+.

Sue Rezin with husband Dr. Keith Rezin

Put another way, if marriage and genders can be redefined, socialism can be redefined too, and the younger generations of Millennials and Generation Z have bought the lie of the distortion according to nearly all polling on this topic.

What does this have to do with the 14th congressional district Republican primary and the need to choose the best candidate between Jim Oberweis and Sue Rezin? EVERYTHING!

Yesterday, Congresswoman Underwood addressed the City Club of Chicago to a sold-out house, and the answer to a question about the Democratic presidential candidates made headlines. The video is queued to the Q&A which begins with the presidential question including Underwood’s follow-up given all the murmuring her initial answer created.

After watching Underwood answer all the Q&A, it is strongly suggested to watch/listen to the entire video of Underwood:

Why should you watch the first 25+ minutes of Underwood’s appearance at the City Club yesterday? Because Underwood outlines yet another significant policy initiative that has already shown to have “bipartisan” support, and it is in the area of “healthcare” and “maternal health”.

That means in addition to her aggressive prescription drugs prices “Five Point Plan” she launched in October, in the coming months, Underwood will be launching what she is calling a “Momnibus” legislation for womens health.

For 14th congressional district Republican primary voters, keep in mind this is something either Jim Oberweis or Sue Rezin will have to face when one of them wins the primary, and primary voters must choose the best one.

NOTE: If you do not agree that the 14th congressional district Republican primary is a race between Jim Oberweis or Sue Rezin, by all means, send your evidence to Cal Skinner or me that proves otherwise. We won’t mind being wrong, but proof must stand up to discernment and right now 3 weeks out, the 14th is a 2-person contest between Oberweis and Rezin.


Comments

IL-14: Left Trying to Redefine Socialism and Distinguish “Democratic Socialism” — 29 Comments

  1. “You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think.”…. Milton Berle

  2. Yeah, I agree with the Krugman meme.

    Bernie’s politics fall into what could be considered “social democracy.”

    It calls for a mixed economy. We live in a mixed economy. It calls for a social safety net. We have a social safety net.

    Honestly, I don’t see a fundamental difference between what Bernie wants to do and where we already are, it’s just the size of government would be bigger with Bernie.

    Bernie wants a progressive tax. We have a (federal) progressive tax.

    Bernie wants to make sure everybody has healthcare. We have healthcare for poor people and seniors through medicaid and medicare.

    Bernie wants college to be “tuition free” in the same way that k-12 already is funded through taxes.

    Most of what Bernie wants is done in places all over the world, including in a few countries that beat us on both personal and economic freedom rankings, not just in bad spooky places like Cuba or North Korea. But I’m not surprised why people always use those as examples…

    I don’t agree with Bernie on plenty of things, but I think it’s bad that we can’t differentiate between a place like Denmark and Venezuela.

    It’s like people think all the government programs we have now are acceptable and we certainly are not socialists now, but for some reason if the government just gets a little bit bigger we will suddenly be socialists. They don’t say we need to abolish k-12 schools, roads, etc. because they clearly are not worried about the “slippery slope to socialism.” It doesn’t rest on sound political theory. (I’m talking about Republicans here, not Libertarians who are at least consistent in their beliefs and not hypocrites.) It doesn’t make sense. It’s fear mongering.

    And just so you know, the (real) far left does not consider Bernie a socialist, just like the (real) far right doesn’t consider Trump a nationalist.

    Read the primary texts for political theories and talk to people who follow those ideas if you want to understand those theories. Don’t let clowns on MSNBC and Fox News tell you how things are — they are propagandists and gatekeepers.

  3. FAKE NURSE = LYING DEMOCRAT.

    Lies, deception and deceit are their calling cards.

  4. Are resources controlled by 3rd party collected and redistributed equitably?

    A timely example we should all discuss is this:

    commonly occurring saline bag shortages at hospitals, even in normal times.

    When an epidemic such as coronavirus hits, severe shortages are a deadly certainty.

    Commodity supplies in hospitals are purchased through GPOs.

