Dr. Ben Carson takes ideological rigidity to a new level. Carson, a gifted neurosurgeon and otherwise intelligent person, has allowed his ideological indoctrination to cloud his judgment over the last several years. Sadly he does this at the expense of humaneness.
Carson showed either his lack of honesty or his lack of knowledge on Obamacare and on the real problems of the VA. Over the last two days I used a Jon Stewart piece to highlight the VA scandal and the propensity America has always had to give veterans the shaft, and a Rachel Maddow piece that showed the VA problem was created by Congress.
The Fox News reporter asked Carson if the VA scandal was a preview to what would be the outcome of Obamacare. She was obviously attempting to show a parallel where there is none. Carson took that opportunity to show his lack of humanity.
“I think what’s happening with the veterans is a gift from God,” said Carson. “To show us what happens when you take layers and layers of bureaucracy and place them between the patients and the healthcare provider. And if we can’t get it right with the relatively small number of veterans, how in the world are you going to do it with the entire population. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.”
He's correct; It does not take rocket science to figure out America’s healthcare problem. The folks gouging the healthcare system aren’t the public sector. The folks ripping off the system are the profiteers in the private sector. Why would America want to extend that? The real VA problem is that they are at way above capacity even as Congress fails to fund them appropriately.
Carson and the reporters attempt to equate Obamacare to the VA scandal shows a lack of understanding of Obamacare. It does not matter how many times right-wing pundits call it a government takeover of health care. It cannot be a government healthcare takeover if private insurance companies are paying the bills to private healthcare providers. That is simply a statement of fact.
That said, as shown in most industrialized countries, it would be much more efficient to have health care for all paid through a single-payer system. Sadly, the American plutocracy continues to create false stories to distract the American populace from supporting policies in their best interest. Ultimately however, fact-based data will prevail.
