Keeping an eye on the weasels of the world

This week’s winning submissions cover a broad spectrum of topics from the heath care industry and medical pay for doctors to the war between Israel and Hamas (and in some respects the rest of the Arab world with rockets entering Israel from both Lebanon and Gaza; rockets that were manufactured elsewhere and smuggled in).

The winning council entry comes from The Razor and touches on a topic near and dear to my heart; the health care industry. Please read it as you consider that Democrats are seeking to”change” the heath care industry in the United States. Now I am all for change but the government is not the answer here, at least not in the form of socialized medicine. The Razor discusses the tremendous costs for Primary Care physicians and the limited potential for reimbursement due to various logistical and government induced reasons.

One topic of discussion that I’d like to see expanded upon is medical billing. Currently doctors are beholden to the insurance companies, all of which have their own rules for payment related to rules, regulations and other factors such as medical diagnosis coding on bills, credentialing and something called timely which related to the period of time between seeing a patient and submitting a bill to the insurance company or the government. If billing doesn’t meet strict criterion then the insurance companies reject the bill, which forces another round of administrative hassle. The problem being that each insurance company has their own set of rules surrounding timely, coding and a ton of other factors. Medical billing is a nightmare, the deck is stacked against doctors and many leave money on the tables; i.e. they don’t get paid for services because of administrative and bureaucratic reasons. The system sucks and the government is to blame.

This even gets worse for medicare patients. The government is notorious for incompetence in this area. Worse however is that most doctors take a loss on medicare patients, which explains why physicians limit the number of medicare patients they will take on. Keep this in mind as you read the winning council entry.

The winning non-council entry by Ron Rosenbaum compares Hamas to the Nazi party and you will be saddened to discover the narrow gulf between today’s terrorist enemies of Israel and that of the Nazi Party. Some difference do exist between the various responses to Israel’s plight as well as with the way Israel approaches the enemy at her border.

For example:

–FDR called for the “unconditional surrender” of Hitler and the Nazis. The UN, and international human rights organizations call for “proportionality” in the treatment of the Nazi-like murderers of Hamas which translates, apparently to using only enough force so that Hamas can keep on firing rockets at Jews at the same rate as before, a situation they found acceptable as testified to by their silence and inaction.

So that’s a big difference.

–The Allies in World War II did not care about causing civilian casualties in the course of seeking the defeat of the Nazi empire. In fact they thought the Nazi regime, busily engaged in genocide and the German people who supported him did not deserve especially “humane” or “proportional” treatment. The Israelis today go to great, even self-destructive lengths to avoid civilian casualties in trying to combat those who seek their extermination, despite the fact that Hamas is a self-proclaimed genocidal organization.

So that’s another difference.

Rosenbaum provides a fascinating perspective that is well worth reading and sharing at this terrible time when Israel’s friends are decreasing as liberals flock to justify the methods and means of terrorists.

Please read and share this week’s important winning entries!

Winning Council Submissions

• First place with 2 1/3 points! – The Razor - ‘Physician Shortage’ and the Free Market
• Second place with 1 2/3 points – Joshuapundit - It’s Hard Out There For A ( Hamas) Pimp
• Third place with 1 1/3 points – (T*) – The Provocateur - Jews, Israel and the Democratic Party
• Third place with 1 1/3 points – (T*) – Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Portrait of an Arse as a Dead Man
• Fourth place with 1 points – (T*) – Rhymes With Right - On The Conflict Against Hamas
• Fourth place with 1 points – (T*) – Soccer Dad - Nyt: hamas upgrades = success / israel defends = disaster
• Fifth place with 2/3 point – (T*) – Right Truth - It’s a Terrifying World
• Fifth place with 2/3 point – (T*) – Mere Rhetoric - Concise List Of Middle East Failures That Were Going To Happen Anyway But That Foreign Policy Experts Will Now Blame On Israel
• Fifth place with 2/3 point – (T*) – The Colossus of Rhodey - Dopey WNJ Letter of the Week
• Sixth place with 1/3 point – Bookworm Room - Taking Reagan’s Name in Vain

Winning Non-Council Submissions

• First place with 2 2/3 points! – Ron Rosenbaum.com/Pajamas Media - Some differences between Hamas and the Nazi Party
• Second place with 2 points – Natan Sharansky/WSJ - “HOW THE U.N. PERPETUATES THE ‘REFUGEE’ PROBLEM”
• Third place with 1 2/3 points – (T*) – Commentary - Gaza and the Law of Armed Conflict
• Third place with 1 2/3 points – (T*) – Middle America News - A Warning for America from South Africa
• Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Debbie Schlussel - Schlissels of Israel Report: HAMAS Missile Missed Us By That Much; My Cousins’ School Hit
• Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Michelle Malkin - Who says conservative bloggers don’t do reporting?
• Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Daled Amos - Surge: Israeli Style
• Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – The New Criterion - Introduction: The dictatorship of relativism
• Fifth place with 1/3 point – The Terror Wonk - Managing Gaza

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