    GPOs are given safe harbor exemption from federal anti-kickback law, and so are permitted shrouds of secrecy surrounding pricing and allocations policy(and this is fiercely protected by Congress).

    Therefore:

    Hospitals in ‘flyover country’ may or may not receive the same allocations per capita (of saline bags) from huge profitable GPOs as the GPOs allocate to hospitals in districts where their Congressional champions reside.

    Taxpayers simply have no way to discover resource allocation policy or whether equitable distribution policy is overlooked for favorable relationships–remember that Anti-Kickback law doesn’t apply to GPOs.

    The following exerpt is from an analysis of medical resource allocations:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1925021/

    “Therefore, although society’s conferral of a service monopoly may have considerable benefit for the monopoly holder, its ultimate aim is not to advantage the monopoly holder but to benefit society and its individual members.

    Therefore, the fact that the profession of medicine is a service-provider monopoly means that the profession has a duty to ensure not merely that the quality of medical services is as good as possible, but also that there is equitable access to the services that can be provided only by its members, and that the rules under which the resources that are controlled by the profession are provided are applied equitably. The crucial term here is “equitably”. “

  5. I emailed my Rep Underwood weeks ago asking:

    Will she explain how her constituents can know that GPOs will award a statistically equal resource allocation of hospital commodities such as saline bags to ‘flyover Country` rather than to districts of their favorite Congressional champions?

    Because local ED nurses, hospital PBMs cannot answer that, and FOIAs dont work against Congressionally protected GPO secrecy.

  6. Socialism of any variety should be anathema to any citizen of the U.S. Those who espouse any flavor of it, whether by nut-job Bernie Sanders or any of his Democrat colleagues, should be shunned. Consider the opinion on it by a prominent person who lived in the U.S.S.R.

    Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist, philosopher, historian, short story writer and political prisoner. Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of the Soviet Union and Communism and helped to raise global awareness of its Gulag labor camp system.

    Solzhenitsyn gave a speech at Harvard in 1978. An excerpt from it on socialism below:

    “Having experienced applied socialism in a country where the alternative has been realized, I certainly will not speak for it. The well-known Soviet mathematician Shafarevich, a member of the Soviet Academy of Science, has written a brilliant book under the title Socialism; it is a profound analysis showing that socialism of any type and shade leads to a total destruction of the human spirit and to a leveling of mankind into death. Shafarevich’s book was published in France.”

  7. GPO an acronym by Micorsoft and ALSO generically a term for a purchasing group.

    A group purchasing organization (GPO) is an entity that helps healthcare providers — such as hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies — realize savings and efficiencies by aggregating purchasing volume and using that leverage to negotiate discounts with manufacturers, distributors and other vendors.

    One recent analysis found that GPOs save the healthcare system up to $55 billion annually, while a recent analysis from former FTC Chair Jon Leibowitz found that GPOs save providers an average of 10%-18% on product and services.

  8. Analyses by medical professionals and civilians harmed by chemotherapy and other drug shortages cause by the monopoly rights granted GPOs have a different opinion about the obscene dishonesty in the press release printed in prior comment.

    For objective research not written by those who profit from GPO cheerrleading, see links at:
    https://www.physiciansagainstdrugshortages.com/articles-on-gpos.html

    2020

    “Premier to Acquire GNYHA’s GPO and Finance Consultancy Subsidiaries”
    Modern Healthcare, Feb. 4, 2020

    2019

    “Commentary: Collins’ Bill Fails to Address Root Cause of Drug Shortages”

    Portland Press Herald, Nov. 16, 2019

    “How the Drug Industry Sacrifices Children with Cancer”

    American Prospect, Oct. 18. 2019

    “Do GPOs Play a Role in Drug Shortages?”

