OPINION:
Before this time of year was hijacked by secular progressives as “the holidays” in deference to everyone — except the ones who have a real reason for the season — it was called Christmas.
Associated with Christmas, including sentiments on cards we once sent to family members and friends before postage rates and the cost of cards became too expensive for many, were the words from Scripture about the night the Savior was born: “Peace on Earth, goodwill to Men.”
The radicals’ reaction to two events in New York again demonstrates how far we are from achieving peace of the social kind, much less goodwill of the political kind.
After the acquittal of Daniel Penny, found not guilty by a Manhattan jury in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely (a man on the city’s informal “top 50 list” of homeless people considered most in need of assistance and treatment), members of Black Lives Matter threatened Mr. Penny in the courtroom and later on the street in front of media and protesters.
Walter “Hawk” Newsome, a BLM leader, even called for “Black vigilantes,” suggesting Black people should kill White people in revenge. Another BLM protester falsely claimed that the jury in Mr. Penny’s trial was composed entirely of White people. It included Blacks, Hispanics and Whites.
But why let facts get in the way of a familiar narrative promoted by what New York Post columnist Adam Coleman has called the “civil rights industrial complex.”
The second example of this madness came after the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The man charged with murder in Thompson’s death is allegedly angry at health insurance companies. On social media, many suggested it would be a good idea for people to kill other health insurance CEOs.
In fact, some health insurance problems can be attributed to the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare.”
While there can be no justification for what appears to have been the premeditated murder of Thompson, some facts about health insurance, its costs and the reasons for the denial of some claims can be traced to the involvement of the government, which has a history of driving up prices whenever it inserts itself into the private sector.
A report by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce proves this point:
1. Obamacare has increased the cost of health care and health insurance. The ACA’s federal mandates and spending, including Medicaid expansion and subsidized individual plans, have drastically increased the cost of health care and health insurance.
2. Obamacare increases Americans’ reliance on the federal government. … Democrats are attempting to … increase workers’ reliance on the federal government by moving them to exchange plans with higher deductibles, lower actuarial value, and narrower networks.
3. On a per-person basis, Obamacare is far more expensive than anticipated for taxpayers. Employer-sponsored insurance provides better coverage and a better bargain for taxpayers than government-run health care programs.
4. Obamacare’s “expansion” is largely due to improper Medicaid enrollments. In 2020, improper Medicaid payments totaled $86 billion, an increase of 21.4%. Most of these improper payments were due to eligibility errors. According to Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, between 2.3 million and 3.3 million people are on Medicaid who do not qualify for it.
Perhaps the most laughable comment after Mr. Penny’s acquittal came from the always reliable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, who said subway riders should be afraid of Mr. Penny because, in her view, he has not expressed remorse over Neely’s death.
If fault is to be assigned, it should go to the voters who elected New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor in this weak case, and to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who refuses to remove the progressive Mr. Bragg from office.
It is to be hoped that these latest incidents and the reaction to them by radicals will diminish the attention the media give to race-hustlers and anticapitalists. That might contribute to more peace and goodwill in America.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (Humanix Books).
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