By
Aaron Klein
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
 Frank Llewellyn |
A socialist organization with close
ties to Barack Obama has
outlined a plan to turn the president's health-care legislation into a government-run system that will
ultimately eliminate private insurance
companies.
Obama's health-care bill "should create millions of new
stakeholders in a health-care system governed by democratically
established rules rather than by the fiats of private insurers," wrote
Frank Llewellyn, national director of Democratic Socialists of America.
Writing in the latest issue of the socialist Democratic Left
magazine, Llewellyn said "progressives" must use Obama's health-care
legislation "to build support for the elimination of private insurers."
Llewellyn called for a public information campaign regarding
"Obamacare" and socialized medicine.
"DSAers (Democratic Socialists of America members) in every state
and city," he said, "should be prepared to rebut distortions with
letters to the editor and op-eds that talk about what socialism really
is – and what true social democratic public provision would look like,
particularly when health care is
the paradigmatic public good that markets, let alone for profit
oligopolies, simply cannot justly and affordably supply."
He recommended removing Democratic lawmakers who oppose
single-payer and socialized health care.
"Progressives must now work to ensure that some conservative
Democrats who did not support the final bill will be punished with
primaries or even third-party challenges," he wrote.
Llewellyn argued the passage of Obama's health-care bill opens
the door for other progressive policies, such as immigration reform,
anti-corporate measures and an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He wrote: "Passage of the bill does keep the door open for
popular movements to demand strict financial regulatory reform,
immigration reform, massive aid to states and localities, and a
much-needed public jobs program.
"DSA and the larger progressive movement must create street heat
in favor of these anti-corporate measures, as well as for a just
resolution to the foreclosure crisis, and an end to United States
involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Communism researcher Trevor Loudon, writing at his KeyWiki website,
notes the DSA previously outlined its goal as destroying private
ownership in the U.S.
"Our goal as socialists is to abolish private ownership of the
means of production," wrote DSA National Political Committee member
David Green in a 2007 Democratic Left article.
Top DSA members have been closely linked for years to Obama.
Obama himself spoke at a DSA-organized forum at the University of
Chicago in early 1996 called "Employment and Survival in Urban
America."
Quentin Young, considered the father of the U.S. single-payer
movement, is a longtime DSA activist. He has had a relationship with
Obama, particularly in the 1990s, when he reportedly advised Obama on
health care.
Young was reportedly present at a 1995 meeting at the home of
former Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers that was said to have
launched Obama's political career.
Young has been active in Chicago socialist circles and was
previously accused of membership in a communist group. In 1992,
Chicago's branch of the DSA awarded Young, a member, with their highest
honor – the Debs Award.
In a 2008 article in the official Communist Party USA magazine,
Young noted Obama previously expressed support of a single-payer
universal health-care program, although he later waffled when asked
about his position.
As an Illinois state senator representing a mostly black district on the South Side of Chicago,
Obama publicly supported universal health care. He also co-sponsored the
Bernardin Amendment, which did not pass but would have amended the
Illinois State Constitution to add health care to the list of basic
rights for residents.
Meanwhile, Obama spoke at the March 29, 1998, memorial service
for Chicago DSA member Saul Mendelson.
Timuel Black, a DSA activist, mediated political disputes on
behalf of Obama in the 1990s and was reportedly involved in Obama's
campaign committee during his successful 2004 Senate race.
Longtime DSA activist Arnold Wolf was a member of "Rabbis for
Obama" and has held fundraisers in his home for Obama, including a
function in 1995 that was aimed at introducing Obama to the Hyde Park
activist community.
Eliseo Medina, international executive vice-president of Service
Employees International Union, or SEIU, has been honored by the DSA.
During the most recent presidential campaign, Medina served on Obama's
National Latino Advisory Council.
WND
reported Medina, speaking at a 2009 Washington, D.C., conference,
declared granting citizenship to millions of illegal aliens would expand
the progressive electorate and
help ensure a progressive governing coalition for the long term.