    PT Community, March 2019

    ​2018

    “Elizabeth Warren Plan Would Allow the Government to Manufacture its Own Generic Drugs”
    The Intercept, Dec. 18, 2018

    “Medical Monopoly” (cover story)
    dBusiness (Detroit Business), Nov/Dec 2018
    READ ARTICLE

    “Doc: Middlemen Ratchet Up Health Costs”
    Daily Standard (Rockford, OH), Nov. 1, 2018

    “Identifying the Root Cause of Drug Shortages: A Call to Action”
    Anesthesiology News, Oct. 25, 2018

    GPOs’ “Pay-to-Play” Fees Drive Up Healthcare Costs”
    Modern Healthcare, Oct. 18, 2018

    “Group Purchasing Organizations, Health Care Costs, and Drug Shortages”

    Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Nov. 13, 2018

    READ GPO Letter to JAMA/Author Reply

    “Hospitals, foundations launch Civica RX, first nonprofit drug-making company”
    Washington Times, Sept. 6, 2018

    “Surprise! Trump Might Actually Lower Drug Prices”
    Washington Post, Aug. 28, 2018

    “Meet the Rebates, the New Villain of High Drug Prices”
    New York Times, July 27, 2018

    “FDA to More Aggressively Tackle Disruptive Drug Shortages”
    Associated Press, July 12, 2018

    “Group Purchasing Organizations: Gaming the System”
    Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Summer 2018

    ​”Critical Condition: Inside Pfizer’s Drug Supply Problem”
    Fortune, May 22, 2018

    “Where Does the Law Against Kickbacks Not Apply? Your Hospital”
    Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2018

    “Facing the Shortage of IV Fluids”
    New England Journal of Medicine, Apr. 19, 2018

    “The Multibillion-Dollar Solution- Repeal Safe Harbor”
    Townhall.com, Mar. 3, 2018

    “As they fight flu, hospitals cope with shortage of IV fluids”
    Philadelphia Inquirer, February 14, 2018

    2017

    “Drug supply shortage forces upheaval, care dilemmas on US hospitals”
    Supply Chain Dive, May 25, 2017

  9. ​2016

    “Time to Free a Controlled Marketplace for Generic Drugs”
    Barron’s, Oct. 15, 2016
    READ ARTICLE

    “Escalating Drug Prices: Not All Is What It Seems”
    American Council on Science and Health, Oct. 4, 2016

    “Iron Curtain of Drug Pricing Will Topple the Healthcare System”

    The Hill.com (blog), Sept. 2, 2016

    “Disgraced EpiPen Maker Gave $10,000 to Schumer Campaign in June”

    New York Post, Aug. 29, 2016

    “Facing Cancer Drug Shortage, U. S. Relies on Banned Chinese Plant”

    Bloomberg News, July 21, 2016

    “Drug Prices Too High? Sometimes, They’re Not Costly Enough”

    New York Times, May 30, 2016

    READ ARTICLE

    “Hospital Drug Shortages: What is Really Causing Them?”

    Medill News Service, May 26, 2016

    “Generic Drugs: Low Supply and High Prices”
    Sentinel: Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists Newsletter, Spring 2016

    “Blog: Senator says GPOs may play role in high healthcare costs”
    Modern Healthcare, Mar. 29, 2016

    “Blumenthal Seeks Answers on whether health purchasing groups are costing consumers”
    New Haven Register, Mar. 28, 2016

    “Surviving Drug Shortages by Eliminating the Middlemen”
    Modern Healthcare, Mar. 10, 2016

    “FDA is Not the Problem”
    Center for American Progress, Mar. 9, 2016

    “Drug Shortage Guidelines: Sign of an Ongoing Problem?”
    MedPage Today, Feb. 2, 2016

    “Prescription Drug Pricing: Scam or Scapegoat?”
    American Enterprise Institute, Feb. 2016

    “Drug Shortages Force Hard Decisions on Rationing Treatments”
    The New York Times, Jan. 29. 2016

    “Forum: Blumenthal’s Silence Deafening on Root Cause of Surging Generic Drug Prices”
    New Haven Register, Jan. 11, 2016

