Editorial voices from across Pennsylvania
Editorial voices from newspapers in Pennsylvania as compiled by the Associated Press:
We’ve come a long way since President George W. Bush’s visit to a mosque in the aftermath of the al-Qaida attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, where he declared “Islam is peace.”
A long way in the wrong direction.
The anti-Muslim prejudice percolating for years has erupted into a full-blown hysteria, fueled by among others, Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, who has suggested a ban on foreign Muslims entering the U.S., Ben Carson, who doesn’t think a Muslim should be allowed to become president, and Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz, both of whom believe the United States should weed out Muslim refugees from Syria and accept only Christians.
American Muslim leaders from several organizations met in Washington, D.C. last week to launch a campaign against scapegoating. Americans, citizens of a melting pot nation whose ancestors may have confronted similar prejudice, should support them.
Muslims make up just one percent of the U.S. population and only two members of Congress. There is no political advantage in speaking on their behalf in the face of scapegoating because, as Salam Al-Marayati, the executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council said recently in RealClearPolitics, elected officials “fear attacks from right-wing blogs, pundits and talk shows.”
The Muslim leaders plan to open mosques to educate Americans about their religion and will conduct voter registration drives to involve more Muslims in politics. They promise to counter recruitment efforts among American Muslims by ISIS. Americans, especially Catholics and members of other religious groups that have endured similar prejudice, can support them by speaking out against the lies and ignorance that poison public discourse.
The Obama administration quite appropriately launched a crackdown against medical billing fraud that costs Medicare untold millions of dollars. But it has been far less aggressive in recouping hundreds of millions of dollars from fraud committed by some private Medicare Advantage plans.
Data obtained by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity show the government has yet to complete any audits of Medicare Advantage plans it planned to complete by 2014.
According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the threat of audits and a requirement of the Affordable Care Act resulted in Advantage plans returning about $1 billion to the treasury since 2010. That’s good as far as it goes, but it also indicates how much recoverable money might still be out there.
History shows honor rarely is adequate to protect large amounts of public money. The administration aggressively should pursue as many audits as possible of Medicare Advantage billing and spending.
More than 50 military intelligence analysts have said their conclusions about battling terrorists in Syria and Iraq were altered by U.S. Central Command officials to exaggerate successes against groups such as the Islamic State.
Members of Congress revealed last month they will investigate the allegations. If they are accurate – and the number of analysts making them adds weight – the reports are more than a scandal. They are an indication high officials in the military, possibly prodded by President Barack Obama’s administration, are more interested in saving face than in defeating the terrorists.
No doubt the White House will insist the congressional investigation is nothing but politics. It is more, however. It is about keeping faith with the American people about government’s top responsibility – keeping us safe.