I normally end each week with a fun and frivolity post, but due to the seriousness of the health care debate and the stage of the game, I'm going to skip it this week. Instead, every single person who reads this post needs to forward this information to everyone in their e-mail address book. We're now at crunch time, and a vote is probably coming in the next few days. If we don't spread the word now, it will never happen. You can download and read the bill yourself here if you want to.
First, let's hear from Minority Leader John Boehner:
Rep. Mike Rogers offers an excellent rip, saying Congress can do better because the American people deserve better. I especially like what he says about breast cancer...think about it:
Sen. Lamar Alexander addresses the sheer length of the bill, and Sen. John McCain chips in:
Nicely done!
Doug Bandow points out an obvious connection with a current event:
The administration can't get flu vaccines out to people. But these folks want the government to run the entire health care system.
The moment a novel strain of swine flu emerged in Mexico last spring, President Obama instructed his top advisers that his administration would not be caught flat-footed in the event of a deadly pandemic. Now, despite months of planning and preparation, a vaccine shortage is threatening to undermine public confidence in government, creating a very public test of Mr. Obama's competence.
Don't worry. Next time they will do better! We should trust them with the health care for nearly 308 million Americans.
An excellent point.
Missouri Rep. Sam Graves points out several of the worst provisions:
Page 94—Section 202(c) prohibits the sale of private individual health insurance policies, beginning in 2013, forcing individuals to purchase coverage through the federal government
Page 110—Section 222(e) requires the use of federal dollars to fund abortions through the government-run health plan—and, if the Hyde Amendment were ever not renewed, would require the plan to fund elective abortions
Page 111—Section 223 establishes a new board of federal bureaucrats (the “Health Benefits Advisory Committee”) to dictate the health plans that all individuals must purchase—and would likely require all Americans to subsidize and purchase plans that cover any abortion
Page 211—Section 321 establishes a new government-run health plan that, according to non-partisan actuaries at the Lewin Group, would cause as many as 114 million Americans to lose their existing coverage
Page 225—Section 330 permits—but does not require—Members of Congress to enroll in government-run health care
Page 255—Section 345 includes language requiring verification of income for individuals wishing to receive federal health care subsidies under the bill—while the bill includes a requirement for applicants to verify their citizenship, it does not include a similar requirement to verify applicants’ identity, thus encouraging identity fraud for undocumented immigrants and others wishing to receive taxpayer-subsidized health benefits
Page 297—Section 501 imposes a 2.5 percent tax on all individuals who do not purchase “bureaucrat-approved” health insurance—the tax would apply on individuals with incomes under $250,000, thus breaking a central promise of then-Senator Obama’s presidential campaign
Page 313—Section 512 imposes an 8 percent “tax on jobs” for firms that cannot afford to purchase “bureaucrat-approved” health coverage; according an analysis by Harvard Professor Kate Baicker, such a tax would place millions “at substantial risk of unemployment”—with minority workers losing their jobs at twice the rate of their white counterparts
Page 336—Section 551 imposes additional job-killing taxes, in the form of a half-trillion dollar “surcharge,” more than half of which will hit small businesses; according to a model developed by President Obama’s senior economic advisor, such taxes could cost up to 5.5 million jobs
Page 520—Section 1161 cuts more than $150 billion from Medicare Advantage plans, potentially jeopardizing millions of seniors’ existing coverage
Page 733—Section 1401 establishes a new Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research; the bill includes no provisions preventing the government-run health plan from using such research to deny access to life-saving treatments on cost grounds, similar to Britain’s National Health Service, which denies patient treatments costing more than £35,000
Page 1174—Section 1802(b) includes provisions entitled “TAXES ON CERTAIN INSURANCE POLICIES” to fund comparative effectiveness research, breaking Speaker Pelosi’s promise that “We will not be taxing [health] benefits in any bill that passes the House,” and the President’s promise not to raise taxes on families with incomes under $250,000
Let's review some of these again:
- this plan will fund abortions
- it will be illegal to purchase private insurance ever again
- this will cost over $1 trillion, paid for by massive tax increases and drastic cuts in Medicare for seniors
- death panels will exist
- jobs will be lost due to harsh penalties on businesses
- illegal aliens will be covered
- this will be government controlled health care
- Congress will be exempt from this plan
- this will be government controlled health care
- Congress will be exempt from this plan
Is this what you have in mind when you think of health care 'reform'?
That last one should be all the red flag you need...if this is such a great plan, then why isn't Congress taking part? For the record, Republicans put forward an amendment that would have forced Congress to participate in whatever plan they force onto the rest of us, and Democrats voted it down.
Rep. Michelle Bachman nails this plan to the wall of socialism:
Did you catch the bombshell she dropped in there? The federal government has already -- ALREADY -- taken over 30% of the private sector in this country, and if this bill goes into law, that number will jump up to 48%!!! Do you trust the federal government to control half of this nation?
And where is the Senate bill? The House bill came out Thursday, but the Senate version is nowhere to be found. Every single Republican Senator signed a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid asking where it is, and why it's being kept secret. I'll bet you any amount of money he won't respond, the Senate bill will be well over 1,000 pages itself, and we'll have only a couple days of exposure before the Dems will rush a vote on it. The methods being used by the Democrat leadership should cause this nation to stomp on the brakes here, no matter what the actual content of the bill turns out to be!
Finally, here is John Boehner again, summing up the bill and talking about the Republican alternative:
Contrary to what the Left wants you to believe, there is an alternative, and it is as simple as it would be effective for lowering costs and improving quality:
- Number one: let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines.
- Number two: allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do.
- Number three: give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs.
- Number four: end junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it's good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued.
So, which would you prefer:
1. government control of your health care, massive tax increases, death panels, and abortion funding, OR...
2. allowing Americans to buy whatever plan they want from any state, increasing innovation and competition to lower costs, and cracking down on frivolous lawsuits
That's your choice. There is no third option, there is no sitting on the fence, there is no avoiding of the consequences. This is the most vast and sweeping legislation this country has seen in decades, perhaps ever. It will have devastating effects on the economy, as well as the literal lives and well-being of every man, woman, and child living in America today and in the years to come.
For those of you who aren't political junkies like me, here's the situation. Right now Democrats hold majorities in both the House and the Senate. Every Republican in both houses is likely to oppose this bill, but it really doesn't matter since they don't have enough votes to actually stop it. This is all about Democrats.
The Democrat leadership wants this thing to go through because it gives them an unprecedented amount of control over the American people. Not every Democrat in Congress agrees with them or this bill, but the leadership is putting an incredible amount of pressure on them to fall in line. The only thing that can stop this nightmare from becoming reality is if the American people -- YOU -- unleash such a fierce opposition to it that the rank-and-file Democrats in the House and Senate cannot possibly justify supporting it. This means that every American citizen, regardless of political party or affiliation, needs to make his or her voice heard. The opposition must be overwhelming, and it must continue from this moment until the vote actually occurs.
If ever there was a time to make a single phone call or send a single e-mail, it is now. Contact your Senators and Representative and tell them you don't want this, and that you'd rather have the 4-point Republican plan. The Senate contact list is here, the House contact list is here. The capital switchboard number is 202-224-3121; just ask to speak with the Senator/Rep for your state, and they'll connect you. Even better would be to call or e-mail every day. I know it's a pain, and I know it takes effort, but if you've read this far down in this post, you've seen what this bill will do to this nation. Isn't protecting the American way of life -- and your own freedom to make your own health care decisions -- worth a couple minutes every day?
The future of America -- and the lives of you and your loved ones -- is at stake. Right now.
There's my two cents.
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