    ​2015

    “Surmounting shortages: GPOs work creatively with manufacturers to avert drug shortfalls”
    Modern Healthcare, Oct. 24, 2015
    READ ARTICLE
    *Note: Article is mistitled, in our opinion. Header should have read, “GPO execs accuse each other of anticompetitive practices, unethical conduct in causing shortages”

    “Politics, Corruption and Drug Prices”
    Valley News (NH), Oct. 2, 2015

    “Modern Medicine at the Crossroads”
    Journal of American Physicians & Surgeons, Fall 2015

    “Premier Position”
    Business North Carolina, Aug. 2015​​​​​​

    “Amerinet CEO Todd Ebert Replaces Curtis Rooney at GPO Trade Group HSCA”

    Modern Healthcare, July 13, 2015

    ​”​Emergency Room Doctors, Paramedics Decry Shortage of Sugar, Salt Water​”
    NBC NEWS 4 NEW YORK, June 4, 2015
    WATCH SEGMENT

    “J&J’s Solution to the Compassionate-Use Hot Potato”
    Life Science Leader Magazine, May 18, 2015

    “Expectations of drug shortages has become ‘new norm” for cancer care”
    HemOnc Today, Feb. 10, 2015

    “There’s a National Shortage of Saline Solution. Yeah, We’re Talking Salt Water. Huh?”
    Fortune, Feb. 5, 2015

    “How to Stop Generic Drug Shortages: End Hospital Group Purchasing Kickbacks”

    Fortune.com, Jan. 30, 2015

    2014

    “Correcting Misperceptions Related to Chemotherapy Drug Shortages in the United States”

    [Letter to the Editor, Journal of Oncology Practice, by Sherry A. Glied PhD, former assistant secretary, Department of Health & Human Services]

    Journal of Oncology Practice, Dec. 23, 2014

    “Getting a Handle on Drug Shortages”

    HealthTrust Purchasing Group, Dec. 1, 2014

    “Drug Bust”

    Slate, Nov. 20, 2014

    “Hospitals Cash in Premier Shares”
    Modern Healthcare, Nov. 15, 2014

    “APNU MP links sole-sourcing to chronic drug shortages in local health facilities”

    Kaieteur News Online (Guyana), Oct. 25, 2014

    “Healthcare GPOs promote positive influence ahead of GAO report”

    Modern Healthcare, Oct. 21, 2014

    “Dangerous Drug Shortages”

    AARP Bulletin, Oct. 2014

    “Chemotherapy Drug Shortages in the United States Revisited”

    Journal of Oncology Practice, Sept. 2014

    ‘“Doctor, We Have No Saline Today”: The Curious Case of the Generic Injectable Drug Shortage’

    Academic Emergency Medicine, July 5, 2015

    “The Scary Reality of a World Without Meds”

    Reader’s Digest, June 2014

    “Pay-to-Play: The Impact of Group Purchasing Organizations on Drug Shortages”
    American University Law School Business Law Review, Spring 2014.

    Letter to the Editor in response to Oct. 2013 article on drug shortages by McKeever et al
    Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, Mar. 2014

    “Nitroglycerin, a Staple of Emergency Rooms, is in Short Supply”

    The New York Times, Mar. 25, 2014

    “Another Voice: Schumer defends system that creates shortages of critical prescription drugs”
    Buffalo News, Mar. 16, 2014

    “Citing Distraction, Quality Forum CEO Resigns Boards Seats”

    ProPublica, Feb. 27, 2014,

    NQF [National Quality Forum] CEO Outed as Member of Premier Inc. Board
    HCRenewal, Feb. 21, 2014,

    “Payments to CEO Raise New Conflicts a Top Health Quality Group”

    ProPublica, Feb. 12, 2014,

    “Drug Shortages Worsen: The Blame Game Continues”
    American Council on Science and Health, Feb. 11, 2014

    “Drug Shortages Continue to Vex Doctors”

    The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2014,

    “As You Were Saying: Drug Shortages Plague Hospitals”
    Boston Herald, Feb. 8, 2014

    “GPOs fuel drug shortages”
    Baltimore Sun, Feb. 7, 2014,

    “Generic Injectable Drugs Get a Boost”

    Barron’s, Feb. 4, 2014

    “Shortage of saline cause hospitals, dialysis center to scramble to manage supply”

    Washington Post, Jan. 28, 2014,

  10. 2013

    ​”Editorial: What is the Solution to Drug Shortages?”

