Sunday, October 11, 2009

ObamaCare - Response to a Liberal

This article represents the response of Stan C., our guest author, to a Liberal acquaintance – The latter a man who has turned so many corners that he has ended up where he began – confused.


Nick, how could you possibly not agree that the process is awful? For openers, the democrats in both the House and the Senate have voted NOT to produce the final legislation on the internet 72 hours before hearing it. What are they afraid of? I hope you remember that Obama categorically stated that he would do this in the name of transparency, and Nancy Pelosi agreed. They have not followed through on this promise on any of the bills they have passed. Max Baucus stated that it would take him 2 weeks to get the bill on line, therefore he voted against doing so. Let him give me the bill and I will have it on line within 24 hours. What a bunch of bullshit! Do you want people who are either lying or have no ability whatsoever to be creating legislation that affects your health?


Have you forgotten how the stimulus package was approved without the legislators having read it? Can you name a major bill passed this year that was published on the web and that citizens as well as members of the House and Senate had an opportunity to read?


Of course just about everyone agrees that some type of reform is needed, but we don't need a government takeover of health insurance. Do you think the government run post office is more efficient than UPS or FEDEX? How long do you think it would take the federal government to bankrupt the 1/6 of our economy represented by health care? Are you not aware of the looming bankruptcy of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security? Can you name a single government owned industry that runs efficiently and in the black? I can't! Why in the world would you want to turn any industry over to the government?

Do you really believe that Obama can cut $500 billion out of Medicare? If so, what is he waiting for? A legislative bill is not required to correct the fraud to which he refers. Why should those of us on Medicare be penalized and have $500 billion in cuts affect our quality of medical insurance? Are you foolish enough to believe that one-half a trillion dollars can be cut from Medicare, and that somewhere between 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 people are added to the health care rolls without any reduction in medical benefits? If so, perhaps you and I should talk about your buying Hubbard Park ( A park in Nick & Stan’s home town) from me for an agreed upon price!


Do you not think the already projected debt of $ 10 trillion dollars over the next 10 years isn't enough? How many more bonds are you willing to sell to China? How much more devalued are you willing to allow the dollar to become, before you say enough?


Thanks to those who voted for Obama and democrats in the House and Senate, the federal government now controls the banking industry, most of the insurance industry, and most of the automobile industry. They are now telling companies how much money their employees can earn? Do you wish to do the same for the health industry?


Do you think the present administration understands economics? Has it passed, or even recommended any legislation that would help the economy? I haven't seen any such legislation! What happened to "You must immediately approve the stimulus package in order to avoid Armageddon, and if you do we promise unemployment will not rise beyond 8%." Have you checked the unemployment numbers lately? And of course, Cap & Trade is a great example of legislation that has the potential to wreck havoc with our economy and cause a significant increase in energy costs? Do you think the energy providers are going to eat the additional costs? You know that they are going to pass them on to the consumers. As of this date it is estimated that at the least, Cap and Trade will add a dollar to each gallon of gasoline purchased by the American consumer. Am I to assume that is just fine with you and your Liberal friends?


Let me get back to health care legislation. Do you think it is fair for that those who have worked hard and have high incomes should be required to pay for others? Is there no limit to how much the government should be allowed to tax?


Obama's statement that the existing legislation does not represent a takeover of health care by the government is a flat out lie. I haven't read the most recent legislation because those that have created it refuse to make it available; but I have read previous versions. Please trust me when I say -- IT IS A TOTAL TAKEOVER OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY -- private companies will not be allowed to make a move without government approval. The government will determine what kind of procedures is appropriate and how much doctors and hospitals can charge for them.


Speaking of lies, have you noticed how the number of uninsured miraculously dropped from 50,000,000 to 30,000,000 during Obama's prime time speech. Can you explain that? I can! Even the 30,000,000 is inflated. It includes at least 6,000,000 immigrants (mostly illegal). It also includes about 10,000,000 people (mostly young and feeling immortal--Do you remember those days?) who are uninsured by choice. There are millions more who qualify for already existing programs. The real number of uninsured is probably 15,000,000 or less when one considers that many of these are eligible to be treated by existing Medicare and Medicaid programs.. Do we need to destroy the best system in the world to cover them? NO! NO! NO! Just about everyone agrees, so let's simply provide government subsidies for these people to purchase private insurance plans. We don't need a government run plan.


Congress should pass legislation that allows insurance companies to cross state lines. That would create competition. Companies should be required to offer a variety of plans. Insurers are allowed to sell automobile insurance across state lines, why shouldn't they be allowed to do the same with health insurance. With automobile policies one can purchase $500 deductible, $1,000 deductible, etc. One can choose the limits for liability and for collision. Why shouldn't an individual be given the choice of a policy only for catastrophic health problems? Must every health insurance policy cover every doctor's visit? Let the individual choose what is best for that person or family. Requiring health insurance policies to cover doctor's visits and all medications is comparable to having automobile insurance cover oil changes, and battery replacements.


Insurance companies should be required to create a pool for those with pre-existing conditions. Let all companies share the costs of such patients.


Individual citizens should be allowed to purchase insurance plans at the same cost as large corporations. Congress should do what it can to make individuals responsible for their own health care plans. Too many don't care about the costs because they never see them. The return to non-taxable medical accounts would help to stimulate this.


Portability should be required in all plans. Someone who is released from a job should be able to stay with the same plan while searching for a new job. Perhaps the company should be required to provide the same coverage for the released worker that is provided for other employees. This is a point where the government could reimburse the company for added expenses.


Nick, as you can see, I could go on for quite some time, but suffice repeat the some reform is needed, but we don't need to destroy the best medical system in the world, and we certainly don't need to add one more component to "government run."


One point I have not mentioned is the issue of including illegal immigrants in the health care plan. This is really a moot point. There is no doubt in my mind that the administration supported by the House and the Senate will pass an Immigration "Reform" Bill this year or next, and that it will provide a wide open door for moving illegal immigrants to citizenship, and do so in a very expedited way. Therefore more than 12,000,000 additional people will be added to the coverage. What will this do to an already overburdened, government run, inefficient system? The first thought that comes to mind, and it should come to yours also, is that it will make matters worse, and ultimately deny care to millions of people, especially those who are actually citizens.


Finally, if the proposed plan is so good, why has the president required that it not go into effect until 2013—a year AFTER his re-election bid? And if it is so good why have both the House and the Senate chosen to exempt themselves from the requirements of the bill?


I must say that although I appreciate your wanting to view all sides of an issue, I am quite surprised and disappointed that you would take any issue whatsoever with my statement that the present administration is following an awful process and that this is terrible legislation.

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