Chad Mathis: Believe it or not, America’s healthcare system is the best in the world
We have the best healthcare system in the world. That is a statement you won’t often hear, but it’s true. For years we have listened to calls for Medicare for all and that the federal government should scrap our broken system. The list goes on and on. Yet these calls have been strangely silent of recent. We are better at treating chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, but we don’t hear that very often. One glaring example against socialized medicine is the vaccine production and rollout efforts. Because of Operation Warp Speed, the United States successfully facilitated and accelerated the development and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine and other diagnostics and therapeutics. Operation Warp Speed was the simultaneous development with large clinical trials and manufacturing ramp-up of the COVID-19 vaccine. The United States produced and distributed the vaccine precisely because of our highly fragmented, highly customizable healthcare system. While not perfect, it can hold its own on the world stage. The European Union cannot boast the same successes. The EU’s vaccination rollout efforts have failed. Only five countries have met their first vaccination threshold of having 80% of people over the age of 80 vaccinated. Even fewer countries have vaccinated 80% of their healthcare workers. The EU is still working out how to roll out vaccines for the entirety of their adult population months after the United States began to offer vaccines for anyone who wanted one. The EU vaccine rollout has been a massive failure. The EU has failed because their system sets them up for failure. While the United States still values a limited government approach, the EU relies on a centralized government. Because of our fragmentation and customizability, the American healthcare system succeeds in a large disparate country with high variability throughout, which ultimately allows it to be customizable to any situation. Thus, the success of Operation Warp Speed. A centralized system will set up our system to fail, just like the failures within the EU. Rising costs and delays in care are a natural consequence of a centralized system. The stagnation of care will become the norm as questions will always have to be referred back to a bureau in Washington for the answer in this system. It will always require more funding to tinker a little bit more to make it better, “if we could only …” will always be the answer. Operation Warp Speed has proven that the American approach to healthcare is what works for such a large nation. It is good to be back home in Birmingham. Last year, the opportunity to serve our country during this difficult time as a Senior Policy Advisor at Health and Human Services was a blessing. It was the honor of a lifetime to go to our nation’s capital and aid in the work to combat Covid-19. I look forward to writing about and advocating for policies that preserve free markets, limited government, and strong families both here in the state of Alabama and nationally. These values have proven to work repeatedly, and Alabamians must continue to advocate for these kinds of policies. Dr. Chad Mathis is a former senior policy advisor in the Trump Administration, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, and a distinguished fellow at the Alabama Policy Institute.
Email Insights: Heidi Cruz coming to Montgomery and Mobile
There’s no doubt that Alabama is U.S. Senator Ted Cruz country. With one of the strongest grassroots efforts of all the presidential candidates (I would venture to guess the strongest in the state) Cruz has made our state a priority. Beyond Cruz’s bus tour has making stops earlier this year through out the state, he has named some power house volunteers to his team including Ann Eubank, Becky Gerritson, Chad Mathis and Troy Towns. His campaign released word yesterday that his wife Heidi Cruz is coming to visit. In a bio piece by the New York Times when Cruz was first elected to the U.S. Senate Heidi was described as, “A vegetarian with a Harvard M.B.A., Mrs. Cruz is a managing director at Goldman Sachs, one of the Wall Street firms that helped set off the populist rage that ushered Mr. Cruz into the Senate in 2012. She works for Goldman in Houston, where she lives with the couple’s two young children, and as her husband’s fame has increased — depending on the audience, he is among the most pilloried or revered members of the Senate — she has maintained a low profile.” Since then she has taken unpaid leave of her job to help her husband on the campaign trail and has even been called his “not-so-secret weapon” of the campaign. For details on where check out the email below. Heidi Cruz is coming to Alabama! She will be touring the state November 4th-5thin Montgomery and Mobile. Montgomery Meet & Greet with Heidi Cruz 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Wintzell’s Oyster House (Back Room) 105 Commerce Street Montgomery, AL 36104 RSVP HERE Mobile Meet and Greet with Heidi Cruz 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm Half Shell Oyster House 3654 Airport Blvd Mobile, Al 36608 November 5, 2015 RSVP HERE