    Life Science Leader, Dec. 2013,

    “Drug Shortages: Why They Happen and How They Can Be Solved”

    Life Science Leader, Dec. 2013

    ​​”Solving Drug Shortages Requires Incentivizing Reliability, Infrastructure Quality”

    Bloomberg Brief, Nov. 11, 2013,

    “U. S. FDA Outlines Plan to Combat Drug Shortages”
    Reuters, Oct. 31, 2013

    “Editorial: Greed, Legalized Corruption, and the Death Penalty”
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 13, 2013

    “The Soaring Cost of a Simple Breath”

    The New York Times, Oct. 12, 2013,

    “Physicians Against Drug Shortages Challenge the Controlled Drug Market for Hospitals”

    PolicyMed, Sept. 11, 2013,

    “Group Blames GPOs for Generic Drug Shortages”
    Modern Healthcare, Sept. 4, 2013

    “How a Cabal Keeps Generics Scarce”
    The New York Times, Sept. 3, 2013

    “How to Charge $546 for Six Liters of Salt Water”

    The New York Times, Aug. 26, 2013,

    “Premier’s IPO Rumors Confirmed –Is MedAssets Being Cast as the Industry’s Torch Bearer?”
    HCMatters.com, July 22, 2013 (HCMatters.com is a GPO industry mouthpiece)

    “Premier considers possible IPO, MedAssets attacks alleged plans as hospital purchasing competition heats up”
    Modern Healthcare, July 19, 2013

    “U.S. Propofol Drug Shortages: A Review of the Problem & Stakeholder Analysis”
    American Health & Drug Benefits
    May/June 2013

    “Children are Dying”
    Washingtonian, May 22, 2013,

    “Drug Shortages Not Going Away”
    MedpageToday, May 13, 2013,

    “Doctor Group Claims Drug Purchasing Organizations Causing Chronic Shortages”
    Anesthesiology News, Apr. 3, 2013,

    “GPOs to Blame for Drug Shortages, Says Physicians Group”
    Medscape, Jan. 24, 2013

    2012


    “Meningitis Outbreak: Lawmakers Question Drug Purchasing Groups”
    Tennessean, Nov. 24, 2012

    “Drug Shortages Persist in U. S., Harming Care”
    The New York Times, Nov. 17, 2012

    “Buying Groups’ Role in Drug Shortages Queried”
    MedPageToday, Nov. 16, 2012,

    “Drug Shortages Spark Use of Compounders”
    MedPageToday.com, Oct. 18, 2012

    “Lapses at Big Drug Factories Add to Shortages and Danger”
    The New York Times, Oct. 18, 2012

    “Anesthesiologists Frustrated Over Continued Drug Shortage”
    Medscape.com, Oct. 17, 2012

    “Scant Oversight of Drug Maker in Fatal Meningitis Outbreak”
    The New York Times, Oct. 6, 2012

    “In a Drug Linked to a Deadly Meningitis Outbreak, A Question of Oversight”

    The New York Times, Oct. 4, 2012

    “Hospital Pharmacists Must Get Creative Amid Drug Shortages”
    Crain’s Cleveland Business, Sept. 3, 2012
    ​​
    “No Shortage of Blame”
    Modern Healthcare, July 28, 2012


    “What is causing drug shortages?”
    Cato Institute, Mar. 16, 2012

    “Supply of Methotrexate, a Cancer Drug, May Run Out Soon”
    The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2012

    2011

    “HHS Rejected ASP Hike After Weighing GPO, Drug Distribution Issues”

    InsideHealthPolicy.com, Nov. 9, 2011

    “Obama Tries to Speed Response to Shortages of Vital Medicines”

