A few weeks ago, President Obama seemed insistent on getting a health care bill passed by both the House and the Senate prior to the August recess. But as the days went by, and the massive flaws of the House legislation became more apparent not just to the public and Republicans, but to Blue Dog (conservative) House Democrats, that prospect became unlikely.
Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated the Senate will not vote on health care legislation until after the August recess.
This is tremendous news for opponents of this Rube Goldberg scheme who fear Uncle Sam will do to health care what it did to airport security. Despite assurances from the President that he favors a plan that would not put private insurance companies out of business, anyone with half a brain realizes how idiotic that claim is. The government is nonprofit, can fund health care with deficit spending, and can command huge chunks of the market.
Untold numbers of employers would drop their health care coverage to save money, and many employees might decide on their own to ditch their employer-provided health care benefits if they can simply get health care from the government (often with lower deductibles and co-pays). There is talk about removing employers' deductibility of health care benefits. Also, under the current legislation, employers would be hit with an 8 percent payroll tax if they don't provide their employees with health insurance, but many might find that to be a cheaper alternative. ObamaCare likely would crowd out most if not all private insurers.
During last night's news conference, a reporter asked Obama what the rush was to meet his August deadline for passage of House and Senate bills. The President replied: “I’m rushed because I get letters every day from families that are being clobbered by health care costs. They ask me, ‘Can you help?’ ”
Mark my words, it won't be long until the liberals start trotting out the children as sympathy props.
"Oh, it's for the children," they'll plead. Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before. Spare us the melodrama. Maybe the real reason Obama is in a hurry is he doesn't want any reporters (or the public) to actually peruse the 1,000-page-plus health care legislation and be horrified by its contents.
The several-week break in the action is a blessing to Republicans and anyone else who wants to build momentum against the ObamaCare juggernaut. Many of us realize that if Uncle Sam takes over health care, the quality of care for tens of millions of people will decline, and the government's debt will grow even faster.
We also realize that the 46 or 47 million uninsured figure bandied about the Obama's sycophants in the mainstream media is totally bogus. A big chunk of those people could afford health care but decline to purchase it because they are young and healthy. Another big chunk are illegal immigrants. And some of the supposed 47 million are eligible for Medicaid or Medicare, but have not applied, perhaps because of language or cultural barriers.
Last fall I sent faxes and e-mails to Michigan's two left leaning Senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, begging them to vote against the Bush TARP bill. I told them the scare tactics being used by then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson were bunk, and that the money would be squandered and largely unaccounted for. They went ahead and voted for it.
I know my pleas will fall on deaf ears if I write them again in opposition to ObamaCare, but I will do it nonetheless. Let's hope millions of equally concerned Americans will also contact their elected representatives.
We can win this thing, just like we repudiated the amnesty bill two years ago. Let's do it!
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