Ten Great Reasons to Reject ObamaCare

There is a lot of information and misinformation out there about Hr 3200 — the healthcare reform bill. And much of it —the information and the bill — is confusing. I've read a fair amount (admittedly not all) of the bill. It appears to be written with the express goal of being indecipherable to the public. So let's skip a lot of the messy details (what exactly will the health advisory council's task be, will there be rationing or not, etc) and get right to the stuff of which we can be certain. There's a lot of good reasons not to like this plan. Here's my top ten:

1. Government does nothing efficiently. Why do we want them entrenched even more in our healthcare system?
2. The Supreme Court ordained the constitutional right to abortion stating that anti-abortion laws violate the sanctity of the private doctor/patient relationship. How can the Federal Government possibly get entwined in providing healthcare with any specificity? HR 3200 should be constitutionally dead-on-arrival.
3. Obama can't be trusted to play this straight. He's on record strongly preferring universal healthcare. No matter what this bill says, we must assume it moves the ball toward his goal.
4. There is no mention of Tort reform in HR 3200. Any plan that doesn't address the root of all waste in our health care system is worthless.
5. Medicaid/Medicare are about to go bankrupt — and those two quasi-public options are preferable to universal care. How, please tell me, can anyone possibly believe that ObamaCare won't end up costing 10 times the amount anyone is projecting?
6. Congress has repeatedly rejected moving their own plans to the "public option." If it ain't good enough for thee, keep it away from me.
7. This is a huge intrusion on States' sovereignty. No matter how praiseworthy the reform may be, it dramatically shifts healthcare policy to the federal government. And interstate commerce is a weak tool to justify this. The 10th Amendment isn't just a suggestion, folks.
8. It places insurance mandates on small businesses. This will crush profitability and drive up unemployment. There are better ways to get small companies to offer insurance — how about tax incentives instead of penalties?
9. The unions support it—why? Members of the largest unions already have health insurance via their collective bargaining extortion schemes. What's in it for the unions to "fix" the system? Be afraid. Be very afraid.
10. It's being rushed through. We shouldn't accept that any plan must happen in 3 months. The Democrats have been trying to pull this off for almost two decades — where's the crisis? Any problem worth solving is worth taking the time to solve right.

What do you think? Did I leave anything off the list?

A Message President. It's Just Not His Message.

I spoke with my first, genuine Obama remorse voter last week. When I asked her what she thought about Barack's healthcare reform plans, she shook her head and said "It's all just too much. We can't afford all of this." She said, "I voted for him because I thought it was time for a change. But what's going on now is not what he presented himself as during the election."

This woman is one of Barack's "sweet spot" swing voters. Evangelical Christian. Suburban mom. One of the "more feel than think" voters. And he's already losing her 6 months into his presidency.

Obama came into office after winning the election handily. Most of the mainstream media refrained from using the word mandate, but you did hear a bit of it. The mandate was for hope and change. The electorate had bit on his message: hook, line and sinker. And Obama opened his first term like he had a genuine mandate on the end of his line. Jerking legislation through Congress - hinted-at ideas from lightly-covered town hall campaign stops. Reeling in votes for dramatic policy changes that the media had hardly noticed.

But did the public really give his policies a mandate? Polls show that just weeks into office, people largely supported Obama much more than they supported any of his policy proposals. And that was his peak. Support has dropped off the cliff since.

This disparity seemingly makes no sense. How could the public support a man but not his policies? The only logical explanation is that their vote was sending a message. It just wasn't Barack Obama's message.

Obama, the man and what he symbolized, was the electorate's message. They still like Obama because they still like the message they sent to the world by voting for him: It's time for change. Anyone can be president. We're beyond the racism. It's that same old song: "Look at how open-minded I am. I voted for Obama." And that sentiment is still valid as long as Obama doesn't undo it pushing policy people don't like. In fact, if Obama were to accomplish nothing at all in his first term, he would probably end it with a 65% approval rating.

As Obama remorse grows (currently 63% of independent voters are against ObamaCare) the electorate has been sending another message. I wonder if they'll hear it in the White House over the braying of the mobs?

Carnahan Goes to Community College, Learns Nothing

Russ Carnahan got a schooling in representative democracy the other day at St. Louis Community College. Heckled and laughed at by spectators amused at his flat reading of Obama's talking points on how to destroy the world's finest health care system, Carnahan was ushered out of the room by his handlers, avoiding any inconvenient questions from Tea Party protesters.