    The New York Times, Oct. 31, 2011

    “Cut Kickbacks to Hospital Group Purchasing Organizations, Not Medicare and Medicaid”

    Roll Call, Oct. 21, 2011

    “Congress Should Puncture This Cartel”

    Huffington Post, Sept. 29, 2011

    “An Empirical Analysis of Aftermarket Transactions by Hospitals”

    Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy, Fall 2011

    “APP Pharmaceuticals Named NOVAPLUS Pharmacy Manufacturer of the Year”
    Fresenius AG Press release, June 8, 2011

    “When the Drug You Need to Cure a Cancer is Nowhere to be Found”
    Washington Post, Apr. 18, 2011

    “Medtronic Makes Pact-Ending Move”

    Wall Street Journal, Feb. 25, 2011

    2010

    “Billions Wasted in Way Medical Devices are Bought, Study Finds”

    USA Today, Oct. 7, 2010

    “Broken Compensation Structures and Health Care Costs”

    Harvard Business Review, Oct. 6, 2010

    “GAO, Senate Question Role of Hospital Supplies Middlemen”

    Kaiser Health News, Sept. 28, 2010

    “Teva to Stop Making Propofol”

    FiercePharma Manufacturing, May 31, 2010

    “Dirty Medicine”

    Washington Monthly, July/Aug. 2010

    2009

    “Watch Out for GPOs”

    Forbes.com, Nov. 12, 2009

    “Paying for Health Care—Will Congress Have the Guts to Bust This Trust?”

    Huffington Post, Sept. 14, 2009

    “Senators Investigate Hospital Purchasing”

    The New York Times, Aug. 13, 2009

    2008

    Fresenius Closes APP Acquisition
    Fresenius Press release, September 10, 2008

    2007

    “Blowing the Whistle, Many Times”

    The New York Times, Nov. 18, 2007

    Interview with U. S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) chairman, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee

    Antitrust Magazine, Spring 2007

    “Battle Scarred”

    Forbes, Mar. 26, 2007

    “GPO Reform in Offing? Congress Monitors, while Schumer Shifts Stance”

    Gray Sheet. Mar. 26, 2007,

    The Premier Inc./Malcolm Baldrige Award Scandal

    “Baldrige Interrupted”
    Modern Healthcare, Jan. 1, 2007

    2006

    “History of Baldrige award winner angers some”

    USA Today, Nov. 29, 2006

    “Award raises questions”

    Charlotte Observer, Dec. 1, 2006

    “Local firm wins prize, and some controversy”

    San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 8, 2006

    https://www.physiciansagainstdrugshortages.com/

  11. It would be nice if people could argue for and against policies from a facts/numbers based perspective like Susan does.

    I think Bernie is wrong on plenty of things, but I hate how most Republicans argue against him.

    With more and more young people having a favorable opinion of “socialism,” how long do you even think those sorts of attacks are going to work?

  12. The Krugman meme suffers from a fatal flaw: There is no Nobel Prize in economics.

    Sweden’s central bank sponsors an economics prize, and they bribed the Nobel Foundation to award it, but it is not one of the Nobel Prizes.

    Some of Alfred Nobel’s descendants are quite unhappy about it, and besides, getting an economics award from a socialist institution is kind of like getting an ethics award from the Clinton Foundation.

  13. If Rezin and Oberweis are our only hope to unseat Underwood, doesn’t that mean the 14th is likely to be Underwood’s?

    We lost that seat because we had an uninspiring incumbent run against her.

    I don’t see either of these two being able to compete against Lauren.

  14. Your comments are always brilliantly laid out, insightful and educational Susan.

    It seems the American spirit of self reliance could be applied to the health care problem but I’m totally ignorant of the field.

    If third party’s of varying stripes continuously stand in the way of patient care and a patient’s relationship to their doctor could we not experiment with removing the insurance companies, governmental bureaucrats and inefficient drug delivery from the equation?

    Other than utter greed on the part of a hospital system would there be anything stopping a hospital from ending its relationship with government and insurers?

