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September 23, 2009
Exclusive: Government Health Care Takeover Proponents Stonewall Counter Proposals
Earlier this week, FamilySecurityMatters.org promised that we would step up our monitoring of what the various members of Congress are doing to advance the noble aspiration of accountability and transparency in Washington – something that the current administration pledged while campaigning for office, but clearly has no plan or wish to implement – and to follow the activities of such Congresspeople to ensure that they are doing The People’s work.
Our search has turned up some interesting bits of information. For instance, even though every Democrat we can think of has said out loud that the Republicans have offered only opposition - but no health care reform alternatives to the Democrats’ much-maligned H.R. 3200 health care reform bill - the Republicans have, in truth, introduced over 35 health care bills so far in the 111th Congress alone. It appears that the reason why the Democrats can claim, and get away with it, that the Republicans have produced nothing is that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat majority have refused to consider any of the Republican health care bills either in committee or on the House floor, with one exception, even though bill after bill after bill is introduced by the Republicans. (The exception is H.R. 3478 which has been referred to three committees. They are: House Ways and Means, House Energy and Commerce, and House Judiciary, and the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. Those committees have not yet held a markup session of the bill.)
By stonewalling the Republicans’ efforts, the Democrats have made the Republican bills, in effect, invisible so the Democrats can claim the bills don’t even exist and The People will believe it, as The People will have seen nothing to counter that claim. Sneaky little creeps, huh? Consequently, Republican health care reform bills such as H.R. 77 – The Health Care Incentive Act; H.R. 109 - America’s Affordable Health Care Act of 2009; H.R. 198 – Health Care Tax Deduction Act of 2009; H.R. 464 – More Children, More Choices Act of 2009; H.R. 502 – Health Care Freedom of Choice Act, as well as 30 others, have never seen the light of day, nor apparently will they, as long as the Democrats retain the majority power. Is this the sort of “reaching across the aisle” most Americans thought they were voting for when they voted last November?
This isn’t the only area of debate that is fraught with deception. In researching this piece, we came across information from the Republican Study Committee that said this:
The health care debate continues in Washington, as the Senate Finance Committee led by Sen. Max Baucus finally published its long-awaited plan last week. The Baucus bill may not include the explicit government-run “public option” favored by many liberals (although its co-ops would lead to the same thing), but it still cannot be described as anything but a government takeover of health care.
While much attention has been given to the so-called "pubic option," there are countless other facets of the plans promoted by the President and congressional Democrats in charge that would empower Washington with control over our health care system. These include new federal definitions of what health policies must look like, bureaucratic efficiency councils that define quality care, and mandates that will tax away the viability of employers and individuals.
When Washington tells patients what kind of health coverage plan they must have, what kind of treatments are permissible, and how private insurers must operate their businesses, patients will be left to the mercy of the government rather than rightfully be able to make independent medical decisions with their families and their doctor.
But don’t believe the President’s rhetoric that there is only his way or the status quo. It’s vital that you let your friends and neighbors know that Republicans have solutions that put patients in control.
All that said, there are problems with both parties insofar as various pieces of legislation (health care or not) are concerned; the Democrats favor the labor unions to wrest control from the people and donate big bucks to Democrat causes while the Republicans tend to favor corporations and their large donations and interests. Consequently, the thinking of both parties is oftentimes biased by those levers. Therefore, we encourage you, dear reader, to do your homework on this all-important issue. If you do, you will discover not only what is written above, but another item of note.
H.R. 3400, the Empowering Patients First Act introduced by Congressman Tom Price, M.D., is an interesting bill in that it provides a counterbalance to the Democrat-created H.R. 3200 and is fully worthy of debate. FSM takes no position on these bills but offers them as points of debate, counterbalance and information to our readers in an extremely important American question. H.R. 3400 is centered around four key principles:
#1: Access to Coverage for All Americans
#2: Coverage is Truly Owned by the Patient
#3: Improve the Health Care Delivery Structure
#4: Rein in Out-of-Control Costs
One of the more intriguing aspects of the bill is that it calls for state insurance laws being overridden to allow the purchase of individual health coverage across state lines – something the Wall Street Journal favors, but the Obama administration does not. But only way any of us can find out for sure exactly what is in this bill is to do our own homework, which we strongly urge you to do. You’re the boss!
Good luck.
Brought to you by the editors and research staff of FamilySecurityMatters.org.
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