There is an old saying which states “liberal policies care about the poor in theory- it’s the real poor they have a problem with”. Having spent many years in poverty as a child, I am intimately familiar with the pain of hunger and the burning desire for a better tomorrow. I will not be lectured by elites about their intentionally cryptic notions of “fairness”. It is my personal relationship with a past filled with painful memories of waking up hungry and the realization that it wasn’t just a bad dream that motivates me to confront an ideology that has imprisoned generations in an endless state of poverty. This sentence, imposed by decades of bureaucratic mismanagement, is marketed to the disadvantaged among us as a “gift” from self-anointed political philanthropists.
I refuse to accept the misguided notion, blindly propagated by institutional elites, that the political party best representing the interests of struggling lower income communities is the liberal wing of the Democratic party. When I analyze the issues I encounter most on the campaign trail, the economy and healthcare, I am deeply troubled by the quality issues in our prize city of Baltimore.
The Baltimore economy has been struggling to attract new businesses for decades. An exodus of tens of thousands of its citizens has not helped, as those leaving have taken their intellectual capital with them. A litany of new taxes and a “bureaucracy first, people second” approach to governing has led to an environment where the remaining citizens are viewed simply as tools to support the bureaucracy rather than the inverse. A well written op-ed piece by Steve Hanke and Stephen Walters in the Wall Street Journal on this very subject uses this stunning statistic which sums up the utter failure of Baltimore’s reliance on liberal economic ideology, “in 1950, the city’s median income was 7% above the national average. Today it is 22% below it.”
To add to the economic absurdity, the Mayor of Baltimore has now raised the “temporary” bottle tax, as if the chimerical dreams of a flourishing economy and streams of tax revenue were simply being subdued by the tax rate and not the underlying economic principles. We as Republicans must walk proudly into these communities, as I regularly do, and profess our ideas for growth, which are blind to socioeconomic class. I refuse to accept that a proud city, with infrastructure, public transit, access to the northeast corridor, a world class port and proximity to another major metropolitan area (Washington D.C.), should be relegated to a second class economy. I will not stand idle, while the good citizens of this great city are subjected to another minute of this “ignore the results” ideology.
With thousands of struggling lower income citizens utilizing Medicaid as a primary means of seeking access to healthcare, and ever increasing enrollment into the program, one would think, absent the facts, that the program serves the poor well. With their numerous speeches about “fairness” and “equality” it is easy to see why so many are misled. However, when we look again at the actual results of their “generosity” with our money, the story changes dramatically. An oft quoted University of Virginia study has shed light on the results on this program. The statistic that should ring alarm bells reads, a Medicaid recipient is 97% more likely to die after surgery than a person with private insurance. Wait, it gets much worse, a Medicaid recipient is 13% more likely to die after surgery than a person with no insurance at all. In what dictionary does this suffice as a definition of “help”?
With this piece I ask, rather I implore those at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale; please vote for change in 2012. Please allow us a shot at repairing decades of damage to your economy, your education system and your access to quality healthcare. Vote for change and hold us accountable. The worst possible outcome would be more of the same and you have a subsequent election to change it back if dissatisfied. Please stop going on blind dates in the voting booth. I will not stop sounding the siren and will fight for every vote in every Maryland community. And for those who continue to tell me I am wasting my time I ask you, “what are you doing to fight for those who need us most?”
Dan Bongino is the Republican nominee for United States Senate in Maryland
His campaign website is www.Bongino.com
Funny how he blames "elites," yet boasts of his "elite" Secret Service jobs.
It's not a "liberal talking point" to ask someone running for U.S. Senate to have some previous experience in governance. I don't care what party or she is from. He has no experiences that would prepare him for this job. He is unqualified. I've done my research on Mr. Bongino -- believe me it didn't take long! Obviously you haven't. To say Cardin "has never held a job" is not only a lie but provides evidence that you don't understand how the Maryland legislature operates.
You can't honestly be blaming that on some ill-defined "liberal economic ideology". Try decades of white flight, sprawl, the resulting concentration of unemployed/uneducated, failed 60s "urban renewal", insufficient investment in education, crack, decline in manufacturing, outsourcing, etc. etc. etc. Massive oversimplification and name calling...yeah, I'm sure that'll get you a lot of votes. Or not.
But you are correct. He will probably lose. There are more feeding at the trough than filling it.