    Concierge hospitals may be a successful business model which puts care squarely in the hands of health care providers and patients, no?

    If the current production capacity of basic medical supplies like saline solution is too low to provide adequately for demand plus emergency inventory then this hole could be filled with investment into drug manufacturing, particularly in service to concierge medical services.

    Low inventory of medical supplies could be classified as a national security issue.

    Should we have proper capacity but improper distribution due to corruption this could be Treason punishable by death of all involved.

    It seems Americans can figure these things out through ingenuity and proper application of Citizenship.

    Governmental goons have been murdering their citizens since the beginning of time.

    If health care rationing is murdering in America then the unique difference of the American Citizen from every other nation in all of human history is we are EXPECTED to defend our brothers and sisters from this predation, even under arms.

    Can American ingenuity solve the problems you’ve written about Susan or are we needing a more immediate defense of our systems to save our sick?

  15. A good book on the topic from Senator Rand Paul, “The Case Against Socialism”, published Oct 2019. On Amazon, there were 275 reviews with a 4.6 average rating.

  16. Catalina Lauf is leading the race and will win and the clear person to take on Lauren Underwood.

    The people are behind her.

    Everyone knows it.

  17. Ms. JenSmith, it is Mardi Gras tonight, and given what you are saying about Catalina Lauf leading the race and the people are behind her but without offering proof, one may wonder if the “proof” is another kind.

    Just kidding, but please send Cal and me your evidence to prove what you said.

  18. Let’s try this a THIRD time …

    Jen, do you honestly believe Catalina can debate Lauren?

  19. Will ANY candidate, nurse or otherwise, answer this question:

    Given GPO unique safe harbor exemption providing a Congressionally protected shroud of secrecy (FOIA -immunity),…

    WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR DISTRIBUTION ALLOCATIONS OF HOSPITAL COMMODITIES IN A VIRAL EPIDEMIC EMERGENCY?

    And will any candidate pledge to stay for treatment/unavailable treatment (and maybe die) in her flyover country home district as a result?

  20. Priest:
    Here are practical methods of self defense against our predatory Political class:

    1. GPOs formed by cash-payer patients, accepted by medical care providers.

    2. Civil disobedience in the form of GPO formed by civilians to purchase life-saving pharmaceuticals outside of America,
    at prices one-fifth to one-fourthousandfortieth the cost.

    REMEMBER GPOs are not subject to anto Kickback law.
    Anti Kickback law is widely used to prevent physicians from selling to “clubs”, bevause referral fees or percentage of sales are considered Kickback.

    3. I am all for single payer medical provision.
    It will take one big taxpayer burden away: overpriced medicsl insurance premiums paid on-behalf for public employees.

    4. In Israel there is single payer government healthcare. But medical professionals can work “after hours” within limits for their own additional profits to service those patients willing to pay extra to cut the waiting period.

    I just want to make sure that Democratic Sociism doesn’t just mean crony capitalism: friends of the regime get special treatment, special privilege.

    If there is a shortage of IV saline due to coronavirus I would like to know the statistical mortality rate in Woodstock IL is equivalent to that in Washington DC and that our elected Reps are living or dying according to statistics indicated by their home districts.

  21. Crazy Bernie promotes Medicare for All which would be single payer and controlled by government. Some top presidential Democrat candidates are opposed to Bernie’s idea. Americans need to look at how government control/single payer works in other nations. One result commonly heard is that there are long waiting lists for non-emergency surgery.

    Below is info on Great Britain’s system:

    https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/commentary/some-british-lessons-single-payer-health-care

  22. Single payer controlled by government at least ensures that disparities are eliminated (if we doggedly police exceptions made for benefit of the Political Class).

    Let us all suffer the same for a decade, and see how it shakes out.
    Can’t be worse than the corrupt system which exists today.

  23. Crazy Bernie’s ticker isn’t so sound. Why won’t he release all his med records?

    “More than four months after suffering a heart attack on the campaign trail, Sen. Bernie Sanders refuses to release detailed medical records that might yield clues about his overall health.

