Elections
NYC Dem Socialists Urge City Candidates To Pledge Not To Go To Israel
The New York City Democratic Socialists of America chapter is urging City Council candidates to take a pledge to never visit Israel if they want the organization’s endorsement for the 2020 election, first posted on Twitter by NY1’s Zack Fink.
The organization asks: “Do you pledge not to travel to Israel if elected to City Council in solidarity with Palestinians living under occupation?”
“Even though foreign policy falls outside the purview of municipal government, gestures like travel to a country by elected officials from a city the size and prominence of New York still send a powerful message, as would the refusal to participate in them,” it continues.
Additionally, the form asks candidates to give support to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement targeting Israel, asking those who don’t give support “If not, why?”
“Last week a DSA leader wouldn’t say if Israel had a right to exist. Now this. This is anti-semitism. Plain and simple,” said Rep. Max Rose, D-NY, on Twitter Thursday.
Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York executive vice president and CEO Michael Miller called the form “despicable” and “utterly reprehensible,” according to Jewish Insider.
JCRC sponsors trips to Israel for elected officials and business leaders.
“[candidates] should not be denied an immersive opportunity to deepen their understanding of Israel,” Miller said in a statement, according to JI. “Including this demand — on the same day that a historic peace agreement was announced between Israel and the United Arab Emirates — reveals a policy undeniably singed by anti-Semitism.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a longtime supporter of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, is now acknowledging the unintended consequences of the healthcare legislation, particularly its impact on industry consolidation and rising healthcare prices.
Warren, who has been a vocal proponent of Obamacare, has recently had what the Wall Street Journal reported as an “epiphany” regarding the consequences of the healthcare law. In a letter addressed to the Health and Human Services Department inspector general, Warren, along with Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, expressed concerns about vertically-integrated healthcare companies potentially increasing prescription drug costs and evading federal regulations.
According to reports from Fox News, the bipartisan letter highlighted issues with the nation’s largest health insurers allegedly bypassing Obamacare’s medical loss ratio (MLR). According to Warren, these insurers, through vertical integration, have manipulated the system, leading to “sky-high prescription drug costs and excessive corporate profits.”
The senators detailed how conglomerates, like UnitedHealth Group, with ownership across various healthcare sectors, could inflate medical payments to pharmacies and, by realizing those payments on the pharmacy side, appear to comply with MLR requirements while retaining more profits.
Moreover, despite the Democrats’ argument that the MLR would benefit patients, it has incentivized insurers to merge with or acquire pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), retail and specialty pharmacies, and healthcare providers. This, in turn, has made healthcare spending less transparent, as insurers can allegedly shift profits to their affiliates by increasing reimbursements.
Warren, who has consistently voted against Obamacare repeal efforts, notably advocated for a “Medicare for All” proposal during her 2020 presidential campaign. Despite her prior support for the healthcare law, Warren’s recent concerns about its unintended consequences have raised questions about the long-term effects of Obamacare and its impact on the healthcare industry.
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