My response to pastor challenging student loan forgiveness & Medicare for All.

I think it is important to engage those with opposing views with respect, civility, and clarity. The effectiveness of the indoctrinating value of the Powell memo is clear when a pastor can oppose Medicare for All and student loan forgiveness.

This morning I received the following note from a pastor. He was referencing one of the newsletters I send out after every Politics Done Right show. Here is the newsletter/article he was referencing. BTW, you can subscribe to our newsletter here.

Email from pastor

Hello Eberto,

Hope all is well with you. Interesting article here. There were two comments that I would like to have clarified. In your Facebook thread, one of your followers mentioned the MFA is, “A matter if framing.” When the author said “framing,” is that written in the context of truth? What I mean by that is, President Obama said “You can keep your doctor” under the Affordable Care act. Many found it to be unaffordable and they could not keep their doctor. When Bernie Sanders and others say this, are they being truthful?

The other point that stood out to me was the idea of people being concerned about who pays for the health care if we went to a single payer system. The real issue with it is who decides what care one gets. It sounds like progressives are proposing a health care system that is ran by the government. Do we really want our health care to be managed by the government? I don’t think so.
Lastly, the idea of free college tuition sounds great, but nothing is free. Who will pay for it? Likely the tax payers.

Kind Regards,
Rev. (Name witheld for privacy)

The following was my response to the pastor.

Thanks for responding. BTW, the name is Egberto ?. Now for the answers.

1. Framing in my parlance is about telling the truth. The frame is the context that makes the statement true. When framing is done correctly it prevents distortions from externalities. In that light, Obama’s lie of the year was no lie. It was framed wrong. It should have been, “We wrote the law so that if you like your doctor you can keep it. However, given that some politicians owned by the Plutocracy demanded that we maintain private insurance whose fiduciary responsibility is to the overpaid executives and shareholders and not the person in need, a posture Jesus, Mohamed or any religious leader would find reprehensible and immoral, their exist a possibility that they will take your doctor away — not the Affordable Care Act.” To be clear, Obama supported Single Payer before it was popular till he met owned Democrats. Bernie and Elizabeth leaves less wiggle room because if we make the transformational moral change, a doctor only has one payer and thus will fulfill his oath. Certain professions should be centered around humanity. There are many others where greed can reign without harming.
2. The truth is in America that ultimately everyone gets some sort of healthcare. Some have to wait until they are sick enough to go to an emergency room. Others must go bankrupt. It is simply an indefensible system. Now, we are all paying those costs right now albeit in a fraudulent manner. (a) Those like me who pay health insurance premiums to a private company, part of that money ultimately goes to pay for those who cannot afford health insurance or won’t buy it. How? The cost of emergency rooms and all other services include the cost of those not paying anything. (b) The price of drugs is a fraud. Most drugs have their genesis in Universities and through grants for research elsewhere. In other words, investments from the taxpayers. When it is time to market the product, drug companies do the final testing, invest billions in marketing, profit immensely and we pay the inflated cost. One would think that as the seed investors, the government would share in the profits for reinvestment. But I guess that would be too ethical for a capitalist economy. We could morph this argument for just about every sector of the Healthcare Industrial Complex, in America, an industry that is highly profitable on the sickness and misery of the masses. (c) I find it ironic when folks deride government running healthcare as if government isn’t “we the people” as per our constitution. If you think it isn’t, like the work I am doing, we must ensure it is. I also find it amazing how capitalism has become a religion in America. Why would someone believe that private companies, whose fiduciary responsibility is profit maximization for their shareholders and high salaries and bonuses for their executives would care more about your health and wellbeing than “we the people?” It takes as special level of indoctrination I have written about when I described the Powel Memo. Until Americans realize that some parts of our service are anathema to markets, we will continue to suffer. If I were religious I would say God is punishing us for having the market as our God. Remember “Though shalt have no other gods before me.”
3. You are right. Nothing is free. We should remind corporations of that fact. We once had a pact. Corporations paid taxes. Part of that went to Universities to educate students so that there would be ample talent for our corporations. In other words, they did their part. But as corporations paid off legislators, they kept getting their tax breaks as students were forced into debt. And the private bankers were ready to oblige. Before President Obama, private banks would give loans to students with no risk. If the student defaulted, the government made the bank whole. No risk. If that isn’t socialism, for corporations, I do not know what is.  An article in Obamacare made the government make the loans directly to the students freeing up a lot more money to help more people. Again, certain services do not belong in the private sector. Health insurance and student loans are two of these areas. They are a cancer in our society and I am sure Jesus would not approve.

Thanks for those questions/statements. I think it is important for the communication given narratives that are put out by evil well calculating think tanks.

I know this pastor is a good person that like anyone else can be influenced by their preferred media. No pastor or person of the cloth is immune. Now I would love your opinions as well. And please do not forget that if you have the wherewithal and believe in what we are trying to accomplish, please become a Politics Done Right patron.