One of my opponents in the June 2 primary for Indiana’s 5th Congressional (INCD5), Dr. Chuck Dietzen, has been issued a “cease and desist” letter over Dr Chuck’s use, in various social media, of an image of Mother Theresa.
Dietzen’s use of Mother Theresa’s image has an emetic effect, on me, similar to Dr Chuck’s glowing reference to Dr Martin Luther King on January 20: Dr Chuck uses scare tactics to describe “a socialist approach” to health care.
Mother Theresa and Dr. King worked for social justice and to help the poor. What Dr. Chuck would have us do to the poor via health care, and his use of these two people in any way to further his campaign, make me want to vomit.
Dr Chuck was quoted by the IBJ a couple of months back: “a socialist approach will worsen things for patients.” The concept of “socialism” is not easily defined, but The American Heritage Medical Dictionary defines “socialized medicine”: as “a term used in the United States to describe and discuss systems of universal health care: medical and hospital care for all by means of government regulation of health care and subsidies derived from taxation.”
If “socialized” health care is bad, then (1) the USA’s health care system should be higher than 37th in the World and (2) of the 36 countries ahead of us, 34 - yes, all but 2 - should have systems based entirely or largely on socialized medicine.
Statistics for people who are non-white and poor reveal an apparent secret to Dr. Chuck and other candidates for the GOP nomination for INCD5: it sucks to be non-white and poor in the USA.
For example, according to The Institute of Medicine, compared to “16 of the most fairly comparable, high-income countries,” we come in last for infant mortality. Kids die because their parents lack access to health care.
Dr Chuck and I participate in a virtual town hall tonight sponsored by the Noblesville, Carmel and Westfield GOP clubs. Dr Chuck has not addressed the statistics for health care and the success of “socialized medicine” - or, as the rest of the World calls it, “health care.”
Dr. Chuck either has to pull a big rabbit out of a multi-ethnic/racial hat, or be candid. Our health care system kills the poor and non-white. As of 4/23/20, mortality rates for COVID-19 per 100,000 were 25.5 for black people, 10.6 for Latino people and 9.4 for white people.
One group largely omitted from stats for COVID-19 consists of indigenous peoples. (The Guardian, 4/24/20). Not to tally up numbers does not mean the pandemic goes away, any more than eating foods without labels that list calories means you don’t get fat.
And Dr. Chuck - and the rest of my opponents in the INCD5 GOP primary - appear to support trump as having been peachy-keen in handling the pandemic. As a health care professional, Dr. Chuck should be ashamed for this and his other health care policy positions.
Full disclosure: I am white, but unlike Dr. Chuck and the others, I advocate programs that rely upon traditional values - equality under the law, progressive income taxes, restoration of estate taxes, protection of women’s rights, and clean water and air.
I look forward to working with President Joe Biden. We should reach across the aisle and work together to solve our problems. Besides, the loser (by 3 million votes in 2016) in the Oval Office looks to be going down.
I am Mark Small, a candidate for U.S. House in INCD5 on the June 2 GOP primary ballot. I am proud to be pro-science. We have to take the GOP back from a minority - nut bags who push hurtful policies. I approve of this blog. Hell, I wrote it.