“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer, universal healthcare plan…. That’s what I’d like to see, but as all of you know, we may not get there immediately.” — Barack Obama, June 2003. (Click here to see video.)
In recent weeks President Obama and congressional leaders have been emphasizing how their plan won’t change anything for those who already have health insurance that they like. In fact, they tell us we’ll have more options under their plan. There’s just this one little thing that must be included in the legislation we’re told — a “public option,” which would provide “competition” for the private insurance companies. Of course, the “public option” is the camel’s nose in the tent. It would be parlayed into a full-blown single-payer healthcare system by means of a suitable transition. Mysteriously, the private insurance companies would not be able to compete with the government health “insurance” plan.
Here’s a three-minute video that is packed with examples of how President Obama’s so-called “public option” is really a deceptive way to bring about a single payer, completely government-run healthcare system:
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Although there have been indications that the House and Senate versions of healthcare overhaul legislation are getting bogged down in recent days, President Obama is still urging Congress to pass their healthcare reform bills before the August break. Even if both houses succeed in passing their respective versions of healthcare reform before the break, they would still have to reconcile the House and Senate versions in September through a conference committee and then adopt the conference report in both House and Senate before a final bill could be given to the president for his signature.
During the past week President Obama has been stepping up his pressure on Congress to pass his healthcare overhaul plan before the August break because American voters are starting to have doubts about his proposal. A Rasmussen Reports poll, which was conducted July 10-11, showed 49 percent opposed to and 46 percent in favor of “the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats.” This was a reversal from two weeks ago when 50 percent favored the healthcare reform plan and 45 percent opposed it. The “opposed” camp has the edge in intensity by nearly two to one with 38 percent strongly opposing and 22 percent strongly favoring the reform plan. Other polls in the past few days have been confirming this public opinion trend against the president’s plan.
All of which means that you and I have the opportunity to help mobilize sufficient opposition to defeat this deceptive, “transformational” healthcare reform legislation. If Americans can be rallied quickly enough, a major segment of the American economy can still be preserved from total federalization.
Here are some reasons for opposing Obama’s health care reform legislation:
1. The whole process has been deceptive. The real goal of President Obama and the congressional leaders has been to establish over time a single-payer, government-run healthcare system; however, they have portrayed their legislation primarily as a means to extend healthcare coverage to the uninsured and provide more healthcare insurance options to the already-insured.
2. A completely government-run healthcare system would be the worst solution to our healthcare problems. A government takeover of healthcare would lead to healthcare rationing, decreased payments to doctors and hospitals, and shortages of doctors.
3. Congress already has a massive case of fiscal irresponsibility. In the face of an estimated $1.85 trillion federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2009 and projected trillion dollar annual deficits for the foreseeable future, how can anyone in Congress vote for this healthcare plan, which will cost at least $1 trillion over the next ten years? And, remember such cost estimates for entitlement programs have always been notoriously lower than reality. Realize too that these deficits have real consequences, such as keeping taxes high on businesses (which drives jobs offshore) and requiring the Federal Reserve to print more money (which causes a decrease in the buying power of our earnings and savings).
4. Congress is facing at least $53 trillion of unfunded liabilities due to its passage of the previous entitlement programs — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the recent addition of prescription drug coverage for Medicare. How can anyone in Congress vote for a new entitlement program for healthcare when Congress has not even begun to face up to this unfunded liabilities problem? To understand just how big a financial hole Congress has put us in, take a look at the video “I.O.U.S.A.: Byte-Sized — The 30 Minute Version" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_TjBNjc9Bo (Due to an unusual situation, you’ll need to copy and paste this URL into your browser to view the video.) :
5. Federal funding of and control over healthcare is not authorized in the U.S. Constitution. "We the People" must insist that Congress begin limiting the size of the federal government in accordance with the Constitution. As we can already vividly see, allowing Congress to disregard the Constitution is leading us toward total government control over all aspects of our lives and economy. We must preserve our freedom and prosperity by using this fight over health care to help build the massive grassroots movement required to pressure Congress into voting constitutionally.
What Can You Do?
Contact your representative and senators immediately in vigorous opposition to the healthcare reform legislation proposed by President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders. Click here to take immediate action to send an email to your representative and senators. Don’t be fooled by dramatic, last-minute legislative compromises with Republicans. They proved themselves more than capable of building Big Government during the years they constituted a majority in Congress.