Email Insights: Ted Cruz names ALGOP’s Troy Towns as part of leadership team
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has announced that Troy Towns has joined his campaign’s leadership team as the state leader for his African American Conservatives coalition. Towns currently serves as the Senior Vice Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. Prior to his election to this post in February, Towns served as the Director of Minority Outreach for the party appointed by then chairman Bill Armisted. Towns joins a state leadership team announced in August that includes Ann Eubank, Co-Chair of the Rainy Day Patriot Tea Party, U.S. congressional candidate and Watumpka Tea Party Founder Becky Gerritson, and former candidate for congress Dr. Chad Mathis. Below is the email announcement that the Cruz team released: AFRICAN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVES UNITE BEHIND SEN. TED CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT HOUSTON, Texas – Presidential Candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today announced statewide leaders for the Cruz for President African-American coalition, including Elbert Guillory, Robin Armstrong, and Bishop Robert Smith as National Co-Chairs. “Today I’m pleased to announce a strong group of men and women from diverse backgrounds to lead our African-American coalition,” said Sen. Cruz. “These individuals are leaders in the areas of education, healthcare, faith, and governance, and can speak to how the policies of the current Administration disproportionately harm minorities in this country. Rather than politicizing race as this President has done, we seek to unify Americans around our common values of liberty, equality, and opportunity.” Elbert Guillory represents District 24 of the Louisiana State Senate. Guillory spent 43 years as a criminal defense lawyer, and served in the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana Senate. He was “Legislator of the Year” twice in his first six years and was elected to the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame for his work in law and government. Robin Armstrong is a physician practicing medicine in Texas. He is also the former Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, serving from 2006 to 2010, and is currently a Republican national Committeeman. Robin has worked as an election judge, precinct chairman, city chair, Senatorial District Convention Chair, and delegate to the 2008 and 2012Republican National Convention. He has served as a member of the State Republican Executive Committee. He has served locally in youth and inner city missions and is active with charitable organizations nationally and overseas. Bishop Robert Smith is the Founder of Total Outreach for Christ Ministries, Inc. and Word of Outreach Christian Center and Academy, which is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has released multiple books on Evangelical Outreach and Faith and has served as a guest speaker for many college seminary courses. The African American Coalition has nine State Level Leaders across the country as well: Glen Robinson, SC Glen is a Pastor and Christian television show host. Nse Ekpo, SC Nse serves as the 2nd Vice Chairman of the South Carolina GOP. Darrell C. Porter, NV Darrell Porter is a non-denominational, full gospel evangelist. He is the Founder and Director of the Ichthus Institute for Enrichment & Christian Development and pastors the New Covenant International Ministries as he continues to work with local, national and international Bible-based, Christ-centered ministries in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Troy Towns, AL Troy is the Senior Vice Chairman of the Alabama GOP. Troy is a small businessman and often speaks at churches, civic meetings and political events. Calvin Morrow, MO Morrow is a homeschool father and the President of the Lebanon Area Homeschoolers. He is the founder of Christians Uniting for Political Action, mobilizing Christians to re-engage in the political process. Zina Hackworth, MO Zina is a member of L.E.A.R.N, the nation’s largest black Pro-Life organization. She is also a member of The National Black Pro-Life Coalition. In 2006, Zina founded This Race Will Self-Destruct and More Rebellious Members, a Pro-Life outreach to black pastors. Henry Childs, TX Henry is the elected State Republican Executive Committeeman for Texas Senate District 19. Childs serves as the Texas Surrogate for the RNC African American Strategic Initiatives Director. He is the Founder/Chairman of the Association of Conservative Texans Brenda Battle Jordan, MI Brenda is an active member of the Genesee County Tea Party and Genesse County Republican Executive Committee. She also serves on The Resolutions and Bylaws Committee Of The Michigan Association of School Board of Director’s and is a Westwood Heights school board trustee. She has been on multiple talk shows and spoken at multiple county Tea Party events. Ken Jordan, MI Ken is a long time Genesse County Republican Executive Committee member. ###
