Author, Doctor, Speaker, Joseph Bentivegna

Doctor Bentivegna is an ophthalmologist living in Connecticut. He has written numerous op-ed pieces for The Hartford Courant and The New York Times regarding health care, tort reform, and the political situation in Haiti.

All Articles

Kavanaugh’s Confirmation – A Seismic Shift in Political Power

October 7, 2018       The ugly battle is over. By a slim margin and largely along Party lines, Brett Kavanaugh has replaced the moderate Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, theoretically solidifying a 5-4 conservative majority. Here are the salient points from this landmark battle.       The Rule of Law will replace The Rule of Man. For the past decades, controversial public policy decisions were imposed on the electorate by power hungry judges who preferred to make up the law rather than to interpret it. By judicial fiat, our Supreme Court removed God from public schools, allowed pornography to proliferate, legalized abortion and gay marriage and forced taxpayers to pay for the education and health care of illegal immigrants. Reasonable people can disagree on these issues, but the Supreme Court removed the right of the American people to govern themselves. Had Hillary Clinton won the election, she would have appointed judges who overturned the Second Amendment, made illegal aliens citizens, gerrymandered districts to the Democrat’s advantage and discarded the Electoral College. Now liberals will … [Read more...]

Analyzing the Republican Candidates for Governor

July 12, 2018        Connecticut Republicans will choose their nominee on August 14 and no candidate has emerged as the front runner. As there are few ideological differences, most voters are trying to determine the strongest candidate to take on the probable Democratic nominee – Greenwich multimillionaire Ned Lamont. I have not decided yet, but below is my impression of the strengths and weaknesses of each.       Mark Boughton. It is hard to speak to Mark Boughton and not develop an immediate fondness for the guy. Cordial and receptive, he is an accomplished politician who has governed Danbury as mayor for nine terms and continuously wins reelection easily, even though Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 margin. He is a former public school teacher, state assemblyman and served our country in the military. He has a plan to eliminate the state income tax and said he would “lie down on Route 84” before allowing tolls. He is the endorsed candidate, meaning he won the majority of the delegates at the Republican Convention. Ironically, his main weakness is his success. With the state in such financial … [Read more...]

Fallout from Republican Gubernatorial Race May End the Convention System

May 9, 2018        A major reason for Connecticut’s political dysfunction is that it remains a Convention state. In most states, prospective candidates are only required to gather a reasonable number of signatures to have their name placed on the ballot. Not in Connecticut.        Every town has a Democratic and Republican Town Committee. These committees chose delegates to attend conventions that pick candidates. To win the party nomination, a candidate must receive over fifty percent of the delegates’ votes. To earn the right to primary, a candidate must receive fifteen percent of the vote. Thus, prospective candidates spend their evenings addressing town committees, weekends going to dried-out ziti fundraisers and every other waking hour meeting delegates individually in order to secure their support. This is a tedious and time-consuming process and also a colossal waste of time; as it does little to increase the candidate’s profile with the vast majority of prospective voters.        Political outsiders who attempt to run are only welcome if they can … [Read more...]