Alternative to Dems Health Care?
With the 2,000+ page Democrat health care bill cruising like the ill fated ship Titanic, the Democrat majority is trying to desperately push the massive bill as though we have no choice in America but their “government first” approach.
Instead, we could be debating the GOP alternative health care bill. It has private sector incentives, a real reform provision on medical malpractice, reduces the deficit and leaves open personal responsibility for health care. This compares to the Democrat bill which explodes the Federal deficit, sets the stage for the government take over of health care and makes the private sector (i.e. the private insurance industry) out to be a villain.
Three recent articles and blog posts in Washington DC Examiner are reflective of just how expensive the “government first” approach to health care is, and how the Democrats are struggling to keep 218 members of the Dem caucus (out of 258) voting for the unpopular health care bill.
From the Washington DC Examiner:
“The CBO put the price tag for the GOP plan at $61 billion, a fraction of the $1.05 trillion cost estimate it gave to the House bill that lawmakers are set to vote on this weekend. And the CBO found that the Republican provision to reform medical malpractice liability would result in $41 billion in savings and increase revenues by $13 billion by reducing the cost of private health insurance plans.”
The Congressional Budget Office Wednesday night released its cost analysis of the Republican health care plan and found that it would reduce health care premiums and cut the deficit by $68 billion over ten years.
The Republican plan does not call for a government insurance plan but rather attempts to reform the system by creating high-risk insurance pools, allowing people to purchase health insurance policies across state lines and instituting medical malpractice reforms.
"Not only does the GOP plan lower health care costs, but it also increases access to quality care, including for those with pre-existing conditions, at a price our country can afford," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. Source: DC Examiner, Susan Ferrechio
www.washingtonexaminer.com See blogs section
And now of the Democratic “Hope & Change” health care bill, that is slated to be voted on within the week. It will raise taxes on ALL Americans, and will overwhelm the Federal budget that is already underwater:
The CBO reports that, in their true first 10 years, the House bill would cost $1.8 trillion, and the Senate bill would cost $1.7 trillion. Pelosi would raise Americans’ taxes by $1.1 trillion over that period, while Reid would hike them by $1 trillion. So the financial bottom lines are almost the same.
And if we discount the bills' claims to divert hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare (which is already on the edge of insolvency), the CBO says the House bill would raise our national debt by about $650 billion in its real first decade, while the Senate bill would up it by $740 billion. Mark Hemingon, Beltway Confidential
As Examiner colleague Susan Ferrechio explains the quest for 218 votes from the 258-member Democratic caucus in the House is providing plenty of drama on Capitol Hill: protesters outside, the president doing plenty of arm twisting, warnings to freshman and sophomore members about being fed to the wolves next year if they don’t tow the party line.
It’s not a bill anyone likes particularly and those from swing district who vote for the plan will have to watch some of the socialistic benefits be erased by the Senate: All of the blame, less of the credit.
Writers Carl Hulse and David Herszenhorn were on the scene and talked to some of the 40 Democrats who will be allowed to vote against the bill. If the Speaker wants to keep her defection list at 40, the opt outs need to not seem to be so happy. Source: DC Examiner, Susan Ferrechio
A point lost to many is that within the majority Democrat caucus, there are a number of recently election (2006 or 2008) Congressmen from moderate to conservative districts that are feeling (and seeing based on Nov 09 mid term elections) the heat from their constituents. Now the liberal Democratic leadership in Congress is asking them to walk the plank. Will at least 218 Democrat members walk away from the American people?
© 2009, Jasper Welch, Four Corners Media, www.jasperwelch.org