A few days after his embarrassing performance, I called Carnahan's office to register my opinion on the so-called healthcare reform. My opinion was from the heart, and delivered politely to the staffer on the phone. I related how my kids have benefitted greatly from world-class care at St. Louis Children's Hospital. How we've had multiple EEGs and MRIs (our daughter has epilespy), always quickly and efficiently. We've had gotten quick relief for our son's chronic ear infections (he had ear tube surgery). And had first-class treatment at the CARES clinic after multiple trips to the ER for seizures - appreciative of not having to wait in line behind the non-emergency cases using the ER as primary care. But it's not free, and we don't expect it to be. We pay handsomely for health insurance for our three kids, and it is worth every penny. My wife and I work second jobs to help pay for it.

I related to the staffer that my brother-in-law, a Canadian, tells me stories of relatives and friends suffering under Canada's socialized medicine: a two-month wait to start radiation treatment after cancer diagnosis, 6 month wait for minor surgery, 8-month waits to see a specialist, and the generally deplorable morale of physicians and health care workers. "I don't want that for my kids", I told him. "They deserve better than lowest-common-denominator health care as long as I can afford it."

He thanked me for my opinion and hung up the phone.

And today I got this miserable form letter [emphasis mine]:

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Dear Mr. Roth:

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about health care. I appreciate hearing from you, and I would like to take this opportunity to explain why I think reforming the health care system is so important.

[...]

As I was reminded once again at the St. Louis town hall meetings I held in April and this week, health care reform is one of the most pressing issues affecting Missouri families and the economy. The average Missourian spends nearly $5,500 a year on health care, and over 750,000 Missourians lack health insurance. We need to eradicate the shortfall of coverage while reducing costs and maintaining the quality of health care for those who can afford it now. If done properly, more Americans will be able to access better health care, and our economy will be more competitive.

[...]

I want to be very clear about what health care reform should and should not mean for your health care coverage. Most importantly, if you like the coverage you have now, you can keep it. I will not support measures that will force people to give up their private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan, and doctors and nurses will always make important medical decisions. In addition, I think that reforms should aim to make health insurance portable. This means that if you like the coverage you have and change jobs, you can keep your coverage. By making it easier for workers to change jobs, our economy will become more competitive. Finally, I believe that individuals with pre-existing medical conditions should be able to obtain health insurance. It is wrong to deny coverage to individuals on the basis of health conditions that they may have been unable to avoid.

[...]

Finally, I believe it is important to consider including a public health insurance option that could help jump start health care reforms to reduce costs, maintain fiscal sustainability and improve the quality of care. A self-sustaining public health insurance option will offer choice to individuals and businesses and will compete with private health insurers to drive down costs. Any proposed public health plan option will not replace the private insurance market, and you will not be required to choose it if you like the coverage you have now. Rather, it is intended to extend coverage and create better healthcare options for more Americans, especially the uninsured.

Reforming our broken health care system is essential to getting our economy back on track. Expanding access to affordable, quality health care coverage has long been an important goal, and we cannot afford to delay this effort any longer. Health care reform will strengthen the middle class, help businesses remain competitive and create 21st century jobs.

The president has asked for health care legislation to reach his desk by October. I am working with my colleagues in both parties to reach that goal. Recently, several leading members of the House introduced H.R. 3200, a comprehensive piece of health care legislation that expands health care coverage to 97% of Americans. There are also several draft bills currently being discussed in the Senate. I am thoroughly reviewing each of these proposals to determine if they meet the criteria outlined above. To read and to learn more about H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act, please visit the website of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

Once again, thank you for contacting my office. Please know that I will keep your views in mind as Congress continues this crucial debate, and please do not hesitate to contact me in the future on this or any other issue.

Russ Carnahan

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This letter was seemingly drafted in a vacuum, long before his embarrassing town hall meeting. Look, everyone knows that Carnahan's a pawn with little leverage to buck the party line. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he'll "keep [my] views in mind as Congress continues this crucial debate." And that he is actually "thoroughly reviewing each of these proposals." But then I would have thought he'd have learned something during his brief stay at the Community College. I guess not.