(CCU Student) Remember the news of an uninvited and uncredentialed couple that snuck into the White House for the State Dinner? I’m starting to believe that couple happens to be Mr. and Mrs. Barack Obama.
The genius that brought you a whopping 1.4 trillion dollar debt, with his vast credentials, now brings you the following statement: “Choice, competition, reducing costs—those are the things that I want to see accomplished in this health reform bill.”
Throughout his 2008 Presidential campaign, Obama told us that we wanted to insure every American with three things:
• Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All
• New Health Initiatives, including for Autism and AIDS
• Lower Costs for the U.S. Health Care System, including Drug Costs
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid praise the bill, claiming that the bill would fulfill all promises made by Obama, and more. But, if you take a look at the numbers, you may believe differently than portrayed by these senseless public figures.
Our revenue for the 2009-year as projected by the government is roughly $4.64 trillion dollars. According to the latest bill, passed in the Senate and awaiting approval in the house, totals the cost of healthcare at $.87 trillion dollars. Divide the two together, and you will see that 19%, or nearly 1/5, of our economic revenue will be consumed by the bill’s cost. On top of that, Obama faces the $787 billion dollar stimulus package cost, plus the cost of sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Now, I am very much in favor of the war, and in some regards the American Reinvestment and Recovery act; but this healthcare bill is absolutely ridiculous.
Let’s take a look at Promise #1.
The senate bill states that individuals and families who do not buy into healthcare would pay fines of $750 and $2,250, respectively. I don’t see how that will ensure quality or affordability, but let’s keep going. The second part of the bill tells us that companies with over 200 employees would be forced into buying a healthcare plan, with no way to opt out under ANY circumstance. Companies with any less than 200 employees would not be obliged to buy insurance, but would face a steep fine of $750 per employee if they decided not to. Again, the integrity of his statement is becoming more and more compromised by the hour by what is reflected in the bill.
Promise #2 and 3 go hand and hand with number one, showing the lack of validity and follow through by the President. What I would like to talk about, however, is the statement he made about choice and competition. First of all, competition would be completely abolished with the house’s version of the bill, which includes a mandatory public option. The government would muscle Americans into buying into only the government’s healthcare, and over time, would eliminate any other option. Reducing costs would likewise become a distant memory, as on top of the $10,000 a year families are spending to pay the stimulus plan, the Congressional Budget Office states average families would face another $15,200 more in health care fines.
I believe the founding fathers would be rolling in their graves if they knew that the government was assuming roles in the auto, banking, health, education, and other various industries. We could follow the model that big government advocate Bill Clinton proposes, which states: “We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.” Or, we can expound upon the ideas that our founding fathers placed before us, which protect individual rights and liberties.
I believe that this healthcare bill will be a disastrous thing that will destroy lives, jobs, and economic revenue in this country. I guess Ronald Reagan was foreshadowing to us what role the government would play when he said, “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
The uncredentialed guest at the White House has fulfilled Reagan’s prediction, and in the process, broken just about every promise that he made to us during his campaign. This will not be affordable, better quality, or whatever other lying assurance that he fed us. Please take the initiative and write to your nearest congressman as soon as possible, and prevent our health system from heading into severe amounts of turmoil.
