Tony Perkins Washington Upadate
President Obama closed out his apology tour this weekend an eight-country swing in which the new leader seemed to offer reparations for every American act since the Revolutionary War.
Chiming in with some of the biggest U.S. critics President Obama suggested that the U.S. could learn a lesson of goodwill from Cuba. For several years the island-nation has dispatched its doctors to Latin American countries under the auspices of caring for the poor.
At Sundays press conference the President hinted that we should emulate Fidel Castros approach. Unfortunately this administrations idea of good Samaritanism is to encourage abortionists who slaughter the worlds unborn children.
Meanwhile in his hasty endorsement of Cubas policy the President seems blind to the basic differences between our two countries. Americans are--and always have been--unfailingly generous as private citizens. Author Arthur Brooks spills plenty of ink in his book Who Really Cares highlighting the benevolence of our nation. Hundreds of U.S. medical missionaries treat foreign patients every year--not for raisons detat which are Castros goals but because of fundamental human dignity.
However positively Cubas medical policy may reflect on Castro the reality is that exporting Cubas physicians often comes at the expense of its own people. Cuban doctors are employees of the state so the best are often sent to Haiti Venezuela and Mozambique as tools of political propaganda. Instead of staying home and treating Cubans these physicians are shipped off to bolster Castros reputation. In fact the quality of socialized medicine in Cuba is so poor that when Fidel Castro was deathly ill he didnt trust his own system and instead flew in specialists from Spain.
Under the states monopoly on healthcare the government tells doctors what they can and cant do on political grounds. Why should we expect things to be different here in the U.S. if the White House moves to monopolize our healthcare? Cubas system of Marxist healthcare isnt about health--its about politics. That its admired in poor countries is a testament to its political effectiveness more than anything else. Maybe thats what President Obama admires too. If so it should definitely worry us.
Additional Resources
The Washington Post: Obama Closes Summit Vows Broader Engagement With Latin America