1. Experienced Pain. Will not be lectured by the elites 2. Refuse misguided notion that the party to best represent lower income is the liberals of the Democrats 3. Baltimore economy is struggling. Capital has left. Taxes and bureaucracy govern. Median income is low compared to 1950 4. Mayor raised the bottle tax Republicans must walk proud Refuse to accept that Baltimore should be relegated to a second class city You will not stand idle 5.Thousands of low income use Medicaid as healthcare and should not Medicaid recipient is more likely to die than someone who is not accepting Medicaid 6.Want a shot at repairing decades of damage to economy, education. The worst you can do is no change and you can be replaced at the next election You'll stop the siren Mr. Bongino, we have too many talkers today. We need action, original thought, and statements for which you have been and will be held accountable. These words reduce to very little substance. With all respect, you are asking us to hire you to take care of our country. Could you take another shot.
There's an older saying, "Statistics lie!"! The writer quotes stats that sound plausible on their face; in fact, the stats alone, ARE plausible. The problem is in the results implied from the stats. True: “in 1950, the city’s median income was 7% above the national average. Today it is 22% below it.” The surprise is that the writer sees this as a surprise at all! OF COURSE median income is lower today; the city has one of the highest concentrations of poor in the entire State. Why? First, 'white flight" of the '60s and '70s...white, middle & upper-class residents couldn't sell their homes fast enough when the first African-American moved into the neighborhood. Like so many inner cities across the country, the white community gave in to their fear & prejudice instead of staying put & learning more about their neighbors. Only in the last decade have we seen the influx of young professionals, seeking city atmosphere & closeness to their work place; the tide is beginning to turn. Recently, economic debacle destroyed progress. Two wars, wealthy tax cuts (requiring us to borrow to pay for the wars), hemorrhage of 700k job losses (a month)..we all know the rest.
The other stats, dealing with the mortality rate of Medicaid patients after surgery, are no less reasonable on their face - UNTIL, you review what the writer is saying: "a Medicaid recipient is 97% more likely to die after surgery than a person with private insurance. Wait, it gets much worse, a Medicaid recipient is 13% more likely to die after surgery than a person with no insurance at all." Of course, he doesn't give us the whole story; a strategy the GOP adopted, seeing that it worked so well for Fox News pundits Beck, Hannity & O'Reilly. The writer is not exactly lying, but, he doesn't give us the entire set of facts so we can make a rational & objective decision of his presumption: Medicaid is so bad that it is worse than having no insurance at all! OF COURSE, the Ryan-led, GOP, budget-busting, wealthy tax-cutting, middle-class tax increasing, social program dismantling strategists want us to believe that. The truth is that the writer keeps other factors secret, such as medical, living, social & economic conditions, of those who died after Medicaid surgery. One of the obvious factors is that, historically, Medicaid patients have come from a lower socio-economic class, with poor diet & fewer preventative Dr visits, hence, a higher complication after surgery.
ALSO, the UoV study has been usurped as incorrect & incomplete by a Harvard U study, published in the NE Journal of Medicine. According to the NY Times, It conclusively showed that Medicaid does save lives, especially compared with having no insurance at all. So, the final message here? Caveat lector = reader beware: If a letter to the editor sounds like, looks like & smells like campaign literature, it probably is! BTW, I am NOT a Cardin campaign worker! OK...NOW I'm done! ;)
The U of Va study's lead author, Dr. Damian La Par, M.D. , has subsequently written himself that their research had "several noteworthy limitations" and was "flawed." The Washington Times, and its' columnist/physician Dr. Milton Wolf, have pushed this flawed U of Va study to attack the health care policies of the Obama administration.
Perhaps I should say something about your "elites" comment. To begin, the definition of elite: adjective: 1. (of a person or class of persons) considered superior by others or by themselves, as in intellect, talent, power, wealth, or position in society: elitist country clubbers who have theirs and don't care about anybody else. 2. catering to or associated with an elitist class, its ideologies, or its institutions: Even at such a small, private college, Latin and Greek are under attack as too elitist. noun: 3. a person having, thought to have, or professing superior intellect or talent, power, wealth, or membership in the upper echelons of society: He lost a congressional race in Texas by being smeared as an Eastern elitist. 4. a person who believes in the superiority of an elitist class. The U.S. Secret Service is considered to be an elite organization to work for, no doubt. They come by that because of the job they perform and also the skills and talent one needs to be selected for the job. Dan's use of the words "institutional elites" clearly refers to people who have an attitude of elitism, as defined in the #1 definition.
The fact that there is a candidate out there who says he will not play those games has just got the liberal's panties in a collective wad.