Jesse White – 10/25/11

This page was last updated on October 25, 2011.

Op-Ed: Highmark vs. UPMC Is A Tough Pill To Swallow; State Rep. Jesse White (D-46); Beaver Countian; October 25, 2011.

Mr. White lost the very small part of his district in Beaver County in both 2006 and 2010. According to Mr. White’s campaign website, at one time “He worked … in the Legal Department for the United Steelworkers of America in Pittsburgh.” Mr. White was convicted of defamation and invasion of privacy in April 2011.

Previous White pieces I critiqued are here, here, here, here, here, and here. Mr. White usually posts his comments on both the Beaver Countian website and his own, but when I posted this critique the article was only on the Beaver Countian website. I’ve also seen Mr. White’s pieces on Canon-MacMillan Patch.

Of this 890-word piece, you can skip the first 724 words if you want save time yet still to get to Mr. White’s real message. Despite the title, this opinion piece is not really about the Highmark and UPMC battle. It’s about expressing Mr. White’s support for a government-run, taxpayer-funded healthcare monopoly.

Below is a critique of the relevant portion of the subject opinion piece.

“This heavyweight battle runs counter to the free market talking point that the private sector always works itself out for the best. People are going to suffer because a $20 billion pie inexplicably cannot be cut into more than one piece. There aren’t adequate words to describe this level of despicable greed.”

[RWC] Gee, a leftist misrepresents claims about a “free market,” what a surprise. Claiming the medical care market is a “free market” is either purposeful deception or the result of ignorance. The U.S. medical care market is not a free market because there is too much external interference by government.

No individual, government, or political party can run an economy better than a free market. Over time, a free market tends to balance supply and demand or allocate resources better than the alternatives. Note, “better” doesn’t mean everyone will do well or be happy. No approach can do that.

In any case, it seems a bit early to claim Highmark and UPMC won’t come to an agreement. Mr. White seems to forget that earlier in his piece he told us nothing changes for customers until July 2012 or July 2013.

What “despicable greed” and whom does it benefit? Since earlier in the piece Mr. White told us “both Highmark and UPMC are technically ‘non-profit’ organizations,” I think it’s his obligation to tell us how “despicable greed” is driving these “‘non-profit’ organizations.” Keep in mind, demonizing someone tends to be a tactic of people who can’t win a debate based on facts, history, and logic. I wonder if Mr. White will speak out against the “despicable greed” behind PA’s closed-shop labor laws that allow labor union management to force employees to join their unions and pay dues.

“To those who oppose any level of government-led healthcare reform, I have to ask, is this current system of exploding costs and tax-exempt thuggery a status quo worth fighting to maintain? People will suffer. Businesses will not be able to afford benefits for employees. People will die because they will not be able to afford medical care. This isn’t hyperbole; our families and friends and neighbors will continue to suffer because two health care conglomerate robber barons can’t figure out how to share obscene amounts of money.”

[RWC] Mr. White writes of “this current system of exploding costs” yet fails to tell us how we got here. There’s a reason. Please read my paper “Healthcare” to learn why Mr. White ducked this point.

“[G]overnment-led healthcare reform” is Whitespeak for Obamacare or some other form of a government-run, taxpayer-funded healthcare monopoly.

Note the straw man: “is this current system of exploding costs and tax-exempt thuggery a status quo worth fighting to maintain?” Mr. White attacks people for a position no one is taking. Regardless of how many times you state you support a free-market healthcare approach over the status quo, nationalized healthcare proponents claim your opposition to their plan is support of the status quo. In their “defense,” though, lefties tend to believe anything not 100% controlled by the government is a free market.

Despite his claim to the contrary, Mr. White’s portrayal of the potential situation is hyperbole. Is former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) one of Mr. White’s role models? I ask because during the Obamacare debates, speaking on the House floor, Mr. Grayson said the “Republican Health Care Plan” was “1. Don’t get sick. 2. And if you do get sick… 3. DIE QUICKLY.” I suspect Mr. White would also like us to believe using terminology like “thuggery” and “robber barons” isn’t name-calling. As noted above, Mr. White was convicted of defamation and invasion of privacy earlier this year.