    Sanders, 78, said multiple times last year that he would share his medical records. On Dec. 30, he released three paragraphs from two cardiologists and a two-page letter from a primary care doctor proclaiming him to be in good health.

    But during a CNN town hall last week, Sanders said he divulged “quite as much as any other candidate has” on their medical records. When again asked whether he would release full medical records, he said, “I don’t think we will, no.”

    SOURCE++++ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/02/24/bernie-sanders-keeps-medical-records-self-amid-calls-disclosure/4832253002/

  24. Thank you Susan.

    Health care is a massive issue ill dealt with in the comment section of a blog but your personal and heavily researched understanding helps enormously.

    Agreed.

    First world nations around the world have some blend of different health systems to fully serve their citizens.

    Single Payer ala the VA is scary because it seems to be an unaccountable system which will never serve but only victimize.

    Private Insurers need to be wrecked or heavily regulated non profits to stop them from health care abuse and rationing.

    Cash payment with clear pricing and a private health information in the sole possession of the individual through an embedded chip in a card like the French sounds about right.

    But some blend should ensure proper accountability, competitive pricing, individual health care control(over some disconnected uncaring bureaucrat) and a possible destruction of these GPO’s.

    You opened our eyes to this evil.

    Thank you.

    Ultimately it is the private payer tier of the marketplace which may likely save our American health care system which used to be envied and now is failing.

    Private payers will inform the rest of the marketplace what the true price of goods and services could be without the corruption of uninformed profit driven medically untrained bureaucrats making money by denying the medical profession their best practices and the individual their right to private control over their health care decisions.

    God help us this is huge.

  25. Priest,

    We are all de facto cash payers when one considers deductible and copays.

    And, pepple are finally wising up that paying cash for many meds is cheaper than paying the copay for the insurance-negotiated price.

    Now, consider that health insurance is merely an option contract, expiring monthly, which implies the rights to purchase unknown medical services at nondisclosed prices from non-obligated third party vendors.

    Options can be offered within “cash patient GPO”.

    These option contracts would include definition of underlying service to be purchased, strike price of that underlying service, and expiry date (before which that service may be purchased).

    GPO Patients could be allowed to know who and where are medical professionals who comprise “open interest” of short option contracts for any given medical service.

    This would create the first truly borderless network outside of Medicare.

    Medical professionals would love to get paid, immediately, a known price and save 6 figures a year on billing coders and denied claims.

    GPO would need to pay $1 more than any insurance reimburement price accepted by a given doctor, the issue being “most favored nation” clauses.

    Patients would be big net winners in all scenarios involving typical, non-catastrophic healthcare.
    Catastrophic care insurance premiums could be quite reasonable, and would plug that hole.

    Pharmaceuticals prices cannot be addressed until laws change.
    In many cases, medical tourism is indicated.

    Or, indian reservations (sovereign law) could open cash pay facilities for big ticket elective procedures.

  26. Indian Reservations is a brilliant idea.

    We had gotten as far as small rural county or municipal hospitals deciding to “insure” their constituencies for a monthly fee with doctors of varying stripes being paid cash for their services and only having a Nurse Practitioner, a few RN’s and a few CNA’s on full time staff.

    Along with this we thought of Al Capone’s private hospital as an example of what one very wealthy supporter can underwrite.

    Perhaps get a few major corporations in a given region to analyze their health care premium expenditures along with their charitable giving to see if opening a private hospital open to concierge services and their employees might be cheaper.

    We feel doctors may fight to get the cash which would ensure the highest possible care in these hospitals as they would be very customer driven.

    Using the Options contract model is a fantastic expression of what is and could be.

    But I think back to an early comment you made which made us some of your biggest fans; “We may need to strangle/starve the beast” regarding our corrupt Illinois government.

    If we can present Americans with a better model then the Market will destroy the corrupt practices the insurance/government/medical complex employs.

    Or perhaps curtail their abuses.

    Once again, this is a HUGE issue but you are an amazing fighter for The People Susan.

    Thank you for sharing all of this.

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